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This occupation is found in the British and International animation industries, providing animated content for film, television, advertising, games, corporate and immersive reality industries. Animation companies and studios vary in size and the number of employees they have, and are described as small, medium or large companies. They are to be found across England and the UK. The output and remit of an animation studio is varied, and they will produce work for a range of clients across advertising, film, television and commercial. Some studios specialise in one area, particularly children’s media, which is the largest area of the industry. There are a number of studios who also provide service work to other creative industries to diversify their revenue streams, providing visual effects, animated content, live action or interactive content production.
Animation is the process of displaying still images in a rapid sequence to create the illusion of movement. The animation the Junior Animator is required to create may vary and can include dialogue or non-dialogue. These images can be created using various process including: hand drawn, computer generated, or pictures of 3D objects.
The broad purpose of the Junior Animator’s role is to create animated assets and content, by producing the motions, gestures, expressions and performance of two or three dimensional characters and objects.
This is a junior level role, in their daily work, an employee in this occupation works closely with the Animator, Animation Lead, Supervisor and Director, along with clients and team members. They must be able to take direction and feedback, in order to create the actions of their animated character, according to the story and the director's wishes. To support this, they must also be able to interpret a storyboard and any character layout/scene planning that has been done in advance.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for animating characters or scenes. The junior animator should have an excellent knowledge of timing and spacing within the story being animated and have excellent drawing skills. Using model sheets, and any given reference material, they will be able to visualise the character/object/creature in any number of poses, and stage the character/object/creature effectively according to the layout/scene plan.
Junior Animators must also know and understand how characters develop, and their role in that development, the principles of anatomy and how these affect movement, shot construction and composition, shot breakdown and continuity. They must also be aware of the brand guidelines, design or subject matter of the animation being created.
They are a highly creative individual who must be able to focus on their own work for long periods, but also be able to work in collaboration within a team.
The Junior Animator should understand their place within the production workflow process, and be able to organise their animation files and filing system accordingly. They should be able to use the equipment required of a given project, learn and keep up-to-date with animation software, and be able to use traditional techniques such as hand drawn as required. They should be able to export their work for review, and to work within a given schedule. This role may include out of hours or irregular working patterns when collaborating on international projects.
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Duty 1 Research information, resources and tools and find appropriate animation references. |
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Duty 2 Improve own knowledge and performance by seeking out information about emerging practice. |
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Duty 3 Communicate and collaborate with colleagues, partners and suppliers in the animation industry. |
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Duty 4 Work autonomously, prioritising and meeting deadlines in order to meet agreed production requirements. |
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Duty 5 Assess requirements set by the brief and adapt to meet the required creative, narrative and technical demands of the production. |
K5 K11 K12 K14 K21 K22 K24 K26 |
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Duty 6 Plan and prepare ideas, shots and assets in line with production requirements. |
K16 K18 K19 K20 K22 K24 K26 K27 K28
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Duty 7 Produce animated assets in line with production requirements, ensuring output is correct and meets the requirements for the next stage of the process. |
K3 K4 K11 K16 K18 K19 K20 K21 K22 K24 K26 K27 K28 |
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Duty 8 Follow policies and procedures and best practice, including those relating to organising, storing and retrieving animated assets. |
K1: The twelve fundamental principles of animation (including squash and stretch, staging and timing).
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K2: Methods and strategies for sourcing inspiration, including researching visual, written, empirical and physical references
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K3: Traditional and digital methods and techniques for producing animated sequences, for example hand-drawn, stop-motion or computer-generated animation
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K4: The creative style, overall concept and detail of animation required for the production
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K5: The purpose of breaking down briefs, specifications, scripts and technical and production requirements.
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K6: The evolution of the animation industry from cell animation through to computer generated animation, with reference to genre for example family, adult, experimental or information content.
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K7: The legislation, regulations, codes of practice, standards and guidelines governing animation.
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K8: Current and future trends in animation and how they affect junior animators.
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K9: Methods and approaches for identifying and reporting potential health and safety risks and hazards in the working environment.
