Over the years working as an Animator, I have been fortunate to have animated in many different ‘arenas’ (industries). So, I thought why not share my experience and show you a few different areas an Animator can play in and the disciplines they help build!
Video Games
Within Games, you gain a large understanding in body mechanics and working with true 3D space, making sure the animation works from every angle. By animating In-game animations, you gain a deeper knowledge of things like cycles, vignettes and even combat moves! (Not that you’ll be needing those any time soon...hopefully). Cinematics (such as cut scenes) look at acting and camera work and push you to learn visual storytelling.
Television
The fast pace environment of children's TV teaches you to look at animating to camera, playing more with acting and digging deep into the fundamentals to ensure the performance has strong poses and clear silhouettes.
Another part of this industry is commercials. This gives the opportunity to work in smaller teams where being resourceful and showing initiative is the only way to get the job done. No time to sit in the corner, you got to be clued in and on the ball.
Film
Previsualization is a key part of filmmaking, adapting the 2D storyboards into a 3d blueprint. This stage is vital and is where a lot of creativity, understanding of storytelling and film making is gained! The early stages of production are where you can work closely with the Director playing with style and movement of characters. When animating in feature to VFX, the use of video reference is a must for capturing nuances that are needed to create a convincing performance when animating for film.
Whether you’re animating creatures from fantasy worlds or characters based on reality, the realistic Panther to the zany cartoon character, being able to adapt to the many animation styles each film calls upon is a great way of experiencing and enjoying a wide variety of different types of films that require animation.
No matter what area you choose, getting into the head of the character is important in every way. Build a solid foundation in the art of animation and choose what feels most fun to you!
Happy Animating!
Michael Morgan