Hello Mr. King.
Thank you for contacting me. I appreciate the opportunity to answer your questions and explain why I believe I would be a valuable addition to Lockheed Martin in fulfilling the roles and responsibilities of the “Interactive Media Associate” position.
Warren Buffett said that the most important qualities in an employee are integrity, energy, and intelligence. In addition to these qualities, I also embody a fourth talent which can be extremely useful in the business world: innovation. I have a knack for finding new uses for existing elements and for seeing things from unusual perspectives. Both of these skills allow me to apply divergent thinking to arrive at robust, cost-efficient solutions to almost any problem.
Speaking to my intelligence, while in college I took part in a standardized IQ test administered by MENSA which resulted in a score of 160, after which they invited me to join. Prior to that, I was scored at an IQ of 140 during the 1983 Duke University Talent Search for 7th Graders.
Here are the answers to your questions:
Q: Are you aware that these Internships and Full-time opportunities require living in Fort Grand Prairie, TX.? (Interns get a housing stipend.)
A: I live in Euless, Texas near the South end of the D/FW Airport. I live about 14 miles away from the Lockheed Martin location on SH 161, and about 28 miles from the Lockheed Martin location near Lake Worth. Commuting to either location for a full-time position would not be an issue for me.
I have over 25 years of multimedia production experience and therefore would not be interested in any internship positions. I have expert proficiency in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects, along with skills in all aspects of multimedia and graphic design, including sound design and music production.
Q: Many of these opportunities require a Security Clearance before employment. Are you a United States Citizen?
A: I was born in Texas to two citizen parents. I am the fifth generation of my family name, after they emigrated legally from Bremen, Germany in the 1800s. Although I don’t currently possess a top secret clearance, I am fully capable of obtaining one. I have no criminal convictions, bankruptcies, foreclosures, repossessions, illicit drug use, alcohol abuse, gambling problems, lifestyle issues, debts, or other moral hazards.
I have been absolutely debt-free since 2006. Since reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) base their credit scores on timely adherence to debt repayment schedules, I will not appear on their systems as I have had no ongoing debt payments for the last 7 years with which they could calculate a credit rating.
I have never traveled outside the U.S., nor have I ever owned a passport. I’m fiercely patriotic and defend the U.S. Constitution in casual conversations. My father worked for Bell Helicopter and had a security clearance to work on classified military projects. I have already passed a multitude of FBI background checks – including fingerprinting – to obtain my current professional financial licenses.
Q: Do you have a Dual Citizenship?
A: No. I am solely a citizen of the United States of America.
Q: What is your current Cumulative GPA?
A: I have not been in college for over 25 years; however, I estimate I would have a GPA around 3.5 if I were to transfer credits to a new college at this time.
Q: What is your Graduation year and month?
A: I first entered college to study Mechanical Engineering; however, the political climate suddenly reduced that career from a lucrative prospect with great potential to a low-demand industry flooded with experienced professionals. The starting annual salary dropped from $40,000 (in 1989) to $15,000 (in 1991) due to these changes.
I then changed to Computer Science Engineering because I saw unlimited potential there. The consequence of this were two-fold: First, some classes taken for the ME course did not apply to CSE, and Second, my "parental scholarship" was unable to fully fund my full degree course after the change. When my college funding ran out, I entered the workforce in the technical support field in order to secure the monies to continue my pursuit of a degree.
Surprisingly, I discovered that I learned more about the hardware and software of computer systems in 3 weeks than I did in 3 years of college-level degree work in the field. It was then that I decided not to complete my degree and continued working in the IT field instead. In the IT industry of the mid-to-late 1990s, if one could show competency, creativity, and professionalism while simultaneously maintain a high level of productivity for one's employer, a college degree was irrelevant.
Since then, I have not returned to pursue any college degree, simply because it has not proven necessary so far in my career.
Q: What is your major and degree?
A: I am not currently enrolled in any accredited college or university education systems. That being said, I am fully willing to obtain a degree if it’s required as a condition of my long-term employment.
As for my qualifications for this position, I believe that someone working in the creative arts and design fields must have the same credentials as someone taking a math exam: SHOW ME YOUR WORK.
