This is the second article of my interview with Anne Denman of Studio B Productions.

She is the Head of Recruitment/HR at the studio and is giving us her advice on what she likes to see come in the doors when she has to do some hiring. You can find the first article on making a good resume here.

Today she talks about portfolios. It’s not the ‘nitty gritty details’ of putting one together. You can find that in my ‘Building a Storyboard Portfolio‘ article.

She’s giving a glimspe from the other side of the desk, which you don’t always get to see.

So pay attention.

I now give you Anne’s advice on Portfolios:

I love to see talent. I love to be blown away by it.

How to make your portfolio stand out is to have your really clean, fluid stuff up front.

If you’re new, showing off good line quality can help get you noticed. Whatever you’re applying for, show you can do that first and that you can do it well.

Animators need to show animation (in the form of a demo reel) storyboard artists need boards, etc.

For character designs, show a variety. Don’t just show the big breasted vixen on horseback. Most animation companies aren’t interested. It may work for gaming companies, but animation studios get tired of seeing that same stuff over and over.

I’ve had people come in that I thought were going to be fabulous artists but only had tons of that “Thor” stuff in their portfolio—not interested.

Show some variety! If you’re new, choosing a fairy tale and making 3 different designs for the characters is a good exercise.

If the position calls for a demo reel, only put stuff on it that you have done. And do give a credit list at the beginning. You have two minutes (or less) to show them what you’ve got.

Watch what you’re sending! Offensive material can backfire on you.

Do you know that many recruiting people happen to be women? Is your ’edgy film’ really going to go over that well? Think of it as trying to impress your mom’s best friend. We’re not prudes, we just get tired of sexist jokes and ‘poo poo humor‘.

Be witty. Be smart. You can’t go wrong with that.

Many times with demo reels, there may just be a gate keeper…an assistant or someone filling in to review them. They could be reviewed by someone who may not know anything about animation!

Keep this in mind.

Your demo reel should be snappy and appealing to ANYONE.

It’s a commercial for you.

Make it entertaining. Don’t include your whole student film. You have two minutes (maybe shorter) to make an impression, so don’t waste it.

For your portfolio, it’s a good idea to have a digital and hard copy available. Forget about a blog site (Blogger type thing). We don’t want to read about your personal life while sifting though the site looking for a portfolio.

Show us a portfolio and only a portfolio on the site that you list on your resume.

On that site show them your best stuff. It’s not a cop out. Don’t ‘lead up’ to it.

Show it first because that’s what recruiters want to see. Your skills! It’s okay that you’re new and green but as long as you’re ACTING professional, that goes a long way in our eyes.

If you know someone at the studio you’re applying to, ask if you can use their name and then use it! Knowing someone is always a plus (especially if they are respected). Put your name out there…it helps a lot.

As a newbie you should try to go to animation festivals, parties and events. Remember at these events you are always ‘on’. You never know who you will meet and who you are giving your first impression to.

Forget about business cards. They’re pretty much a waste of money and you’ll rarely use them. Unless you are going to a lot of events and they are done well. No one really collects business cards in the industry (unless at events).

When things are slow, work on a project (your own or someone else’s) to keep your skills sharp. Life drawing. Meet people.

Get a mentor in areas you want to improve in. If you want to do better boards get Karen cause she’s the best. (Aw shucks, thanks Anne – KJL.) Ask advice from other pros in the field.

Keep on your game. Do a plan of where you want to go and where you want to be in 5 years.

Spread yourself out and get seen.

Thanks again for the insights Anne!

We’ll continue this series next week with some advice on applying to studios. Good stuff.

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On the off-chance you might want to read something not about sad celebrity deaths, I bring you this.

It’s an interview I did with the fabulous and lovely Anne Denman of Studio B Productions here in Vancouver. We talked about resumes, portfolios and getting hired at an animation studio.

No ‘questions and answers’ really. I just let her go on a roll, so it’s written from her point of view.

I may add a few of my own comments along the way though.

So let’s get to know Anne a little bit, shall we?

I started at International Rocketship as a receptionist for three years which evolved into Production Coordinator. Then after taking a three year hiatus to be a mom, I worked at Vancouver Film School as the program manager in the 2D animation department for eight years.

I was then approached to become the Director of the Student Program of the Platform International Animation Festival, in 2007, for Cartoon Network.

In 2008 I decided to get back into the studio system. After sending a timely email to Studio B’s Blair Peters and Chris Bartleman, I was asked to Head the Recruitment/HR at Studio B Productions. So here I am at a studio I L-O-V-E.

The Resume Stuff: What do you look for in a good resume?

