PPP2 Study Task 1 - Who am I?

What have I learnt?

This year I have learnt so much when I compare back a couple years to when I was just finishing my Foundation Diploma. One of these things is software. I remember marvelling at this girl who modelled some assets in maya and made a scene in Unity which she told me about on a Foundation alumni day, and here I am now doing the exact same thing. It shows how much I have learnt from that position in a short space of time. I have also developed my skills on the principles of animation, having employed them in my own animations. Juggling several modules all at the same time has aided my time management skills and organisation in general. Having stood up and presented many crits in-front of the class my presentation skills and confidence has improved dramatically to what it use to be. Also storyboarding ! A very specific animation pipeline process, something I used to think just consisted of drawing squares sequentially I've learnt to be a very vital process in co-ordination with camera angles and timings. I have developed my skills of being able to interpret and develop things sequentially.

What do I want to learn?

I want to learn more about 3D animation, getting my head around being able to use Maya to a sufficient standard. Learning ins and outs of the Maya to Unity process and being able to use Maya assets within the Unity engine. Unity is also something I wish to learn more about, as well as the coding side of things, but this is a long process its like learning another language. I also want to learn about how to construct virtual reality assets and game environments. Further elaborating to the potentially coding a VR game. Non-Software based I want to learn how to cope with becoming a free-lance animator in the period inbetween graduating and finding a career. I also wish to learn vital collaboration skills, seen as my job will mainly consist of working with a collaboration, picking up these skills early whilst studying will be most benefitial.

What am I good at?

Time management, I organise my time effectively to provide modules with the attention they require. I am also a very hard-working individual, I'm good at forcing myself to work for long period of time without breaks or procrastination. I am also a perfectionist, which has its positives and negatives. Positively being a perfectionist means I notice bad movements within my work and am able to amend them in good time to get movements looking solid and convincing.

What am I bad at?

Because of being such a perfectionist, I'm not very experimental. It is a big limitation especially with the emphasis that mistakes are good. I am also extremely critical of myself which hinders me in being able to 'sell' myself. Say what Im good at and my potentials. I'm bad at allowing free time for myself. Having a part-time job too I feel that I then have to work even harder in order to compensate for the fact I am losing time working.

What practitioners am I inspired by?

Practitioners in the animation industry is an odd one, Im usually inspired more by select animations rather than the practitioners themselves. Unlike say a fine artist or illustrator whom you know by name rather than work title. Animations can be so profound to me its mainly the moving image you focus on rather than who made it in contrast to fine artists where your first to look at the artist themselves. However those in the industry I would have to say Glen Keane and Joanna Quinn for their lively drawings, so full of vigor. These guys bring their drawings to life, not just alive. They emit life both through the pencils they draw with and through the movements they re-create. Games-wise im inspired by Nintendo, especially the Zelda series and how Nintendo bring a hand-drawn cel shading element to their 3D games, It makes them more tangible. I have been a Nintendo gamer since I was young and I love the narratives they bring to their games, unlike any other from an animation perspective. Paul Wells has also inspired me through his series of books and taught me a lot of valuable knowledge about the world of animation and its relation to art and industry. From a 3D animation perspective, I love Pixar and I have been inspired by many of their Principles to creating the perfect narrative.

What websites do I use to immerse in the animation industry?

Kotaku

Stash Media

Skwigly

AWN

Youtube

Who am I? Why am I here? and what do I want to learn??

Why have you chosen to study on this programme ?

- Because of the inner child in me wanting to make my drawings come to life. 

- To follow my lifelong dream. The desire to make animations has been with me since I was young whenever someone asked 'what do you want to be when you grow up', I always answered 'an animator'. 

- I work best doing things that I love and enjoy. 

- Animation allows me to create worlds and narratives to fuel my own imagination. 

- Animation will allow me to achieve things live action can't. 

What do you want to learn on the programme?

- Valuable skills in the world of work, improving my confidence and how to find my feet and make a living in the real world. 

- How to turn my lifetime hobby into a career. 

- The aesthetic that suits me best as an animator. 

- To develop skills in animation across all areas (stop motion, 3D etc) so I become a flexible individual industry. 

- How to work efficiently within a collaboration. 

What skills are your strengths?

- I am the ultimate perfectionist who is dedicated and hard working in set tasks. 

- I am a patient individual.  

- From my fine art background I am good at life drawing and conveying emotions on facial features. 

- I don't give up on a task easily. (Unless it involves after effects)

- I am quite good at working my way around a computer, both Mac and PC. And have a lot of experience digitally drawing with a graphic tablet. 

What things do you feel you need to improve on?

- How to work around the top end (really complicated) software (after effects and maya inparticular) 

- Balancing work and play, I seem to work myself down far too much. 

- My focus in lectures. 

- To stop being such a perfectionist to an extent as it can get very time consuming focussing on the most minute and pointless details. 

- My animation skills in general !

What ways will you evaluate your progress?

- Use a reflective planner to relect in daily, in order to see how I can progress further and see how I could of done things different. 

- Use the feedback received from my peers during Crit sessions. 

- Regularly assess my work in annotations. Thinking about all possible outcomes. 

- Compare back to past work to see how I have developed as an individual artist. 

- Critically analyse my work within blog posts.