Building a dedicated website to showcase your animation work is crucial for presenting your portfolio, attracting freelance clients, and establishing a professional brand. By using a custom domain and creating a standalone site, you gain full control over your content, allowing you to differentiate your work from the clutter of general social media platforms.

However, websites take a long time to build and can sometimes be expensive to maintain. I learned this firsthand. First, I needed to choose a website builder. There are many options available, including WIX, SQUARESPACE, WordPress, Adobe, and more.

I decided to try WIX because I heard it had good ratings, offered creative freedom with a drag-and-drop interface, and provided an all-in-one platform system. It took me ages to get the template and the design of the website I wanted, but in the end, it was a full-on job that I didn’t have time for, and once you choose a template and publish your site, you can not switch to a completely new one; you need to redesign the site from scratch.

Additionally, I couldn’t use my paid domain with the free Wix plan; I had to buy a monthly subscription, which wasn’t cheap. (Lucky enough, I got my money back guarantee)
So in the end, I had to get some advice from my tutors. Lucky Margo from Studio Moth was visiting the university that day, and she gave me lots of advice on how I can still advertise my work without paying for an expenses website.

Laura-Beth and Margo introduced me to Behance.net and Cargo.com, where I can upload my resume and portfolio without all the fuss of creating a website.

Behance is an awesome online platform and social media community where creative minds can show off their amazing work, build their portfolios, and connect with new talent. Owned by Adobe, it’s a go-to spot for designers, illustrators, and photographers looking to gain some exposure and discover freelance or full-time opportunities. Join the fun and share your creativity! And Cargo is a friendly website builder made just for designers, artists, photographers, and all kinds of creative folks! It’s the perfect tool for showcasing your unique work and connecting with your audience.

Building a website takes a considerable amount of time because it involves many complex phases beyond just writing code. However, this hasn’t discouraged me from wanting to create one in the future. Perhaps it will be my next project after I graduate, giving me something to focus on during the summer holidays.

While tackling the website tasks, I have also been applying for job roles and internships. As a person with dyslexia, applying for roles that require a cover letter has been challenging; it takes me a while to write 400 words. I’ve been using indeed.com.

https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/cvs-cover-letters/how-to-write-a-cover-letter

I have also been editing my CV and making the template more eye-catching and professional-looking.

I have never worked remotely before. Working from home, remotely, or splitting time between home and the office (hybrid working) has become very common.

If someone asked me whether I would prefer to work remotely, I would say no, unless it was necessary. There are both pros and cons to working from home compared to working in a studio. Since I don’t live in central London, I experience less commuting, reduced stress, and lower expenses. I was making the right decision. However, I found it challenging to maintain a balance between my work life and personal life.

During the Easter holidays, I had the opportunity to work as an animator on two projects: “The Cat and the Fish” by John Little Soza and “Brinemouth: Apocalypse Club” by Trinity Hunt. I have been enjoying the process and challenges of animating characters created by other artists. However, I had to deal with reduced communication and limited immediate access to information. While waiting for feedback, I decided to animate my solo projects in the meantime. This makes me realise that human interaction is so important, and without it, isolation and boredom can result. While working on Trinity’s short film, I scheduled video calls with her to discuss feedback and corrections on my work, as well as to have a general catch-up to boost our mental health and well-being.

I have to admit that I didn’t receive some “pre-production jetters” when I started animating these characters for these two projects. I felt like an imposter and was quite worried that I wouldn’t be able to master Trinity and John’s style, and I thought I would struggle to animate them.

I heard that many students and even 20-year veterans experience imposter syndrome; it’s an incredibly common phenomenon in the industry. The root cause is often referred to as the “taste gap,” where you have a clear understanding of what a high-quality finished product looks like, but your technical abilities take time to catch up. This can lead you to view your own work as inadequate.

I often compare my art to others’, and I believe many artists do the same. It’s easy to measure our own behind-the-scenes struggles against the polished final pieces of our peers’ portfolios. Since art and animation are inherently subjective, receiving critiques can sometimes feel more like a personal judgment of our worth rather than an objective assessment of a project.

