#csssa ask

[its-pronounced-see-sah]

Thank you so much for writing this! I was wondering if you HAD to share your pieces? I'm really worried that my pieces aren't going to be good, especially compared to everyone else's.

no you won’t have to share your pieces if you don’t want to, at least not when I was there in 2015! though they do have you look at your submission pieces again at the end of the session

[clockwork--comet]

making a piece that's supposed to represent who i feel i am is actually such an undescribable experience i am unlocking parts of myself

like wtf how do i vividly remember the exact shirt my best friend in kindergarten wore all time. why is the ds such a damn staple in my early childhood. poptropica.

[csssaconfessions2018]

Honestly, I'm so hyped to attend CSSSA, because I really want to improve my skills as an actress! Also, I am determined to make lifelong friends, because I don't always feel as if I belong anywhere, so I'm ready to find where I belong!! Lastly, it would be great to find love there! It may not be realistic, but I genuinely want to find someone I really bond with, someone who is considerate of others and has an optimistic and ambitious!!! This isnt much of a confession, but I need to let this out!

[ghostly-indecisive-hyena]

OK SO I’M FINALLY DOING IT! Here is my accepted CSSSA portfolio from 2017! I know it’s super late, but I hope this will still help anyone applying this year or in the future!

This should go without saying, but PLEASE do not use my pieces for your application or claim them as your own, because that will not get you into CSSSA. Trust me, they will not let you in or they will kick you out if they find out that your pieces are not your own.

In order:

Prompt A: The prompt for A last year was to make an image that tells a story without the use of words. So, for this piece, I was working on a storyline that I have since stopped working on, but I made this image to sort of represent the climax of that story.

Prompt B: This prompt is the same this year, which is to make an image about something that interests you. For me, it was biology. Specifically zoology. Here, I created a character who is a zoologist and is working to discover and study unique creatures in the wilderness. For the written explanation of this piece, I discussed about how the incredible zoological findings and studies of creatures across the globe inspires my approach to character design and writing stories for those characters.

Prompt C: This is the technical skill prompt. Now, figure drawing is super important in animation, so I simply put four of my best figure drawings at the time into one image and submitted that.

The last prompt is the animation reel, but I will probably put that in a separate post that supports the video format :).

And I won’t post my written statements, because for the written statements it is really important that you write honestly about why animation is important to you, and about an event that you worked hard on, because the CSSSA admissions people really just want to know about you! 

Best of luck to anyone applying, and if anyone has any further questions, please let me know and shoot a message my way!

[csssa2018]

heeeey would anyone happen to know if rejections come out at the same time as acceptances and how long I should expect to wait as an out of state applicant? im dying here,,,

Yes they do come out at the same time! It shouldn’t take more then 3-5 days, last year I (an instate applicant) actually got my letter AFTER a few of my out of state friends! Its really weird how the postal system is;;

[chewytriforce]

hi!! i applied to csssa 2018 as a rising junior in musical theatre and was wondering if you know anything/how much you know about their theatre program or if you could direct me to anywhere that has info?? i love seeing art from all these csssa blogs but i’ve been a little shorthanded on finding info about theatre. thanks so much!

hello!!

congrats on applying!!! <3 and yes, i definitely know what you mean. it’s hard to find info on some of the departments sometimes. the year i went, my good friend from my high school and i both got in, so we got to see each other at csssa and stuff. and he was in theater, so i actually know a bit about the theater program based off what he told me and hanging out with him there!

hmm, i feel like you can just sort of dig around on the internet for information. maybe look through some csssa hashtags on instagram and check youtube to see if people posted their monologues or anything? i know what you mean when you say it’s tough to find info on theater online because a lot of the students that post content about csssa are like, visarts or animation people. (not that it’s bad haha, that’s just the majority)

if you have any specific questions, i might be able to answer them??? i went to a lot of theater showcases and hung out with a lot of theater people while i was there, but i’m not 100% qualified to speak about what it’s like being a theater student there of course. but i can tell you just, what i saw from my friends and stuff.

