Friday, 1 April 2011

Term 2 Industry Exercise Reflective Journal

This blog is here so I can reflect on my own personnel skills and what i've learnt about my self and what I need to do to make myself ready for a professional carrier in animation or something similar.


My best skills in no particular order are animating as i enjoy it I don’t find it a chore to do making it something I can enjoy to do and in turn something I am good at doing. Storyboarding is another skill I have which I think is quite developed and I’m able to create visualizations of what I and others want in a final piece even if that person isn’t too clear on what they want them self’s which for a story boarder is a key.

Character design is another area I would like to go into as I find character concept a fairly easy process in my mind and I can come up with character after character, which would be a must especially when thinking that films and video games may have hundreds of different characters. As for general abilities I have I believe I am a very good ideas person and can come up with stories, characters ect that can make good animations which again is a good skill when working in post production where the idea can make or break an animation or game. Finally I think I have the ability to work well under pressure, which is a very good skill to have in any industries where deadlines must be kept.


The company I have gone with to use as a comparison is Blur studios as they have an opening as a character animator which I would greatly enjoy doing as its a company that I feel really try and create animation with a lot of passion and and technical skill and make something worthwhile and captivating. For this job I need to be able to animate at a professional level but also have a complete understanding of aspects such as rigging and painting weight

List of whats needed for the job

Minimum of 3-year degree with an emphasis in character animation or equivalent work experience.
 
• Outstanding demo reel demonstrating strong animation ability and good aesthetic eye.
 
• Exceptional skill in animating realistic human characters.
 
• Thorough understanding and application of classic animation principles (staging, timing, anticipation, follow through, etc.) 

• The ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with a wide variety of project staff.
 
• Consistently meet project deadlines in a timely manner without compromising artistic integrity. 

• Strong interest in video games.

I have learnt a lot over this term in most areas and believe I have become a better animator for it.
I have improved my animating skills through doing my quadruped animation tutorial and is a key area I want to improve in as it is the most important skill for an animator which goes with out saying. though I do believe i still need a lot more practice before i'm at a level where I am at a professional and industry level and as alway i need to really use what spare time i have on improving and practicing this skill.

My time management skills have improved as well which again is key for working in any industry really and will show I can keep to schedules and deadlines which hopefully would make me more employable and also would be a key skill if I was to become a producer or a department leader. All these skills will hopefully show I can be a key part in any animation or games company and show I’m willing to constantly push myself.  I do how ever believe I still need to improve my time management skills a lot as I still have times where I will slack meaning I have to force myself to work longer and later to catch myself back up and while i still put as much effort in as I can It just leaves me being more worn out and stressed during and afterwards and i know i need to increase my focus and drive though I believe some of this was more down to the project not really pulling me in and I know once I work on show real material and final films that I would fully immerse myself.

One skill i haven't really developed however is rigging and while i don't want to go into it I think it would be a asset to myself to learn as I found while animating that some of the joints in the rig i used in my quadruped walk cycle weren't working the way they should and if i was able to fix this my self it would save time and would show that i wouldn't have to always rely on a rigger to fix everything for me if something myself.

Goals that I have for the future would be to really push my all my skills even further so I can really try and make myself standout from the rest of the crowd is key but I will also make sure my lesser skills like modeling and rigging are able show enough skill and that I am capable in many areas and not just limited to one role in a company and can be versatile enough that I can solve problems that might not necessarily be in my job description. I will make sure that in the gap before my final year i will use wisely and really try and push my skill so I'm ready for what ever role i wish to pursue.  

No comments:

Post a Comment