High Level Exit Plan

This Part of the blog is to write about what i have learnt throughout the process of this module so far and what i intend to do to gain a foot hold in the industry after completing university.

So far this module has actually taught me alot of useful things. I thought that proffesional practice would be a waste of time but actual it has taught me alot more about animation as a whole and the animation industry. I have learnt how to create and effective show reel and what pitfalls to avoid. This to me is definatly the most important as a show reel is so incredibly important. It is your first impression when you make contact with a company, so mastering techniques and picking up good habbits is important. I can now display my work much more effectivly because i have learnt how important flow and skill are to a portfolio.

The module has also helped me fully decided what i want to do. At the start i was unsure what angel i would like to pursue, ie. rigging, animation, technical artistry. But through analysing my old work i can see that my strengths are definatly within the animation sector and that is what i have most fun doing. So therefore this module has given me drive to excel in my favourite area and create work to the best of my ability to it, even thought i still feel i have got a fair bit to learn.

I think when i leave my first plan of action will to be playing around with and creating a showreel to hand to prospective employers.I will probably take around 6 months from graduating to create some high quality pieces and putting them together in a specialised showreel (This will probably be more aimed towards films and t.v animation rather than games)

From this point i have contacts that i met whilst in Eurocom, where my friends are on placement studying animation, so i will email them and see if i can get a short internship or even starting job to boost my creditentials. Failing this i have a few contacts that are within childs animation, so i will pursue these and hopefully get some more knowledge within an industry environment.

My ultimate goal would be to work for Disney, more specifically Disney animated studios or Disney Pixar. These are the top spot for character animators in my opinion and i am going to practice with more anatomy and familiarise myself with any technologies that become avaliable so i can be good enough to apply and work towards this for my final goal.

I think that once i finish i will also create some business cards and set up my portofilio website and email so i can go to different events such as gamecity etc. and make myself known to people within the animation sector of the industry. I would also love to maybe start out with some friends in a small indie company, doing animation for some Apps or small indie games. I think this would be a good experience and also get me involved more within what i want to do :)

Asset presented in house style

This section of the criteria is hard for me to do because i want to persue an animation career and i dont want to be an enviornmental or prop artist so because of this i am stumped at persenting any asset sheets.

Instead of this i thought i would do a couple of moodboards demonstrating the style of animation that i want to go down, and some youtube links to scenes that i intend to copy and recreate with similar rigs. This should then give you some kind of benchmark about the style that i want to persue :)


Disneys Monsters Inc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07l6HgPDJn0

I absolutly love the animation that Pixar use! I think that it looks at its best in films like monsters inc. The way they animate the movement of different fictional creatures is amazing! the fur on sully is especially fantastic! i would absolutly LOVE to be able to create scenes from this movie or work on something similar in style!


Wallace and Gromit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrfESxQOuNw

This is a very unique style of animation (stop motion). This claymation looks amazing! i would love to experiment with this and be given the opportunity to dab in this just to see if i like it or not, but it is one of my favourite animation styles :)


Death Note

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaVy2Dv5fw4&feature=related

I love the combination of anime 3d animation and real time acting! i think this film demonstrates it really well, with a unique spin on the style. It would be really cool to try out adding in 3d animation with some short clips that i can create. From this i bet i could generate some really strange but awesome pieces!


Jimmy Neutron

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XOnc9FCNrU

I think something along this kind of animation is a very good start for me to get into the industry. It is something i can create easily on my own with maya and it is also very visually appealing! Having something to this standard in my show reel will greatly increase my hireability!


Below are two mood boards that i created with the style that i want my animation to be centred around. Because we have done barely any animation on the course so far. I havnt had a great deal of time to find myself and what i want to do, but it will most likely be around the styles featured below because that is what i enjoy and i excell at!

