Your Animation Portfolio - A Major Product of Your Animation Education

By Mary Hobson
Mary.Hobson@theanimationschooldirectory.com
Animation School Directory Columnist

Making your animation portfolio is probably the most important part of getting your first - or next - animation job. You will need to present this portfolio on a video tape containing sequences of your best animation work. These sequences could be film, cartoon, website work or presentations you've worked on during your animation education.

Short Film and Cartoon Clips

If you've never had to produce a portfolio reel before, it's important to keep a few key matters in mind.

• Keep Your Tape Short - around 3 minutes. You may feel that you cannot do your work justice without producing around 15 minutes, but everyone who is applying for animation jobs will be producing these tapes, so attention spans are short.



• Select Only The Very Best of Your Work. This helps with the point above, and you want to absolutely impress your prospective employers with what you have produced during your animation education.



• Be Very Careful If You Include Music. Often films and cartoons are viewed without music, so if you are relying on the impression of sound, you may not get your point across.



• Include a Shot List and Your Personal Details on the Reel. There will be many applications for animation jobs, so make sure that employers know what they are looking at, and who produced it.



• You Can Expect to Have to Produce at Least 100 of These Portfolio Reels. Animation jobs are hard to come by, and competition is fierce, so this is a numbers game.

Animation Jobs are in Short Supply

Your portfolio is one of the really important products from your animation education, as it is proof positive that you are capable of creating and producing high quality animation. Employers are inundated with applications for animation jobs, so this is a filter to see who will get a job interview - yet another step in gaining your first animation job.

Source

• http://www.edharriss.com/getajob/all_pages.htm

About the Author

Mary Hobson is a consultant for technology start-ups in Russia. She has also worked as an executive officer in a defense facility and as a university lecturer in computer science and management information. Mary earned her first degree in textile marketing and subsequently studied education and computer science at a Master's degree level.