1st day back, 1st brief

After a long summer break I am now back and blogging for the DMP course for year 2. It was good to see old faces and be ready for a new project. Whilst the brief was slightly confusing in some places, i’ll put the basics of it here and then go from there. Essentially, I have to look at cinema and either devise a new avenue to explore or work on one already created that could represent the future of cinema. Regardless of what we do, we have to base this upon the ground rules of present cinema such as character development and narrative (although it doesn’t neccisarrily have to be linear). I’ll do some notes of my original idea’s in the next post but there are two important things I have to remember for this project.

1. It cannot just be a film, it has to have some form of edge to it

2. We have 5 weeks, including this one!

Obviously the time restraint puts a damp on many of my more explosive idea’s so to speak, and I will have to remember this when I brainstorm over the next few days. Regardless, its certainly a project I can get into very quickly as I have a  chance to work on After Effects, film making and some Maya all on the same project if I plan well enough.

Conclusion

Conclusion

The real interesting thing or most important about my work placement that it was never about learning practical skills. It was much more about the experiences I took from working at Honeycomb and how they have developed me. Firstly, there was the obvious of learning to work professionally with new people besides my classmates. I managed to get on well with everyone I worked with and I can use this experience to help with any interviews I get. It also helped to grow my confidence as a lot of the time I was left to my work without supervision, which was a good sign that they trusted me but also increased the pressure of getting the work done right. What it most impacted me on was the motivation to work harder. This came from the conversation I had with my employer about the history of Grizzly Tales but more specifically their adaptation to the digital age. They have now adapted from hand drawn animation to working in flash, and whilst it does come with advantages it also has reduced their work force from 30 to 8. This is still relative to what I want to work with because it shows that there are more people going for the same jobs. It has the reverse effect as well however, in that if hand drawn animation companies are moving to digital, then it is a clear sign that the industry is expanding and that there is more job potential. Although I did work in an animation company, it still helped me choose where I want to go from Uni. I know that I definitely want to work in the 3D side of the digital industry, but I’m still not quite sure in which field. I have a real passion for film and visual effects is something I could certainly get into. I do plan on spending a few weeks of my next summer working with some of the designers at pinewood. However, I know its important to follow what your most passionate about and thus I’m seriously considering following a route into the gaming industry. I could see working in a particular field such as level or character design. To experience this type of work at its height I’m going to the E3 gaming convention next year to talk to the people who work in the industry as well as a good chance to establish contacts. This work placement has been a very worthwhile experience, and allowed me to try something outside of my comfort zone with animations. It also allowed me to see the difference between working in a media based company and previous placements at a more traditional office style environment. At the very least it has allowed me to be certain of what area I want to work in, and I hope I have made sure that my next steps allow me to further plan what I do after my course.

Work Placement Essay

Work placement essay:

My placement was with a small animation company based in Devon called Honeycomb Animation. It is run by a couple, Sara and Simon Bor who employ several other independent animators which, in a way, are outsourced. Due to the nature of the work, which I will address later, my placement was slightly sporadic. It was over a period of two weeks, but amounted to five days of the 8th, 10th, 11th, 16th and 17th of June. There were 8 people who worked for honeycomb doing different parts of each animation. The process was simple; Sara and Simon would write out the storyboards for each animation, using the voiceover to guide them. They then sent out a set number of storyboards to each animator who would then build the scenes in Flash and then animate them within the program sending the flash files back when completed.

They were and are, currently working on the 8th series of a TV animation called Grizzly Tales (images shown below). There are 24 episodes, of which 13 are complete and 5 more are nearing completion. My part in the process was mainly taking the flash files as they were coming in and converting them into something that could be used in Final Cut. On top of this, I was using Photoshop to create mug shots of the children who were “victims” within the show, as well as taking stills of the different flash files for marketing. Finally I was placing the converted files into the episodes themselves, and making sure that the animation synched with the audio. Whilst it seems simple, it gave me an opportunity to experience working in a professional environment within the media industry and I learnt a lot.

