Loop De Loop

As a practical piece of animation I'd like to do, I think Loop De Loop is a good competition to enter since the themes are usually quite vague and they accept any type of animation, at any length, as long as it loops. It will also be seen by a variety of people, and the best entries will also be screened in Australia!

Since a new theme is usually released every two months, that leaves room for flexibility in scheduling when to animate a piece for it, which is ideal for me since these next two months will be dedicated to finishing my final project for Extended Practice.

The latest theme is 'Tumble'; There's lots of different ways to interpret the word 'tumble', including tumble weeds, an object rolling along, or even a gymnast performing a routine. This theme was decided in February, however since their website is under development right now it seems they are busy with getting that up and running, since the theme hasn't been changed since then; I'd like to animate for this theme anyway, since it will be a good opportunity for me to practice the basics of animation again.

The way I'd like to interpret it is a person falling over as they're walking or running - I think it could create a simple yet comedic animation that would allow me to practice a run cycle (or various ones). I could either use 2D or 3D to animate this idea.

If I use 2D, then I'd have to create a character for it - since a few of my classmates enjoy character designing I want to ask them if they could create one for me. In doing this I can practice animating and drawing in different styles, as well as considering the character's personality to determine what type of walk or run they'd have. Having a variety of these walk cycles would be good for my showreel, since I would be able to demonstrate the different animation styles I can animate, as well as portraying the personality traits of each.

My main inspiration for this is this showreel from Tomas Jech, an animator who's showreel demonstrates the same character being animated in various ways. The quality of animation is very good, and showing this one character in a variety of ways allows him to demonstrate his skills in this particular style. 

Walk Cycles from Tomas Jech on Vimeo.

I'm excited to develop this idea and see what kind of characters I will be able to animate!

Blue-Zoo Animation Studio

Blue-Zoo are an animation studio located in Central London, who work on children's TV series, short films, commercials and apps. Some of their employees set up a live broadcasting session this lunchtime to do a Q&A with the general public over Facebook.

The jist of the conversation I caught was comparing animating for TV as opposed to feature films, saying since TV studios are generally smaller, their employees get more opportunities to animate for their projects, which in turn allows them to develop their skills faster.

One of the reoccurring questions on the live feed was asking them for tips on how to get into the industry - what qualities employees look for in a junior animator. They said as well as having a good attitude and a certain skill level, an animator should demonstrate that they are good at thinking of creative ideas and are generally on the ball and can contribute to the creative solutions a project can undertake. Anyone can be taught the technical side of how to animate, being able to think creatively will give you the edge in the industry.

I only caught the end of the broadcast, however they are planning to do more live talks, the next one being in a few weeks. This one only lasted half an hour during lunchtime, so it will be a good one to look out for and watch to get more advice from professionals in the industry.

Some of the questions that were
asked during the broadcast.

Robert Crawford - My Skype Conversation with an Employee of DreamWorks

After emailing Robert Crawford a few weeks ago, I almost instantly received a reply back saying he's interested in talking to me about any questions I might have, so we arranged a meeting over Skype to start the conversation off! This took place yesterday, and I believe it went well.

He asked me about my favourite part of the animation process and my course, which lead on to his comparison of his experience at university and how it felt to find a job in the industry - I didn't get chance to ask him more about this, since he lead on to his current job at DreamWorks; however his LinkedIn page lists every job he has had - which films he's been involved in and the role he took in them. He describes himself as a cinematographer rather than an animator, since he's worked on live action films too and focuses more on the set up of the shot rather than the movements of the characters on screen.

As the head of layout at DreamWorks, he's in contact with everyone involved in the filmmaking process - the storyboard artists fabricate the plot line and character interactions for the film, then the head of layout considers all of the smaller details and how the shots will work together, which he then proposes to the animators to explain his reasoning behind the decisions he made; the whole time keeping constant contact with the animators to ensure their questions are answered and they're performing the sequences right.