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K10: Approaches to working individually and as part of a team
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K11: The complete animation production pipeline and how their own department and role interacts with this.
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K12: Technical and production parameters and client requirements including schedules, timelines, budgets, animation mediums, frame counts, field sizes, aspect ratios and formats.
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K13: Communication tools and methods for timely and targeted communication including presenting reference material and using storyboards.
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K14: The impact of brand, audience, market position and financial processes on animation productions.
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K15: The ways that live action reference can influence the ability to animate characters, objects and creatures.
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K16: Processes and approaches to character, object and creature development and junior animators’ role in that development.
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K17: The principles of anatomy and how these affect movement.
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K18: The principles of shot composition and framing.
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K19: The principles of shot breakdown and continuity.
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K20: The importance of adhering to standards, workflow and pipeline procedures.
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K21: The importance of evaluating progress and seeking feedback on your work in animation.
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K22: Performance guidelines for the character/object/creature they are working on, for example how they may react or behave in different situations.
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K23: The logic of physics, motion, resistance, weight, balance, texture and form.
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K24: Methods and strategies for using industry-standard animation software for an animation production according to the applications’ possibilities and constraints and requirements of the production.
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K25: Legal, regulatory and organisational requirements for maintaining data security, maintaining record systems of drawings, file structures for storage, copyright and intellectual property.
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K26: Production requirements and expectations of other team members who will use the animations you create, such as pre roll, file preparation and storage, intended format and required degree of quality of final image.
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K27: Techniques to simulate perspective and distance.
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K28: Creative blurring and transforms, techniques to achieve them and how they give the appearance of motion.
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K29: The importance of environmental sustainability and departmental processes for working on a production.
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S1: Analyse documentation to determine requirements, for example briefs, specifications, visual references, scripts, animatics, x-sheets or dope-sheets, character/object/creature -, colour- and model references, soundtracks and technical and production parameters.
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S2: Undertake research to inform animation.
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S3: Update own animation skills for example by using new tools, recent software or data.
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S4: Adapt to the requirements of the animation style specified for the production.
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S5: Comply with the laws, regulations, codes of practice, standards and guidelines governing animation and how they affect junior animators.
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S6: Monitor the current priorities, constraints and opportunities of the client’s budget, production requirements and your work as a junior animator.
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S7: Adhere to legislation, regulations and organisational policies such as health and safety, confidentiality and security.
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S8: Work both individually and as part of a wider animation team.
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S9: Work in line with defined workflows within the animation production pipeline.
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S10: Move a character/object/creature in whatever style is required to meet the creative, narrative and technical demands of the production.
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S11: Respond to feedback about the animated material in a positive way, making refinements as requested by clients or supervisors.
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S12: Contribute ideas to aid the production.
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S13: Use given camera angles or make adjustments to camera animations according to the production demands and schedule.
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S14: Use tools to plan and communicate key ideas with colleagues or clients, for example pre vis and storyboards.
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S15: Present work in progress or completed animations to colleagues or clients.
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S16: Animate primary and secondary characters/objects/creatures and elements.
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S17: Interpret the personality or traits of a character/object/creature and convey the necessary performance within a scene.
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S18: Create animation in line with production demands, for example continuity or soundtrack requirements, and ensure the output is correct for the next stage of the process.
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S19: Adapt to the various techniques, procedures and software required by the animation production, selecting and using the necessary industry standard software packages.
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S20: Prepare and store files in line with production requirements, to enable the next stage of animation production to run efficiently.
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S21: Review output with relevant people and offer suggestions to assist others with the production.
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S22: Follow sustainable practices in line with industry standard recommendations.
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B1: Works on own initiative, be proactive and inquisitive; if mistakes are made take personal responsibility to address them.
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B2: Acts in a professional and ethical manner, embracing equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
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B3: Takes the initiative and responsibility for own learning and development, working with and learning from peers.
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B4: Maintains commercial confidentiality and professional practice at all times, and in all settings.
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