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.

Tandem Work: The last Werewolf

This post is a reflection on the work that both myself and Steve did for the 'Tandem Brief'. This post has been written by both myself and Steve.

This brief came about after our recent visit to London after visiting the Tandem Films studio. Daniel Greeves got in touch with our tutor Christina and asked if any of her students wanted to get involved with a project that they were working on for a client. We were asked as it was felt that we were progressing well with our Major Projects, so that we could devote some time to this. As well as this is was thought that we'd represent the course well and really take advantage of the opportunity.

The brief was to create a few different animations in which we would represent both the transformation from man to werwolf and a victim attack. The animations that we created were an arm bend, a pelvis snap, a rib break and a neck snap. We decided that  although working together in terms of ensuring the style was similar, that we would split the animations up and do two each. The way that we decided to split these up was as follows:

Steve

Pelvis Snap

Neck Snap

Matt

Arm Bend

Rib Break

We started out by finding imagery and creating some style frames to send down to Tandem, to see if we were on the right page. The response to these was that they looked good, so with the go ahead we started producing some tests.

We continued to respond to the feedback we were given until Daniel was happy with where we were at, then we went into full production and ensured that we continued communicating with Daniel. As we were producing work and they were comping as they went along we felt that it was important to ensure that we planned our time effectively, as we had deadlines that needed to be met.

Here are the final animations that we produced:

Arm Bend:

Rib Break:

Pelvis Snap:

Neck Snap:

Here is a link to the final film:

http://www.tandemfilms.com/page/job/the_last_werewolf&play=true

It's great to be recognised in the credits for a project like this:

We feel that it has been a great experience to have whilst were still students and appreciate being asked to be involved in the project. For more information about the process, please see the supporting sketchbook.

Freelance work: Health and Safety Animations

When we were down in London me and Steve got an email to ask if we would like to produce some animations for  a Health and Safety video. We were asked by Matt Davies who we had the portfolio visit with just after Christmas. 

Here's the 4 videos that we produced. The first two are the ones that I worked on and the next two are the ones that Steve did:

Inhalation:

Ingestion:

Absorption:

Injection:


The feedback that we received form these animation was positive. They loved them and said that 'they were exactly what was required'.

This freelance job was great as it allowed us to work out the best way to manage our time and hopefully based on the feedback that we received, will mean that we could get more work out of it in the future. I think the best thing about this job is that the work came from one the portfolio visits earlier in the year, so it just highlights the importance of making contacts as you never know where they could lead.

Portfolio Visit: Blue Zoo

I arranged to go an see London based company BLUE ZOO when down in London recently. The type of work that Blue Zoo create is primarily work for children's TV with their own animated series. Although character animation isn't something that I personally see myself going into, with my major project in mind, I felt that it would be helpful to see a company that could give me feedback in relation to my major project.

All of the portfolio crits that I have had up until this point of the course have been great in terms of looking at all of my work and getting feedback on how to improve aspects, things they liked and helpful in terms of promoting myself. I decided that whilst in London it would be great to utilise the opportunity and get in touch with BLUE ZOO in order to help progress my project.

When I arrived at the studios it was a little daunting at first as I wasn't sure that I'd found the right place or not. However fortunately it was the right place and they buzzed me up. The studio itself was a really nice/modern feel to it. When I got up to the studio I was met by Ollie one of the companies directors, who I had arranged the visit with, however he appologised as he had been called into a meeting last minute. However, he had arranged for two of their senior designers to sit down with me which I felt was a great opportunity.

First off all Damian and Mike showed me around their studio, before taking me into their meeting room to take a look at my work. I showed them my showreel and they said that they liked how it included a variety of work. However, they suggested that it was possibly a little too long, as generally you are able to tell within the first 20 secs whether the content of the work is going to be of a high standard.  This was good to hear, as I definitely agree that having a concise showreel would be appropriate and something that I should consider.

This was the first portfolio crit in which I was able to take my Flipbook for my Discovery channel ident. They loved it and said that they wish that more people took something that they could hold. I was really happy with this as I've wanted to get a flipbook made for a while now and I think that it is something different that when visiting companies, they could remember me over someone else. I think that it is important to stand out when there are a lot of people within this competitive industry, however I think that it is important to do this for the right reasons.

I showed them the work that I have done up to this point for the major project. I liked the fact that I am currently working on my project and able to show my ideas an initial tests. They liked my ideas and felt that it was a strong idea. I was pleased with the fact that they liked my idea, as I think that its important to have a strong idea behind my work.