but yeah! let me know! i hope you get in!! best of luck <333

[birdpaladin]

ok im in the same boat as you with the digital arts thing but i think i figured out the problem??? digital arts at csssa isn't like..... drawing with a tablet on the computer? its like.... photography and book binding or something. so it's not that your art wasn't good (your application was amazing), but you had to include something in your app that was like? a part of the course to get in if that makes sense

oH LMAO THAT MAKES SENSE… thats weird tho like youd think itd include drawing with a tablet but ig not (plus ive seen a few assignments ppl did in csssa that were drawings done w a tablet so i assumed it was digital arts….. weeps)

[qink]

this kid asked me about csssa, so i explained it briefly, but it brought back a whole slew of memories lmao:

- playing foosball with that one girl from teens react

- purposely not meeting kirsten vangness because i was hungry and wanted lunch instead

- a free book that i never read from an “established author” that my writing friends clowned on after ahaha

- the best dance performance i’ve ever seen, and that includes that 2018 tisch showcase i went to for some reason

- pokemon go summer, babey

- sublevel boobsgate 2016

- the sublevel concert where a skinny teenage boy in a jazz rock (?) band slowly stripped his shirt off while singing “this is gospel” and “wonderwall” (he only followed back my white friend on ig)

- the sublevel in general

- that one girl who used to ask people to send her anything they wrote that she liked, and feeling extremely flattered when she asked me

- that one guy who got complimented a TON for something he obviously worked hard on, and not telling anyone i watched him write it during class in the fifteen minutes before he presented it (writing kids ftw, actually)

- actual feedback i got: “your writing is nice and smart, like you” lmao go fuck yourself, [teacher’s name]

- getting yelled at to dab by random kids (did not dab,, was kind of a party pooper)

- talking about asian representation with one of my roommates, since we were some of the only asian kids not in the digital media program

- overhearing my other roommate loudly talking about shoplifting on the phone

- a writing teacher reading a story about graphic CNC (though you don’t even realize there’s consent involved until the end) at a mandatory event and “respectfully disagreeing” with the kids who asked him to use a trigger warning next time

- they accidentally put 4 people in the college double across the hall, but 2 in our suitemate’s room, and they never fixed it (everyone else was in 3s)

- i got up at 8am, after my suitemates but before my roommates, every day and i actually woke my roommates up for class more than once (me rn could never)

- the, and i cannot stress this enough, guy fieri hitman screenplay we wrote with the hot but actually annoying kid (unfortunately cannot access it anymore :( )

- watching [insert friend’s name here]’s self-esteem being crushed every day but not doing anything about it because i was 16 and had actually no emotional understanding

- heavily considering applying to the much-promoted private arts high school in the middle of nowhere because i had depression and that was surely the way to fix it

- a number of people hearing “ghosts” that were actually more likely people hooking up after curfew

- one of the first things i learned about my roommate was that lin manuel miranda had reblogged her art on tumblr (and, in hindsight, learning she had a tumblr helped the process of becoming friends immensely)

- my eyes stinging and tearing up because they can’t handle dry socal weather and my zines professor seeing it, thinking i’m breaking down in the middle of class, and complimenting my work in front of everyone for a looong time

- actually crying? on a stairwell? under the dance practice areas?

- watching b-movie horror films and a lot of that 70′s show

- not actually writing that much, but getting published in a csssa student zine afterwards

- an abandoned straw doll in a metal dish that shoplifter roommate found by a dumpster that we kept in our room

- some real good sushi

- acting workshop that i went to because we were lied to and told it was for everyone

- one kid got kicked out?? i don’t remember why but i’m pretty sure he said some fucked up stuff to a teacher??

- randomly seeing one kid in my program from yeehaw, ca at sfo two years later because we were on the same flight (he got off at the layover) (did not say hi)

- only still occasionally talking to one person from that summer, 4 years later

[artofkandymation]

Did you apply in or out of state? I'm wondering because I'm an out of state kid that got wait listed, and I'm trying to scope out my chances of getting in. (BTW I loved your animation portion. Keep pushing towards being an animator!!)

thank you very much! I will! :)

To answer your question I am in state (about an hour away from the school actually ^~^”).

I’m not sure if that means higher or lower chances, but I think you have a high chance already from being on the wait list. Best of luck to you, your artwork is really rad~!!

