Category: Industry Skills pack

Through each guest speaker, Mario and Stuarts talks were the ones that engaged me and made me evaluate my own practice in ways I had not considered before. I know that I need to take a step out of the comfort zone I have created for myself and listening to how experimental both artists are provides me with the inspiration to do so.

Mario Radhev – Juggling

Mario’s talk on multi-tasking and time management stood out to me since it opened up a world of information on the creative process. I had not properly considered before how an artist juggles multiple projects and how that is even done in a organised manner. It also showed me how having personal projects on as well as commission work is essential for your own development. His discussion on working in a big team with different pipelines was useful since I can easily research and learn about the process but actually hearing from someone who has been a part of this and worked in that environment was eye-opening. It made think that there is a lot that I am never going to learn until I am in the workplace as part of these experiences. When he was discussing his work, the surreal nature to it and the non human stylised figures were captivating. Having these figures which were not human but had human elements provided an unsettling more dark essence. To us this mixture of familiarity of form but also having elements far removed from what we know about movement was enticing. A point Mario made about exploring different processes, essentially considering how would your work exist if it was a music album, an avant-garde play etc. This made me consider my own processes and how having a style which you can translate between mediums is part of stepping into the professional world. The level of exploration Mario did within his practice was inspirational since I feel like my work has become very limited in style and I have put it in a box. I need to branch out and embrace a conceptual side in order to develop otherwise my work is going to become too much of the same, I feel like this is something that I have become stuck in recently which has affected my drive to work. This constant manner of staying on your feet and always finding different ways to showcase your work provided Mario with so many interesting opportunities and allowed him to work closely with artists from other mediums. Additionally exploring removes you from the animator’s seat and gives you this freedom to be able to enrich every side of your practice and knowledge of your field. Since money should not just be the main focus of your work, practice and experience form such an important part.

Stuart Hilton

It was extremely interesting finding out about Stuart and his work. It was inspiring how much of a role music played in his work and how important it was to him as a source of inspiration. The playful approach towards his use of line provides this simple basis of understanding of movement and how something can move across the page. This is something I need to consider, playing with line since it will inform my animation style and allow me to figure out how to make the most of the full page. This could also develop my desire to explore perspective in the sense of things being at different distances within a composition. Stuart has paid a lot of time considering how we actually receive a visual stimulus, such as when we are observing movement across a landscape our eyes track movement which is the way you eyes wobble when looking out of a window from a moving vehicle. We automatically focus on certain points, this is something important to consider when animating since I need to consider how the piece would look to a viewer and not to my eyes only. It is part of the practice, capturing and engaging a viewer in the story you are telling and adding perspective to my work will aid this visual interest. The way that he went about finding things to work with brought up so much new potential for this experimentation since this object brings a sense of narrative in itself. Some of those most impactful workshops I have done have been with Stuart on the first year Loops-Destroy project where we had to choose three random objects and create an animated piece connecting these three separate frames. Working in this manner opens up so much potential for development and is inspiring when something works out.

It has become increasingly evident that having an online presence has become important. I need to consider how I present myself in order to create a brand and an image which people experience when viewing my social platforms. 

My skillset is rooted in my experience in Fine Art and painting, this has given me some levels of understanding of composition but in a very flat 2D manner. When moving to working digitally a whole new level of being able to work with perspective was opened. I made this move from still to moving image due to a passion I have for telling a story within my work, I felt that by moving to animation I could tell the stories I wanted to in a richer manner. This movement into digital work has given me experience in software such as TV Paint, Toon Boom Harmony, Procreate, Adobe Premiere and After Effects. With my continuing use of these I intend to develop and widen my abilities to tell these stories in a richer manner.

I want to develop my skillset to be more proficient digitally due to the opportunities it opens up for my future as a creative. By being able to tell a story in a more detailed manner with more complex software is where I strive to be, since learning to use different packages will greatly shape my own style. Improving my knowledge of the softwares I use at the moment is my main focus so that I can fully explore their potential such as with TV Paint, I thoroughly enjoyed using it during the LipSync project last year and would love to record my own conversations and animate to them. I live in a house of 6 girls and some of our conversations would be perfect to animate to, I often think of visuals whilst having these conversations. My storyboarding process and the way I plan my animations also needs to be developed so that I make sure I am able to create a solid storyline that I can adhere to and is easily translated to an audience. Another necessity I have found whilst working is my ability to edit film, I have basic abilities but anything complex stumps me. Therefore by the end of this year I intend to have experimented and learnt how to use the aforementioned programmes to their maximum potential.

