Gunes Gocmen

My Experience and Views on Animation Reels and Ability

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.

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.