Animation major College Portfolio Examples
Animation schools usually require applicants to submit a digital portfolio showcasing their skills, experience and creativity. Many times applicants miss out on some of the key elements of what to include in their portfolio and how that affects their chances of being accepted into an animation program. It can be confusing and overwhelming trying to figure out how to do this on your own. A good place to start is viewing example portfolios.
There are a plethora of generous college applicants that post their college art portfolios online. Many are tagged with the school from which the applicant was rejected or accepted. Sometimes you may not be able to tell much difference between the accepted and the rejected work, but it’s good to look at both to analyze any differences you see in the qualities of submitted materials
Some questions to consider are:
Did the first image or first 5 seconds of the video push you to look at more?
Did the images and/or videos look crisp? Were they blurry or at a low resolution?
Did the portfolio include life drawings? How were they rendered (pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, digital…)? Did the artist include the full body, hands, feet, head and/or color?
How long was the video?
How many images were included?
Is there something special about the portfolio that stood out to you? Why? Was it very skillfully executed? Was it like something you’ve never seen before? Did it inspire a feeling, make you laugh or contain interesting subject matter?
Below are a few portfolios I recommend starting with:
CalArts Portfolio 2022 ((rejected))
Accepted Sheridan Animation Portfolio 2021 (97%)
2022 Rejected Sheridan Animation Portfolio 73%
USC Animation Portfolio (Rejected read description)
2018 USC Animation Application Reel - Accepted
Accepted Animation Portfolio (Ringling, SVA, SCAD, Pratt, Chapman, MassArt)
All college portfolios are evaluated based upon the focus of the program. Programs with an emphasis on 3D animation and visual effect such as those at Ringling College of Art and Design and Gnomon may evaluate more heavily on technical experience while programs with an emphasis on concept design such as those at California College of the Arts and Art Center College of Design may consider life drawing and visual storytelling skills more important than digital expertise.
Put yourself in the role of the reviewer when curating your reel. At USC, faculty had only two weeks to evaluate portfolios and this in addition to their regular teaching responsibilities. Unfortunately, the schedule leaves little time for each application to be thoroughly reviewed. We did our best, but if a portfolio is too long or uneven, the reviewer spends less time analyzing the good bits. They need to enjoy and get excited by your work and not have to spend too much time getting to the gold nuggets.
Good luck and remember if you don’t get into your top pick on the first try, you can keep improving by taking classes, looking for inspiration and making more work. Don’t stop believing.
