Personal Statement Eilidh Norris

The idea of animation has always fascinated me; the way one person can single
handedly craft a living, breathing piece of art. To push so much love and passion into
their work and truly bring it to life, it was always so unbelievable, so admirable, yet so
tantalising. I truly never considered it as a career option, it seemed too surreal; but
that was the appeal. Something so far from the 9-5 office job, the challenge and the
risk reward nature of the industry. It truly was something to be desired.
I have always had a deep appreciation for all forms of animation, not only for the
entrainment value but also the technical aspect. Even as a child I watched cartoons
constantly amazed by the thought of every movement a character made, was drawn
by a human being a thousand times over.
Animation, thankfully, is being more appreciated as a medium for art and storytelling
and is finally leaving the stigma of animation being made solely for children. With
every other medium you have limitations for storytelling, with movies you must rely
on actors, books a readers imagination, but animation? If you have the skill and the
imagination, you can truly craft worlds of your own making, full of characters of your
design and stories for other people to explore, enjoy and appreciate. That to me, is
the greatest reward of all.
I feel I have the drive to survive this industry, I am relentless once I have a goal in
sight. I am constantly wanting to learn and grow, not only my skills, but as a person
as well. I want to work alongside likeminded people, to learn from them and
collaborate. To take my studies to university and to have the opportunity to continue
learning and developing my skills would be incredible. I want to not only survive the
brutal creative industry; I want to strive.
I am currently doing a HND course in 3D animation and I am truly enjoying every
aspect of it, the programs, the techniques and simply the fact that I see it as my first
foothold in the industry. I really have learned and grown a lot from the time I have
spent in this course, I truly do feel like I am in the right direction for a happy and
fulfilling career. This is why the prospect of studying even further in university fills me
with such unbelievable motivation to strive to be the best I can within this course to
liken my chances.
There are so many figures within the animation industry that I respect and desire to
one-day stand beside. But none have been as influential on my life than Rebecca
Sugar. I have followed her work for years, when she started as a simple storyboard
artist for 'Adventure Time' to then progressing as one of the head writers. But it was

when she took a leap and pitched a pilot to her own cartoon show, 'Steven Universe',
and got it greenlit that I truly found myself inspired, she worked her way up to finally
being given the chance to let her own ideas grow to fruition.
Rebecca Sugar is the first ever woman to go on and create a cartoon show in
Cartoon Networks twenty-one-year history; and I aim to be the second.