It would be nice to experiment with complex animations, I have never considered camera movements and panning, I enjoy transformations since I do more representational animation. Yet the transformations could look a lot more interesting if there was a 3d element to them, like moving around the subject. I have kept my animations very flat and solely one camera view straight on from the front, the one time I changed the camera and perspective was on my final project for first year on Loops. That animation was instantly more engaging and richer. 

Artists who inspire my work

Piotr Jablonski – Art station, Instagram

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His work appeals to the side of me that likes detailed pieces, I love the fantasy and apocalyptic themes. There is such a rich story in these pieces with emotions and so much movement due to the level of detail that he adds, every part of the figure is considered on how it would be executed in order to develop the story. Especially the detail in the skin and the different hues used to add more to a character, such as the more decaying greys used in the first and the pale blush seen in the last piece (shown above). The poses that he uses for the characters also display so much movement, in my own work I need to consider the poses and the movement I use to enhance the storyline since I find that my characters are very stationary when animated and illustrated.

Nahuel Bardi – dribble, instagram.

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Bardi’s work has abstract characters and such a wide range of visual imagery. The glowing, colourful fairytale theme in his work creates the idea that he has another world where these characters exist. Even within the illustration style you can fine a narrative, as well as the actual composition, this creates as rich a storyline as an animated piece.

Jamie Wolfe – website, instagram, vimeo.

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Her animation style is my main influence at the moment. The way it is so organic and hand drawn, the way the frames come together in this constant movement is how I would like mine to look. The hand drawn element is highlighted in her style, every part is moving and thus so engaging to watch. It helps me break down the way I am hung up on perfect smooth animation and how the jumpy nature of her work looks as good as a smoother piece since it works well with her style.

Alice Bloomfield – Website, instagram.

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Alice Bloomfield’s work inspires me due to her more sketchy style yet the way she uses line and shading bring in the more refined tone I like in work. Again in her work I love the gradients and glow she brings to her characters to make them into these ethereal gorgeous women. In her animated work the smoothness and imagination in her transitions to enhance this gorgeous otherworldly universe her work is part of.

Out of all these artists it is clear that the creation of another world is something I like to consider when it comes to what I produce. This is something I am striving to bring to the world of my characters, by bringing in a style and visual imagery that give a piece its own atmosphere as if it is not from our realm. To me this is important in the narrative of my work, you will know my world just from the style before it begins to move.

It has become clear to me that creating an online presence for my work is essential since growing a network online has proved useful in obtaining commission work. Therefore curating an image on social media platforms such as instagram is important to promote and share my work with a new audience. Here is my instagram, vimeo, youtube, portfolio website.

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Alongside my animations I share online I do stick and pokes on the side as something I’m interested in, my illustration style is focused on the body and I consider the tattoos I do as part of my artistic practice. I choose to do stick and poke instead of using a machine due to the more organic way it settles into the skin. It forms part of my love for embracing human form and women’s bodies in my work, it is part of expression and telling your story. A lot of the time, I take stills from my animations and parts from my illustrations to use them as tattoo designs. It has also become a form of expanding and editing my social media presence as an artist and has very much become part of my online image. However part of growing my name as a stick and poke artist has been doing pieces which people want not one of my own designs, not everyone always wants part of my flash, these custom designs I charge more for. 

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As well as my own work I have begun to work on commission work, the latest being a music video for Kilder for his song ‘Bad For Me‘. I worked to a brief and alongside another creator and made sure it was finished in good time to be able to go through it with a film editor to add the pieces Kilder wanted on-top. During this project I accurately planned my time so that it was finished a week before the deadline therefore we could do further work and and necessary changes. There were quite a few issues to work out due to COVID, any film sent from K_anti was what she had tried her best to capture but was not specifically what we needed. So I discussed this with the musician and his agent and worked around these issues by coming up with ideas and processes that would work with what we had. Due to the short time scale I had to do this animation I had to change my work process slightly to make sure it was finished in time, I did this by filming myself in my room and rotoscoping a few of the clips. This proved to be quicker as a method to produce movements that looked good when played and I had to think less about whether it worked and moved smoothly. However I found that doing this I paid too much attention to something looking perfect and has not left room for me to stylise my work in the way I want to. 

I have recently tried to do this in my latest animation, (here is a clip) I have not used rotoscope but my own knowledge of how the figure moves. I find this more interesting since then the piece is not just how film would look it is more free and organic which I find it more engaging as it is different from what we would experience. This desire for development and more stylised features has made itself evident in my illustration style too, creating a story and layout in my illustrations is better than in my animations. This is a skill which I need to begin to develop and transfer to my animated work.