I have a different art style and animation approach. Trinity’s character designs feature anthropomorphic animals in very cartoonish clothing, a style I haven’t explored before. My usual approach involves semi-realistic characters, where animals look like animals and humans look like human beings, so this was a challenge for me. John’s characters share a similar foundation but lean more towards an anime style, with grounded, stylised animal designs rather than exaggerated ones.

Both projects presented their own challenges. I had to learn the creatures’ animation method using TVPaint. If I had to choose between the two projects, each with its own difficulties, I would select John’s because he animates in the style of Japanese animation. I relied heavily on “limited animation,” drawing fewer frames per second—sometimes as few as 8 to 12—and deliberately holding still frames for several seconds. To compensate, anime often invests heavily in character detail.

When I animate, I use the Disney method described in “The Illusion of Life,” which focuses on creating extremely smooth, lifelike, and fluid movements. I often wondered if I was doing it wrong because, in feedback sessions, John would remove some frames and explain his method. He advised that, when tweening, there should be three frames between each keyframe, rather than six, depending on what the character is doing on-screen.

For the Unit 3 project, I faced an important decision about which pathway to choose for my final course project. I had to decide between creating a short film or producing a showreel that showcases my detailed animated character performance, including specific scenes, scenarios, or sequences. This decision was difficult, and I felt a lot of self-doubt about whether I was making the right choice.

No matter how many pros-and-cons forms I filled out or feedback questions I received from classmates and tutors, I was still seeking a final answer. In the end, I had to think carefully about what I wanted to achieve from my course at Central Saint Martins and what my goals would be after completing it. Choosing the portfolio/showreel pathway was crucial because it acts as a visual resume. After studying animation for over five years, my next step is to find employment in the field. I want to prepare the essential tools I need to secure a job in the animation industry.

As I near the completion of my project, I made the right choice. My workload is manageable, and I am strictly adhering to my schedule. I am enjoying the challenging aspects of drawing and animating other directors’ characters for their films.

Observing my classmates’ stress and fatigue reinforces the reality that creating a short film independently in 4-5 months is no easy task. If I had more time and a larger team, I would have definitely created my own short film for this unit. However, I’ve won’t lose the opportunity to make a film; my time will come. It’s not impossible to create an animated film independently; it just requires significant time, patience, and dedication.

There are many successful examples of animators and filmmakers who create films on their own. One of my main online mentors for this unit has been Aaron Blasie, who has inspired and reassured me that it is possible to animate a film by yourself. Although it took him three years to create the 2D animated short film “Snow Bear” release in 2024, the result is a beautiful piece of artwork that showcases the hard work and dedication Blasie has put into it.

https://snowbearshort.com

“Is choosing the 2D animation route still viable?“

After finally deciding to create a showreel, I had to carefully consider how my skill sets and animation techniques fit into the animation industry. I often hear the question from creators and fans: “Is 2D animation dying because of AI and CGI? Should I still pursue it as a career?” This concern has crossed my mind occasionally, but I believe 2D animation is still very much alive! It continues to be produced, although not as much theatrically in the U.S. This situation makes me a bit worried since I have focused exclusively on hand-drawn 2D animation for the past five years. I’m concerned about how difficult it will be for me to find a job that matches my abilities.

Hollywood studios often face challenges in achieving profitability with 2D animation. They typically find 2D animation harder to market, which slows down production and leads to lower merchandising profits compared to 3D films, which can yield higher returns. Following the success of Pixar’s “Toy Story” in 1995, audiences became accustomed to high-quality CGI and 3D rendering. While collaborating with Io Limmer on her 3D animated film, “Star Knight, the Pig Kid,” Io sparked my interest in 3D programming by introducing me to the capabilities of 3D technology, such as Blender and Maya. Additionally, studios have noticed that many audiences are willing to pay more to watch 3D animated films in theatres, making it difficult for 2D films to compete financially. Although major American studios have shifted away from 2D animation, the medium continues to thrive in other parts of the world, particularly in Japan and Europe.