Things are starting to get going at Animation Mentor again, so I thought I'd update you on what's happening! My Leave of Absence was definitely needed, as my day job got very busy and tiring, but in terms of doing new shots and revising all my learnings, I was only partially successful I'm afraid.
Successful because I got going on 2 new shots, but only partially so because I would have liked to do a bit more. And I almost entirely failed on the revision front. However, I think I needed a break, and am feeling a lot fresher coming back in. It's great to be properly a part of AM again, as I really did miss being on campus and utilizing all the amazing energy and passion that place exudes!
So, Class 6 - Polishing and Portfolio. This is where we take all of the shots that we've done at AM, pick out the ones with the most potential, and spend some time polishing them up nice so as to dazzle anyone that looks at them.
So I thought I'd upload my shots here as well and get your opinions on your favourites. I've just thrown them together in a roughly chronological order - this is in no way what I would consider to be a "Demo Reel" of any kind. Just all my shots in one place.
Let me know which ones you think work best or have the most potential!
Class 5 is now over - just had my last Q&A. I say this every term, but where is the time going?! As my AM experience draws nearer to the end, it becomes even more unbelievable.
It's been a fantastic term - I have learnt so much from my mentor Michelle Meeker. She has worked on some fantastic projects, both in big studios (Pixar, Dreamworks, Weta) and independently, so has a good variety of experiences to draw on and lots of brilliant advice to share. While I've learnt loads, it's also been a really tough term, and am a little disappointed with how my shot finished up. I try to take comfort from the fact that it was quite a tricky shot to do, with lots of physicality and cuts, as well as the acting, but the perfectionist in me is quite frustrated that this is what I handed in as "final". However, I will keep working on it and hopefully turn it into something a little better.
I've decided to take a Leave of Absence before doing the final Polishing class. It was a difficult decision, but working full time and doing AM was starting to take its toll, and I really want to get the most I possibly can out of the final class. So I'm taking some time out to try to consolidate all my learning and work on a few new shots to practise my techniques and then return to AM in January for the final class.
So watch this space - I'll be posting up work in progress on my new shots here and would be even more grateful of feedback and comments!
For now, here's where I got up to on my 2 person shot:
So it's all very exciting over in AM-land at the moment, because they've just launched a new version of their classic rig - Bishop! The little introductory video they created shows him off to full effect - you can see it over on the Animation Mentor home page.
It is now so easy to create a range of very different looking characters, and I am really excited about the multitude of possibilities. Previously I would probably think twice about doing a shot with a child, especially a really young child in it, or a very old person as you'd have to do a fair bit of remodelling (and with my modelling skills, they wouldn't be very convincing), but now it's so easy to create new characters that it really does feel like my imagination (or animation skills at any rate!) is the only thing limiting me. Even just having them dressed in clothes is SO much easier than it was.
I've already substituted in a new old lady character for my monologue shot. It's definitely highlighted all the little glitches that my eye had got used to. So once I've polished that up a bit, I'll share that here.
For now I'll leave you with a still of the characters I've created for my 2 person dialogue. I think the guy looks quite a bit different from the classic Bishop, and while the woman looks a bit more Bishop-esque, she's wearing a chicken costume which would have been impossible for me before (I just had to model some feathers), so I'm pretty pleased with how it's looking at the moment!
Just saw that my last post was back in May! Apologies for the long silence. Have been quite busy, and also not really felt that I had much to show as progress on my shot has been incredibly slow until recently. So here's a little update on everything.
In June I attended the Annecy International Film festival for the first time, and it was just as good as everyone assured me it would be! The setting itself was perfect - Annecy is a lovely little town, easy to find your way round (important for me as my sense of direction is beyond bad), with a nice lake, and a lovely old area with cobblestones and canals. The festival itself was fantastic. Lots of things going on, films, talks, gatherings etc. There was a great atmosphere, with everyone there to have a good time and share a love of animation. I watched a lot of great films - and some pretty terrible ones! It was great to have the opportunity to watch films in other styles or from countries that I might not otherwise be able to see. It was fun to be a part of special events, like the European premier of Waking Sleeping Beauty with a Q&A afterwards with Don Hahn, Ron Musker and John Clements. I also attended a Dreamworks talk that went into the research and preparation they did for working on How to Train Your Dragon. It's always fun being shown video reference used for particular shots you recognize from the film, that you wouldn't otherwise get a chance to see.
Because there were so many people at Annecy this year (apparently a couple of thousand or so more than last year) I didn't get to see everything I wanted, but didn't feel that I missed out on too much, and there's always next year! The other huge benefit of Annecy was getting to meet fellow AM students in person - some of whom I've seen around online, or been in class with, others who I'd never heard of but quickly made friends with! It's great just being able to turn up at an event like this and know that you already have a ready-made group of cool people to hang out with!
All in all it was a pretty fantastic week, and I'm already looking forward to next year!
So the week after Annecy was the last week of term, but I was quite behind due to my trip, so didn't finish the term as strongly as I would have liked.
So now we're just beginning Week 4 of Class 5. I can't quite believe that I'm about to embark on the final shot of my Animation Mentor experience. Guess I'd better try and make it a good one! It is scary that I'm nearly finished, and still don't feel particularly competent at this animation business. However, I've decided that I need to try and make the most of it before it's all over, and learn as much as I can. And while I may not feel confident about my animating skills, even I can see that I have made a huge improvement from when I first started just over a year ago!
So this week I'll be picking my 2 person dialogue, and starting to think about costumes and scenarios.
In the meantime I'll leave you with the latest pass of my monologue. Still some polishing up to be done, but I think it's getting there.
Ladies and gentlemen, the moment that every AMer dreams about has arrived ... starting dialogue shots!
It's really weird to actually be here now. I still feel like I've just started, but actually all of a sudden I've worked my way through all the classic AM rigs - and have finally got access to the Bishop rig. He's got eyes that blink, and fingers that move and is generally a fairly complete humanoid character. However, as with everything at AM, they ease you in gently. So we don't have full facial controls yet - just a jaw that can open and close, and eyelids that can open and close. All the rest of the goodies come next term.
So the assignment is to find a piece of dialogue, spoken by one person, that has some kind of texture or emotional change in it, and animate your character to it. I've been thinking about this assignment pretty much since I started, so have been keeping an ear out for great dialogue. I think one week isn't really enough time to come up with something good when you've got the entire history of film, TV and radio to trawl through so I think it pays to start early.
That said, the piece of dialogue I actually ended up using, I think I found in the last week! But it's nice to know you have some other options.
I decided to go with this piece of dialogue for several reasons:
- I'm confident that very few people will have heard it before, so won't have any pre-conceived ideas about it. - It's English, so a bit different to the usual reel stuff and, you know - I'm English. - There's a nice change in emotion and timing. - It's by Joyce Grenfell, one of my all time favourite comic actresses. - It makes me laugh.
My original video reference that I shot was of the character sat down writing, but my mentor said that was too boring and that I should re-shoot with the character stood up and working with props. I thought I was going for nice subtle acting, but as he pointed out, all the acting is in the face, and with no facial rig till next term, I wouldn't have a whole lot to work with. So after gathering together my slightly crushed ego, I re-shot the video reference, working with a tray and some teacups, and my mentor loved it.
So here's how the shot is looking at the moment - this is my blocking plus pass.
Apologies for the delay between posts, I've basically been ill for the whole of April, so have been struggling to keep up with my animation assignments and the day job, let alone blog posting!
However, I'm feeling much better now, so thought I'd get you up to date on my animation.
Class 4 is going great (illness aside!). I have a fantastic mentor who gives great feedback, and lots of it! He is Justin Martinsen, currently working at Double Negative in London, so I actually have a decent Q&A time! 8 in the evening - woohoo! My eyes are open, I'm not wearing pyjamas - it's incredible! You can check out his work (and even his acting skills - check out the Reference comparison section in the animation menu) here.
Our first assignment of the term was a pantomime shot (i.e. telling a story with no dialogue) where we had to pick a scenario that had two contrasting emotional beats in it. Originally, I was going to have Stewie sat crying, and Tailor (the ball with a tail) comes along and snuggles up, trying to cheer him up. That doesn't work, so then Tailor jumps on Stewie and runs all around tickling him and making him laugh.
I really liked that idea, and got a lot of positive feedback from other students about it. HOWEVER, it's my mentor's opinion that counts, and he thought that having Stewie sat there would be too static and that it's good to keep practising the ol' body mechanics. And I agree.
So after several re-thinks and different variations, this is the final shot. Still a story with Stewie and Tailor, and I'm relatively happy with it. Still don't feel like I've really made my animation sing though ... but maybe nobody feels like that about their own shots. Got a fair bit of polishing left to do, but it's getting there. Let me know what you think!
So I have now completed a term of Advanced Body Mechanics! I honestly, do not know where the last 9 months have gone. I'm halfway through Animation Mentor already - how did that happen?!
This term has been fantastic. I have learnt so much and am really starting to feel like I'm finding a workflow that suits me. The more I learn about animation, the more I realize there is still to learn ... but the more enthusiastic I get about continuing with my education! The couple of days with Pixar reminded me of what being an animator means - you need to understand acting, story-telling, cinematography, physics, anatomy, movement - and life in general. Which I find incredibly exciting - there's always going to be new things that I can learn, and apply, to improve myself as an animator. I bought a load of books and am trying to learn as much as I can about all this stuff to help me in Class 4 - acting! I'm really looking forward to it. Which is just as well, as the break between these 2 terms is only a weekend! However, I'm raring to go, and can't wait till Monday!
Here's all the work from Class 3 - I'm definitely starting to see an improvement in my work, which is so encouraging. Still a loooong, looooong way to go, but it's nice to see I've made a few small steps.
There's still a certain amount of jitteryness on the first two shots, and I plan on cleaning them up later, but have run out of time for the moment.
I am an aspiring animator and started this blog so that people could watch my animations instead of listen to me try to describe them. I hope that as my animations improve over time, the title of this blog will become redundant or ironic.
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