General notes on creating a CA portfolio for admission at the The Animation Workshop:
The portfolio is your chance to show your skills and creative abilities.
We are looking for applicants who are able to showcase a broad understanding of the relevant skills and who have a mindset for learning new ways of expressing themselves throughout their years of study.
When working with the categories, remember, that individuality and originality is something to strive for.
Please specify whether the design is an original creation or an adaptation of someone else’s work. If the character design is not your own, you must provide the name of the original artist and the TV series, film or comic from which the character originates.
Please refrain from having any gratuitous violent or sexual material in your portfolio.
We do not expect finished and polished drawings; we want to see movement, life and dynamic poses. It is better to have loose and dynamic sketches, than over-constructed and stiff coloured drawings.
Think about how you construct your characters – make sure to ‘draw through’ your characters, so we can see that you understand the connections of the forms and shapes that your characters consist of.
Be careful however, not to ‘over-construct’ – ‘drawing through’ means connecting the shapes, so that it is visible where a leg attaches on the hip for example, and that you are aware of these connecting shapes.
It does not mean that you need to put circles everywhere – it is important to understand the construction you are doing, if not, the construction is pointless.
Show us that you are aware of the different shapes that the characters consist of, by ‘drawing through’ the characters. We need to see how you construct and build the characters.
It is mandatory to add thumbnails and sketches as well as the final drawings.
The thumbnails and sketches are not counted in the number of final drawings. Example: You should have 14 ‘final’ drawings (rough is okay) for the Character Design category PLUS the connected thumbnails/sketches.
Pay attention to how you present your portfolio; more does not equal better. Presentation is important regarding how the pages in the portfolio are visually presented, sizes of the drawings in each category and your range as an artist.
Portfolio Requirements, Character Animation
1. Video introduction (max 3 minutes)
As a professional animator, you will be working as part of a team communicating stories and emotions to an audience. In order to do that, it is essential that you are able to articulate intentions and to give and receive feedback in a constructive and professional manner.
In this category, we are asking you to record a video introduction of yourself – an application letter in video form. Here are some suggestions for topics to cover (please do not feel obligated to include all of them, or to limit yourself to these):
- Why are you applying, what made you choose this specific programme, and how does that choice tie in with your ambitions for the future?
- How do you see your own strengths and weaknesses as a creative artist in terms of craft, vision, drive etc.? What are you especially hoping to improve in by studying at TAW?
- What or who inspire(s) you as a creative person? Consider naming some favourite creators or works (comics, films, games, books …) and talking about how and why they inspire you.
- Tell us about any relevant experience you may have in the form of work, study, or other. Anything from paid work to passion projects applies.
- Formative experiences: Things you have done or that have happened to you, good or bad, that you think shaped you in terms of who you are now.
When reviewing the video, we will look at your ability to communicate succinctly and clearly about who you are and how you see yourself profiting from the course.
We will not be judging the video based on image or sound quality, editing or other technical aspects – as long as you are in the frame, and we can hear what you are saying. Feel free to record the video with your phone, a web camera or whatever else is easily accessible to you.
The video should be uploaded at an external video content site such as YouTube or Vimeo. Mark it as “hidden” if you do not want anyone but us to see it. Dropbox, Google Drive and similar file sharing services that require sign up to view the files may not be used for the video. Please place the link on the first page of your portfolio.
Do not forget to test that your link and video work before submitting your application!
2. Life Drawing
Should include:
- 10-15 croquis (nude, human body) drawings, max. 2-minute poses (focus on understanding and conveying correct proportions and anatomy, constructing the human form and gesture and weight of the poses – a mix of poses that range from 30 seconds to 2 minutes is ideal). These should be drawn from life, if possible, not photos or video. A maximum of 1 of these may be a pose of up to 5 minutes. You may add further long studies to the Optional category.
- 10-15 observational sketches (clothed people you observe on the street, at cafés etc. and animals) - max. 5 of these can be animals, the rest should be of people (focus on capturing the gesture, proportions and what your studied subjects are doing). These must be drawn from life, not photos or video.
