Looking into the Animation Industry: Part 4 – Showreels
Currently, I’m making edits to my showreel to now include various tests, exercises and my LIAF contributions from the last term before I go applying again to studios. But before I finalise the edit, I’ve decided to have a look at other showreels, see what’s working and making tweaks accordingly.
In terms of where I want to apply and what I want to apply for, I imagine I’ll be staying here in the UK. If possible, I wouldn’t mind taking remote work, but I don’t envision myself working overseas (at least for the foreseeable future). In terms of positions and roles, I’m being a bit more on the general side at the moment, looking towards roles such as roughs, keys animation, clean-up, colouring as well as compositing.
I’ve had a look at Ella Moffatt’s animation showreel, someone who’s graduating this year. Her showreel highlights the software she uses (TVPaint and Clip Studio Paint), highlighting her roles alongside this. There’s a mix of long and short clips, which allows her animation to breathe and be enjoyed without rushing, which works with the slow, relaxing music track she’s chosen. What’s nice about her showreel is how personal it feels – boiling animation for the text, as well as an open-book kind of feeling to it. You see the process of how the animations evolve, a nice mix of complete and work-in-progress sequences that give a much more complete feel to the whole thing.
Toniko Pantoja’s demo reel takes a very different approach to showcasing his work. Instead of using music as a way to compile his clips, he takes clips of his work using the audio edited and synced to instead, or no audio at all. His reel showcases line tests, work-in-progress lip syncs giving insight into his process of building up the animation. In terms of editing, it feels a little rawer. Not like he hasn’t put any effort in at all, but there’s a little less of a flashy attitude towards the whole thing.
Up next, I’m looking at Kelan Hordos’ showreel. In contrast to the last two I’ve looked at, this is purely line tests, showcasing the use of timing charts, rough sketch backgrounds and some remarkable character acting. It feels tailored towards primary animation positions such as keys, in-betweens or clean-up, rather than post or colouring jobs. As someone who’s interested in similar, it’s worth taking note that line tests can be just as, if not more effective, than complete coloured animations.
Howard Wimhurst’s showreel showcases a nice mix of animation as well as FX work and compositing. His chosen shots showcase his ability to draw, but as well as how he uses lighting and colouring to enhance his shots. Some shots are purely line art, some show crazy smears and exaggerated hand-drawn effects, some include background animation and help make his showreel feel dynamic and exciting. It’s a perfect mix of showing off his own animation process as well as compositing skills.
Taking all of this into account, I’ve developed my showreel to mix some short sequences, showcasing a mix of coloured work, line tests as well as composited works.
One of the things I want to communicate in my showreel is the idea of adapting and working with others. I read a LinkedIn article by David Komorowski about animation interview questions and what studios are looking for, a point he brings up is that studios want to see how well you can fit into their culture, and if you can work in a team. With this in mind, I’ve started incorporating more short exercises where I used other designs created by my peers, crediting them as a way of saying “I do work with others” and showing my team play in animation.
Having a look into other showreels towards roles that I’m after has been very helpful. My previous showreel felt a little uncoordinated and a little lost, so to have a direction to focus on and to know more specifically what I want to showcase to potential employers and like-minded animators feels good.