Month: May 2025

Before joining the course, I had only some knowledge in animating, with the only time that I animated being on Photoshop, Autodesk Maya, and puppet stopmotion animating with Lego. Thinking even back during my BA, I have grown so much not only creatively but also as a person.

During my time learning about the various mediums of animation, and made sure that I built a strong foundation of the basics of animation, such as the principles of animation. With these stronger built skills, I was able to become more confident in executing the animation exercises that were given to us in Unit 1. Going into the next two units made me realise how much I enjoyed coming up with my own ideas and the storytelling aspect for the upcoming projects such as LIAF and the 1-minute film, collaborating with the writers. This makes me think about the future and the kind of role I want in the animation industry, that being a director is something that I might want to become. This was also the first time that I collaborated with other animators as well which really helped push me to think in different perspectives as well as bounce off my teammates, showing how important collaboration is in this industry. With also being the assistant director of the film helped me organise and plan correctly to ensure that we are efficient with our time.

Hearing about many alumni talking about their experience, such as Yukai Du and how she started freelancing as well as worked in the animation industry,y made me realise how much work I need to put in to find my uniqueness as well as the skills that I have that can help me stand out.

Also, hearing other industry professionals such as Travis Knight, the director, president, and CEO of LAIKA, as well as the studio visit to BlinkInk, and Ben Cole giving us advice on what recruiters look for when they look at our work. Hearing both of them saying that people look for animators who have good storytelling skills has got me to think about compelling script-writing and to continue doing research about what makes a good story.

Looking at where I am now compared to when I first joined, I have become a much more confident person. I have been able to push myself as an animator and create three films, with two of them that I made entirely by myself. Where I thought from the first year I found it daunting that I would have to create a film by myself, to now wanting to create more films, whether that be as personal projects or as a director in the future.

For my future directions there is a few roles that I want to pursue, but my main focus as of right now is to get my foot in the door and start with any animation job role that can allow me to understand the industry a lot better. One of the first ways to start is by applying through internships as they are a great way to get insight with the production pipeline of the animation industry but also talk to industry professionals as they can help give you advice on the next stages of your career as well make networking connections for the future.

I have had the chance to get potential opportunities through the UAL announcements and careers, and apply for these roles. These being:

The Art and Graft Studio, who specialise in design and motion, works with the commercial sector, collaborating with brands such as Amazon, Apple, and Google.

NFTS stop motion volunteer assistant on a stopmotion project.

A collaboration project with Issy Brightmore and Campbell Addy.

With the addition of these applications, I have also started to research the various festivals that I will want to apply to for my graduation film. The first being Brighton Film Festival, run by Kate Jessop, the Anima Festival in Brussels, and the British Animation Festival, to name a few. Applying to these festivals also allows me to connect and network with like-minded people.

As I prepare for my future steps into the industry, I need to create and update my portfolio and my showreel. To make sure that my work is of the highest quality, we had a talk with Margaux Tsakiri-Scanatovits, the director at Moth Studios, who went into detail about what to include in your showreel as well as examples of what a successful showreel looks like.

During her talk, she first mentioned having multiple reels when it came to applying for roles. When first starting out as a recent graduate, you can have a general reel where it shows your skills as an animator, but also having a job-specific showreel is just as important as it shows to the company that you have an understanding of the role that you are applying to.

Each scenario of the job application is different, so it’s important to do your research and tailor your showreel to each role. This means to look into each company and to identify your audience. What is the house style of the company like? Meaning, what does their animation style normally cater towards? What kind of work/ clients have they previously done and collaborated with? If there is a specific company that you are drawn to, then try and emulate their styles of animation to show the skills necessary to show that you could be part of their team.

Margaux then went into detail about what content you should put into your showreel. She explained your showreel is an representation of you as an artist and your capabilities as an animator. Throughout your showreel you should always be putting your best work in, with Margaux explicitly saying that most of the time that your showreel with be judged based of your weakest shot, so ensure that you be very critical of your work and choose shots of animation that are memorable and leave the employer wanting more.

When you look at your showreel, you want to make sure that you have a variety of shots that represent different skills, whether that be timings, perspective, the different principles of animation, etc. Within these shots, you should put your best shot first and at the end of your showreel, a strong, memorable piece of work.

When editing your shot,s it is also important that you are keeping it short, between the 30 – 1 minute mark. The shorter the better. This will also allow you to be very critical of your work as you are not the only showreel that recruiters are going through, so it is better to keep your showreel short and snappy than longer and have the recruiter not go to the end of your showreel.

With contact information, make sure that it is very clear, putting all your contact details like your email address and portfolio link at the start and at the end of the showreel. When people go to your portfolio link, make sure that your email address is visible at all times.

After this presentation, I went and applied the advice that Margaux gave us and tried making a new showreel.

I have also created a new portfolio on Adobe Portfolio, where I have been able to easily upload all my new animation work, as well as some character concept illustrations that I made in my personal time as I still have interest in character concept design.

https://felixchenganimation.myportfolio.com/animation-portfolio