Industry Events

Blue Zoo Visit

On the 11th of October, we visited Blue Zoo. We heard a bit about the history of the studio and about its workflow. We learned about their Long-form work which is their 2D and 3D Tv Shows. We learned about their team, like the Zoo Lab, this is the visual development team. Their licensing team, which is in charge of their merchandise and the digital team, who run their social media platforms. They have their own original TV shows and have worked for Netflix, Nickelodeon, Disney and YouTube. They work on short films and even advertising. I liked their short films because they have a lot of positive messages like body positivity, preventing suicide and more.

They gave us advice on what to put in our showreel and how to improve our animations which I found very helpful. They said to spend more time on blocking and make sure we have strong key poses that can tell the story. When it comes to showreels they look for strong basics, like the 12 principles. The animations need to have strong key poses and breakdowns that show emotion. They mentioned to pay attention to the rhythm of the animation too. A piece of advice I found very helpful was about references. They said not to copy our references. Use it for the key poses and remove everything else. In terms of the work we put in our showreels, they said to put our best work first. If we are thinking of putting a walk cycle in it needs to be more than just a generic walk it needs to have some other action added to it.

They gave us a few tools that can help us as graduates

-Anim Bob

-Tween Machine 2020

-Anim Picker

Some of the software they use are Maya, Nuke, Unreal, Zbrush, Adobe, Toonbloom, Unity, and Python. It takes 3 weeks to complete 1min 30 sec.

After the talk, they gave us a tour of the studio. I was surprised to see how calm and inviting the atmosphere was.

Framestore Visit

When we arrived at the studio we were given a tour around the building. We found out that the limited time the animators are required to be in for is two days a week. The rest of the time they work from home. Senior animators prefer that because that way they get to take care of their family members at home. Although junior animators prefer to be in all week. This way they can learn from the other animators in the computer labs. It was interesting to see people working on their projects. I was surprised to see all the posters of all the movies they have worked on. They worked on movies like Harry Potter, The Golden Compass, Avatar and many more.

After the tour, we were given a presentation by Ian Landman who is the head of film requirement. The studio was established in 1986 in Soho. Their films are their largest output but they work on adverts too. They have an internship that happens during the summer. The company has training in things like acting, public talk, sculpting and more. Their company culture includes events like celebrating diversity and many different clubs.

They showed us what they were looking for in a showreel. They sowed as the showreel of someone who got a job with them. This person showed a good understanding of body mechanics, the weight of a character and the basics of animation.

There was a QA at the end and these are some of the answers

-The company's main software is Maya.

-They produce 4 to 5 seconds of animation a week.

-Their working hours are Monday to Friday from 9 am to 6 pm.

-They get 28 days off a year

-They have mental health help

-Finally, they have virtual machines which connect to the building. That way people working from home have access to the work and they can send it to the building without a problem.

-Equipment is provided

Before going into the studio I had no intention of working there because I had no interest in VFX. However, I was very impressed with the work that they do. The studio was different from what I imagined. Before I had no intention of working in VFX but now my view has changed. I would be open to the opportunity of working in VFX in the future, though my main priority still feature animation.

Vytautas Talk

We had a recent graduate from Ravensbourne come in and talk about his experience since graduating. Vytautas talked about how he got a job and about his experience at work. After listening to his talk I felt less nervous about working in a company. He talked about how friendly everyone is and how they help each other out.

He talked about showreel and how you don't need to have a very complicated piece to get noticed. Until now I always tried to pick more complicated references with a lot of movement. After listening to his talk I understand better what is wanted of us. A common theme that I found from all the events and talks we've has this term is that companies take on animators who have a good understanding of the principles and things like weight. I found that a simpler animation that shows good understanding of the principles is more likely to get you a job than a complicated animation.

Keyframe Studious

Keyframe Studious is a smaller studio founded by Asa Movshovitz. He came to our university to give a talk about his studio. They are very experimental with their projects. Their work ranges from work for Channel 4 to YouTube to their own episodic shows.

He gave us tips on how to find a job. He told us about a few Facebook groups and gave a few useful websites. He advised to always have our showreels updated and show only our best work. He said that Vimeo is better for uploading showreels because you can just update the video. This made me move my showreel over to Vimeo for easier access. At the end, he mentioned online courses on animation mentor and domestica.

I found this talk to be interesting and it made me think about working in a smaller animation company.

DNEG Talk

We got invited to go to the studio. There we were given a tour by the Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist Bridget Dash and the Director of Outreach Dara Mcgarry. We were given a tour around the studio and we got to see where the character animators work. After the tour, we were given a presentation about the studio. We were given showreel and interview tips, which I found very useful. DNEG is a full-service animation studio. They experiment with different animation styles on their films. Dneg started out as a VFX studio. They have been expanding to Feature Films and Episodic work.

Their pipeline starts off with character and environment building. After this, they work on surfacing and scene layout. Then they start working on animation prep which consists of rigging. After this starting to take care of the animation. Then the work gets passed on to the CFX and FX team. After this, the work gets finalised and approved on the final look, this is called the sweatbox. Finally, they add lights and the work is ready to be rendered.

Resume Tips

Showreel Tips

Interview Tips

I found these tips very helpful. One question that was asked was if we don't have any employment history as graduates what do we put down? The answer was to include some of our units and the skills we achieved. I found this answer very helpful since that was an area of my CV I was concerned about. We were advised to research the interviewer beforehand. This way we know a bit about their background and we can ask questions. Another helpful advice was after the interview to send an email saying thanks. This could help set a good impression.

After the presentation, we were shown the showreels of some of the animators when they first started working. It was interesting to see where they all started and it helped me get over my imposter syndrome a little bit. After this, there was time to ask any questions.

Overall I found the studio visit very enjoyable. This is one of the studious I would like to work for. I liked the labs and the environment of the building. Compared to Framestore, whose labs were all laid out in one big room, DNEG had smaller booths of about 6 people. I found this gave a cosy feel to the studio. I prefer to work in a smaller room than in a large space so I liked the layout of their labs.

Michael Dudok

Micheal Dudok is an illustrator and director. He has created multiple short films and has directed The Red Turtle by Studio Ghibli. He came to give us a talk about his work at our university. He talked about his journey and the process he goes through to create his films. I found this talk the most inspirational and eye-opening. He spoke about his craft with a lot of passion which was evident in his work. I had come across one of his short films a few years ago and the emotion that it portrayed made a deep impression on me. Listening to him speak about his work has reminded me why I wanted to do animation in the first place. Even though his work is 2D I still found this extremely useful. I really enjoyed listening to his thought process and seeing some of the concept scenes of the red turtle.

All the talks were very useful in gaining knowledge about the animation industry. I liked seeing the environment animators work in. All the tips I was given about showreels, interviews and CVs were extremely useful. I found this talk was the most inspirational. 2D animation is what got me into animation and it felt nice listening to someone talk about it with such passion.