Since he's in contact with animators all the time, I could ask him about what kind of schedules they keep and what it's like from their point of view to work somewhere like DreamWorks - basically they work to quotas rather than deadlines, so they are assigned certain scenes to work on within a time frame, such as blocking out the keyframes in a sequence or animating a certain movement, and if they finish it earlier than expected then they are free to do as they please for the rest of the day, and nobody really minds.

Crawford described the working environment at DreamWorks similar to Google's - very relaxed with a lot of activities such as table tennis available for the employees - a home away from home basically, with 3 meals a day provided, plenty of coffee, and the option to either get these meals for free (out of your pay check) or earn more money (either option seems to allow you to be quite well off). As long as you get the work expected of you done to a high standard, then they are happy for you to relax and enjoy yourself in their facilities.

He mentioned that all workplaces are different, for example Pixar tend to work in groups during their projects and only talk to the people in their group, whereas DreamWorks's directors walk around the whole studio casually talking to each animator about their work and how they're getting on, as well as being able to see the progress and be able to provide regular feedback to everyone. Based on this it sounds like the latter is a more open, and overall better company to work for, however I don't know much about how other companies actually work, so I won't make too many assumptions.

One last bit of advice he left me with (for now) is to not worry about peoples reactions to my work; it was more of a warning really, your piers may like the work you've done, but you may not have understood the brief properly, so they will pick it apart and leave you with a lot of notes until there's nothing left of the initial work you've done (particularly in the early stages of production). This may be down to their explanations and the way you understand them, but Crawford explained to me it's OK to not understand something. Despite all of this he said I shouldn't take it personally and loose confidence in myself or my work, and that most critical feedback tends to be sugarcoated anyway. I have been told this before in different ways, but I need to brace myself for receiving feedback on the spot that might not be the best.

The conversation lasted about 45 minutes and was cut short due to personal reasons, but Crawford is happy to keep in contact with me and provide any advice I might need as I try to find my way into the industry. This has definitely given me the confidence to keep in contact, and has shown me just how important networking is!

MPC

As I've been looking for a potential job after I graduate, a friend of mine told me about a VFX company called MPC, who have worked on various films and advertising campaigns such as Harry Potter, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the recently released Batman vs Superman.

Apparently they are open to hiring students/recent graduates into their company, as long as they can see a certain amount of skill then they would like to help you develop your creativity.

They have studios based all over the world, in London, Paris, Amsterdam, L.A., New York, Montreal, Bangalore, Shanghai, with many opening positions in both filmmaking and advertising. There are a few different animating roles, including a character animator, technical animator, and a 3D generalist (for advertising) which all have similar requirements and responsibilities within their jobs.

The one that stood out to me the most is the "runner" position; I know it's not actually getting involved in the creative side of a project, but as a beginner who has never worked in a professional studio before, this job could be a good starting point to gain the experience of being in the working environment of an animation studio. The description says it would give me the chance to talk to everyone in the studio, making sure they're happy, cleaning the studio and making sure the day is going smoothly for everyone; talking to these professionals about their jobs and seeing them in action could be a good way for me to decide if working in a studio environment is the best plan for my future.

A lot of animation studios have runners, which is usually the bottom ranked position, however if they can prove themselves to be a team player and enthusiastic then eventually they can earn promotions and slowly learn how the company works. If I did take this route into the industry it would also allow me the space to observe the various different jobs within the studio and I can figure out which type of animation role would suit me best.

The description of the animator

The description for the runner

Previous lectures run by Double Negative at Bradford Animation Festival have given me a basic knowledge of how visual effects animation works; it's one of the main forms of animation that has come to light with the use of computer generated technology. Since ultimately I would love to be able to work in the film industry through animation, VFX could be an option for me to get there; the combination of live action footage with animation over the top is a commonly used art form in Hollywood and the film industry, so being able to work for a big company such as MPC or Double Negative would be a good step to take to have the chance to work on films.

VFX animation isn't something I had considered doing before, (I love purely animated films too much to have considered anything else before) however getting the experience of working in this studio could lead me onto other animation jobs, or if I fall in love with VFX I could continue on in this studio to develop my skills as an animator.