Animation Foundation: how do you create a portfolio?
Each student will prepare a portfolio during their Animation Foundation year.
Composed of different pieces and carefully selected works, it should show your working methods, inspirations and artistic techniques.
How do you create a portfolio on the Animation Foundation course? Should it be the same for each school? Céline Devaux, Animation Foundation teacher at Atelier de Sèvres, shares her advice.
What is a portfolio?
A large number of art schools, like Atelier de Sèvres, ask candidates to submit a personal portfolio. This consists of unframed work and can contain absolutely anything you want: drawings, video, collages, etc. First and foremost, your portfolio should be a reflection of who you are.
When reviewing your portfolio, the examination panel should be able to see your personality and judge your work methods, your ability to carry out a project, your artistic skills, etc.
"I think it's important to keep personal things, like sketchbooks, that have not been produced in class with other students. I noticed during my presentations that my students shared great friendships and a real bond around their work, to the point that their sketchbooks were sometimes very similar. You should go and draw in other places, and above all, you should draw what you know and what interests you and not be afraid to use other means of expression." (Céline Devaux, Atelier de Sèvres).
Creating a portfolio at Atelier de Sèvres
At Atelier de Sèvres, all the students on the Animation Foundation course create their portfolio and work on it throughout the year, with the help of a teacher.
In addition to preparing students for the competitive entrance exams for the most prestigious schools, the Animation Foundation Year at Atelier de Sèvres is also very valuable for students who will have the opportunity to specialise in one particular discipline. Your portfolio is, therefore, an opportunity to present your future and ongoing projects to the examination panel to which you will present your work.
At Atelier de Sèvres, the theory taught on the Animation Foundation course is completed with intensive drawing practice (observational drawing, life drawing), storyboarding, 2-D animation techniques and even stop motion. During the Animation Foundation year at Atelier de Sèvres, students are immersed in an artistic world allowing them to develop their creative potential and the ability to present their work in an appropriate way to the top animation schools.
"I would also advise students to be prepared to talk about their artistic preferences — favourite books, films, works of art — and know how to talk about them. An examination panel will always be receptive to a student’s inquisitiveness: we enter a school to learn, not to stagnate at an already excellent level. It is not uncommon for students who are very good technically to be rejected simply because the school thinks they cannot teach them anything." (Céline Devaux, Atelier de Sèvres).
Some institutions, such as École Émile Cohl, have chosen to remove the written tests from their entrance examinations in order to focus on the portfolio component. Make sure you find out about the admission procedures for each different animation school.
