Time to Get Reel
polycounter lvl 10
pardon the pun, Just wrapped up my Animation Reel and would love some feed back. I've got some cycles that I'm going to put up on my website as well.
Thanks!
Vimeo
Youtube
[ame]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7onpfdTKOsY[/ame]
Thanks!
Vimeo
Youtube
[ame]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7onpfdTKOsY[/ame]
Replies
The push / pull weight exercise is easily your strongest piece, but it could still use some work. For instance, when he's pulling the cart uphill, the box on the cart doesn't move at all. Maybe consider adding some slight (or exaggerated) motion to the box, as it probably wouldn't stand perfectly upright and motionless on a slope of that angle. It could also give you another opportunity for your character to interact with the object - trying to hold the box on the cart whilst pulling it uphill etc. Generally, I'd probably add some more emphasis on the small, struggling movements to really convey how heavy the cart / box is.
The stylized fight scene felt very stiff, and it's not immediately apparent if this is intentional or not. The car handbrake turn clip was so brief, I'd question whether it's worth even including as it is.
Likewise, the acting / dialogue piece was hard to follow because the motion at the beginning and towards the end were so quick and, I thought, over-exaggerated for the sake of it, whereas the middle of the sequence was very slow and subdued in comparison. The pace and rhythm of the animation doesn't fit the pace of the conversation very well as it is right now. I'd either even out the flow of the movement, or allow some additional frames from one movement to the other to help it read a little better.
What jobs are you aiming to attain, games, or film/tv stuff?
and the end animation with the credits was cool!
James9475: Honestly either industry, I love animation, and want to make it my career, I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to be successful... Right now I'd say its geared more towards television/film than games.
Nitewalkr: Thanks I wrote it
brwnbread: Thanks for the input! I am definitely working on weeding that fight clip out of the reel. I figure by the next iteration it'll be gone completely..
I would get rid of distracting transitions and intro's, just show your name, contact details etc as fast as humanly possible, or even just save all that for the end,.
Parkour scene: I would REALLY avoid obscuring the animation in any way. Here you have this really overbright scene and to be honest it's barely possible to see what's going on in the animation. Prospective employers will not give a flying fuck about anything other than the animation quality. Just show the animation from the most clear angles in the most un distracting environment humanly possible.
drag cart scene: So short and doesn't really show anything, I didn't notice it the first time I watched it.
Pushing cart up hill: This is probably best piece, still not sure I would say this feels finished, but you can tell that the cart is meant to be heavy.
Fight scene: This piece needs to be removed for certain, it's not doing anythign good for you.
farmer's fighting scene: Wierdly jumpy animation, but not in the way you are hoping. I would try watching some classic confrontational scenes in cinema and just, seeing how people actually, move and gesture.
2nd cart push: Again, you can tell the cart is heavy, but you're still not really selling is properly. Try to vary the draggings pace, he seems so incontrol of it despit it's weight. I know you do the little 'oh he almost dropped it' thing, but honestl'y it doesnt really read at all, it's too quick and the physics of it don't work, you don't feel that the shifts in weight at play are really happening.
Car slide: not worth having in, didnt notice it the first time and it's not really showing anything animation wise.
More fight scene: again, this needs to be gotten rid of.
Chasin cart: again, this peice is the one that makes the most sense visually, but there's still a lot of work to be done.
On more generally notes:
Seriously get RID of the transitions, the lead animator at a studio is going to be like 'get this fire shit out of the way of the animation'. I'm not joking.
Number 1 rule I will be sying this forever. Every animation that is worst than your best one, will detract from the possibility they will employ you. Show your best animation first, then very few others (and they must be of almost exactly as high quality). Every time you show a worse animation than your best, you are lowering their opinion of you
OK I don't have more time to post. My conclusion in all honesty is that this simply isn't ready. When I first made a reel it wasn't ready either, but in 2 months I had made a whole new one and easily got work. Don't be sad. Also, if you want a job in games at all, you seriously need to show animation applicable to games. Nothing here could be used in a video game (barring cutscenes). If you just want to target film that's fine, but you should know that you are very much targeting things, and this will not appeal to games studios (outside of the general animation potentially demonstrated).
OK I have to go now,
Peace
EDIT: you will probably feel this is harsh, I'm just telling you what my boss would be saying if we were watching this together at lunch or something. If you care about animation and creating good things, you will use this to get better.