We’re thrilled to share Silvia Panicali’s story with the Animation Mentor community. From early beginnings in photography and graphic design, Silvia’s path has been a unique blend of exploration and growth, ultimately leading her to pursue her passion for animation. After attending Animation Mentor in 2019 and 2020, she honed her skills and landed her dream role at Ubisoft, where she brings iconic characters to life in some of today’s most beloved games. Silvia has worked as a 2D Animator, Cinematic Animator, and is now the Associate Animation Director at Ubisoft Milan. Her journey reminds us that passion, curiosity, and a willingness to embrace challenges can create incredible opportunities in the animation industry. Read on to learn more about her insights, career highlights, and advice for aspiring animators.
Kicking off a Career in Animation
Animation Mentor: Tell us about your animation journey. How did you get to where you are today?
Silvia: My journey towards animation has been nothing but a fun rollercoaster. After a diploma in Accountancy (I’m sooo bad at math so this is still a recurring joke between me and my closest friends), my will to create visual arts was stronger than ever, but animation didn’t resonate as the one and only way to express myself.
I approached professional photography first, thanks to the passion for the media I inherited from my grandfather. But, despite a 2-year professional course, I soon realized that doing it for a living wasn’t really my thing. I was 20 years old at the time, and my curiosity towards different visual arts was starting to grow. During the following 3 years, I earned a degree in Graphic Design & Art Direction where I was able to explore different subjects, and that’s where I approached animation for the first time.
“But hey, how about all those tiny silly characters you’re drawing at the bottom of each book’s pages?” – I
kept asking myself (I told you it was going to be a rollercoaster). I really wanted to explore character design
too, so I enrolled in an 8-day intensive program. It was a simply a blast and I still draw those silly characters from time to time!
After that I worked for two years as a 2D Artist & 2D Animator for a small start-up, making game-apps for preschoolers for brands such as Nickelodeon and Highlights for Children. Despite my love to create content for kids, I felt it was time for me to step-up in my career and invest all my time and resources to achieve my following goals: join the game industry and become a better animator, and that’s when I finally ended up at Animation Mentor.
The experience was 100% worth it. I was lucky enough to find a job at Ubisoft after Class 04, Introduction to Acting and I’m still working there four years later.
Working as as Game Animator
Animation Mentor: Can you give us a deep dive into what it was like working on one of your favorite projects? What did your role entail?
Silvia: Starting my journey in the AAA game industry, I got the chance to work on Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. It allowed me to put my hands on some of my favorite characters ever, and give them life (I still remember opening Luigi’s rig for the first time…and yep, I admit that I softly cried of joy in front of my screen).
Working as a Cinematic Animator on the project, I was assigned to specific sequences on which I had to
animate one or more characters at the same time. After receiving the file from our amazing Layout Artist, who had built up the sequence with cameras and rigs roughly animated based on storyboards, I started my blocking pass. The following animation steps needed the approval from our Animation & Cinematic Directors, who guided us in order to maintain consistency in term of quality and intentions. Blocking, Spline, Polish…then, when the project approached the release day, we started to debug our sequences based on the results obtained in the game build, followed and supported by our talented Tech Animators.
While working on this project, I also had the chance to support the team doing some rig testing and character personality studies during an early stage of the DLCs production. This specific experience was particularly informative to deep-dive into the creative process, looking more closely to the beautiful work done by other departments such as Narrative Design, Concept Art, 3D Modeling, and Rigging.
That’s still what I love the most about working in the game industry: we’re able to generate meaningful experiences for our final players through the intertwining of different talents. Teamwork always pays off!
Animation Mentor: What is one of the most challenging projects you’ve ever worked on and what did you learn from it?
Silvia: Assassin’s Creed Shadow has been definitely a challenge for me. I approached mocap animation for the first time as a Senior Animator, while simultaneously supporting the Animation Supervisor on the project by giving feedback to my peers. It has been a lot to handle in terms of time management and focus, but it eventually led me to start asking myself what kind of leader I want to be and become in the future. The learning path I am on is moving me forward steadily, step by step, and everything requires patience. That’s definitely one of the main lessons I have learned from this
project.
Animation Mentor: If a student is interested in becoming a Cinematic Animator, what skills should they focus on?
Silvia: Being a Cinematic Animator can be extremely rewarding in terms of final results. However, focusing only on animation’s appeal might not be enough to deliver a great story. Listen to Director’s interviews, be interested in photography, try to create a storyboard on your own to develop a strong narrative; all of those elements might give you significant skills to support your job.
You should also teach yourself to look, not only see. Master studies might become handy. For example, if you felt in love with a specific cinematic, take a look at what makes it look great to you, whether it’s part of a video game or a cinematic trailer. What do you notice? Ask yourself why the camera is framing that specific frame, why the lighting has been built in a specific way, what are the story’s intentions? You can apply all your animation and acting skills learned at Animation Mentor to each and every element of your shots to make them shine. Remember, your camera is an animated character too.
Animation Mentor Student Experience
Animation Mentor: How did Animation Mentor help prepare you for the industry?
Silvia: Animation Mentor was a crucial and meaningful experience for two reasons. First thing first, I learned 3D animation from scratch – I literally had never opened a 3D software before. I also developed strong basics and both creative and technical skills to prepare a workflow to start from. This experience also helped me to learn even faster, thanks to the shared experiences of amazing people all around the world that taught me the meaning of “teamwork.”
The community’s friendly and supportive environment also left a significant mark on my life. I shared happiness, feedback, a growing mindset, D&D campaigns, personal fears, sometimes tears, and animation’s daily struggles with my beloved peers and supportive mentors. It was one of the most priceless experiences of my life, and I still keep each one of my Animation Mentor peers close to my heart.
Advice for Animation Students
Animation Mentor: Is there one thing every successful animator has in common?
Silvia: The easiest answer would sound something like “knowledge and skills”. But in my opinion is more about what you do with this knowledge you’ve built and learned. A successful animator’s superpower is not only to deliver amazing animations, but mainly the will to share, the kindness of giving.
The greatest animators I had the pleasure to meet during my educational and professional path were those willing to share their knowledge to let other people shine and grow. None of them were jealous, envious or hindering. It didn’t matter how many years of experience they had, if they were newbie students or industry’s veterans. They all have built a strong interest in helping others, suggesting ways to improve, tips, tricks, and/or meaningful insight.
Animation Mentor: What advice do you have for current or future Animation Mentor students?
Silvia: Always ask, always listen – while being humble, brave or simply curious (depending on your nature). Asking for feedback from a mentor, a community, a friend or even a recruiter after you got rejected, will open doors to new knowledge and opportunities you might not be aware of. And yes, I know it’s not always easy to put yourself in a vulnerable place, but if you give yourself the right (the legitimate right) to fail, you can only grow and learn how to embrace that feedback. Part of our job is to receive daily critiques so you really want to be ready to approach this routine at your best! The more feedback you get AND listen to, the more it will be easier for you to feel confident while approaching the industry for the first time. I promise you, it will be worth it 🙂
Silvia Panicali in the credits
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope DLC 3: Rayman in the Phantom Show
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope DLC 2: The Last Spark Hunter
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (main game)
- 2D commercial, documentary, and TV projects for clients like Adidas Italy and Nickelodeon
Connect with Silvia on on LinkedIn.
Want to be mentored by professional animators?
Follow your animation dreams just like Silvia Panicali did by learning from animators at studios like Epic Games, Pixar, ILM, Riot Games, Disney, and Blizzard! Get more information about Animation Mentor’s Game Animation Program or Character Animation Program.
