the Plan

What?

After nearly four turbulent years of uni, it is all about to come to an end. There were ups and there were downs - I got lost and found my path again. I learned that the gigabytes of footage that are a result of a day’s work are called rushes and I now know the six modes of documentary distilled by Bill Nichols, but in these four years, the thing I learned the most about was myself. I imagine the next few years to be quite a surreal experience, as for the past sixteen years I have considered myself a student. And although my chapter of formal education may come to an end, the plan is to never stop learning. The planet we live on is an endlessly peculiar place, and I have always considered my mind a curious one. Perhaps my identity of a student is not quite in jeopardy.

“the plan is to never stop learning.”

So now what?

I’ve set some short-term goals for myself to complete in the next year. For one, I want to build a sound studio. That can get expensive real quick, so I will take it one step at a time. Nonetheless, a creative space where I can work for clients, make music and edit films fluently and be inspired is a must.

Where?

I looked around the country and of all the places I have visited, I find myself thinking about Bristol. The artsy atmosphere of the place, as well as the natural beauty of its location is something I am drawn to. I counted it - In the past three years, I have moved house 5 times and lived in three different countries for at least half a year. It would be nice to settle in one place for a bit and make one place a home.

How?

the office space of Aardman studios.

During my Erasmus year abroad, I had the opportunity to spend half a year working in a video game production company as a junior sound designer. Bringing animations to life by assembling soundscapes proved to be exhilarating. The time I spent there gave me a glimpse of a world I never knew I wanted to be a part of. From a wider view, this shouldn’t have seemed so unexpected - I have been a gamer for as long as I can remember - add my love of storytelling to the mix and out comes my perfect workplace. During the time there I also realised that the best way to learn is to work closely with someone who knows their shit. I had the luck to work with Morosanu, an expert sound engineer/designer, who happened to also teach a Master’s at a university in Bucharest. I learned more in those six months than I had in the two previous years of university. My dream now is to join the sound team in an established, AAA game development studio like Rockstar North, MediaMolecule or Facepunch Games, ideally shadowing a senior sound designer. A Plan B is to join an animation company, doing sound design. I’ve looked at Aardman, Shy Guys & Studio Giggle as teams where I think I would fit in. It is a competetive industry, therefore I can expect to be turned down many times. But I will persevere. I can’t wait to join a team of creative, forward-thinking people and make some glorious stuff together.