We want to see sketches with a focus on movement, proportions and gesture.
Try out different materials that will show your range as an artist.
3. Character Design
Create a character design based on the short story provided. The character design should be of ONE character only. 14 drawings.
Short story to be used: The Emperor’s New Suit by H.C. Andersen: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/27200/pg27200-images.html#emperor
The Character Design category must include:
- 5 different examples of facial expressions
- 5 different full-body poses showing the character’s range of motion
- 1 Turn-around with front view, ¾ front view, side view and back view (4 drawings in total)
We encourage you to be original with your drawings and ideas, and we are interested in seeing your process. It is mandatory adding thumbnails and sketches as well as the final drawings.
4. Movement and action
Depiction of full-body character(s) in active movement. You can use your own character design, existing character designs or a mix. The characters should be shown full body. 6-8 drawings.
When depicting characters that are in movement, you must think of proportions and dynamics, as well as how the characters would move if you put them in a specific situation.
1-2 of the total number of drawings must be of the characters in perspective.
There are two ways to count drawings:
- Example A - Separate movement: 1 or 2 character(s) doing one specific movement counts as one drawing.
- Example B - Connected movement: One single character shown in multiple poses (3-6 poses) within a continuous movement (sequence) counts as one drawing in total.
You can choose one or mix the two ways, however, make sure that the total number of drawings is between 6–8 drawings.
If you draw two characters interacting in one specific movement, such as dancing, it counts as one drawing (Example A).
The characters can either be of your own design or existing characters.
You can use the same character in different poses or use multiple different characters.
We encourage you to be original with your drawings and ideas, and we are interested in seeing your process. It is mandatory to add thumbnails and sketches as well.
5. Interaction
Depiction of minimum 2 characters interacting with each other, with a focus on depicting communication and clear acting between the characters. The characters should be shown full body. You can use your own character designs, existing character designs or a mix. 8-10 drawings.
Drawings in this category should depict characters expressing a specific emotion or feeling. From reading the character’s body language, the viewer should be able to determine the character’s mood and feelings clearly.
Think about putting them in dynamic situations where you can explore interesting compositions and have varied poses for all characters. There should be an interesting connection/tension between the characters – do not just draw poses, but stories and emotions – evoke feeling with the viewer – we need to believe it.
1-2 of the drawings should be of the characters in perspective.
We encourage you to be original with your drawings and ideas, and we are interested in seeing your process. It is mandatory to add thumbnails and sketches as well.
6. Storytelling
Create a connected visual sequence which tells a story. 10-12 panels/images.
Choose one of the following three mediums.
- Storyboard - Use diverse cinematic compositions - different kinds of shots, angles, points of view, composition etc. We are interested in seeing your process, so please add all thumbnails and sketches as well. This must be drawn.
- Graphic narrative - An illustrated story with a focus on composition and strong visual storytelling. The graphic narrative must be wordless. This must be drawn.
- Photography - Focus on telling a compelling visual story, for example with inanimate objects. It can be your own set up story featuring whatever object(s) you prefer (a stone, a shoe, a toy etc.) OR a story that you see unfold in the actual world (for example a bin bag being left and then what happens…)
7. Perspective
Drawings in this category should consist of environments, buildings, constructed perspective of urban landscapes or landscapes that demonstrate an understanding of the principles of perspective. 2-3 drawings.
We are interested in seeing both organic (natural landscapes) and non-organic (architecture/city) perspectives.
Minimum two of the drawings must be done without the use of 3D work as a tool (meaning not using 3D models to define the perspective).
Keep the construction lines in as many drawings as possible, including horizon lines, vanishing points and orthogonal lines.
We encourage you to be original with your drawings and ideas, and we are interested in seeing your process. It is mandatory to add thumbnails and sketches as well.
8. Optional
This is your chance to show more of your personal work outside the categories. Show us what you enjoy drawing when you have no restrictions or guidelines. It could be illustrations, story ideas, sketchbook pieces or more stylised or graphical work. You may also include longer life drawing studies in this category. You are welcome to include references and links to animations that you have made.
Max. 5 pages, excluding references.