[krispinii]

don’t summon a demon in your aunt’s living room, dudes

[pesthoe]

Was CSSSA CW fun? Was it hard. I want to know everything

cw was the most fun i’ve ever had, honestly. i was a little apprehensive of choosing it over theatre just because i couldn’t shake the notion that it was going to be like a regular english class and we weren’t going to do anything super exciting or collaborative and the people were all going to be weird and private, but that was NOT the case at all!!!! 

it was not like any sort of regular english class whatsoever so if you’re worried about it being boring, you have nothing to fear. everyone is super lively and energetic and wants to collaborate and build off of ideas - no idea is too crazy! they’re all so passionate about writing and it’s honestly intoxicating and such an amazing inspiring environment to be around. people are super supportive of everything you want to share (especially if its really personal) and everyone is just all around great.

i wouldn’t say it was “hard,” but it was definitely demanding. i spent a lot of my time doing my writing assignments in my dorm or at the cafes (i had around two hours of work to do per night), but it was fun work so it didn’t feel too horrible. even for the assignments that i didn’t particularly enjoy doing, i still loved the challenge of writing out of my comfort zone. if you’re passionate about writing and are willing to take risks and work with others on ideas, you’ll love csssa so much

[its-pronounced-see-sah]

I got into CSSSA 2018 for the creative writing department! Your blog helped me so much, and I was wondering if there was anything else I needed to know for CSSSA, esp creative writing? PS. I started my own blog for CSSSA as well, and I hope it turns out as smoothly and helpful as yours did :)

Honestly, just enjoy your experience at CSSSA. Go to as many events as you can, talk to everyone, attend performances, let your creativity evolve, embrace constructive criticism, make lots of friends, write your heart out. Even without a CSSSA blog, you’re seriously gonna be writing more than you ever will in your life so far. It’s exhausting, but so, so rewarding. 

P.S. Congrats on getting in! It’s awesome that you’re starting a CSSSA blog. If you feel up to it, please send me the url. I’d love to see it!

[sweet-marie]

thank u my dear @glueyporchtreatments for tagging me in this i will do it

nicknames: chawlie, chuck, pip, charl, goob... my brother calls me patsy sometimes. also this one guy in my sister’s friend group asked my name once and i was in a weird mood so i told him to come up with one for me and now he knows me solely as “naomi”

zodiac sign: aries

height: “it’s great to be 5′8”

hogwarts house: ravenclaw? i GUESS

last thing i googled: there are a few before it but the last one of any interest is “how many times does the average person pee per day”

favorite musician: elliott, duh

song stuck in your head: there wasn’t one but then the first one that came to mind was keep sending me black fireworks by of montreal and now it won’t go away. “you’re my favorite living human by far! ‘cause you make this frightening world less bizarre!”

following: 54

followers: 52......... 303 on romancandel tho...

do you get asks: sometimes! it’s always strange when i do though i’m like wow i exist? ok

amount of sleep: a lot.

lucky number: 2

what you’re wearing: my t-shirt from csssa 2016 and some black bike shorts

dream job: wrider i guess.

dream trip: anywhere with my friends

instrument: i like the sound of guitar. i’d like to know how to play

languages: english and very basic spanish and i taught myself to fingerspell as a kiddo and have attempted sign language classes but only a few things stick such as the sign for “Spaghetti”

favorite songs: impossible to answer. roman candle lol

random fact: dimes have 110 ridges along the edge

aesthetic: i don’t know how 2 describe... it is what it is. /tagged/art that’s what i’m into

tagging @muldur @nervefood @churchnotmadewithhands @vomitrocious777 @exeggcute @strangeuglywomen @ataritouchme @suntzuforcats @neurocybernetics 

[csssaconfessions2018]

Ive given up on school, how am I supposed to get through another week and finals knowing csssa is only in 40 something days

study for ur finals dude

[frederator-studios]

Bryan Caselli: The Frederator Interview

Bryan Caselli is a Storyboard Artist, Writer and Renaissance Faire enthusiast. Following tenure on top-notch cartoons including Star vs. the Forces of Evil and Sanjay and Craig, ‘twas our good fortune when he set sail to Costume Quest as co-Executive Producer, with a treasure trove of story skillz in tow. Here, Bryan provides his advice to young artists, fav things about Costume Quest, and remarkably realistic take on a 17th century Swashbuckler and his Mer-Lassy.

