Introduction:
In this week’s blog, I’ll first be discussing what we spoke about in this week’s lecture, where we were introduced to this new unit. Secondly, I’ll be going through the questions given to me by my lecturer during our lecture. The purpose of these questions is to help us discover what we’re truly passionate about, relating to the animation industry.
In This Week’s Lecture:
During this week’s lecture, we went through this module’s assignment brief, as well as our Final Major Project (FMP) thesis proposal. We also covered the topics that we would be learning over the next few weeks, giving us insight on how to properly write a thesis proposal. Our lecturer gave us questions to ask ourselves to help us develop an idea of what we would like to do for our FMP and consider a few factors. These questions were meant to help us think about what we’re really passionate about within the animation industry. Our lecturer clarified that it was only rough ideas for now and that we could change our idea in the future as nothing is set in stone as of yet.
This Week’s Questions:
On graduation, which area or environment of production do I wish to focus upon and why?
I always find this question very difficult as I haven’t fully explored every area yet. Furthermore, I like and enjoy each area I’ve explored already, making this question harder to answer. However, I would say 3D animation is where I want to specialise. Even though I completed and enjoyed my undergraduate degree in Visual Effects & Motion Graphics, I didn’t get to delve deep into a specific area that entirely hooked my interests completely. I chose to do Motion Graphics rather than everything else because I found general animation enjoyable. Whereas the first term of my MA 3D Computer Animation course spun my head and further extended my love for animation. I was constantly learning new practical skills each week, which I enjoyed. So to answer this question, I would say 3D Computer Animation within the film industry (Hopefully Disney) because I enjoy animating and love films.
What skills will I need to attain the standards required for vocational practice?
Creativity – I need to come up with ideas that nobody has heard or seen before. I need to take much inspiration from the real world and then tweak it to implement my personal touch. I wouldn’t want my projects to be forgotten. I want people to remember the creator of my projects, the same way we all know which movies Quentin Tarantino directed.
Team Work – As most animation studios have a large number of groups working on a single project, I’ll be required to know how to work well with others to get our work done to a high standard.
Attention to Detail – As graphics are continuously increasing with games and movies being rendered in 4K, meaning more pixels on the screen. I need to perfect every detail on the frame to make sure my audience doesn’t pick up any faults.
Absorb Information Quickly – As there are so many software tools, a great animator would be versatile and learn them all because each project we work on may require us to use specific software.
Excellent Memory – As animators are required to learn more than one software within a short duration, this means we need to have a great memory as there will be moments where I wouldn’t have touched a particular software in a year and would be expected to jump straight back on it for a new project.
Organisation – I’ll need to be organised as each project I work on can easily consist of hundreds or maybe thousands of files for which I’ll be entirely responsible. Furthermore, it’ll make my workflow easier if I manage my files efficiently.
How will I showcase your FMP practice for the final shows?
As I want to specialise in 3D animation, character animation to be specific, I will have to create a showreel, strictly displaying character animation work to show to employers. However, I would like to animate outside of character animation, meaning I’ll have to create multiple showreels to pitch, which is great for me as it’ll show employers that I am versatile. I aim for my showreels to show employers the skills I used to produce the work by breaking down each piece and labelling the skills and tools used in each section.
Is it important to directly connect the thesis research to my practical work?
I don’t think my thesis directly needs to connect with my practical work, but they need to relate to each other. For instance, I want my practical work to involve character animation; however, I may want to research character development and how characters can inflict emotions on the audience. The research I gather here would influence how I animate my character(s) and the entire scene because I would want to animate them in a specific manner that causes the audience to feel a particular way.
Do I have an area of research I wish to conduct that is unrelated to the practical elements?
As aforementioned, I would like to conduct research related to character animation; however, I’m unsure what I want to do for my practical work besides character animation. Therefore, I won’t know what research I need to conduct.
Summary:
To summarise, from answering these questions and reading over the answers I gave, It looks to me that I’m leaning towards creating a short story, or just a scene, involving character animation for my FMP. I’m currently unsure what the narrative will be based on yet, meaning I can’t conduct any research yet. However, being 90% sure of what sort of work I want to do is a good start, in my opinion. My next move is to browse through short story animations and scenes from movies for any inspiration that I could potentially use to help establish a narrative for my practical work.