Month: September 2022

Thy Will Be Done

This project brought many new experiences for me which were nerve-racking and overwhelming at times – however it was an invaluable experience from which I gained knowledge and confidence. It was my first experience of directing, working for a client, working with a group, leading a team, building a set and creating a stop motion film. I have always generally struggled with self-doubt, especially as an artist, so having my pitch chosen by the LIAF panel was a really validating moment for me. I was excited and passionate about making my project, but very quickly learned that being clever and realistic about what is achievable in a given amount of time is just as important as having a great idea. I had to compromise a lot of my ideas, particularly with materials and aesthetic, and even with these creative sacrifices the project required a huge amount of work and hours because of the choices I had made for my story and pitch. This taught me to be conscious of time and practicality right from the start of a project. 

I took on many roles during this production, my responsibilities as director included:

• Story concept, character and set design 
• Storyboarding 
• Modelling and painting of puppets heads
• Set building and dressing 
• Puppet animation
• Supervising animation
• Keyframing 2D animation to pass onto team members and fully animating some 2D sequences
• Post-production effects and editing
• Sourcing support for set building, technical assistance, costume making and sound 
• Directing a musician, sound designer and mastering engineer

Although this was a lot of work to take on it allowed me to try out many aspects of stop motion production and understand what I enjoy the most about it. I found that my absolute favourite part of the process was making the heads for the puppet and especially painting them. I also liked animating the puppet, although it was quite difficult and frustrating because of the way it had been built. I enjoyed putting the set together and finding ways of creating practical effects like rain, and seeing the payoff when it all came together. Although the 2D animation felt like a bit of a nuisance and had to be rushed, I still loved figuring out how the elements would move and drawing them frame by frame. I find that one of my most useful traits which will lend me well to being an animator is my patience when it comes to these processes – I am always willing to put in the time that is required. In contrast, I learned that script writing, storyboarding, producing and post-production are not areas I would like to progress in. I found that I like to bring ideas to life more than create them myself, so maybe being a director is not the ideal route for me.

This film encouraged me to continue exploring analogue techniques of film making, and my enjoyment of painting is what lead me to creating my Reflections on Reality project.

Flounder

After deciding to work with paint and exploring the possible techniques I could use for animation, I have chosen to try out oil-on-glass for the second project of this unit. I have once again found myself not enjoying the process of pre-visualisation and struggled to come up with imagery for this narrative, but now I have been able to get stuck into the technique I could paint for hours on end. This again has solidified my patience for animating and my enjoyment of painting and frame-by-frame animation. Sourcing references and examples of this technique has allowed me to see what kind of projects oil-on-glass is used for and how it is applied to different areas and genres. I have been able to learn how I might apply this skill by looking at what other artists who work in the medium have done. It is definitely a technique I would consider doing again in addition to other methods. 

For this unit we are required to research industry roles and professional practice. I often consider what roles I might like to take on in the industry once my studies are finished, and it is something that seems to change continuously as I try out more techniques and styles. I have imagined myself in many roles since I began my studies – considering careers in 3D modelling and environment creation, game design, 3D and 2D character animation, pre-visualisation, motion graphics, puppet animation and model-making for stop motion. My interests and goals seem to be ever changing, however since beginning this masters course and being given access to materials to create more analogue and traditional animation, I have found myself focussing on these techniques. I have used Unit 2 to explore these interests, directing both a puppet animation (with some digitally drawn 2D elements) and and most recently an oil-on-glass animation. Over my next blog posts I will discuss in detail the roles I took on and what I gained from my experiences.

Because of the many techniques I have explored and the varied portfolio this has resulted in, I feel confident to call myself a mixed-media artist when entering the industry. I would like to explore what this means for me when I enter the creative world, looking into the potential paths I could take and researching where similar interdisciplinary artists have gone in their careers. My interests have now strayed away from 3D production techniques as well as motion graphics – I am more interested in exploring career paths in stop motion, experimental and 2D digital and traditional filmmaking techniques, particularly as an animator. I am also interested in exploring wider options of production roles – given my affinity for painting and set building it would be useful to consider theatre as a potential career area. From this research I am hoping to gain an insight into industry standards and requirements which will inform my practice, I can them implement this understanding into my graduation film and any other projects that follow. 

I will use my journal not only to broaden my knowledge of industry roles and professional practice, but it will also give me an opportunity to consider where my career could take me geographically. In terms of the close future I would love to stay in London as I establish myself and find my way into industry, however can also envision myself in other UK cities with a prominent animation industry such as Manchester, Cardiff or Bristol. I also have an interest in travelling and am keen to live in a different country for at least a short period, so this research will enable me to consider which countries and cities I might like to go to.