Yes, I said it. Mushrooms. This deserves a listing all on its own, because frankly, I am quite sick of seeing mushrooms painted in psychedelic colors as the dominant theme in demo reels, portfolios, leave-behinds, etc.
It’s not cool. It’s not funny. Animators have been doing that since the sixties and seventies, and while it may have been “rebellious” then, now it’s just in poor taste and it shows a fixation on something that a potential employer is not going to consider part of a healthy, stable, productive work environment. You want a good excuse to draw mushrooms? Draw some Smurfs or do a Super Mario tribute. They’re an environmental factor, like grass and trees and dirt. They’re not a centerpiece.
You wouldn’t walk into a interview and introduce yourself as, “Hi, I’m ______, and by the way, I’m hooked on antidepressants and caffeine pills. I have violent rages when I go into withdrawals.” So don’t send a demo reel dominated by fungi that are generally associated with substance abuse. Employers have seen it dozens upon dozens of times, and it all starts to blend into a featureless blandness with only one significant common factor: the bad impression left behind.
Five-Pointed Leaves
You know what I’m talking about, and it’s not a maple leaf. In the past decade marijuana leaves have started to take the place of mushrooms in artwork and demo reels. You can argue for free expression all that you want, but why don’t you worry about free expression after you have a job, or save those sorts of depictions for artwork done on your own time, displayed to a more appreciative artist? Free expression pays the bills for only a small few who manage to find their big break in the independent art world. It won’t land you a steady salary if your free expression comes off to others as an expression of choices that they may consider irresponsible or even dangerous.
The leaf carries the same connotation as the mushroom: you have a habit, even if it’s an idle one, and it may give employers the wrong (or the right) idea about you. You’ll ruin your chances before you get a foot in the door. Don’t even try to make a comment about “medicinal use”, either. My insulin is for medical use, but you don’t see a single vial of that or any syringes dancing around my demo reel.
Nudity/Explicit Sexual Content
There is a small market for nudity and sexually themed animations.
The majority of that market is in the pornography industry.
If you’re really itching to work in porn, then you bow-wow-chicka-bow-wow your way right on in there and have yourself an animated lovefest.
If you’re looking for any other kind of work, however, I’d advise you keep everyone (and everything) tastefully clothed and out of any compromising or suggestive positions. Employers don’t care if you’re obsessed with big-busted heroines popping out of their half-torn spandex, or how well you can detail certain…areas of the female or male physique. True, much of the comic and animation industry (especially print comics in the superhero/superheroine genre) are part of the “big guns, big bust” genre, but there’s still a very large market for the family-friendly—and family-friendly is what is going to impress employers. Being tasteful isn’t boring; it’s a sign of maturity and discretion, and it signifies that you know the appropriate time and place to display your more risqué talents.
Explicit Violence/Gore
Video games can be gory. Extremely gory. Squelching-squishing-ripping-tearing-crunching-mangling-exploding gory. We love to be disgusted by these things; we cringe away from them and at the same time delight in our own revulsion. It’s a digitalized, modern version of train-wreck syndrome in a safe environment where no-one and nothing real actually has to be injured or destroyed. I won’t lie; I love a good shooter or hack-and-slash game; it gets the adrenaline pumping, gets the blood flowing, knots the stomach up in those delicious little anticipatory flutters of nervous battle-ready fear. There’s something about being a living-room gladiator in a fantasy environment that could never occur in the gym (or even in my aikido or bushido training) that is immensely appealing.
Despite the appeal, however, please try to avoid turning your demo reel into a pointless shoot-‘em-up or a dripping butcher-house. The people viewing your demo reel may not be employers in the gaming or graphic CGI film industries, so demonstrating your skills at rending limbs and splashing blood in a realistic fashion may not be the safest route. The last thing that you want is to make a reviewer grimace in disgust while viewing your reel; that disgust may transmit over to the viewing of your resume. I know I sure don’t want to see a detailed animated vivisection—complete with screaming and who knows what other twisted effects--right before my lunch break.
