In Classical Animation, students gain a wide array of skills that open up surprising career paths. Mike Yosh now works in gameplay animation, Jen Yu has been making waves in advertising and digital media, and Mike Ritchie created the studio behind the Webby Award-winning “Pixar Intro Parody” video.

Fellow graduate Jeremy Brown (also an alum of the Digital Character Animation program) has likewise created a unique career for himself.

Starting out as a Junior Animator at Mainframe Entertainment (now known as Rainmaker Entertainment), Jeremy eventually joined forces with more VFS Animation & Visual Effects grads at Blatant Films before making the leap into the game industry where he worked on Tron: Evolution.

His most recent project is a live-action music video for Alberta band Tupelo Honey. Looking at how far he’s grown since his quirky student short, Saturday Afternoon Fever, we had to find out more about what he’s been up to.

How does a classically trained animator get into live music video production?

Jeremy: With software and equipment costs dropping every year, it’s easier than ever to make the leap. You just need the will and a bit of blind ambition to go for it. All the principles are still the same, it’s just a case of learning another tool set. And in many ways having an animation background is advantageous because it comes into play so often, be it faking a camera move in post or adding visual effects. This latest video for Tupelo Honey (my third with them) was a classic case of high concept/low budget, but with all the tools now at our disposal, I was able to up the production value with a few simple tricks.

You’ve worked with fellow VFS grads Jesse Davidge and Jon Busby over at Blatant Films. Can you describe what your experience was like there?

Jeremy: I was with Blatant way back in its infancy. I actually came up with the name! Working there was a great experience for me. Jesse was a dream to work with and I learned so much from Jon. Three animators diving head first into live action videos in northern Alberta made for some hilarious misadventures (and hey, we won a Leo Award doing it!)

How did you make the jump from working in animation for film and TV to the game industry?

Jeremy: About a year into my animation career, I got a phone call from Propaganda asking me for a resume. I wasn’t a big gamer at the time but their pitch was essentially “you get to animate dinosaurs and machine guns on Turok.” At the time I was animating mermaids and fairies so I jumped at the chance to blow some stuff up.

Were there any specific challenges you encountered in your work on Tron: Evolution?

Jeremy: Working on a franchise as huge and popular as Tron was really exciting. I directed all the non-interactive cutscenes and was heavily involved in the creation of the story. With such a sprawling scope, we had a lot of back and forth with the writers and producers of the movie in order to make the narrative work across all the different platforms for a cohesive “transmedia” experience. It made for a unique challenge. I also had the opportunity to direct Olivia Wilde and Bruce Boxleitner during voice recording in Burbank, and I spent two weeks in San Diego directing a motion capture shoot with a great bunch of actors from LA. In the end it was an honour to work on such a legendary property and it was really just a lot of fun.

Since Propaganda closed its doors last year, you’ve moved to Proof Inc as a Previz Animator. How difficult was it to bounce back?

Jeremy: Propaganda’s demise came as a shock to everyone and it was pretty heartbreaking. It was definitely the place I spent my formative years and they gave me the opportunity to direct animation professionally, so for that I’ll always be grateful. I spent a couple months travelling around South East Asia to decompress and when I came back, a friend called and asked if I wanted to try previz animation on Underworld 4, so I said sure!

What’s up next for you?

Jeremy: Underworld is wrapping soon so I’m going to take a few weeks off and relax. Hopefully the sun comes out. I have no set plan for the future, but it’s a great time to be working in this industry, so I’m sure something will come up!

Thanks, Jeremy!

Check out Jeremy’s video for Tupelo Honey’s “Falling”.