After graduating with a degree in Illustration, Rebecca Black-Gliko’s career path soon led her to the world of animation. In 2015, the RMCAD alumna scored a job at Laika, the studio known for a number of animated films, including the award-winning Coraline.
For her, making the transition to the animation industry wasn’t a big leap.
“Illustration is telling a story visually,” she said. “What we do in animation is [still] telling a story visually, it’s just sequential.”
Black-Gliko started at Laika in the rapid prototype quality control department (RPQC) for the film Kubo and the Two Strings. There, she helped with the creation of 3D printed-masks for the puppets used in the stop-motion animation process.
“You have to do all of the little final touches,” she explained.
This included removing support material from the prints, cleaning up the design, and making sure each piece was ready to be sent to the animation department.
Now, Black-Gliko will return to Laika as a junior costume fabricator on a new film project.
“[People] are familiar with costuming in film and costuming in theatre, but it’s equally important in animation,” she said.
Black-Gliko talks more about her work, her experience at RMCAD, and how to be successful in a creative career in the video interview below:
