To really fully understand the roles and areas in animation, I started to research the ‘behind the scenes’ aspect to the animated films that I love and found talks / documentaries of people talking about their experiences within the industry.

LinkedIn Learning Talks

Sharon Ross: 2D Character Designer

Ross’ Definition of Character Design

‘Hopefully you get an idea of the sense of who he is from how he looks, like age, sex and physical attitude, things like that, but also personality traits and things like that. So we start from the script and then, with input from the director, we do designs before the storyboards usually and then after that’s done we end up doing turnarounds of the character so that you can see them from all angles, so the animators know exactly what they’re going to look like.’

Ross’ Take on Getting Work in the Animation Industry

‘… but the thing that I think might not be mentioned is developing your reputation. Your skills and your experience are of course vital for getting jobs but you shouldn’t overlook developing your work reputation. You definitely want to take pride in your work and do the best you can at all times. Communicate openly with your directors or coworkers. You can get jobs on your skills but the personal recommendation is a very important thing. I know that I’ve gotten jobs that way, practically all the jobs I’ve gotten were that way.‘

Ross’s Take on the purpose of Working in an Industry you love

‘So Steven Spielberg walks in, says hi to everybody and just immediately immerses himself in the maquettes. And that’s, what really amazed me was watching him, I could see that he really loved what he did. He was totally into every aspect of it and he was completely relaxed, totally unstressed, even though I’m sure he was being pulled a lot of different directions and it wasn’t about the business of anything it was about the creation of what he was working on. He was totally into every aspect and that really impressed me because I realized that he really did love what he was doing and that it was a great example to me that if I can do what it is that I love, rewards come from that and not only that but to love what you’re doing, when you do it, because that’s where happiness comes from too.‘

Lindsey Pollard: Supervising Animation Director

Pollard’s Role as an ‘Animation Timing Director’

‘I’m the last person to touch the show. Basically, anything that moves is my responsibility and I supervise a team of people. There’s two timers and then there are two people who are revisionists. What happens is, after the boarding stage, we work from tracks, so we listen, we spend most of our days with headphones on listening to the dialogue. We’re responsible for matching the dialogue to the movement. Of course, we’re looking at the storyboards and the animatic and we’re basically merging the dialogue with the storyboards and just making sure that anything that moves is moving exactly as it should.‘

‘I’m allowed to supplement whatever is not in the board. Secondary characters, or I think anything that’s going to add to the action in the board, that’s what my job is, is to just supplement. Not detract from the action, but to add to it.‘

Pollard Take on Working during a ‘Layoff’

‘…whenever there was a layoff, I would go and work at other studios, because I’m not one who likes to be idle. So I would go and work at other studios and pick up freelance and so that’s when I got a break working for Rough Draft Studios. I got to work on other projects at Rough Draft during the downtime, and then I would go back to “The Simpsons” for nine months at a time, and then work for three months at other places.’

Pollard’s Take on Job Opportunities and Networking

‘…and so what’s happening is, people are starting to look for work elsewhere, and I find, what is really inspiring is that there are job opportunities that are coming up, and instead of people hiding what they know, people are sharing what they know. Have you heard Warner Brothers is hiring, and there’s opportunities at Bento Box? I know that somebody’s starting up a new show within the studio. Have you talked to this person who’s in charge? I’ve got this job here and I would love it if you would come and work with me. The information is shared amongst everybody, which is really, that’s a positive thing, you know? As opposed to when a show shuts down, there’s that feeling of dread of like, am I going to be able to stay? What am I gonna do next?’

‘Just in general, people within the industry are incredibly friendly and the great thing about Nickelodeon, and I think any of the studios that I’ve worked at is that you can befriend people by just basically saying, “I have questions, do you have time? “Can you answer these questions for me?” I think that you have to make the effort and you have to follow up, because it’s very easy to knock on the door, but then you have to follow up, because people within the industry are busy and I think the longer that the industry lasts, the more schedules get tight.‘

‘There are always people coming through in tours and friends of friends who are interested in the industry and the ones who come back and get jobs are the ones who are persistent and who are very clear about what it is that they want to do. They ask the questions and they follow up.’

Pollard’s Tips and Tricks

‘Everybody’s always moving forward. I think, in terms of somebody who wants to be an animator, or somebody who wants to do what it is that I do, I think it involves a lot of focus. I think it involves somebody who likes details. I think that… you need to be ready to accept the fact you’re going to make mistakes. I think you need to be prepared to take direction. You have to be patient because you do the work, and then you don’t see it till three months later. You need to go back and redo some of the work that you do. You need to look for a mentor. You need to accept the fact that somebody will often redirect what it is that you’ve done, and you may have to redo it.‘

ScreenSkills Talks

Ruth Ducker: Series Animation Director

About Ruth Ducker

Ruth has worked in the animation, film and TV industries for 19 years. After working as a runner, her early production art roles included being a layout and previsualisation artist on TV shows Tractor Tom, the New Captain Scarlet, as well as the Norwegian film, Slipp Jimmy Fri, and the Academy Award-winning short, Peter and the Wolf. After this she worked as an art department designer and then an animator on a number of preschool long-form shows, progressing to become animation director on Jungle Junction for Disney Junior and then Boj for CBeebies. In 2014 she took her first series director role on Floogals for Universal Kids.