Linfield Magazine

Volume 6 Number 1 Summer 2009 Article 10

Summer 2009

Intern Finds His Calling in Film

Megan Wills '09 Linfield College

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Recommended Citation Wills, Megan '09 (2009) "Intern Finds His Calling in Film," Linfield Magazine: Vol. 6 : No. 1 , Article 10. Available at: https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/linfield_magazine/vol6/iss1/10

This article is brought to you for free via open access, courtesy of DigitalCommons@Linfield. orF more information, please contact [email protected]. Intern finds his calling in film f Nick Jauregui ’09 were “The program required that we do the work frame an animated object, he just by frame,” Jauregui explained. “It was so time consum- Imight be a sponge. ing and I only did 3.5 seconds of the total movie, which Sitting in the production took me 24 hours.” studio of Coraline, an animated Working tirelessly on a major motion picture does feature film released this year have its perks. Jauregui’s memorabilia includes one of about a young girl who enters the dancing mice and a pair of specialty Coraline shoes. an alternate version of her life, Inside information is another bonus. The address of the Zane Johnston ’09, Matt Cantelon ’09, Jauregui absorbed all that he could from the great cre- pink palace in the movie is the address of the Hillsboro Tess Malone ’09 with Professor Ty Marshall ative masters of animation. production building and the face on the dollar bills in “I would sneak in, watch their shots and listen to the movie is Selick’s. Jauregui also hinted that a picture Season ends on high note them,” said Jauregui, a double major in electronic art and of Jack from the Nightmare Before Christmas can be seen 2009 has been very successful for studio art. “The best of the best were talking and I was somewhere in the Coraline movie and challenges viewers Linfield’s theatre program. Among the ac- trying to soak up everything they were saying.” to spot it. colades, Ty Marshall, professor of theatre Fascinated with animation, Jauregui was searching Dan Ford, Jauregui’s electronic art advisor, arts, received a Faculty Excellence Certifi- for a summer internship that would test his skills and believes that Jauregui’s personality and hard work are Zane Johnston ’09 in a scene from last fall’s production of Man of La Mancha in teach him new techniques in computer graphics. A field what earned him the internship of a lifetime. cate of Recognition for Career Achieve- which he played Don Quixote. ment in Scenic Design from the Region VII trip to LAIKA, an animation company specializing in “For an intern he was given a great deal of respon- Kennedy Center American College Theatre commercials, music videos and feature films, captured sibility and credit,” said Ford. “He was able to work for Festival (KCACTF). Linfield’s production of Acting his way to Louisville his imagination. Through persistence and luck he landed a premier animation studio and contribute, in his own Crave, directed by associate professor the position of Data Wrangler 2. way, toward the creation of a successful feature film.” Janet Gupton, was a finalist at the festival. Zane Johnston ’09 popped out from below the stage in Marshall Jauregui realized immediately that the internship Jauregui’s experience on Coraline has sharpened Tess Malone’09 was KCACTF lighting Theatre. He had been helping adjust the elaborate lighting for Linfield had a steep learning curve. On a daily basis he juggled his career focus on entertainment and animation. Af- design regional winner and received an College Theatre’s presentation of Book of Days, in which he played various digital camera formats and computer programs. ter graduating next fall, he hopes to work on the next honorable mention in national competition. the Rev. Bobby Groves. Johnston took a short break to talk about his As the work load increased, the time frame for Coraline LAIKA animation movie, Paranorman, which begins Matt Cantelon ’09 was regional sound next major role: 2009-10 acting apprentice at the prestigious Actors became tighter. If a cameraman didn’t get his shots to shooting in the fall. design winner. Malone and Cantelon Theatre of Louisville. Jauregui on time, he immediately fell behind. Assistant “Movies are so were invited to participate in “Live Design” “Relieved to know I’ve got something lined up after graduation” directors demanded shots in time for Henry Selick, the different because there Broadway master classes in New York. is how Johnston modestly described his reaction to landing the appren- film’s director and co-writer, to view the film. Any delay are magical ele- “This is three and a half days of tuition- ticeship. Then he added, “Ecstatic. This is the first choice for acting. It is at Jauregui’s station slowed production and post-produc- ments to them,” free classes in lighting and sound with pro- unlike almost all other apprenticeships that have you work in the box tion of the entire movie. he said. “Once fessionals from Broadway giving workshops office, push papers and get coffee.” “It was stressful because there was so much pres- I started doing and demonstrations,” Marshall said. Johnston is in exclusive company: Of the 2,600 actors who au- sure on us to have Selick approve shots that were all laid it I never “I have a ton of experience for an ditioned, only 22 were chosen, said Amy Attaway, assistant director of out on my desk,” Jauregui said. “I was responsible for so wanted to stop.” undergraduate because Linfield believes in Actors Theatre’s Apprentice/Intern Company. Its alumni include actors much, and had access to so much, that if I hit the wrong its students and gives them a chance,” said Timothy Busfield, who apprenticed in the 1979-80 season, and Jason keys I could literally delete the whole movie.” – Megan Wills ’09 Malone, who has a 2009-10 lighting de- Butler Harner, who was in the 1992-93 company and recently had roles Jauregui learned the multitude of ways to shoot sign internship at Seattle Repertory Theatre. in the movie The Changeling and the mini-series John Adams. specific scenes, most of which never make the final cut. Cantelon added: “The fact that we can Johnston auditioned at the Kennedy Center/American College Animators shoot from numerous angles to test different come into the regional festival and stack Theatre Festival Conference, Region VII, in February at the University possibilities for a scene in the movie. A scene can be up against much larger schools, or schools of Idaho. “I was really sick and had almost no voice,” he remembered. put together dozens of different ways, but only one will with graduate students, is a really good “I think the thing they liked about me the most was that I was trying make it into the film. testament to the theatre program.” to be easy to work with – kind of joky, nice and fun.” One of Jauregui’s biggest challenges came when Attaway concurred: “Zane impressed us with his candor and sense the director changed the format of the entire Other honors and internships include: of humor in addition to his talent.” movie, requiring that all of the lines on • Jillian Haig ‘10, Pacific Conservatory of Johnston, who majored in theatre arts with a math minor, said his first the faces of each puppet be removed by Performing Arts, prop artist internship; role was in community theatre, at age 5. When he visited Linfield, theatre a computer program that Jauregui had • Afton Pilkington ‘09, Willamette Shake- arts Professor Ty Marshall spotted Johnston from his office window, invited never used before. speare Festival, costume designer; him in and gave him a tour. “Ty was so welcoming, and this facility is Jauregui had to capture and pixilate amazing; it’s so versatile,” Johnston said. He was immediately won over. the puppet strings that crossed each char- • Kathy Ganske ‘69, regional meritorious After his nine-month apprenticeship, the Issaquah, Wash., native acter’s face so they disappeared and the face achievement award, vocal coach and hopes to pursue an acting career in New York. looked smooth. Shadows made the process pianist, Man of La Mancha. even more difficult. With a steady hand – Beth Rogers Thompson and patience, he finished his three shots.

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