One sheet. Don’t make it difficult to read. No crazy fonts or tiny type. Twelve point type is good because the person reading may be over 40! *ahem*

At the top, put your name and what you do. Or vise versa. Almost better to put the title, then your name because that’s what the recruiter is looking for first…the position. We’re going to be looking for an ‘animator’ or a ’storyboard artist’ or a ‘character designer’ but rarely a ‘John Smith’.

(Karen’s note: This is really good advice. I recently updated my resume and I think it works great having what I do right at the top.)

At the top should also be your complete contact information.

• Your phone numbers. Make it easy to get hold of you.
• Your email address. It should not be something totally ridiculous. Use your real name whenever possible (or something close to it). In this business your name is your BRAND. Use it.
• Your website (if you have one). And try to use your real name here as well. I don’t know anyone in animation who doesn’t use their name as their website if they are worth any salt. We think it’s obvious, but apparently it’s not.
• Your home address. Don’t be afraid about putting your address. The studio needs to know where you live because for the most part, they want to hire local talent first. If you live here, they want to know that!

Then have a summary section which could include your skills (bullet form is a good idea), objective of what position you want to fill in at the studio and maybe your short term goals for your career. Simple and direct is okay.

The smaller the studio, the more general you can be with your objections. The larger the studio, the more specific you should be with what position you want to fill. They are rarely looking for anyone who “will do anything”. That can work against you.

Then put what you have done in the form of work experience and school experience. The school you attended will not indicate whether you ‘have the goods’ or not. It’s all up to you and your skills, but it’s not a deal breaker.

For the most part, going to a reputable school helps you. But I’ve seen very talented people come out of less reputable schools and vise versa.

It’s possible to be self taught for certain positions, but for animators, school is usually necessary. If you have mentored or studied with someone respected in the industry, tell us. It can help you (so can getting mentored by someone who knows their stuff).

(Karen’s note: Don’t include jobs that have nothing to do with art or the industry. Nobody cares. I briefly mention my graphic design experience at this point because it’s somewhat relevant. But I don’t put that one year I worked at the movie theatre when I was 19. Get my drift?)

References are a good idea too. Include what studio or school, the name of your supervisor/instructor and their phone number or email address if possible (but ask permission from this person first!).

Notify your references by email when you send out your resumes so they are prepared for any inquiries. It will look bad for you if they are caught racking their brain trying to remember who you are.

If you can do a filmography, that’s great. This can be on a separate page. As you gain more experience, the more relevant this will become. This is where a website can also be of benefit.

(Karen’s note: As you can see, I’ve used a two column layout on my resume so everything fits neatly on one page. )

If you don’t have much experience, indicate your student film. Any awards? Festival entries? Other accomplishments that are relevant to the industry? Put it on there.

So here’s a quick resume check list:

• Keep it clean, readable and to one page
• Include your NAME and all contact information
• Be clear on what position you are applying for
• All relevant work experience
• All relevant education
• Filmography (if you have one)
• References with contact information
• Any other relevant info (films, awards, accomplishments etc.)

Thanks for all the great info Anne!

We’ll continue this series next week with some portfolio advice from Anne. Then some good stuff on applying to studios the week after that. Stay tuned!

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Okay, this is a cop-out. I admit it.

I’m really working on a post (or series of posts) with an interview I did with Anne Denman of Studio B Productions about resumes, portfolios and applying to studios and stuff.

We recorded the interview during lunch on an audio cassette and I’ve transcribed it. But digging through it all and actually *writing* the article is inflicting all sorts of procrastination-ish stuff on me.

I will get it done though!

So to fill in the gap, I’m going to pimp out a few artists.

This is what happens when you sign up to the Storyboard Club Mailing List Which Is Really Kind Of A Newsletter Thingy on your right.

Some of my ‘list people’ wrote to me and gave me a link to their sites. And they’re very good, so you should look at them and learn.

There are some good examples of making a blog a half-decent portfolio. And some are just really nice drawings.

Take it away Eric the orchestra leader!

(Name that reference and you get a cookie.)

Aidan Casserly has two nice sites. Aidan’s portfolio site is clean and easy to navigate. Aidan’s blog is full of more storyboard goodness. Check them out.

Drew Blom. After reading my series of posts on making a portfolio site, Drew made a very nice site on Weebly.com. Watch and learn folks.

click to continue reading>>

OK, this is an experiment.

One that I may regret. I’m not sure yet.

But I feel as though I’m in a bit of a ‘posting slump’ and need to shake things up a bit. And since I started using audio in my Mini Critiques, I realized that audio and video really are a godsend to a lazy ass like me.

Sorta.

Because I can talk a heckuva lot faster than I can type.

And I’m a bit of a ham.

So I went to see Pixar’s ‘UP’.

And I was going to give it one of my ‘tri-perspective’ reviews and all. Much like my Coraline review, I was going to focus on the experience of seeing the movie.

Well, this was my experience.

