Blond needs critique on his folio

Blond

Welps..finally guys. Took the time to assemble some of the work I've made at school and compile them into my page.

Honestly, I don't feel too happy about the whole thing. I worked on various project but now as I look at it as a whole, it's all  pretty average honestly, comparing it for example to IAnimate junior students.
Then again, most of the stuff was also rigged by me so I guess I got that going for me (except Mery). 

http://blondel.weebly.com/

First, I'd like to have your opinion on the Folio itself. Give me some crits on the layout, the spacing, presentation and all. Also drop by the resume and tell me what you think of it.

Then, if some of you could bother to watch my animation reel and tell me what I should work on as a student.

Considering I'll be finishing Uni in fall 2016 (one semester left yay!  ) I still have up to 2017 to ramp up my skills to junior professional quality!

Be honest please. A lot of people here said that I was talking a lot but I had nothing to show for it. Now is the time to be crude with me!

EarthQuake

I agree that your demo real is pretty average. Nothing jumps out at me as being particularly terrible, but there wasn't anything memorable there either. I'm not an animator myself so I don't have any detailed advice for you there.

Did you model the characters and rig/animate them? It's not really clear. Either way, I would suggest trying to find some talented character artists whose models you can use for your reel, assuming you're looking for an animator position not a character artist.

The website itself is simple enough. The logo with the jumping guy with AO looks pretty bad. I would use something more interesting there. Even the same character but with better lighting. It's also not real clear why that is there or that its a clickable element.

I would drop the "other" section entirely, none of your 2D work is at a professional level so it just brings the entire thing down. Better to show a small amount of good work than a bunch of bad work. Your portfolio is only as good as your weakest piece as they say.

Blond

Hey thx buddy.  I'll try and see how I can work my stuff out during this summer!

Bletzkarn

I like your animations they do look good I'm just wondering if you can contextualise them more. 

You're selling yourself right, and you're trying to show the value you would bring to a company. At the moment there is no context, just grey backgrounds no colour. Some of these looked like they could be for advertisements so why not present it in such a way, of if it's a video game you could show it in such a context.

It's the difference between a prop artist showing his prop floating in space, verses him creating a little scene for it. 

My 2 cents.

Blond

OK,ok, It's because sometimes, I see animation reel only made within the viewport and simple shading so I was kinda sceptic if I needed background and stuff for my reel.

I'm really looking for more voices plz. It's the first time I ever ask real crits on my stuff.

EVernier

Alright. I'm not the most experienced animator, still trying to make it as a junior in Montreal myself, but here's what I have to say:

• I don't think you should open with the bear walk cycle. I'd put the shot for the advertisement first.
• You don't need to put two biped walk cycles. One is enough. As for which of them, I might use the one with the custom character if you're applying to smaller studios (and do mention that you did the character + rig if you did). That way they will see that you can do more than just animation.
• I don't think we need to see the bear walking three times. I'd remove the first walk cycle and keep the two others which have more personality to them and generally feel as stronger pieces than the basic walk.
• I think that you should end with the bear falling down as it might be your 2nd best piece. You want the first piece to be your best and the last one to leave the recruiter want more.

With what you have, I think you could make it in a TV studio as a junior animator. If you're willing to move outside Qc for your first job, you could go for DHX Media in Halifax or Vancouver, I got in with a reel that was weaker than yours and they're often looking for juniors.

Edit: Your site is simple and easy to navigate. I'm not sure I'd keep the guy jumping, though. Or give him a nice render, maybe with some text to make it clear you can click on him and where it leads to. Having an Other section is good, but not with what you have right now. It makes everything feel like an amateur Deviant Art page, not a professional web page. What I would suggest is to do some life and gesture drawing and put it in your Other section. Showing you have an understanding of the human form will increase your chances of landing that junior job.

Arturow

Hello Blond,

First , don't compare to others :P try to be the very best of yourself and then yeah you can compare yourself later haha but don't get sad at the beginning of your career.

- The page is fine , is goes direct to the point. The reel.
- Evernier just nailed haha
- Other studio that hires a lot of juniors is Bardel.
- You are still in school, try not to get too desperate :P just animate more! and make that reel stronger. Just avoid the same exercises you see from animation schools.
- Join the new challenge? =P