Accepted Sheridan Animation Portfolio 2018

General tips

How to start

You need to fill out a general application (paperwork) first, then Sheridan will give you a Sheridan email and account number/assigned password. Only then are you certain that your application went through. From there, wait for the email that tells you portfolio requirements are up. This is a specific pdf file that only applicants have access to. It's not on the general Sheridan website. Rest assured that Sheridan is actually pretty good at keeping track of applications and responding to emails. I know it's unnerving when you applied and you're just waiting for an email. If you can't stand it, just email them to check if your application went through; the worst thing they can do is tell you to be patient :)

The requirements came out in October and I immediately started. And yup, I went until February.

Supplies you may find useful

Non-photo blue pencil (Prismacolor col-erase). Or erasable pencil crayons. It helps to separate the rough from the graphite, and the col erase blue is easier to erase.
‎Mechanical pencil and wooden pencil. Mechanical for detail, wooden for varying line weight (very important)
‎Light table/makeshift light table makes your life easier. You can build one yourself really. A window works, but its an uncomfortable position, especially for long hours.
‎Conte and newsprint for life drawing. It's the preferred medium. But try out charcoal or graphite, or anything that works for you. Can you use smaller sized paper? Can you use a pencil? Can you draw it digitally? ---Yes; only if you produce your best drawings that way. Animators (and life-drawing artists) typically use larger sheets of paper because it helps you get the flow and gesture of the figure and even helps you work faster. Whatever you do, don't draw small. Aim for one figure per sheet of newsprint.
‎Kneaded eraser. Artgum eraser. White vinyl eraser. Mechanical eraser (for detail)
‎Ruler. Rulers are for drawing construction lines, but they make your final drawing look stiff. And if you use a ruler you might now manipulate line weight well.
‎A scanner. Since they call only for digital submission now, you have to make sure your work is clear and of high quality--please no smartphone photography!

Plan B's?

I applied to CalArts because I needed the motivation to keep a sketchbook. Let's not talk about my Calarts sketchbook...but I found that super helpful in just getting me ready for drawing everyday. And drawing like an animator .

I also applied to ACAD, Emily Carr, and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. But that was because I really couldn't decide whether to go all-out on animation or not (but I made up my mind right after I saw the glorious Trafalgar campus). If you are certain you want in on animation, I recommend applying to animation colleges such as Seneca and Algonquin.

I applied to Algonquin's pre-animation and illustration program and it sounds better than art fundamentals because it focuses on animation. It's entirely of to you. I have heard good things about Fundies despite its drawbacks (harsh teachers, basic program, etc). Most of the animation students come from Fundies or VCA (visual and creative arts). It probably would have been wiser to apply for Sheridan and Seneca, but again, I was indecisive.

Yup, all three schools are in Ontario. But ther is also Capilano University, which has very strict admission, and Vancouver Film School in British Columbia. I hear good things about both

‎So where do you get start started?

I began by researching about the program and about the portfolio requirements. I looked through a lot of previous portfolios, accepted and rejected, so I know what the standard is. It has been getting harder every year and skills are better every year, so keep that in mind when you look at older portfolios. I'll post some resources to help you get started, check the resources tab.

Image credit to Walt Disney Studios. Obviously.

The process

It builds character! (sometimes literally)

I asked many people for feedback along the way. I could not have done it without any one of them, I'm sure. There's a nice group called "Sheridan animation hopefuls [ insert your year ]" on Facebook. Anyone applying should join. It's an awesome community full of applicants, students in the animation program, and animation instructors. If you post your work, you'll get a variety of constructive criticism. They're all there to help. Through that, I also talked with some first years (Tu Hoang and Surimice). They were really nice and patient with me! I also knew Chloe Lemay, class of 2021, because we're from the same city (yaay!). She's my go-to for quick questions, and she helped me get started by giving me a lot of helpful resources (which I will post). Honestly, you just have to be brave and contact people you don't know, especially if you're from a place where animation culture isn't prominent, like me T.T

If you're from southern Ontario, you totally lucked out, because there are so many animation workshops! GO TAKE CLASSES. WHY WOULDN'T YOU. But if you're in the middle of nowhere (like me) check out Portprep. The people there are so nice. They have flexible class schedules. And you can book a free portfolio assessment! The best part: they can do complete online instruction through one-on-one video chat! It's the best thing I've ever seen. I went to them in January, and even within one month I was able to learn a lot from them and get motivation to (once again) redo some of my pieces and it truly saved my life.

What do you do with all the feedback?

You act upon it. I saw a lot of people posting their work to the Facebook group. They get advice on how the piece isn't working. Yet, on their final portfolio, they didn't change much at all. You can't be (pardon the harsh language) lazy like that. When you know where you've gone wrong and decide to do nothing, you have only yourself to blame for a lower mark. You have to be prepared to redo your pieces over and over again until you care certain you tried your absolute best. Granted, you don't need to take everyone's advice either. Every time I thought I was done, someone gave me a new thing to fix. If it's something big like scale or composition, I would redo the drawing completely (it's how you get faster too). Someone said, if you're not prepared to make lots of drawings and continuously revise, don't go into animation at all, because that's what animation is. I had 5-ish versions for almost every section. And looking at the score sheet, I don't want to think what would have happened if I did one less revision.

But then again, this is coming from someone with very little experience in all these sections. I'm sure experienced people get it done much more efficiently.

Credit to Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment

Regardless of what the results you get from applying, remember that the highest-scoring portfolios are made by second or even third-time applicants (or international students, which has a higher cutoff by quite a bit--this year it was in the 90's--92? 95? I can't quite remember) . If you tried your best, don't feel bad because this is a good measure on what and how you might improve for the future. If you didn't try your best, you probably have an undying will to do so next year and get in!

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