Sorry if the video is too long. Sorry if it’s not loud enough. Sorry that there is no real review at this time. When I see the movie again, I’ll give one (the short version is: it’s fabulous).

But there were ‘technical difficulties’ that I need to rant about.

So in the name of “putting myself out there” here is my ‘UP’ experience.

My apologies. : )

(Judging from the still frame on the video, I assume the video Gods are punishing me already.)

If you can’t see the video in your feed reader, click through to the post.

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What?

There’s a test?

Nobody said anything about there being a test!

Yup. It could happen.

And most likely, it will.

At some point or another in your career, you may be asked to do a storyboard test. (Or animation test, or design test or clean-up test…but I’m dealing with storyboards here, so that’s what I’ll stick with.)

What is a storyboard test exactly?

It’s usually given to inexperienced artists or those applying for an intern position. But there are times when studios even ask experienced artists to take a test.

You are usually given design materials, some sort of storyline/script and a deadline.

Then you ‘have at it’.

You draw up an original storyboard and hand it in either with your portfolio or after they have already seen your work and want to see more of what you can do.

Why do you have to do a test anyway?

Can’t they just judge your skills by looking at your portfolio? Yes and no.

They may want to know if you are a good fit for that studio or even for a particular show. No one knows how long it took you to draw all that stuff in your portfolio.

Or even if you really drew it all yourself. (Note: You better have!)

A test puts all applicants on more of an even playing field. They can look at a bunch of tests and see whose stands out. Who’s ‘got the goods’.

And most of all, they want to see if you can tell a story!

So let’s look at ten tips to tackle a storyboard test.

1. Look over all the materials.

Have you been given character designs? Any backgrounds? Is there a script or a story outline?

Here is an example of a storyboard test that is given for a story intern position at Blue Sky: Blue Sky story intern test. (The deadline was April 17th so don’t get excited.) But look it over, because it’s good practice.

It’s just some characters and a simple story outline. Some studios give out more.  Either way, the materials are there to be used.

Use them.

2. Respect the deadline.

You are sometimes given a storyboard test after your portfolio has been viewed. They are interested and want to see more.

And they want to see if you can make a deadline. That’s part of the test!

Because if you can’t pull off 25-50 panels in 2 or 3 weeks, you won’t look too good. In real life, you have to pull off 10 to 20 pages per day to make your deadlines.

So make the deadline!

click to continue reading>>

As a child, I was not a ‘Barbie girl’.

Clothes and high heels? Eeesh.

And baby dolls?

Ack. Gag. What the hell was I supposed to do with one of those? Blech.

Interestingly enough, I currently don’t own a dress and don’t have kids. Hmmm.

I mainly played with stuffed animals, plastic creatures (I loved rubber snakes and dinosaurs) and male action figures (anyone remember ‘Big Jim’ and ‘Big Josh’?).

Yeah. I was a real little princess, I was.

Now, any self-respecting animation artist knows that if you don’t have some kind of toy collection, you are not that serious about animation.

It’s some kind of unwritten law or something.

So I thought it might be fun to share a few of mine. Some are actually from my childhood. But a lot of my collection accumulated while in animation school and beyond. Most of which you can see above.

Let’s take a look shall we? (My apologies for the crappy photos.)

Fonzie.

This one is from my childhood. I loved Happy Days and had a crush on Henry Winkler. I had the Fonzie Happy Days album for goodness sakes (and really wish I still did).

This toy is friggin’ pristine (except for the dust). It looks like it came right out of the box. I didn’t play with it so much as just admired it. The thumbs are pose-able and there’s a lever in the back to make his hands go up and down.

I challenge you to do this and not say, “Ayyyyyyyyy!”

I love him. And he lives on the top of my toy shelf.

Because he’s cool.

click to continue reading>>

Before I begin, is it just me or…?

If you’ve seen ‘Bolt’ and watch ‘Lost’, you might find that uncanny like I do.

Anyhoo.

Back to analyzing some Bolt sequences. You can find the first Bolt post here.

I’m just going to pick apart one sequence this week.

Like with the first post, I’m sticking to the opening of the movie when it’s really the ‘Bolt’ TV show we’re watching.

Because it’s full of action movie cliches and fun to watch.

Which bring us to:

The Face Off

Or ’stand off’. Or ‘playing chicken’.

Either one, it’s when two parties are at either end of what usually turns out to be an alley.

Because there is no escape from an alley, hence the heightened drama.

So it starts.

The dark, black car pulls into the alley blocking off the only exit Penny and Bolt have. (They are at the other end.)

The camera is low, making the car more menacing.

Cut inside. The creepy bad guy gives our driver-thug his orders. “Just the girl.”

Because creepy bad guys never do their own dirty work. They call ‘Thugs-R-Us’ or something.

click to continue reading>>