When did you know that you wanted a career in animation?

My friends and family were alway super supportive of my drawing when I was little, but I got really focused on art in high school. I had an amazing teacher named Kevin McGovern who encouraged me to apply to the California State Summer School for the Arts. CSSSA was a four week residency arts summer program on CalArts’ campus featuring many different disciplines. I studied in the animation department, and it was like I finally found my people. After those four weeks, I knew I wanted to work in animation, and I wanted to go to school at CalArts. There was no turning back.

(Every day is Halloween for the CQ crew! But this day was actually Halloween.)

Where are you from, and how did you chart your path to CalArts?

I'm originally from Sacramento, California. It's a legitimately sized city, but it still has a small town vibe that's warm and welcoming. I applied to CalArts straight out of high school, but didn't get in on my first try. I actually didn't apply to any other schools. My plan was to just apply again the next year, but my mom secretly applied for me to CSU Sacramento as a somewhat, "What if he doesn't get into CalArts for ten years?" worst case scenario backup plan. After swallowing the tough pill of not getting into my dream school, I took a collection of figure drawing, portrait drawing, painting, and art history classes at both Sac State and Sac City college. I didn't stay long enough to earn a degree. Luckily, I was accepted into CalArts the following year.

How did you decide you wanted to storyboard and write?

I got into animation thinking I wanted to be a character designer. It seemed to be the most glamorous position at the time, but I found out quickly that you have to be an exceptional draftsman to do that job, which I'm not. I fell in love with the story department in my 3rd and 4th years at CalArts. I had some awesome teachers who really set me on the path that I'm on now.

What do you love most about the job?

I can't get enough of stuff like mythic structure, archetypal symbolism, and fable storytelling. I really get excited by just how universal storytelling is. It can connect you with anyone. That's easily my favorite part of my work.

What was your first job in animation or art, and how’d you land it?

I interned on Regular Show. I actually went in to interview for a different show, but on my way out, I ran into Ben Adams, the Regular Show character designer and my former classmate. He told me to blow those other guys off and come work with him. He introduced me to Regular Show's Producer, Janet Dimon, and we really hit it off. She offered me the position soon after that. At the end of my internship, I pitched the storyboards for my student film, Scout Wars. After the pitch, someone from development came up to me and said, "You need to pitch this upstairs." That's how I got my second gig.

The show was never produced, but getting paid to develop my original concept that early in my career really set in stone my desire to run a show of my own some day. I even got to work with our future Costume Quest Art Director, Ricky Cometa, on the development poster.  After that, I did about a year and a half of full-time freelance, which eventually lead me to work with the creators of Sanjay and Craig on some of their punk side projects. I really liked working with those guys, so when they asked me to come on Sanjay, it was an easy choice.

That’s awesome. Was Sanjay the first show you wrote and boarded for? How is it to work on a board driven show?

Yep, Sanjay was the first TV show that I got to write and storyboard on. Both writing and storyboarding is really demanding, but it's also really rewarding. Nick Bachman (Costume Quest's previously interviewed Supervising Producer) was my Storyboard Director on Sanjay, and we really clicked as a team. Sanjay and Craig was a perfect show to be board driven because it was super cartoony and there were very few rules. It was a great opportunity for board teams to have their specific voices heard. When you watch an episode of Sanjay and Craig you can pretty much spot which teams did which episodes from a mile away.

How was writing on Star vs the Forces of Evil - is it board driven too?

Writing on Star was an awesome change of pace coming off of Sanjay. Daron Nefcy was a great leader to work for, and I became really close with my fellow writers. It was board driven, which made the transition from storyboarding to outline writing a lot more of a doable task for me. I was comfortable in that kind of production pipeline and pretty much knew what would be expected of me as a writer. The coolest part about working on Star was that it was a seasonally arcing, somewhat mythic story. It was so cool to get to craft a large story over multiple episodes. I took a lot of lessons learned writing on Star and brought them with me to the writers' room on Costume Quest.

Is it odd being a bit of a ~star~ yourself, considering you have a whole fan page and everything?!