I have been producing high-quality, professional content for a myriad of happy employers and clients for more than 20 years despite not having a college degree. I believe the quality and professionalism of the work I have produced speaks for itself.
To answer the specific requirements of the position, I have answered each requirement with my suitability in each area.
[From the job listing (472914BR)]
Desired Skills:
Self-starter, and open to out-of-the-box approaches to achieving development/production goals.
I have this ability based on my divergent thinking skills and adherence to a “get it done” attitude.
Prior experience with typical cradle-to-grave high-end visualization production pipelines. This applies to both cinematic pipelines and game-engine focused pipelines.
I was hired to produce a cinematic, feature-length movie for a client. Although their goals changed and the project was not completed, I did produce about two thirds of the finished product, including scripting, directing, shooting, scoring, color grading, editing, and creating visual effects. In addition, my responsibilities also included budget tracking and reporting, as well as creating and maintaining a data archive of raw and transcoded intermediate footage, along with other asset files such as 3D scene files, Adobe After Effects project files, raw audio recordings, stock footage, 3D meshes, images, and 3D surface textures.
Prior experience helping customers with messaging definition and story development (storyboarding).
In addition to digital media, I am adept at hand drawing using pencils, pen and ink, and design markers. I can engage in rapid prototyping using my ability to quickly sketch realistic mock-ups, as well as exhibiting a full understanding of the physical constraints of production. I have worked with many clients to custom craft professional logos which convey the company ideals and goals while embodying the essence of their business.
Experience identifying new technologies and relating to ways to keep visualization capabilities moving forward.
It has often been said of the 3D animation industry: “If you create the same animation a year from now using the same tools, you aren’t keeping up with technology.”. There always seems to be a newer, better way to achieve improved results for the same production challenges from the recent past.
Experience with AR / VR technologies.
My experience in this area is solely from the user perspective, but I am very interested in applying my talents toward the creation end of the production pipeline.
Experience with some of the following tools:
Maya, 3DS Max, Zbrush, Nuke, Arnold, Adobe Creative Suite, Houdini, Unity, Unreal, Substance Painter, and Substance Designer.
My skills in each are as follows:
█████ Expert
░████ Skilled
░░███ Functional
░░░██ Familiar
░░░░█ Some Exposure
░░░░░ No Exposure
░░░░█ Maya
░████ 3D Studio Max
░░░██ Zbrush
░░░░█ Nuke
░░░░░ Arnold
█████ Adobe Creative Suite
░░░░░ Houdini
░░░░█ Unity
░░░██ Unreal
░░░░░ Substance Painter
░░░░░ Substance Designer
Project management/leadership experience related to visualizing complex engineering concepts and ideas.
My experience pursuing a Mechanical Engineering degree informs my decisions on all 3D visualization projects. This allowed me to complete many projects for a client in 2009 that required from-scratch creation of 3D printing assets, whether created manually in 3D Studio Max or created via photogrammetry or laser scanning methods.
Experience with Linux and/or scripting.
I have mild exposure to Linux, including installation of the operating system, the configuration and installation of applications, and functional familiarity with the basic shell commands. I have run Linux Mint (which is based on Debian, similar to Ubuntu) on personal machines as a testing platform, both as a fully bootable parallel operating system with Windows, and as a virtual machine.
Experience with as many of the following skill packages(minimum two required):
• MODELING: Optimize, refine and correct model geometry. Able to clean up and optimize CAD models as well as model from reference.
I have experience doing vertex-level manipulation and perfection of 3D meshes in 3D Studio Max. This includes making non-manifold solid meshes for 3D printing. I have also used free mesh manipulation tools such as MeshLab and TopMod.
• TEXTURING/SHADING: Create textures, UV maps and PBR workflows using the latest HDRI, GI, normal mapping and principled shader techniques.
I have skills in all of these areas, including using HDR environment maps for physical-based rendering techniques used for photorealistic rendering. I am adept at creating multi-layer materials using the VRay rendering engine in 3D Studio Max.
• LAYOUT/CAMERA: Firm grasp on the principles of cinematography including use of lenses, composition, perspective, positioning and moving the camera. Ensure that characters, props, sets and rough cameras for a shot are set up properly.