The devil figure I use in my work now has become a motif which I use in almost every piece if I am able to. I settled on this since it expresses this this powerful attitude I have as a woman, women have been criminalised throughout history and seen as manipulative witches who are lusty and tempting. For me I want this sexual nature that the female image has been portrayed in as something that I can take back and be confident with. Therefore by assuming this image I am showing this powerful god-like sexy woman content in herself, taking back the ideas that have been pushed onto our image and using them to remake ourselves.

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My current ideas after finishing BA Animation at LCC is to continue and do a masters. Since being in education has always been a productive and inspirational environment for me, the people I have met and conversations I have are extremely important to the development of my practice. Therefore doing a masters will help in giving me experience and maintaining this level of development in a manner where I feel comfortable, it gives me the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them. Whereas in a professional environment there is less room for experimentation on this level. I am also unsure of where I want to go with my practice after university, my thoughts currently are hanging between working freelance or becoming part of a company in a specific position. Working freelance and having my own style has always been important to me, in the sense of people approaching me out of their own interest for the work I produce. However I have always had an interest in working commercially since when I see adverts or pieces I like online or on TV I think about the team behind it and what it would be like becoming part of this group. In the way a project works its way through different groups of people in a production line is interesting and overseeing something like this to ensure it achieves the brief. Therefore after research and talking to alumni some of the masters on offer at RCA have caught my attention.

MA Animation

Since I am still constantly continuing to develop my own animation style it has made it clear that I will not be settled on a specific style any time soon, especially considering the softwares I intend to become more proficient in by the end of the year. I feel like being able to use these will greatly change and influence my current style. I find this process extremely interesting too, therefore by doing a masters in Animation I can continue this process. Being around other students in this subject too is something that I find important to this process, since you are able to relate to where they are in regards to their own practice. Working with other students is an undoubtedly freer environment in comparison to working with industry professionals, this is a perception I have made from my own experiences.

The page for MA Animation at RCA discusses ‘innovative risk-taking’ which is what I refer to when I discuss the benefits of still being in education. You can be innovative too in a commercial environment of course, however, these risks are under more pressure to work out well. Problem-solving is a skill that I want to develop and researching this masters has shown me that this is something they greatly value in their teaching style to ‘deal creatively and sensitively with contemporary issues across a range of technologies and platforms’. Developing these critical tools, knowledge and confidence in an a place where I have tutor’s and points of contact for discussion and evaluation is important to me since it gives me confidence to step out of my comfort zone and experiment in a informative manner. Being a ‘game changer’ is where I want to be after university and the emphasis that this course places on that is the reason why I am considering it. Their Narrative Animation pathway which you choose on application focuses on ‘experimentation with forms of storytelling’, this is essentially what I am aiming to do with practice.

Looking at their alumi too is interesting, seeing their success and how the course must have informed their practice is so intriguing. Looking through their pages at what work they have done is inspirational, especially at a time where I am unsure of where my work will go next. Such as one of their old students Julia Pott.

MA Digital Direction – ‘Media and storytelling in the digital era’

As discussed, I am hanging between wanting to work solely on my animation and become a freelance animator but on the other hand go into a marketing company. This desire to be in the commercial world has been spurred on by recent things such as my GCS collaborative project. Working in this team was extremely informative in the ways of producing a concept and the process you need to go through in order to create something solid. Even though we were all new to the process, working through it and evaluating what we had done was an extremely useful learning curve. Since we were on our own but in the university environment it allowed us to make mistakes and learn from them.

The creative world is becoming increasingly digital based and therefore doing this masters incorporates so well with what I want to do. I want to develop an understanding of media production in a critical and experimental environment and I feel like this course would provide me with this opportunity. This programme develops skills in key areas such as; ‘production, direction, content development and digital media design.’. These are the things which I want to develop specifically, I have some levels of experience in these however nothing has been directly taught. Being taught in these areas would make me confident in my own abilities and like I am able to know what to do and how to do it, since I am already comfortable managing a team I simply need the specific theory and learning behind it. The programme will be able to supply me with these skills as well as helping evolve my own practice in going forward after university. Being around other like minded students will also provide me with a valuable network when we do leave and go our separate ways since the most valuable thing I have learnt from this year is working alongside people with different skillsets and interests to you is way more informative.

Considering my career path after university being part of somewhere like Blinkink would be a dream, I love their work they produce and the people they work with. To me it would be so interesting surrounding myself with these people, as it would give me a massive source of inspiration and drive to keep working. Being part of a collective like this would put a powerhouse of creative drive behind my work as I would thrive in the busy environment. I have already had discussions with a group from holland about being represented and it gives you a sense of community and that people appreciate your work and gives you the drive to strive to reach further. 

