When did you know?

As a somewhat-related follow-up to my lengthy (and incredibly nerdy) Star Wars post from a couple days ago, I was thinking about the part when I mentioned how much Star Wars had influenced the direction of visual effects over the years. As a corollary to that, I'm sure that countless individuals in the visual effects industry have been personally inspired to do what they do by one of the Star Wars films. However, I wasn't one of them. Now, I'd hardly count myself as someone in the "effects industry"—I'd characterize myself merely as someone who makes a large part of their living by visually communicating through the use of computer graphics—but that doesn't mean I didn't have a film that inspired me to go down the path I went. Although I ultimately ended up being sucked in by the interactive application of computer design, I can remember a single moment where I knew I had to do something in the field of computer graphics. It was June 11, 1993, in a rather unremarkable theater in Charlottesville, VA, and rather than talk about the scene in question, I'll simply show a frame from it:

So that's when I knew. As a bit of context, I had taken some electronic media classes during the previous school year, and was thinking that computer-based design showed potential, but honestly, to that point I thought I would graduate with my Studio Art major, screw around for a bit, and then go to grad school once I figured out what I wanted to do with myself. But that first dinosaur reveal in the original Jurassic Park, more than anything else, embodied for me what was possible, and it was at that moment I made up my mind to concentrate on finding a future for myself inside all those ones and zeroes. I still get goose bumps watching that scene today, almost a decade-and-a-half later.

Now, judging by the amount of comments a typical post receives, I suspect this question will be largely rhetorical, but when did you know what you wanted to do? Was it a single moment, series of moments, or just a gradual realization or growing interest in something? Anyway, I look forward to the zero replies, but just in case you're so inclined, please sound off below.

Posted at 08:30AM Jun 04, 2007 by Kevin Schmitt in Random  |  Comments[0]