Your portfolio provides us with the chance to view your work and see your interest in studying Animation at Northumbria. We really want to find out about you and your interests in animation alongside other interests you may have.
Portfolio Advice
A portfolio is a way of expressing your personality, demonstrating your creativity, showing your interests, sharing your inspirations, capturing your conceptual thinking, critiquing the work of yourself and others, and providing evidence of your commitment to the subject that you have applied for.
When preparing your portfolio allow yourself plenty of time to put your portfolio together and make sure you are happy with it. If it helps talk it through with your teacher/tutor to ensure it’s a sufficient reflection of your creativity and personality.
- Observational Drawing - Drawing is key to animation. We like to see observational drawings, be it from formal life models, school or college projects, or from your own sketchbooks.
- Idea Development - We like to see that you can develop ideas from a brief to an interesting and personal response, i.e. moodboards, storyboards, design sheets, colour charts, visual analysis, testing ideas in different media and thoughtful annotation.
- Final Pieces - We like to see final pieces of work from school/college projects. Show the work and explain why/how you made it. Painting, Scultpure, Photography, Illustration, etc., are all welcome.
- Animation - It’s always good to see animation. It doesn’t have to be a feature length and of Pixar quality! What matters is that you are actively trying to learn how to be an animator in your own time.
- Subject Knowledge - Do as much research into animation as possible. Try and find out how your favourite animation was made. Look beyond Disney and Pixar - there is a whole world of interesting animation out there!
- Passion - Learning to be an animator requires a lot of commitment, time and effort. Try to relax and let your natural enthusiasm for the subject come through.
- Studentship - We need students who are independent, determined, resourceful, motivated and friendly. Show examples that show off these characteristics.
- Software - We like to see some evidence of software experience. Usually this means images manipulated in Photoshop or Illustrator (or open source equivalents) or moving image work in After Effects, Premier.
