Creating and Updating my Portfolio and Showreel (THE LINE Application)
I was delighted to find out that my newly favourite studio, THE LINE were offering out a three-month paid internship at their studio in London, this summer:
Over the next couple of weeks I would begin to compile all of the images of projects, both personal and academic that were to go into my personal portfolio.
Here is a link to the digital portfolio that I submitted to THE LINE:
Have tried my best to keep a consistent 'house style' to my brand identity throughout my online presence and the same can be said for my personal portfolio and updated showreel. I hope to print this portfolio out as my main book that I can carry around at my next networking event and I think that this portfolio shows a rich variation of my illustration and animation capabilities.
I decided that my showreel needed a total professional revamp to align with my brand identity a bit more cohesively. Here is a screen shot of the premiere file I worked in for my new showreel. Below is a comparison of the old reel and the new one.
OLD SHOWREEL:
NEW SHOWREEL:
Both my updated Showreel and my updated Portfolio were sent over to THE LINE with this cover letter:
The text read: "Hello to all at THE LINE My name is James Lawson. I’m a third year animation student expecting to graduate from The University of Salford this July. I specialise in 2D animation and character design. I attended the Manchester Animation Festival (2018) and had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Max and Tim at the Northwestivus event that took place at Gasworks Bar. I also attended their talk that took place the next day, where they showcased all of the spectacular 2D animation work that THE LINE has been a part of. I came out of the talk inspired and encouraged that there was a UK-based studio creating work with an overall tone and ethos that I could relate to and wanted to create myself. From being involved in big projects like the Gorillaz music video for ‘Humility’, smaller scale projects like ‘Joyride’ and even commercial jobs such as the Doritos advert, THE LINE has a consistent and creative vision, often accompanied by a good sense of humour and style. ...So you can imagine when I saw you lot tweet about openings for an internship, I had to throw my hat in for consideration. Here’s some info about myself: -Winner of the Public Choice award for Anijam18 for our short ‘Flock Together’ (Under the team name of: United States of Salford) -Animation Director for the opening titles to “The Piccadilly Rats: Live in Moderation” by Low Flying Geese Productions (film set to premiere late 2019/ early 2020)
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS-
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jameslawsonanimates/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jameslawson96
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaoNWEde_GE3iS7OgkpHuJw?view_as=subscriber
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jameslawsonart/
Website: www.jameslawson1996.wixsite.com/jameslawson
Thanks for taking the time to read this email and I’m eagerly hoping to hear back from you in the future!
All the best,
James Lawson
PS with regards to what dates would be good for myself... I graduate on the 18th July, so any 3 months beyond that date are good for me!
PPS I am also going to send a WeTransfer link over with my portfolio attached to that, available for download..."
All I can do now is wait until the 30th of April for the results.
In the meantime I have also updated my CV so that the layout is more aesthetically pleasing and in keeping with my brand. I have also included more relevant information about my animation career within my personal statement.