They gave me some great advice about getting into the industry and how to approach this and were more than happy to answer questions that I had. One thing that stood out to me was that they said if possible its good to personally get into studios and if possible sit down with designers and show them your work. They felt that being able to physically sit down and actually being able to speak in person about the work is much better if this is possible, so this is definitely something to keep in mind.

Portfolio Visit: Matt Davies

Last week me and Steve had a portfolio visit with Matt at our flat in town. Just before Christmas we went to see Matt do some filming for a web advert, which was great to be able to see. At the time we had a good chat with Matt about the industry and our own stuff. He said that he would like to see some of our work so we decided to get in touch and organise a crit.

We had a good chat about the industry and some of the stuff that Matt had been involved with. He said he was currently working long hours at the BBC and him and a few people that he works with as a production team, had just won the contract for 10 music videos, for an well known artist, (however he couldn't tell us who!) Here is a link to his work, (Matt Site). I thought that it was great that he worked as freelance camera man, however also was able to mix between the roles of director and producer for projects such as creating music videos.

I decided to show him my Discovery Channel Ident, my 'What Not to Flush Brief' and my 'Morph London' animations. He said he was impressed with the work and really liked the 3D work.

We got onto talking about one of the companies that Matt freelances for and he said although he does the filming and editing for the projects that he works on,  they have someone else that does their animation for titles and any added extras. He gave us the details of the company and said that based on the work that he had seen, that he was more than confident that we could produce animations for them to the standard that they require. This was great to hear and a nice confidence boost. It's also interesting in terms of possibilities in getting some freelance work in the future.

Matt has been a great contact up until this point and I think that he could be a great contact for the future, especially considering looking future plans after graduating. It's good to start to see how its possible to start to utilise contacts. I look forward to hopefully doing some work with him in the future.

Thoughtful DO Lectures

Over Summer me and Andy got the opportunity to head down to Wales for the day to watch the filming. The day was a great experience, we arrived there about 9am thinking that we would just be taking photos and some footage in order to document the day, however they were eager for us to get stuck in helping set the stage and lights up. 

We were really surprised that Chris and Wes the directors of the shoot took the time to talk through different elements of how to set lights up and boom microphones, it was great and so much more than we had anticipated being involved in. It was fantastic been on a live set and watch the filming, especially when we had been involved with the Do Lecture project and heard the ideas evolve from earlier on in the project.

Here are some photos from the day:

Here is a link to one of the final pieces that Thoughtful created.

At the end of the day, whilst waiting for a lift me and Andy sat down outside for a bout an hour talking about ideas for our self directed project. It was great as we were both full of ideas and having experienced the day we were really motivated. The contacts that we made were great on the day and shortly after sending an email saying thanks for a great experience, we received the following email back from Wes, one of the directors of the shoot:

"Many many thanks guys - you two were excellent today, stay in contact. it would be great to work with you again in the future..."

The Neighbourhood Studio Visit

Yesterday me and couple of others went to visit 'The Neighbourhood' for a portfolio visit.  A friend from last year recommended that they would be a great visit to arrange, so when we decided that we were interested in the studio we felt that a joint visit would be a appropriate.



When we arrived we shown to there waiting area. Whilst we were waiting for Sarah, the studio manager and Jon, (the companies creative director), we had a chance to get a feel for the studio. Out of all the studios that I've been to visit, this one felt most homely and inviting. They had only been in the studio for 6 weeks and there were still boxes around and frames ready to hang up on the wall. The building itself had been restored, however they had decided to keep a few features such as the original wooden doors, and some of the architecture. They had decided the keep this feel throughout their studio and had traditional style chairs and table. The way that the studio had been designed was a great first impression of the studio and looked great. One of the first things that I spotted whilst having a look around was that in their meeting room their windowsill was full of awards that they had achieved, this gave the impression that we were in one of the studios which were at the forefront of design in Manchester.


Sarah, Jon and Stuart, (one of the companies artists/3D designer), soon came across to us and took us through to their meeting room. After telling us a little about themselves as a company they started asking us about our course and how we felt it was going. We told them about how we were doing and about the course itself, which they seemed very impressed with. When we told them about the types of briefs that we work on and the facilities that we had available for us to use they were impressed.


We took it in turn to show them our work, when it got around to show them mine I decided to show my showreel first. This had worked well when I had started off by showing my showreel at other visits so I decided that it would be appropriate to do so. I wanted to show the new brief that I had been working on for the 'United Utilities' brief. As I hadn't had any feedback on this brief yet I was happy when they liked it and liked the method that I had chosen to explore what not to flush using typography in the way that I had.


