The student showcase motivates students to submit their very best work for review, pushing their animation to the next level. Jean-Luc Delhougne, a recent Animation Mentor graduate from Belgium, improved his animation skills because of the challenges he encountered while creating his showcase shot. The interactive dialogue between his two characters caused his showcase shot to be the most difficult piece he has ever animated.
Jean-Luc explains that animating the eyes was the most difficult part of his shot. Maintaining an accurate eye line direction from one character to another while also portraying the characters' emotions was something he worked on frame-by-frame to ensure that it was just right. Although this was a time-consuming process, he explains that it was important because “the eyes are the mirror of the soul.”
For Jean-Luc, Animation Mentor's Polishing & Portfolio class pushed his animation from good to great. After that class, he applied his new skills and redid portions of his shot to take it to the next level.
The biggest takeaway that Jean-Luc learned while creating his showcase shot was to understand when to use wide acting versus subtle acting. He learned to tone down the acting to a refined and subtle level in his final shot.
Messages
