Tag: student spotlight

Student Spotlight: Tommaso Maurutto

AnimSchool graduate Tommaso Maurutto shares insight for his animated shot, which features audio from the TV show “The Equalizer” (2021), and breaks down his creative process from ideation to the final animation. His shot was featured in the 2024 AnimSchool Student Showcase.

Maurutto explains that he started with an initial drawing/idea pass to get a feel for the timing, spacing, and how the characters would fit into the environment. He also mentions that it was his first time doing a shot where two characters interact, and he was interested in playing with their dynamic and how their individual personalities could be conveyed through the acting and animation.

Maurutto kept the camera movement simple with only two cameras, and focused on the change of expressions of each character. One of the challenges he ran into was conveying the nervousness and anxiety of one of the characters; his instructor ultimately helped him push the idea more with smaller, supporting actions such as rubbing his sweaty hands on his pants, a light tug on his hat, and other small movements.

Maurutto also modified the character rigs to better support the dynamic between the two characters, with one being more clumsy and the other as more of a dominant and confident character.

Watch his featured clip below:

Student Spotlight: Leticia Lozano

AnimSchool student Leticia Lozano offers insight into how she created an animated shot using audio from the 2023 Netflix film, We Have a Ghost. Her shot was featured in the 2024 AnimSchool Student Showcase.

Leticia explains that she received a recommendation to jump into splined animation right away in order to help see the timing of the slower and more subtle actions, such as in the face and shoulders. While she did complete a blocking pass of her animation, most of the smaller movements are much better seen after a splining pass.

Leticia mentions that she focused greatly on the facial animation, which proved to be a bit difficult as she was trying to keep the entire animation alive with breathing, eye darts, and other supporting actions for her scene. With so many subtle movements and incredible facial performance, Leticia’s scene was a success and ended up as the cover of the 2024 AnimSchool Student Showcase.

Watch her featured clip below:

Watch the full AnimSchool Student Showcase Livestream here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

Student Spotlight: Daniela Lobo Dias

AnimSchool student Daniela Lobo Dias shares her perspective and offers behind-the-scenes insight on animating one of her shots shown in the 2024 AnimSchool Student Showcase. Featuring audio from a clip of a professional ice cream taste tester, Daniela discusses how she transforms the character into a charming sommelier with a taste for blood.

Daniela mentions that she particularly enjoys the workflow of starting in stepped animation, then later filling in the gaps and transitioning to splined. This allowed her to focus on the main poses and their silhouettes before slowly adding in-betweens as the animation became more polished.

She also explains how she thought outside of the box to achieve the look of swirling liquid in a glass without particle simulation by creating blend shapes and animating geometry.

“This was very much one of those labor of love shots where I was just really having fun with it the entire time. Despite being very hard on myself, at the end of the day I still really enjoyed the shot.” – AnimSchool student Daniela Lobo Dias

Watch her featured clip below:

Watch the full AnimSchool Student Showcase Livestream here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

Student Spotlight: Carl Nyasore

In this clip from the AnimSchool 2024 Showcase Livestream, Carl Nyasore talks about his process behind what he describes as one of his “best shots at AnimSchool.” Pulling inspiration from Disney movies like Encanto, studying shots frame by frame, and utilizing AnimSchool’s network of instructors currently working in the industry all played a critical role in helping his shot shine.

Carl explains that working on his shot taught him to always look for something new to learn. Being open to exploring new styles, practicing, and talking to others about your craft is how growth is achieved.

For his shot featured in the 2024 AnimSchool Showcase, Carl mentions that he thoroughly examined Disney’s Encanto and took his shot to General Reviews to aid in refining his smooth transitions, polishing flourishing actions, and making other small changes to make a big impact.

“Before this class, I didn’t know how to do things like head accents and leading action, so I learned a lot from just studying animated films. That’s why it turned out to be one of my best shots at AnimSchool.” – AnimSchool student Carl Nyasore

Watch his featured clip below:

Watch the full AnimSchool Student Showcase Livestream here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/