The feedback that we received was extremely helpful and since the visit I have used some of their feedback in order to help with the process of refining my piece. Out of all the portfolio and studio visits that I have been to, I felt that this was the best and most helpful experience. The studio environment was relaxed in terms of the atmosphere and the people were so friendly and happy and seemed happy to help. To say that they had only been in the studio for 6 weeks the feeling that I got is that they could have been there for years. I think that this only shows the strength of the agency as a team.


Just before we left they showed us a piece of their own work. Stuart had been exploring the use of 3D and creating animations giving the 3D experience, so when they asked if we would like to watch it on their new 3D TV with 3D glasses I was really excited. The piece was great and I think only highlights that they are ahead of the game.


Here is their latest (apologies for it not being in 3D)!

Studio showreel. 2010. from The Neighbourhood on Vimeo.

Filming for an web advert

Last week my Dad got in touch wiht me to say that he was having some filming done, to be used within a website that he was creating for a client. I thought that I would ask if there is any chance of going along and watching, with no expectations I was really pleased when this was hapenning on one of our days of so me and Ste went along.

Here are some images from the day:

We weren't sure what to expect on the day, however when we arrived it was a fantastic experience and I think that we have made a useful contact from it. Matt, the camera man had graduated a few years before, from Salford University and had worked for ITV, SKY, Directed music videos and also been involved in filming them himself. We had plenty of time to talk to him and he was extremely interested in our course, which we were happy to talk to him about. He then talked to us about opportunities he'd had since leaving University and he said what he personally enjoyed working on the most. He said he absolutely loved working on music videos and this was where his passion lay.

Matt said that he would take a look at our work after Christmas and I think that were going to have the opportunity to do this in his studio as he lives just around the corner from us.

Studio Babelsberg

As if the film archive the day before wasn't enough, the visit to Studio Babelsberg was just an unbelievable experience. To be shown around a film studio and lot was something that when the lady who showed us around said was something that they didn't really do. So this just highlighted how great this opportunity was.

Here are a few shots that I took on the day of one of their outdoor sets:

Seeing the outdoor sets was extremely intriguing, especially when most of the set was just frontage on scaffolding, however you wouldn't know when walking down the street. It was just brilliant to see the incredible detail that was used. We were told about how the street had been used within many different films and was just remodeled depending on the required aesthetic. We were shown images of the street in different films, it was used in the film "Inglorious Bastards", for the cinema scene and only the day before we were it was dressed with Nazi flags and memorabilia.

I was intrigued to ask about the turn around for a the set and when I asked, I was surprised to hear that if it was just a shop within the street that needed remodelling it would probably only take a few hours, however for something like the Cinema in "Inglorious Bastards" it took closer to 3 weeks. I was amazed by this visit. Not only did were we shown around the studio grounds, but we had the opportunity to look around one of the biggest prop houses in Europe, look and try on original costumes on and go onto their permanent outdoor sets.

One of the things that inspired me about this visit was the way the props and sets were created and has allowed me to consider the possibility of using props and even creating a set when thinking about my major project. Through posts on my blog, especially over the past few months, I think it is clear to see my interest in compositing and I have been considering ways I can bring this together. One possibility would be using props and sets, definately something to consder over Christmas when considering ideas for Major Project.

Sehsucht Studio Visit Berlin

The visit to Sechut was one of the many highlights from our recent trip to Berlin. One of the pieces that I thought was one of their pieces for Google, shown below:

GOOGLE STREET VIEW from Sehsucht™ on Vimeo.


One of the main things that I took from this piece is the way that they use the process of compositing, a process which I love and one that I am currently researching within the field of moving image. Not only did the show us the piece, but they showed us their making of video for the piece, shown below.


GOOGLE - Breakdown from Sehsucht™ on Vimeo.

This idea is something that is very current for us as, with all of the projects that we create this year we are required to create a 'Making of Video'. Before this was a requirement I was interested in it but hadn't really understood completely the importance of this. I had a go at creating one of these for the previous project and although I feel that there were aspects of it that worked it didn't necessarily work as an entire piece. So for this project I have decided to ensure that I create a video that tries to reflect on the process that I went through.

One thing that I think that really works within the piece by Sehsucht is the way that they showed a break down particular shots, something which I have done in my most recent making of video. Seeing the breakdown of a commercial piece of work in the same format that we have started to do ourselves has only highlighted how important they can be.