Looking through their portfolio, Stevie Gee’s work caught my attention. The colour palette he uses for his work is gorgeous and so clearly his work, each hue of each colour is specific to his style. This is something I need to consider in my work as part of its development and stylisation. The way he colours his animations with the fuzzy glowing edges, makes them stand out visually and the gradient shading he does. The simple characters animated in an entertaining manner as simple loops with imaginative smooth transitions are so visually engaging. These quick fun pieces inspire me to do a lot more smaller test animation pieces and spend more time on them to put some bulk into my portfolio like Stevie Gee’s

If I was going to work commercially, I had never properly considered or researched what roles are available in the industry and what specifically interests me. Therefore by reading through websites I found certain roles that caught my eye and I would enjoy working in.

1. Animator

Animators are artists, actors and storytellers who are able to show characters emotions and understand how something may move. Animators take a visual brief from a storyboard artist and a verbal brief from a director, from this they create the moving imagery. They often work in large teams which means they also need to be capable of adhering to a style.

Kinds

– 2d traditional animators – draw each frame by hand, usually on animation software. Their work isn’t usually what you see on the screen, it is the assistants (clean-up artists) who will produce the final line, following the main animators actions and performance created. 

– 2d rigging animators – will work with rigged models produced by the art department, the animator will use these pieces to animate a storyline as detailed on the storyboard. 

-3d or CG animators – they use computers to add movement to models which is achieved through a pre-programmed rig. They create the key frames and either draw the frames in-between or let the computer sort it through the rig. During pre-production they test the rig and if it will work for their characters.

– stop-motion animators – work with puppets or models that a moved slightly and photographed frame by frame. On larger projects animators will be employed based on their skills in different elements such as different actions, emotions and characters.

2. Art director – animation

Art directors are responsible for the visual style of the animation. Their decisions are what the rest of the art department to work from. They look at the script and speak to the director to understand the vision for the piece, helping the art director decide how they would have the final on-screen piece look. They will work alongside concept artists to produce 2d drawings that will be presented to the director, producer and sometimes investors. The Art Director will work on the entirety of the project and will help manage the other artists and make sure their work is on brief, this requires communication and management skills. Art Directors sometimes work as freelance and employed per project.

3. Art director – advertising

Art directors in advertising are responsible for creating and developing ideas focused on their visual appearance. The things this includes are posters, prints, advertisements, tv commercials, cinema, radio, leaflets, mobile apps and websites. The art director combines their creative skills with their knowledge of design and the production process to create work that appeals to an audience. Its important that the art director is able to understand the context behind the client’s business and apply problem solving skills to the project. 

They work with 

– copywriters, creative directors, account management, planners, creative services, studio and production staff (internally).

– print producers, commercials directors, commercial producers, animators, illustrators, radio producers and photographers (external).

4. Creative director

A creative director provides the main ideas and imagination within a project since they are in charge of the creative process and those who work with them. It is important that they are skilled managers who are open and good with people, they also need good time management to be able to straddle multiple projects at once. Knowledge is also extremely important about the tools the teams uses to create and also of the world.

-A creative director works alongside designers, copywriters, sales teams and marketers.

– working your way up the company is often the way in.

– networking is extremely important to become successful in this position since it opens doors and opportunities for new projects. 

– also being educated with how the world works such as popular culture, art and design history.

5. Director – Animation

An animation director holds the creative vision of an animated piece, they share this vision and get everyone to work to it. They direct the teams working on the project and direct voice actors if needed and direct any actors that may be acting our reference scenes. The director is accountable assuring the quality of the edited piece (the directors cut).

– larger projects might need a director as well as an animation director.

6. Head of story – Animation

Head of story is in charge of combining the writers words and directors vision into a visual form. They produce a series of pieces detailing staging and camera choices and ensuring the scenes are cohesive. These form the basis of the production team’s animations. They work closely with the director on story development  with their team of storyboard artists. Head of Story is also able to work in a freelance manner.

Searching for a job on The Dots which I would apply for I found the position as a Junior Artworker at McCann. When writing a CV and cover letter you have limited time to catch the readers attention and convince them that your application is worthy to consider further. Therefore your CV should be seen as a marketing document appealing to the specific position you are applying to. It is essential that you thoroughly research the job requirements and the values of the company to make sure that your CV is the most appealing to that particular position. You need to consider:

• the organisation
• Their markets
• Major projects
• Reputation
• Key personnel
• Ethos