I. Introduction
As I mentioned previously, I plan to return to China to work after graduation. March is usually the peak hiring season in China, so after preparing my CV and portfolio, I started applying to a number of animation studios. The positions I applied for were mainly storyboard artist and key animator roles.
I received several responses, but most of them were rejection emails. The only company that invited me to continue to the next stage asked me to complete recruitment tests for both storyboard and key animation positions. Through this experience, I realised that commercial projects are very different from student projects.
II. Storyboard Test Experience
The storyboard test required me to create an animatic for an episode based on a script, with an emphasis on strong posing, smooth shot transitions, and storytelling clarity.
The project itself was a slice-of-life comedy animation, which is not the type of work I am most familiar with. Before starting the test, I watched several episodes of the original series in order to understand its performance style and overall tone. Even so, while drawing, I kept thinking about one question: “What actually counts as a qualified storyboard in commercial animation?” Since I had no prior experience with this kind of production, I mostly relied on instinct while figuring things out during the process.
In university projects, there is often no clearly defined pipeline standard, while commercial productions usually follow a very specific production logic. In my own projects, I tend to approach scenes from the perspective of emotion, atmosphere, and cinematography. Commercial animation, however, requires consideration of whether the acting fits the character, whether the pacing matches the tone of the series, and whether the shots are clear and readable enough for production.
Although I tried to include some performance ideas that I personally found interesting, I was not completely satisfied with the final result. In the end, the company did not provide detailed feedback and simply informed me that I was “not the right fit”.
III. Key Animation Test Experience
After that, I also completed the key animation test.
The task involved drawing key frames based on provided layouts, including a shot of a character walking while looking around and another shot where a character speaks happily before jumping in place. Both characters were animals, which is not a type of character I usually animate.
Compared to the storyboard test, I felt more comfortable during this part of the process. I was able to understand the movement requirements more clearly and design poses and actions based on the character’s performance. Although I was still rejected in the end, I personally felt that the final result turned out fairly well.
At the same time, I also realised that a company’s visual style and hiring standards can strongly influence the outcome. Larger studios in particular often have much stricter requirements for junior applicants. Because of this, I did not see the result as a complete failure, but more as an opportunity to better understand industry expectations.
IV. Reflection and Future Direction
Later on, as my graduation film entered a more demanding production stage, I temporarily stopped applying for jobs.
After going through this experience, I started to rethink my career direction. I realised that my understanding of commercial storyboard work is still quite limited. Professional storyboard work requires not only drawing ability, but also an understanding of performance, pacing, and production expectations within a commercial pipeline.
I feel that experienced storyboard artists are often able to quickly judge what kind of acting, pacing, and shot composition are appropriate for a commercial production, and these skills can only really be developed through long-term observation and practical experience.
For someone without commercial production experience, directly entering a storyboard artist role can be quite difficult. Because of this, I have started to reconsider my career path. Rather than immediately pursuing storyboard positions, I would prefer to begin with key animation work first, gain more practical production experience, and gradually move towards more advanced roles in the future.
(Due to the NDA signed with the company, I am unable to include the test work in this journal.)
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