I have always been in love with movies, and as I grew older I knew I would make filmmaking as my career. Being from Idaho, a state not known for its film production, I assumed I would need to leave home to study and find jobs in the industry. And while I did travel far for college, I'm entering my senior year as a film major at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, I amazingly found a piece of Hollywood right in my own backyard.
This spring I began my search for a summer film internship, never expecting one would come from a company in my hometown. I was extremely fortunate to make contact with Idaho native Amy Gile, the CEO and founder of Silverdraft, through a family connection. Even more incredible was how willing she was to introduce me to the company. I was blown away by what Silverdraft was accomplishing with product and its company philosophy. The demonstrations Amy showed made me realize just how important visual effects are to filmmaking. While production and directing are the areas of filmmaking I hope to make my career, I believe that learning every aspect of the process is essential. How can one be an effective director, cinematographer, or even a lighting technician without understanding the other aspects of the process? This is especially true of visual effects. Regardless of the size and scope of a film, modern filmmaking hinges on an understanding of how the technology of effects and the artistry of filmmaking can be blended together to produce astonishing results.
Silverdraft struck me as a place where I could learn lessons that would benefit me for the rest of my career. Wesleyan agreed and awarded me a very competitive grant to fund my internship at Silverdraft.
So when summer came around I packed up and moved to Hollywood. Seeing the Silverdraft offices, based at the Henson lot, for the first time made me realize how young much of a start-up the company still is. With a small collection of just enough prototypes to demonstrate the company’s potential, and a small but dedicated handful of employees to manage them, I felt I had been temporarily welcomed into a sort of family, albeit an eccentric and nerdy one.
I’m only three weeks in but I have already learned a lot. I am asked to help with a variety of projects and genuinely made to feel a part of the team. My primary task with Silverdraft so far has been to learn the basics of the various software programs the company uses on a regular basis including 3D modeling programs like Maya and Cinema 4D, as well as render management programs like Deadline. While on paper going through tutorials on a visual effects program may seem dull, within the first week I had learned to model a spaceship, map movement and camera paths, and light it to create a cinematic effect. As rudimentary as the final product was, my imagination was nevertheless captivated. I was able to spend the better part of an afternoon experimenting with the program to create a dramatic shot of my new creation, something I remember doing in my head with toy spaceships since I was a little boy.
At Wesleyan we focus heavily on studying film as an art, learning how to craft a coherent and emotional experience. While this is invaluable study, the feeling I got when I created something real with my own hands reminded me how important pushing creative limits will be in my career.
One could view my first three weeks at Silverdraft as fairly typical of a new intern at a technology company. I am still just beginning to learn the ins and outs of technology I will probably never fully understand, yet I feel nothing but pride and excitement at what I have done. I have the opportunity to see the inner workings of a start-up in the heart of Hollywood, pushing the boundaries of what can be done in the art form I love. I get to see the business of selling machines that do their jobs so fast and efficiently that an artist can just focus on the creative process.
From hearing the passion in the voice of Silverdraft’s president as he gives a tour of the office, to the excitement from the team as they prepared to showcase the technology at an automotive tech conference, my enthusiasm for Silverdraft and the filmmaking process has only as grown and hammered home that I know I am on the right career path.
In just three short weeks I have experienced all these wonderful learning experiences, and I’ve been given the chance to glean valuable lessons from professionals in my chosen area of business. After, at the most basic level, my job lets me explore cutting-edge visual effects programs on one of the fastest computers money can buy. It’s safe to say I am happy to be at Silverdraft.