Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1378252
D E PA R T M E N T 21 KEYFRAME AGE IS JUST A NUMBER Different stages call for different ways to present your- self. "How people put their work together often tells you a lot about where they are in their career," Huang says. Below are ways to shape your portfolio based on your personal experience. If you're beginning your career, avoid the shotgun approach. One mistake students just out of school make, Huang says, is throwing all of their work onto their portfolio "and hoping something lands." You don't need a ton of experience. You do need to showcase what you're really good at. Five great examples will take you much further than dozens of practice projects. Cull your portfolio to show what you're best at now. Typically, if someone is in the middle of their career, Huang says, she can tell because she'll go on their web- site and see 15 shows they've worked on. "Okay, you're definitely very experienced. But maybe I don't need to see your revisionist work," she notes. As you improve, Keesling agrees that you should remove earlier, less polished work—this makes your strong, current pieces stand out. Also remove the type of work you're no longer interested in doing, even if you have good examples of it. There's no point in taking up space showing off a skill for a job you're not interested in. If you've been in the industry for decades, most likely you started out using pencil and paper. While it's great to show longevity, employers want to know what you can do now. "The concern is, have they evolved and adapted with technology?" says Huang. "Do they have the current ability to work with current tools?" This requires more than listing the software you know. It means showing strong examples—and they don't have to be from a produced show. If you're learning how to use a new tool and have a great personal example, don't hesitate to showcase it. As for your beloved past projects that may not be good contemporary examples—if you want to keep them on your website, Keesling offers as simple solution. "Just create a tab that says archived work or legacy work." SUMMER 2021 21 SPOTLIGHT YOUR CONTACT INFO It may sound like a no-brainer, but everyone we spoke with said that contact information is often missing or impossible to find on websites and social media pages. If you don't feel comfortable including your personal email and phone number, you can create a Google phone number and a dedicated email address or have a contact form on your website. However you choose to do this, though, make sure it's easily discoverable. STAY UP TO DATE You never know when someone in a position to hire is going to come across your website, so make sure it's current. Include your best work from your most recent shows, and on your "About Me" page, indicate if you are looking for work or not. Keesling says she often keeps portfolio links on file. If she receives the same portfolio a year later, "it's a little bit of a red flag. Someone not updating their portfolio, that can come off to me as phoning it in." PRO TIP FOR PORTFOLIOS "Watch the credits of the shows that you like, or look up people you admire on IMDB. What does their online portfolio look like, because that can give you clues to what you should put in yours. If they're working, whatever they did worked for them." – Brooke Keesling MOST COMMON PORTFOLIO MISTAKES RUNNING START THE MIDDLE GROUND IN FULL BLOOM A SUCCESSFUL REEL AN EFFECTIVE RESUME WRITING PORTFOLIO PASSWORDS