Finalised Block Out

This is a finalised version of my blockout showreel. I have annotated the different scenes within it and used the clips as a visual demonstration. I have added in all i want from a showreel and i want the time to be similar in my actual project so i will probably end up swapping the clips in this blockout for my own finished pieces.

The annotations are there to give you a short understanding of what i want within the scene.

The start reads:

"This is a blockout of what i want my
showreel to feature

None of the work featured here is my own.
Links to the work used will be provided in the
post below this video

The work has been used as a visual
demonstration of what i intend my own
work to look like when finalised"

All the links are posted below in the previous posts :)

Music for Showreel

The point of music within the showreel is to try and draw the viewer in, but not take the attention away from what is happening in the performance. For this i have looked up several soothing and modern songs which could give my work some life :)

Mario Galaxy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z2kxFCQ_mQ&feature=related

This song is quiet upbeat if i wanted a happy fast paced showreel. I think that under the reight conditions, this song could be used incredibly effectivly

Skyward Sword:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaLOMAW_jzo&feature=related

This music is quite slow but upbeat. This makes a good back track for a showreel. It isnt incredibly overpowering but has a nice happy beat to it which draws in the viewer!

Banjo Kazooie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXoaTcf_3vo

This music is really simplistic and happy. It would fit an animation showreel perfectly. Its not to distracting, just a couple of instruments with an upbeat melody


Mario 64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4TOM5Mitps

This one is really happy. I think that you need a certain showreel for this to fit with though. It would have to be used with more silent animations i think because it is a tiny bit distracting but good none the less


Little Big planet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SRVtE7iibY&feature=related

This one is very soothing and chilled. It is very similar to many backing tracks that people use in thier showreels online. So this may be a safe choice


Out of all of the above i am going to use the music featured in little big planet. It fits almost perfectly for the upbeat music of an animation showreel but it doesnt dominant the reel. I will most likely use this for my final showreel as well as the block out one in which i am creating! :)

Showreel Practice 1

Here is what i am going to put in my showreel. This is just the random clips with no annotations, or music. Just a rough block out :)

Planning of Showreel

For the sake of the showreel blockout i am using other peoples work that i cna find online to create it, and once more work is finished i can just slot my work over the top of the timed scenes.

I have been researching the kind of scenes that i want to create and have found scenes similar to what my final pieces will look like from various videos. Below is links and the scenes i will be using :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcZhdzWgAyM

For this i will be using the run and jump animation cycles and the scene with the teddy bear to show that i can understand how an inanimate object would be able to move.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK8xk3klCiI&feature=related

I love the introduction to this showreel! it is amazing! its eyecatching, interesting and also demonstrates an understanding of animation. It would be perfect to create a showreel with this intro!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bklPD7U9XIw

i will use this for an example of a push and pull. The reason i like this, is because they have used both a push and pull in the same little scene and its been created incredibly well! This is what i aim my push and pull to be like (I will probably use this as my first point of reference)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzaOVkijAQA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzEX8zYuxK8&feature=related

These iare what i want my walk cycles to look like. I like how they show three seperate perspectives, so that you can really see how the walk cycle works. It also demonstrates a human and other type of animation which shows more knowledge and understanding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTQSY0fTIOY

I love the starwars fake light sabre scene in this! its perfect for something i want to create. Its quite complex, well timed and shows incredibly good knowledge of anatomy


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9G6t4yaLt4&feature=related

This final one i like the scene at the start because it shows good lip syncing and good camera angels. I want to show this so i can demonstrate a wide variety of skills so i am more attractive to prospective employers!

Planning of showreel

I am beginning to plan out my show reel by finding clips on youtube etc. that link with what will be in my own show reel. This week dave said to choose videos as he will be giving us a tutorial on the after effects program so we can begin to put together our show reels.

I want mine to include:

• Push and Pull animations
• Walk cycle
• Lip Sync
• 2 x 11 second animations
• (possible jump animation)

These are what phil told me would make a decent animation showreel so these are the things that i am creating in advanced modelling and animation :)