The initial client from the previous series has always been ITV or, more precisely, their children focused section CITV. However, due to the recession and the financial issues that ITV have been encountering, they cancelled their funding. Luckily, Nickelodeon took up the next series and Grizzly tales continues. In addition to this, Honeycomb resell the show to other countries, specifically Nordic countries such as Denmark and Holland. Nickelodeon’s involvement only extended to pointing out any corrections or things that may cause offence that had been missed. Honeycomb does have a website but it was more for showing their work rather than a place to advertise their company. Any extra sales of the series or more work, was brought in from contacts from Nickelodeon or ITV rather than the website. In honesty I felt that the website could perhaps to with being simplified, and being more up to date. Their last news entry was 2007 for example, however as mentioned they have solid contacts to fall back on.

The placement has definitely helped with my own work. Whilst it hasn’t helped develop my skills within my chosen field of 3D modelling, it has shown me the need to expand my skill set itself. I am now trying to learn a bit more about Flash and how to work with it as it may prove useful if I want to develop web based animations of my own. It has also taught me the need for development. A lot of the time I come up with an idea or concept and resist any further adaptation, seeing the original idea as something that cannot be bettered. This style of thinking does not allow for the work to change and improve organically, which is something I need to learn to do.

The work I did at Honeycomb was certainly interesting. I am a true fan of old fables and tales and the stories from Grizzly Tales was a great subject to work with giving me the enthusiasm to work even harder. Even with the work I was given being slightly simplistic, it was a great sense of achievement to be part of something that would be shown on TV and enjoyed by so many. That enjoyment also lead to motivation as there would be no hiding any mistakes that I might make.

My expectations of working for Honeycomb were far exceeded from what I originally expected. I was given much more important work to do that came with more pressure as the impact were I to get it wrong would be more serious. This surprised me but allowed me to work much harder as I felt I was trusted to work in the environment. My contribution to the studio was a determination to be hard working at whatever task I was given. Whether it was a simple file transfer or making sure the animation synched with the voice over I took to it with dedication and focus. Had the project been my own I probably would have gone down a similar route to my employers and it was great to have that synergy. I would have strung out a timeline of work, when it had to be done by and whom needed to do it. I would then have weekly sessions to make sure that everything was on time and there were no issues. This detailed level of planning that is employed at Honeycomb allows for a fast paced system of work with a reduced incidence of mistakes. My biggest weakness within my work is my stubbornness and resistance to adapt. I usually find an idea and stick to it, only changing if I need to or am told to. Working under other people and seeing the employers make suggestions it has definitely taught me to be more open and to develop my ideas across a greater span of time. To do a small part of it, see if it works, and if not, see if the change in an area of my design could be applied to other parts.

Currently, I am still working for Honeycomb on an ad-hoc basis, doing the occasional days work for them. I do not know whether or not they would employ me at the end of my course but I do feel that perhaps it would not be the direction of work I want to pursue. I am however definitely sticking to my original wish to continue working with the 3D and post-production side of the digital industry. The use of technology allows for almost anything to be created which very much appeals to my love of sci fi and fantasy. Whether I choose to work in the film or gaming side of post production is something I am still not decided on but the issues with the shrinking film industry certainly make me lean towards the video game aspect of 3D work. I’m taking steps to try and experience both sides of my chosen field before properly adjusting my work to better suit one. I am hopefully going to split my time next summer between working for a visual effects company at Pinewood, and attending E3 to experience the gaming industry and its potential.

Work placement, last day

Well today was my last day, and it was very worthwhile experiance. I did my usual day of work, which involved the now traditinal morning of converting. Followed by a bit of syncing in just before lunch, then after that a bit of both along with photoshopping some portraits of different characters. The last part of the day was spent with Simon and Sara talking about what I had done over the last fortnight, and had I enjoyed it. I of course told them I had a very forfilling placement (which i had) and I would hope I could come back another time. In this they have offered to give me a day or two’s work each week until I go back to uni. This mean I can continue working in a media environment over summer and add something of value to my CV. Now that my placement is over, I will complete the report and conclusion as required and post them onto the blog.