I am fully adept at all aspects of camera usage, including cinematography, manual camera operation (aperture, ISO, shutter speed, shutter angle, frame rate, etc.), as well as full understanding and vast experience in all areas of optical physics as related to capturing an image, in both the real and digital realms.
• RIGGING: Rig vehicles and/or characters for animation.
I have performed both of these activities, if only to a minor degree. I understand the differences between forward and inverse kinematics and under which situations each technique is most suitable.
• ANIMATION: Excellent skills animating mechanical (cars, trucks, boats, planes, helicopters, etc.) hard-surface objects. Bipeds and quadrupeds a plus. Knowledge of mechanical systems a plus.
I have ample skills in these areas. Again, my experience pursuing a Mechanical Engineering degree informs my decisions on 3D visualization projects which require realistic animation of physical machines, including understanding the optical physics of hard surface texturing for maximum realism. I have used both Dassault SolidWorks and Autodesk Fusion 360 to engineer various small projects, from creating a clever hinge for a barbecue smoker to the custom design and creation of a camera crane to inventing clever geometry to construct blast-resistant walls for a CBRE safe room without using external fasteners.
• MOTION GRAPHICS: Adept at adapting existing graphic assets for integration into various media. Must have strong understanding of graphic design principles, typography, icon design and video/animation production.
I am absolutely adept in all of these areas, including advanced knowledge and experience with video codecs.
• LIGHTING: Strong eye for detail, composition, color and lighting. Create compelling environment lighting while maintaining a consistent style throughout. Optimize and troubleshoot lighting and rendering issues.
I am extremely adept at 3D lighting and troubleshooting rendering issues, including performing A/B comparisons of different rendering styles. I can also create realistic environments for 3D to render the same scene in the daytime, nighttime, during a sandstorm or thunderstorm, etc.
• COMPOSITING: Creation of photorealistic compositions using Nuke and After Effects.
I am an expert at using Adobe After Effects, including dynamic camera control, element scripting, and knowing how to squeeze maximum quality from the program.
• VFX: Design, animate, light, and composite high quality effects utilizing Maya, Houdini. Knowledge of particles, fluids (smoke, dust, water), fracturing and MEL/Python.
I have experience in creating believable physical effects in a 3D rendering environment. I have used advanced plug-ins for 3D Studio Max such as RayFire (fracturing system), PhoenixFD (fluid dynamics system), and the ocean plug-in from Houdini.
To see samples of all of these skills, you can visit my website at http://www.hyperoptic.net. There you can find some of the vast body of work I've done in various media, including print collateral, billboards, television ads, 3D modeling and animation, visual effects, and music videos. All capabilities listed there are my own skills, as I am the sole proprietor of HyperOptic Productions. Visit this link to see my full resume with links to Executive, Skills, and Personality profiles. I also have 3D animated stock footage for sale on the Pond5 website at this link.
TO SUMMARIZE:
I believe I would be an extremely valuable addition to the Lockheed Martin pool of talent because I am a highly intelligent, seasoned, capable producer of all things multimedia. I also have a big-picture focus, unshakable integrity, business acumen, and a knack for clever innovation.
If I can provide any further information, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Thank you again for your time and consideration.
I look forward to working with you in the very near future.
Respectfully,
Chris Brackman
Integrity — Intelligence — Energy — Innovation
chris@hyperoptic.net
mobile 817 – 821 – 1533
[ORIGINAL MESSAGE]
From: DoNotReply@brassring.com On Behalf Of john.king
Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2019 8:15 AM
To: chris@HyperOptic.net
Subject: Lockheed Martin is seeking a Interactive Media Associate.
Dear Chris,
My name is John King from the Lockheed Martin Corporation. LMC is a major player in the Aerospace and Defense industry and is seeking to speak with you regarding challenging Interactive Media Associate opportunity with Digital Graphic Design and animation. Please answer the six questions below and return the answers to be considered.
Six important questions:
1. Are you aware that these Internships and Full-time opportunities require living in Fort Grand Prairie, TX.? (Interns get a housing stipend.)
2. Many of these opportunities require a Security Clearance before employment. Are you a United States Citizen?
3. Do you have a Dual Citizenship?
4. What is your current Cumulative GPA?
5. What is your Graduation year and month?
6. What is your major and degree?
