An Incredible Moment ✨

Something really awesome happened this week and I just need to talk about it.

Ludovic Roz, Animation Director at Illumination Studios Paris, visited our school for a demoreel review session. And honestly — what a day 🫠.

It started with reel reviews, then some casual conversations at lunch with him, listening to stories about the industry and what it was actually like working on Super Mario Bros Movie. After that he gave us a full presentation — tips and tricks on blocking, splining, how to think as an animator, what to do, what not to do. Twenty years of experience distilled into one afternoon. Then it was back to the reels, and when my turn came, he gave me detailed, observant retakes that genuinely helped me see my own work differently.

Working on the Super Mario franchise was an incredible opportunity. The key difference between the first and second film was the first movie was more interesting in a deeper way — there was more exploration, more character research. How do these characters move? How do they think? How do they react? How to make it relatable to the game version. They had constraints from the client, guidelines to follow, but within those constraints they were discovering the characters, their personality. That tension between limitation and exploration — I think that's where the most interesting work happens. And Illumination always encourages their animators to come up with their creative ideas.

Something else he said stayed with me. He started as a facial modeller before he became an animator. And he said that understanding the face anatomically — knowing how it actually moves and reacts underneath — changed how he approached facial animation. He didn't just animate expressions. He understood what was causing them. That made me think about how much I would know about what I'm animating after I start learning face muscles .How deeper I can go with the nuances of expressions.

Throughout the whole day — in between sessions, over lunch, in conversations — we talked about the industry, the job market, what a real day of work looks like. He was so chill and open about all of it.

His directorial debut was Game Over and Over — a Despicable Me 4 short. He managed everything. Storyboarding to rendering. Meetings, discussions, departments. And when I asked him about it he said something that felt like a quiet truth: *"After becoming animation director, I don't animate anymore. Sometimes I see a shot that looks incredible and I want to jump in — but I can't. It's like growing up. Before, I was a kid playing around with shots. Now I manage them."* It is growth. It is part of life.I don't know why but that hit me. Because right now I am that kid. Playing around with shots, taking in all the learnings, Processing the lessons, finding ways to apply in real life. And someday — when I keep going and growing — I would be that adult. That's the journey.

What I'm most proud of is that I pushed my limits that day. I broke my shell. I asked every question I had — even the silly ones. I even tried to follow the French conversations, and when he spotted me he switched to English, so I would understand too. I wasnt the shy, silent one. I was interacting. If the 10 year old me came to know that I interacted with the Animation Director of Illumination, she would be leaping in joy.I didn't think about internships. I didn't worry about finding a job, I didnt have the anxiety about my near future about graduating that day. I was just happy and content. Just Smiles!

I'm genuinely grateful for his time, his belief in us. That kind of generosity from someone at his level is not something you forget.
That day gave me back something I had lost in the chaos of life.
Motivation and Confidence

Tank yu so much Ludovic!