iAnimate Student Spotlight - Vanessa Foermer

Vanessa Foermer is a Filmmaker and Senior 3D Animator from Germany. She is a passionate Animator who works towards her goals. She recently got her job at Bardel Entertainment, Inc., a Canadian animation studio.

“iAnimate was the most flexible online animation school for my studies, and you can play along with plenty of rigs.”

Vanessa took the following Feature Animation workshops at iAnimate with Angie Jones from Spicy Cricket

• Feature Animation 2 - Body Mechanics
• Feature Animation 3 - Advanced Body Mechanics and Pantomime Acting
• Feature Animation 4 - Close up Facial Acting and Lip-Sync
• Feature Animation 5 - Full Body Acting, Facial and Lip-Sync

Like other iAnimate students, Vanessa learned how to have creative processes for her assignments. But, for her, preparation is the key to every successful animation. So, she runs through her process professionally as pro animators do.

Vanessa’s Creative Process:

1. First the audio, then the idea. Acting it out, and when I like the acting, I record it and set up the camera in Maya.
2. After that, I block out the most important keys and start to switch fast into linear to get my breakdowns.
3. Then I work on my curves, put them in spline, and make sure the character looks good and is not hitting any walls.
4. I start with the facial and secondary polish when the body feels right until satisfied.

Vanessa made the most out of the program and learned a lot of skills she needed in the competitive animation industry. She improved her technical and artistic skills by learning quickly and using critiques to make her shot outstanding. Vanessa became adaptable to changing working environments as studios also changed their requirement over time. She makes the characters look believable and appealing using her camera skills and identifying a good shot.

Vanessa's student demo reel

You can reach Vanessa via:

Q&A with Vanessa Kim

iAnimate: What do you think of your Instructor(s), and how did they help you?

Vanessa: Angie Jones helped me get fast in Maya, understand even more about the camera, and really get my start with my workflow.

iAnimate: How did iAnimate help you to evolve as an animator?

Vanessa: I have down the workflow and the speed to be as good as any animator in production and fix my or others' problems while I am at it.

iAnimate: What kind of animator do you consider yourself after taking your workshops?

Katee: 

“I am ready to animate characters in any given way and know how to translate the feelings from the storyboard into the shot I am given to animate.”

iAnimate: What kind of project do you want to work on?

Vanessa: A dream project would be a feature film or a TV show with tons of unique character performances and emotions. Animation is such a great medium because nothing is impossible, and yet it has the power to connect and move audiences with their stories. I'd love to be able to create unique performances that would drive people to laugh, smile, or cry.