Zoic Internship Program « I Design Your Eyes

Show & Tell: Holli & Alex Alvarado’s Children’s Book Illustrations

Posted by Erik Even in I Design Your Eyes on January 28, 2010

Hallie and the Spirit of San Clemente cover image Holli Alvarado is a former Zoic intern, who currently works for the Culver City studio as a matte painter, roto artist and receptionist. Her husband, Alex Alvarado, is a concept artist and a current Zoic intern.

Together they created the illustrations for a children’s book, Hallie and the Spirit of San Clemente, authored by Sandra Marquez Stathis. A former journalist, Stathis was inspired to write the book by a statue of a yellow Labrador retriever located outside a restaurant in San Clemente. The book tells the story of two children who are led on a tour of the history of the Orange County, California coastal town by a magical dog statue.

The Alvarados worked for two months on the project; Alex sketched the illustrations and scanned them into the computer, and then Holli painted them. They produced 32 illustrations together, and Alex created the cover image on his own.

Images from Hallie and the Spirit of San Clemente with text removed.

More info: “Son’s love of dog statue inspires book” on Orange County Register; Hallie the Dog web site.

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Alex Alvarado, digital art, Hallie and the Spirit of San Clemente, Holli Alvarado, illustration, Orange County, San Clemente, Sandra Marquez Stathis, Show & Tell, Zoic Internship Program

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‘Another Day at the Office in the VFX Industry’: A Film By The Zoic Interns

Posted by Erik Even in I Design Your Eyes on November 6, 2009

Another Day at the Office in the VFX industry

Zoic has posted an excellent short video created by members of its 2009 Internship Program: Another Day at the Office in the VFX Industry.

Here’s the press release:

Zoic Studios is proud to host the Zoic Internship Program, an innovative course of study that combines real-world experience with professional mentoring. The program, based out of Zoic’s Culver City production facility, has been training the next generation of aspiring VFX artists for the last seven years.

Interns receive the same kind of instruction they would from a college curriculum, but in an actual digital production studio with weekly lectures by top industry talent and lessons that include hands-on experience. During the course of the curriculum each intern is assigned a mentor: an experienced Zoic staff member who provides professional advice and guidance.

Zoic interns will produce projects using the latest in equipment, software and production facilities. Each project is supervised by Zoic professionals who guide interns and the project from start to finish, exposing interns to real-life production issues.

The Zoic Internship Program allows each participant to produce professional work to anchor their demo reel; experience working on client projects; and mentoring by some of the top-talent in the entertainment industry, including producers, supervisors and lead artists.

This video, Another Day at the Office in the VFX Industry, was produced by a team from the most recent Zoic Internship class. It features live-action mixed with CG effects, and humorously presents a typical day at the Zoic offices – a train passing through the hallway, black lava flooding down the stairs, hologram keypads, hover seats, and armies of cloned interns.

The Zoic Internship Program is an unpaid, 16-week commitment held three times a year: January-April, May-August, and September-December. College credit may be available.

For further information or for application information, contact Brooke Brigham by email or fax: 310-838-1169; or visit the Zoic Studios Website.

For more info: Watch the video on the Zoic web site.