Suggestions for minors?

Hi Deanna!

I think you should think about what direction you want to go with your animation, and minor in that, if you minor at all.

For example, if you think you want to design educational material for children, you could minor in education, or a related field. If you want to take it to a higher level, you could minor in anatomy, biology, or one of the sciences. I would love to see an animated explanation of how autoimmune diseases (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc) work against the body. I've had illnesses for ten years, and still don't understand it! An animated version would really help me to comprehend! Animation is also used in re-creating situations in court proceedings! Example: how far across the street was the pedestrian before being struck by the car? There is software that does that! In which case, perhaps a bit of legal familiarity would be an advantage.

You could also look at marketing, business, or management, especially if you have aspirations of having your own business.

I think the key in selecting a minor is to select something that complements the major, without being redundant.

Hope this helps!

Kim

Congratulations on being interested in finding the right career to follow and which major and minor to consider. It takes a special person to enter into a specific career field and meet the demands which that career area presents. The first step is to get to know yourself to see if you share the personality traits which make that make one successful in that area. The next step is doing networking to meet and talk to and possibly shadow people doing what you might think that you want to do to see if this is something that you really want to do, as a career area could look much different on the inside than it looks from the outside. When I was doing college recruiting, I encountered too many students, who skipped these important steps, and ended up in a career/job for which they were ill suited.

Hi Deanna, I'm not an animator, but I do have a few friends who are and will confirm that the commercial animation industry follows most of the same expectations for employment as my corner, and many other corners, of commercial art. Basically, your portfolio and demonstrable skills will define your employ-ability more than your degrees. One option that you may want to consider is, especially if adding a minor decreases your time and money resources, don't get a minor and, instead, use those resources on improving your animation. For example, find atelier style training or other means of self-directed practice to further improve your knowledge of anatomy and movement.

There are many paths you could take with animation and my advice may not be the best for all of them. I can only approach the subject from the perspective of a commercial artist, but it's really up to you.

Deanna,

I recommend a business class. You will need to know contracts, costing, copy write and legal applications. The arts are great but they are a business. In the long run knowing the business side will save you money.

As an example on the costing side, how much will you be spending on subscription every month, will you need to be connected to the net away from your work space? Computer upgrades, cloud storage need to be figured into as part of you cost. Chances are you will be handling your own bills and billing.

You don't have to be an expert just have a basic grasp of business.