My Experience and Views on Animation Reels and Ability

Animation Reel (2020)

   Compilation of some stylized animations I created while working at Framestore from 2017-2020.

"Little Girl" Personel Animation Work (2016)

This is my personal animation which I didn’t use any reference or children’s videos when I worked on this animation, this is almost what I imagined when I listen the audio which I found on YouTube from this link. I imagined a happy girl who was supposed to have a child’s gestures, esthetic and tells us exciting feeling with her body language. I thought a toy which interaction with girl to understand what exactly her feeling and to show much more actions between the both. the toy helped me a lot on this path. I Tried to use almost every sides on camera objective for dynamic looking and to attract more attention of viewers. I hope you enjoy it.

(the model was made for a short film, not for public use)

Bad Cat Animation Reel (2016)

    After the TV series I worked on, this project became my first feature film. I had the chance to improve myself in most points by practicing with different characters on multiple shots in sequences with different actions. I did not match the reference in almost any of my shots, it is completely based on observation and I quickly tried to reflect the animation poses and timings in my mind directly to the characters. I hope you enjoy it.

Animation process and technical details 

    Personal projects hold a special significance for me. While working on the Disney Little Mermaid film animations, I had many scenes set underwater. I wanted to enhance the soft timing brought by the water with keyframe 2D effects. So, this film served as an inspiration for this project. The water effects during the moment the girl falls into the water were a good idea for this. Of course, there had to be a reason for the girl to fall into the water, so I can say I added all the fight scenes just for the girl to fall into the water. That's how the story shaped up."

    The character designs actually date back a few years. When I wanted to create and animate my own story, I wanted to use characters I would design. Ecem was very helpful in this regard; we worked together to bring the characters to life, including the environment we created to tell the story in its simplest form.

     Since I had a full-time job while working on the project, In total, it took a year and a half intermittently, but if we consider working hours, the animation took 3 months.. I used TV Paint for 2D effects, and I drew each frame individually, it took about the same amount of time. I can't actually call the animation final; even though Ecem and I are trying to salvage it by doing shot sculpting, there are many spacing and overlapping issues. But overall, I think the poses and timings convey the story.

    Character rigs developed specifically for this project were prepared to include areas where characters needed to move for the animation to be more dynamic. Since there was no acting on the stage, we didn't spend much time on facial expressions rigs. Ecem's beautiful blend shapes compensated for this. Jordi created the man character's rig very quickly. Görkem prepared the basic rig for the girl character, and Mohammed quickly addressed the shortcomings of the girl and the fox.

    I created the scene as a single shot without adding camera cuts. I believe trying to capture the right poses with camera movement is more valuable. The lens sometimes varies between close to the human eye or between 28-35mm for depth. The camera has a special rig I made to rotate around the boat. I tried to add animation whenever the rig allowed, to make the action feel more intense with camera shakes and supportive boat rocking.

    I generally don't use constraints in interactive scenes; in this project, only the characters' layout controllers are constrained to the boat. Every movement, including interactions between characters, is keyframed.

    I didn't consider adding sound to the project until the last moment, so I created the animation timing without sound. Deniz Can designed the sound and music for the animation, and we worked together to finalize it. Later, I made small adjustments in the animation for mouth and motion synchronization.

    Using references when animating is an essential need, as everyone knows, to achieve perfect realism. But for me, forcing myself to extract the movement from my imagination and capturing the movement exactly as I envisioned it is much more valuable and exciting. So, I didn't use any references for this project.

    I took the project as a Maya playblast output without lighting. I always imagined the scene as rainy, under the spotlight of the boat, with 2D-effect droplets falling from the characters. Of course, since it will take time to realize these thoughts, I am postponing them to an unknown date...

    I hope you enjoyed watching it. I will share the animation production process at the first opportunity. Thank you for taking the time to read.

   On this page, I aim to share my insights and experiences within the world of animation, touching upon animation reels, the animation process, and personal projects.

   My journey in animation began back in 2010, and over the years, I've come to appreciate the pivotal moments in the creative process. For me, the most enjoyable and crucial phases are the blocking and final stages. Establishing a strong foundation and a clear vision before diving into animation is paramount. During the blocking phase, I concentrate on crafting compositions that align seamlessly with the story, characters, and the narrative's essence. It's at the final stage where the magic happens, as even the tiniest details can breathe life into a character, making them more authentic and relatable.

   In the world of animation, especially in big-budget productions, creativity often thrives through collaboration. Creative ideas and poses showcased in animators' demos frequently emerge from a collective effort. These concepts may originate with another artist during the layout and blocking phases, or they may evolve based on feedback from supervisors and clients during the initial animation presentations. In essence, what you see on the screen is often the culmination of contributions from various artists, including layout artists, blocking artists, leads, supervisors, and clients, rather than the sole output of a single animator. Of course, there are exceptions to this collaborative nature.

   While an animator's demo reel provides a glimpse into their professional experience, I believe that an artist's true talent shines through their personal projects. These personal endeavours offer a window into an artist's unique perspective, exceptional skills, and creative vision. Consequently, I tend to prioritise an artist's personal creations over their demo reel, recognising the profound impact of personal expression in the world of animation.