Work placement day 4

I have spent the majority of today photoshoping, which has been interesting considering bar the very basics I know very little about what I have been doing. The reason its been so interesting is that i’ve really had to multitask today. Between doing the tasks i’ve been assinged and learning how to do them within photoshop. It really has brought questions about my abilities on the course though. Whilst I have fairly good skills within Maya, After effects and premier, I lack and discernable skill in Flash or Photoshop. However i dont see this as a really bad thing, as it gives something to set targets to. Not only that, but it forces me to seek out the help of my classmates and try to use a team to achieve parts of my target or project overall. Another lesson well learned and I will conclude this journal and my overall experiance with the 5th day.

Work placement day 3

Today was another new day. Today i spent the majority of my work, with another member of honeycomb called Graham. We worked through some of the actual scene creation and design (something i had not seen before, only converted) which was interesting. He was also good to talk to, as he too had an interest in both 3D and 2D animation. It was also good to work with another person as alot of the time i have to work on my asignments on my own which is nice but its also worthwhile developing my skills to work in a team. With a few days left at honey comb i’ll try to get the most out of it, but so far it has been a very good experiance.

Work Placement day 2

(I know these are a little late, been having a little trouble here and there with the computer but am now putting the files up!)

The second day was pleasant and another good day of learning how to work with final cut especially. However, the main part of this journal entry will not be on the work I have been doing. I had an interesting conversation with my employer today. It was about the history (and future) of honeycomb animation and what that meant for me. I’ll start at the beginning, honeycomb used to be a hand drawn animation company which did all of thier work within a studio. Due to the nature of the work, a large workforce of animators was required to keep to deadlines of around 30 people. However, the TV production company that has contracted them over the years has asked for the same amount of work but of course at a reduced budget. Therefore that workforce of 30 people is now reduced to 8. However, the cost of production has also severely gone down. Those 8 people now no longer work on pen and paper. The animation is now designed, built and animated in Adobe flash which makes it a much smoother method of work. The advantages of working within flash are that if any requests for change or corrections come through then it is a simple matter of changing a few scenes instead of redrawing them. But as you can see, the disadvantage is that those 22 people who aren’t working with flash have to look else where for work. Then again, in counter arguement one could say that the company did use to work in hand drawn animation which is perhaps shamingly a disapearing art in todays media. Regardless it is the catch 22 of the digitial industry, we continually make it easier and better for ourselves to work but at the same time make it harder for newer people to come in. Im not sure yet whether this is off balanced by the fact that the industry itself is rapidly growing but at the very least this information has easily made my work placement worthwhile. Today was more working with converting files and placing in them in, but i thought that the conversation I had was worth noting. I’ll go into more work detail in my next report

Work placement day 1

Well that WAS a suprising day. Quite frankly and honestly i was expecting a few weeks of making tea or merely watching people work. But this great company gave me lots to do, and what I did actually meant something. Ill start from the beginning. Honeycomb animation is a small company, which actually outsources most of its work. Im working at thier centre in a farmhouse in Devon. Its run by a lovely couple who have let me help out over the next few days for this unit. Intresting to see how a small company works, perhaps what I was expecting is true but within a larger company. Anyway, so I turn up today and im first tasked with converting files for editing (for a well known childrens animation, which i wont mention), which is extensive and takes the morning. That said, it was nice to know that was I was doing was helping to make a diffence, and would actually contritube to the end result. After this, it was a matter of converting them again so that they could get into final cut. Once this was done, it was a quick lunch then back to work. I then spent the rest of the afternoon editing images in Photoshop, so that they could be used within the animation. I’ll ask tomorrow to see if I can talk about what program im working on, and if I can ill go into more detail tomorrow. Right, with that done im going to relax.

Test footage

Attached is the test footage I have done from building and animating the Mechs. There are things to discuss inbetween however I thought it would be better if I showed something now.

Render Scene’s

Below are the background images I intend to use for my Maya project and the end result as well.