An Eye for Detail: Meet 2D Assistant Animator Eleonora Quario

Eleonora is a 2D assistant animator and cleanup artist with an eclectic range of credits – the Academy Award nominated films The Breadwinner and Isle of Dogs, the audiovisual project Song Machine by Gorillaz, and the Emmy Award winning episode “Ice” from Netflix anthology series Love, Death & Robots. We spoke about her career so far and why regular tea breaks are essential to the art of animation. 

How did you get started as an animator?

I moved to London from Italy to study animation. After finishing university, I found a job as a trainee assistant animator on the feature film Ethel & Ernest. It was a great first job because we had proper training and a chance to learn while working on an actual film. And it’s also how I met a lot of the people I’ve worked with on several other projects since.

What were your favourite animated films or shows growing up? Did they influence you to choose this career path?

We used to have VHS tapes of almost every Disney movie when I was a kid, so I watched those a lot of times! That was probably the main exposure I had to animation growing up. I always loved drawing and I knew I wanted a career in something art-related, but it didn’t necessarily have to be animation. So I kind of fell into animation by accident because I wanted to draw, rather than because I was particularly inspired by a film or show.

What does a day in the life of a 2D assistant animator/cleanup artist look like?

It depends. If it’s just a normal cleanup job, most of the day is spent working on a shot or maybe joining a couple of meetings to discuss feedback and get briefed on a new scene. But if you’re in a lead/supervising role there’s also a lot of planning for other people, checking scenes and giving corrections to do. And always lots of tea breaks, which I think are actually really important when you spend so many hours staring at a screen!

Are there other ways you cope with focusing on something so detailed for a long time? 

There is a lot of detail and time that goes into it, and sometimes you’re so focused on something that you don’t even realise you haven’t taken a break in hours! Another thing I started doing during lockdown when we were all working from home was try to go out for walks at lunchtime, so I could go back to it with a fresher mind. I’m not doing that as much now because I’m back working in a studio, but it’s easier and nicer to have breaks there because you have people you can chat to for a bit! You can have a look at what they’re working on and ask questions. That’s the best work environment for me!

What were your experiences like on The Breadwinner and Isle of Dogs?

They were very different. The Breadwinner was one of my earliest jobs, and I was doing shadows/tones for a couple of months, working remotely. I was a big fan of Cartoon Saloon’s previous films so it was great to be involved in one of them! Isle of Dogs was a much longer job, six months or so, and we were a very small team, which was quite nice. We were working on the 2D animated parts that appear on the TV screens in the film. I started by doing colouring and then did cleanup as well. My favourite part was just being able to see all the stop-motion sets, they looked incredible. And it’s something you never get to see when you’re just working on 2D projects all the time, so it was really interesting to see how that worked!

What about “Zima Blue” and “Ice” for Love, Death & Robots? How did the team work together to create such a unique style?

It was great. All the credit for the style goes to the director, Robert Valley, who designed the characters and did all the layouts for both episodes. What we had to do in terms of assisting was basically find a way to cleanup the rough animation and make it look like the original layouts again. But without losing all the details/shading/lighting effects that were put into them, while keeping the animation nice and smooth. It was definitely tricky because the more details you have, the more difficult and time consuming it is to recreate that look on every frame in a consistent way. But it was really satisfying when it worked!

Do you have a preference for the kind of project you do?

I think my favourites are short videos (short films, music videos or game trailers) where you can get a small team together and spend a few months on the job. Some adverts can be fun but they are often just a couple of weeks of work and that’s it, so they feel a lot more like “a job”. I prefer slightly longer projects where you really have time to get used to a style and perfect it, and really care about what you’re making.

You’ve worked on music videos for Gorillaz and more recently on one for the video game Valorant. Does animating to music change your process at all?

I actually enjoy it a lot when I’m working on something that has a good song or soundtrack. It makes the final result a lot more satisfying to watch! Especially when the movements of the characters or cuts in the edit perfectly hit the beats of the song, those are always my favourite parts. It doesn’t really have anything to do with my role on the job, but it’s definitely a part of the process I really enjoy seeing come together. Although, the downside of working on a music video is that you have to listen to the same song so many times everyday for weeks and weeks. By the time the job is over you don’t want to hear it ever again!

Who is your career inspiration?

I think the biggest inspirations for me are usually the people I work with. There are some really talented artists in animation, and when you are collaborating on a project with people who are making really beautiful work it makes you improve too. You want to do the best work you can because everyone else is doing such a good job and you don’t want to “ruin” a scene by not also doing a good job!

Do you have advice for anyone hoping to get into the industry?

I often get asked if it’s necessary to study animation at university or not. I don’t think it is. I think it was good for me, but if you have the determination to learn independently then that’s totally fine. Studios who want to hire you for a job are going to look at the work you’ve done, not where you went to school. The thing I found the most difficult about starting out was that it can be a bit frustrating when you first apply for jobs. You’re sending out lots of emails and all you get are rejections or not even a reply. It can take a while to get your first job, but it’s important not to give up and to keep improving your skills in the meantime. Something will come up, and it will get easier once you get your foot in the door.

What has been your career highlight?

“Ice” was probably my favourite, because it was really challenging but also really rewarding.

Any projects coming up?

Yes, it’s going to be a busy year. Fortunately, there are many projects happening in London! At the moment I’m working on a feature film, which is something I haven’t done in a few years. It’s called Kensuke’s Kingdom. I think it will come out at some point in 2023 so it’ll be a while before everyone gets to see it, but definitely a good one to look forward to!

Follow Eleonora on Instagram @eleonora.quario

Watch episodes “Zima Blue” and “Ice” from Love, Death & Robots on Netflix

Artwork courtesy of Eleonora Quario