Oh boy, having a fan wiki page is a strange feeling. It's really cool to be apart of a show that has such a passionate fanbase, but honestly I don't want to be a star. Star Butterfly is the star of Star.  

You’re Costume Quest’s co-Executive Producer. What does the job entail? 

Being the co-EP on Costume Quest means I, along with the rest of our leadership team, am responsible to supervise just about every stage of production. From writing to storyboarding, animatics to art, voice acting and voice casting, logo design, score, sound effects, the list goes on and on. I got to script a handful of episodes. Nick and I storyboarded the first episode. Occasionally I do some (very rough) first pass character designs. I also draw story board punch-ups and animation redline revisions on the episodes I direct. I direct the first story of each of Costume Quest's two part episodes, and Nick directs the second story. Beyond that I mainly keep my eye on the larger narrative of the show, making sure everything is tonally consistent and the story threads line up. If every person that works on this show is making one tree, I try to make sure the forest is working as a whole. I do my best not to force any artist to execute their assignments exactly as I would have, but instead, encourage them to showcase their personal artistic voices.

How have you enjoyed working on Costume Quest, and what do you like most about the show?

Working on Costume Quest has been my favorite gig yet. I am really grateful to Will (McRobb), Kevin (Kolde), and Eric (Homan) for bringing me onboard. I'm super proud of how much the show grows across the first season. The scale, the emotional stakes, and the world building just get bigger and bigger with every episode. Beyond that, having the chance to lead a team has been incredibly rewarding. Our whole crew is so talented, and they are all so supportive of the show. It has really meant a lot to me to learn that these people, who I respect tremendously, are happy to come in to work every day and are proud to help tell this story. I can't overstate how good it feels to know I have a creatively and professionally satisfied crew.

Do you have a favorite character on CQ?

I love all four of the main kids, but my favorite character really is Norm. I always say that he's a cross between Fred Flintstone and Santa Clause. He's such an emotionally vulnerable character, and he's got some great reveals attached to his backstory. Fred Tatasciore also does some incredible voice acting as Norm, so if this show only gets one award ever, it should go to Fred's performance.

Since developing Scout Wars, have you gone out pitching other original ideas?

I’ve pitched Scout Wars and a handful of other show ideas around to the big studios, but when Costume Quest came about, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to learn everything I needed to about the responsibilities of a show runner—without the added emotional pressure of having the show be about my childhood, or my relationship with my father, or whatever. I have a handful of ideas in my back pocket that I'm eager to start pitching again whenever Costume Quest comes to a close.

What are your favorite cartoons?

Not including the shows I've worked on: original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman the Animated Series, Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, Doug, Hey Arnold!, SpongeBob, Simpsons, Bob's Burgers, Archer, Flintstones, the Peanuts specials, and the original Power Rangers gets a non-cartoon honorable mention because the the influence that show had on me and Costume Quest is pretty undeniable.

What is your advice to people who want to write and/or storyboard for animation? 

Study the craft as hard as you can. It's not about networking, or Internet likes, or whatever. If you get as good as you possibly can at the craft, you'll be golden. Take any job that will hire you. Once you get any position anywhere, if you show everyone you work with just how dedicated you are, people will take notice, and they'll want to help you.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I really love hosting backyard BBQ's and parties at my place. My friends tease me that I'd rather they come to me than I go anywhere else pretty much 100% of the time. You can find me most Sunday mornings at any of the LA flea markets with my girlfriend, Madison, looking for more knick knacks to put up in our place. Also, I take my Renaissance Faire costuming pretty seriously. Yearly upgrades are planned months in advance. My mom always sewed my Halloween costumes growing up, so costumes somehow became a thing I really like to do. I guess it's fitting that Costume Quest came my way.

Have anything to say to future fans of Costume Quest?

Watch it again! We did our best to set up, pay off, and foreshadow as much as possible in the season so it would be fun to rewatch. There are a lot of little easter eggs in there. I hope fans enjoy it. ☆

No doubt, they will. Thank you for the interview Bryan, and for your fantastic work on Costume Quest!  Follow Bryan on Instagram.

- Cooper ☆

[csssa2018]

Do they send you emails of your letter as well as a physical copy?

i personally got an email and a letter, but I don’t know about anyone else, can anyone reply if you got an email or not?