Wednesday, 11 May 2011

The Neighbourhood Portfolio Crit











This portfolio visit was a little different from the rest that I have had over the last year or so, as it was the first return visit that I had made to a studio and it was also the end of mine and Steve's 2 week placement. Me and Steve sat down with Jon, (one of the companies directors) and Stuart, (3D artist). It was great to sit down with both Jon and Stu as it was them that we saw along with Sarah, (studio manager), before Xmas.

As we knew that we would be showing our working to them at some point whilst we were there, we decided to put together a new showreel that was shorter and had some sort of opening and closing to leave an impression in someone's mind.

Where we were sat in the studio we were sat opposite some tenants that are self employed and rent studio space from the Neighbourhood. It was good to sit here in the studio because as we were working on our major project, as well as chipping into meeting etc we were able to get a sense of proper studio life. I think we found a nice balance between working on our own work, whilst also being able to sit in on meetings and join in on discussions. One of the tenants was an animator called Jonathan who gave us some great advice. We had already added him as a contact on Vimeo and he had taken a look at our work. He said that he liked it, the only thing with our showreels is that he suggested that we made them slightly shorter and concise. Taking this on we decided that we would re-edit our showreels.

I've struggled to find a music track that I felt was the right pace and gave the right amount of energy to showcase my work. However, at the beginning of the placement I came across a track which I thought had potential. The first thing that I showed them was my new showreel and both Jon and Stu said that they liked the edit, then music choice worked well and was upbeat and that they thought that it was much tighter than last time that they saw my showreel. I was really pleased with this and it made me feel confident about the content that I had included. I still want to change elements within my showreel, however this is mainly the parts of my major project. So, with this in mind, when I finish my major project I will include aspects from it.

As mentioned, during the placement we sat in on a few meeting. In a few of these meetings they had prepared presentations. Therefore, we decided that it might be a nice way for us to present our major projects to the Neighbourhood. Below is a link to the presentation that I presented to them.

PRESENTATION TO THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

It was great to hear their feedback on my major project as they seemed to like it. Personally I feel that this project has allowed me to use lots of the skills that I have learned over the last few years and utilise different things where appropriate. I think that in terms of a full process, from initial ideas, research, through to production as a whole it is the project that over the whole course I have got the most out of. This is why I was happy with the feedback that I received.

I think that the best feedback that we received was when they liked our work last time, however they could definitely see improvement, which was really nice to hear. They said that they are looking forward to seeing the work when it is finished and that they would like me and Ste to go back in when it's finished to show them. Having this crit on the last day of the placement was a fantastic end to a brilliant placement and is definitely the portfolio crit over the whole year that I have got the most from.

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