Get a more amazing creative career

Griffith animation graduate Paul Mason

Griffith’s South Bank campus will come alive this Sunday 9 August for Open Day, as the creative precinct showcases the incredible opportunities open to graduates in music, visual arts and film.

A host of experts will be on hand for information sessions, demonstrations, studio tours and exhibitions to help you find out what your future could be. And just by attending Griffith’s Open Day you could win an Apple iWatch or $500 travel voucher.

One Griffith Queensland College of Art graduate who has already found an amazing career is Matthew Schofield, who works as the Supervising storyboard director on The Simpsons.

Matthew studied a Bachelor of Visual Arts degree and for the last 15 years has worked for Film Roman, the Burbank-­based animation studio responsible for some of the world’s best known animated programs.

He says what he loves about his job, is that he gets to influence the course of his favourite animated show.

“I’ve loved The Simpsons since I was a student at Griffith, so to be able to watch an episode and see my name at the start of the show in the credits is a dream come true,” he says.

His advice for anyone considering a career in animation is simple.

“I think that with the advent of digital streaming technology, there are just more and more avenues for getting animation and animated content out there to prospective audiences.

“So I think the future of animation, to me, now seems better than ever.”

Animation Information Sessions are scheduled for 9.30am and 12.45pm on Sunday, with a one-hour Stop-Motion demonstration running twice, first at 10.00am and then at 1.00pm, and motion capture demonstrations running throughout the day.

Animation program director Peter Moyes says the Stop-Motion demonstrations are a wonderful hands-on tactile experience, challenging people’s views that all modern animation is done by a computer.

“Animation at Griffith incorporates the analogue and the digital as this is an important aspect of the craft of animation and there is a strong impetus on fostering innovation and creativity.

A stop-motion animation class in action at Queensland College of Art
A stop-motion animation class in action at Queensland College of Art

“The program endeavours to generate independent and inventive, original thinkers who can contribute to the ground-breaking work created through the smaller indie productions, all the way through to blockbuster Hollywood-style feature films.

“Our graduates have broad cross-disciplinary skills, with options to focus on specific areas like post production and VFX, or to develop comics and graphic novels, along with the foundational skills in creating memorable and meaningful characters and stories.

“Recent graduates have had success working on movies like The Great Gatsby, The Lego Movie, I Frankenstein and X-Men: Days of Future Past,” he says.

South Bank highlights this Open Day

A number of high profile exhibitions will also feature during Open Day, including the 2015 churchie emerging art award in the flagship Griffith University Art Gallery (with tours hourly between 10.00am — 1.00pm); a solo exhibition from contemporary Australian Indigenous Artist Bianca Beetson; Chrome by Piet Noest whose career spans more than 50 years; and a creative art market and performance drawing in the Undercroft running all day.

Creative advertising work from graduate Claire Williams shot at Moose and Gibson for the San Pellegrino Cafe Society Competition.
Creative advertising work from graduate Claire Williams shot at Moose and Gibson for the San Pellegrino Cafe Society Competition.

Tour the campus within the beautiful surrounds of the South Bank Parklands with the Fine Art Studio, the Design Live Studio or the Griffith Film School — with tours departing every 30 minutes — or watch a one-hour showcase of exceptional films from 11.00am.

Demonstrations in creative advertising photography, documentary photography and photography art practice will be the ideal opportunity for anyone wanting to be a journalist, work in creative advertising or who wants to practice as a fine artist, to see how they can achieve their goals.

Griffith’s South Bank Campus, which encompasses the Queensland College of Art, Griffith Film School and the Queensland Conservatorium, is renowned for excellence in the creative and performing arts.

Ideally located in Brisbane’s picturesque South Bank Parklands, the campus is only a 10-minute walk from the Brisbane CBD and is adjacent to the Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art, the State Library, Museum, Performing Arts Complex and the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Register on the day or early birds can register here.

GETTING TO GRIFFITH’S SOUTH BANK CAMPUS:

Public transport: Our South Bank campus is best accessed by public transport, with rail, bus and ferry options available. Visit translink.com.au to plan your trip.

Car: Parking is available in the South Bank Parklands or Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre parking lots. Parking will be at normal weekend rates.

Intercampus shuttle: A shuttle bus will be operating between the Nathan and South Bank campuses, every half hour on the half hour.

OPEN DAY ALSO TAKES PLACE AT THE NATHAN CAMPUS ON SUNDAY 9 AUGUST.