Post of Grade III Teacher Result 2012
What Would You Suggest Are the Top 3 Types of Scenes to Include at the Start of a Demo Reel?
What would you suggest are the top 3 types of scenes to include at the start of a demo reel to catch the eye of the viewer? ( e.g. dialogue, walks, acting, etc.)
Your first shot on your demo reel should really grab your audience. It should be the shot that best represents your talents -- the one you are most proud of. If the viewer does not like your first shot, chances are, they are going to turn it off and put in the next demo reel.
I would suggest starting with a strong acting piece -- a line that shows a character's emotion change over the shot: sad to happy, worried to relief, anger to acceptance. This will enable you to showcase your range.
The second shot should show physical animation. "Physical" does not mean a walk cycle, but rather, getting the character from point A to point B in an interesting way. For example, instead of showing a character walk over to pick up a newspaper on the floor, perhaps the character is sipping coffee as he uses his behind to push open the front door and picks up the paper and puts it under his arm while still sipping his morning brew. By giving the audience something completely unexpected but still very much grounded in a realistic performance, you are showing your creativity and your ability to bring something new to the table.
Your last shot is just as important as your first. It's the last thing they are going to see - the last impression you are going leave with the viewer. I wouldn't base your decision on what the shot demonstrates as much as how memorable it is. This could be a catchy line that the viewers will be saying over and over again after they have watched your reel. Or maybe it's a moment that will leave your audience laughing. Whatever it is, the goal is to leave them wanting more.
The most important thing to remember when putting your reel together is that it's about quality, not quantity. One minute of really strong animation goes much farther then five minutes of so-so animation.
Your first shot on your demo reel should really grab your audience. It should be the shot that best represents your talents -- the one you are most proud of. If the viewer does not like your first shot, chances are, they are going to turn it off and put in the next demo reel.
I would suggest starting with a strong acting piece -- a line that shows a character's emotion change over the shot: sad to happy, worried to relief, anger to acceptance. This will enable you to showcase your range.
The second shot should show physical animation. "Physical" does not mean a walk cycle, but rather, getting the character from point A to point B in an interesting way. For example, instead of showing a character walk over to pick up a newspaper on the floor, perhaps the character is sipping coffee as he uses his behind to push open the front door and picks up the paper and puts it under his arm while still sipping his morning brew. By giving the audience something completely unexpected but still very much grounded in a realistic performance, you are showing your creativity and your ability to bring something new to the table.
Your last shot is just as important as your first. It's the last thing they are going to see - the last impression you are going leave with the viewer. I wouldn't base your decision on what the shot demonstrates as much as how memorable it is. This could be a catchy line that the viewers will be saying over and over again after they have watched your reel. Or maybe it's a moment that will leave your audience laughing. Whatever it is, the goal is to leave them wanting more.
The most important thing to remember when putting your reel together is that it's about quality, not quantity. One minute of really strong animation goes much farther then five minutes of so-so animation.
How Important Is It To Get An Internship As A Beginning Animator?
Of course it will depend on the type of internship. Sometimes animation students get internships doing PA type of stuff in companies that are not so great... I mean, if what you really want is to animate you probably won't be happy making xerox copies or going pick up dinner for the boss. This type of internship will probably not turn you into a better animator. It's true though that getting an internship in any of the big studios, even if it's not exactly in production, can be a nice way to get a feeling for how it all works, and also to get good connections and some professional experience. So it all depends on what is the internship like, and in what company.
What Keeps You Motivated When working on a Long, Tedious Animation Project?
There are a lot of things that help me to stay motivated, but first and foremost - it's the people around you. I don't think I ever went through a day at ILM and didn't laugh. It doesn't matter how tedious a shot or project can be, the atmosphere is always fun and everybody around you is there for support. You know that you're not alone.
I also listen to a lot of music and movies while I work. Usually I pick movies that I'm very familiar with so it's not distracting me from the actual work, but it provides a comfortable and pleasant background noise. Usually they are movies from my childhood, like the classic Star Wars trilogy, or Back to the Future, The Goonies, Big Trouble in Little China, etc.
I also listen to a lot of music and movies while I work. Usually I pick movies that I'm very familiar with so it's not distracting me from the actual work, but it provides a comfortable and pleasant background noise. Usually they are movies from my childhood, like the classic Star Wars trilogy, or Back to the Future, The Goonies, Big Trouble in Little China, etc.
Do You Have Any Special Techniques Using Inverse Kinematics (IK) in "Freehand Animation" When the Hands are Free From Other Objects?
First, it is important to understand some of the differences between IK and FK. When you are animating an arm in FK, you first move the shoulder, then the elbow, and then the wrists. That's more or less what we do when we move our own arms. So, all and all, FK seems a bit more similar to the way we move, with the movement starting on the shoulder. The process of animating an IK arm is very different; instead of starting the movement from the shoulder, you will work in the inverse direction. You position the wrist wherever you want it to go, and the rest of the arm kind of goes with it. Both ways of animating are perfectly fine, and, for example, when animating a character dancing, walking, or running, you can certainly achieve good results with both IK and FK.
How many types of blocking are there? How many frames should I leave for blocking of a normal character?
The term "blocking," simply means the process of "roughing in" the animation. Of course, because every shot is different, there is no "set number of frames" for the blocking of a shot. The frame count of a shot is usually predetermined by the Director and Editor of the project, or else the length of a piece of dialogue you might be working with.
However, the goal of your blocking should be two-fold:
1) Completeness (which, by the way, IS a word. I checked two dictionaries to be sure!)
However, the goal of your blocking should be two-fold:
1) Completeness (which, by the way, IS a word. I checked two dictionaries to be sure!)
How did you get your first job at a Animatio studio? Do you have any tips on what to do?
The process of landing my first job had a profound effect on my life. I call it the “Build Your Own Crowbar Approach.”
A bit of back-story: I entered animation school at the ripe old age of 33. At that time I had a wife, a one-year-old child and another on the way. People were telling me how difficult the industry was to break into and that I'd probably never be able to feed my family.
