i wonder if we can make a career by making ads for companies....

just wondering, is that a way to enter the industry? if you are confident enough with your editing, and videography techniques, would you go and make a advert for a production(ie, ikea furniture) and then send it to them, and ask for money, do you think this is a viable option to enter the highly competitive industry?
because that way you can build up a profolio, and be still (self)employed when you are try to reach to (i don’t know, maybe ) pixar?
because i would like to try out this method if it is viable, (i know it probably wouldn’t work, but people need clear goal and path that are not too far away to have actions)

People do spec work all the time as skill showcases. Be careful however of copyright infringement when distributing your work. Whether company logos or music and sound. Sometimes you can pick up work from exceptional execution. But you could get in trouble for the misleading suggestion of phantom clientele. You must make it clear in the work that it is only unsolicited demonstration art. Use an intro title and a lower super (words at the bottom of screen) to remind the viewer.

okay, i’ll be careful, so to confirm, it this a legitimate way to get into the industry?
what kinda things would i need to do?
say if i was to create a video advert of a dell laptop, what would i do after i finish?

Rather than try to break into advertising with a behemoth like Ikea or Dell, who already have contracts with ad agencies, I would suggest you spend a few days watching cable television, and make a note of the local businesses that use television advertising.

Quite often a lot of that advertising is dreadful: some amature with a video camera following the business owner around while the business owner walks amidst the merchandise talking about it. Then they try to liven it up with some standard wipes and dissolves between cuts. You KNOW you can do better than that.

Don’t get too ambitious at first, you might be able to get your foot in the door with a clip of a 3D rotating logo, not even that business’s own logo, but one you made up that is similar enough they can imagine what you can do for them. Then you can work up to designing a whole commercial, or even designing a character avatar for the business, and basing a whole campaign around the new character.

If you use fictional logos and merchandise for your portfolio, then you can shop it around to many small businesses, you don’t limit yourself to Dell or Ikea. Because when you are selling something, in this case, your own animation ability, you should expect to hear “No” dozens of times for each “Yes”. You also avoid the infringement problem.

I would not expect to get paid for a spec ad for an existing product. You’ll have to market your services, and your portfolio will just be a way to open the door.

You are a bit off track, here. Doing a video of a big brand’s products won’t help you break into anything.

IKEA or DELL (or any similar company) will never pay you for work you do on your own initiative. Generally big companies work with big agencies or experienced contractors and only buy what they need. Generally they will ask for a pitch for a pre-defined project and look for people who can credibly deliver a good video for that.

Unless your video is literally the greatest thing they’ve seen in recent memory, (like it would instantly become a hit viral video around the world) there is zero chance of submitted work being bought by anyone. TBQH if you were capable of creating such a video, you wouldn’t be asking this, so let’s forget that possibility.

Doing this is a good way to practice, but you can’t even use it for your public portfolio.

As others have said, if you put (say) IKEA’s logo in your portfolio and they were not actually client of yours, you may be served a C&D for trademark infringement, or even sued. Alternately, if you imply you worked with Dell or IKEA and you haven’t, your clients will be angry at you - you’ve lied to them about your experience level. They might decide to sue you, too.

So doing “spec” work for big companies is really not a good idea at all. Nobody wins.

Best to start with small clients, do quality work for them, and use that in your portfolio. Much more sensible and safer.

If you want to break into the industry as a freelancer, start making contacts in the small business community in your area. Go to networking events and whatnot. Seek out people doing Kickstarter videos and that kind of thing. Small jobs.

If you need to start somewhere, you can even do pro-bono (free) work for local biz to build up your portfolio. It will also be good practice for dealing with clients, which is almost as hard as learning CG.

If you want to break into the industry and join an agency, do the above until you have a good portfolio, then apply to agencies.

Putting a famous logo on your work is not a shortcut to anything. As 3point said, you can do it to build a portfolio if you don’t actually have any client work to show, but you need to be very clear that it wasn’t actually work you were hired to do.

You can get into the advertising business by starting with small shops and building experience gradually. Until you have a heavy portfolio to show, you will have to work almost free, with low prices almost like pocket money. However if you get on track and you have to show interesting stuff, you WILL be noticed by everyone, even by big companies.

Remember when you start a long term business plan you do not care about getting rich and getting out (you can try more risky business for fast money). You care about offering the best you can for an equivalent cost of money. :slight_smile:

i know it probably wouldn’t work

Don’t get me wrong but regardless of what you do, if you want to be self-employed you have to loose that attitude. It kills your business quicker than anything else. Acquisition, at least until you are used to the game, is like getting punched in the face repeatedly and you have to be able to take those punishing “no”'s until you strike gold.