The working environment of the studio was great and they were very friendly in the way that they dealt with us and they took a lot of time to show us work, but then gave us loads of time to allow us to speak to the designers. It was a really helpful experience and that is definitely the type of studio that i would like to see myself working within.

Portfolio visit feedback emails

The image below shows the response that i received with Chris Toole, after thanking him for the portfolio crit that he gave me. At the visit he asked me if I would like to do some flash animation for him. I thought that this would be a great opportunity for me and after completing the work and being paid for it it was great to receive the following feedback:

"From a commercial point of view the flash file is perfect, exactly as ordered” Chris Toole Nov 2010.

For me this was great to hear as it was unexpected and he has offered me any similar work that he gets in the future. It was good to hear that he felt that I was able to respond the the brief rather than go off at a tangent.

Film Museum Archive Berlin

I was really excited about going to see the film archive museum before we went, however I wasn't expecting it to be so interesting and such a great experience. I don't think that we were sure what to expect when we arrived, but I don't think any of us were expecting the gems that they had in store for us!

The two ladies that were showing us around started of by showing us original artwork for films, some German and some more mass released.These on their own were fantastic to see, however I think when they pulled out the concept artwork for Metropolis before the film was made, I think that everyone's jaws hit the floor. The images were incredibly beautiful and the amount of detail was just exquisite. A few shots of these can be seen below:

I think if the visit had been just to show us around the first room that we went into, we would have still been impressed however the archive was huge and they went on to show us room after room, each room more impressive. After showing us the first room they took us into the next where there was a room full of film reels and then in the final room I felt like I was in heaven! The final room was full of old cameras and memorabilia, just an incredible visit!

This is another image of one of the pieces that they showed us in the first room:

It was great to see the technical drawings for a scene within a film, because one thing that I have been considering recently is how I could incorporate a variety of elements within my own work. For example mixing a combination of live action, animation and other element, however one thing that I haven't considered is the use of sets and props, definitely something to think about. The visit was so helpful and thanks again to be given such an interesting visit!

Portfolio Visit - Chris Toole

I had my second portfolio visit on Tuesday with Chris Toole, who works with a variety of mediums from print based platforms through to online media. I decided that I would show him my showreel first as I felt that this worked well as a starting point, in my previous portfolio visit earlier on in the week.

I showed him a few of my pieces. The first piece which I showed him was my Morph London Ident, which he felt was professional and seemed to really like the look of it. I think that this was because he spends a lot of his time creating brand identities. This was exciting to hear because recently I have found it quite exciting looking at advertising and identities.

I then showed him my title sequence, he said that the use of live footage worked well and he liked the overall look of the piece.

The last piece that I showed him was my Discovery Channel Ident. This led to a conversation about the use of 3D and how I really like 3D, but we discussed how its appropriate to consider where to use it in order for it to be most effective. With the Discovery Channel Ident I tried to use 3D, but still with a line based vector style. He liked the way I had used 3D in this piece. I feel that this is one of my stronger pieces, so it was good to get someone else's opinions on it which were positive.  He said he'd never touched 3D before himself, so he was impressed with what I'd shown him.

I think that there is definitely potential to go back for another visit at some point and when I asked him if I was to send over an email asking for feedback he said that it wouldn't be a problem.

Thanks to Design By Day

I got back in touch Design by Day to say thanks for taking the time to look through my work, (see emails below)

I'm definitely going to keep in touch with them over the year and it would be great to start to build a relationship with them, in terms of being able to refine work and get additional feedback. When I mentioned the end of year show Angela said that it would be something that they would be interested in coming to, which although its a while a way its great to hear, (as I suspect it will creep up on us!)

Design By Day - Portfolio Visit

 

This morning I went to a portfolio visit at Design By Day who are based in Salford. On first impression the building that their studio was based in was a really interesting place, with a live music venue and bar in the basement, along with a garden area and exhibition space. I went on this portfolio visit with Olivia from graphics. We arranged to go and see Design by Day last year towards the later part of the year, however due to deadlines etc it wasn't really convenient on both sides. So when we got in touch a few weeks ago about rearranging it was great that they were able to make time for us.

The company itself is a small company run by Angela and Louise, Angela who has a background in Moving Image and Louise who has a print background and now enjoys creating brand identities. Their skill sets allows them to use their talents in both aspects of design and create both print based and digital moving image pieces.

I really like the work that they produce. Here is their current moving image showreel:

DBD Showreel 2010 from Design By Day on Vimeo.

When we arrived at the mill building Louise came down and let us in and took us up to their studio. Their studio was a nice, small bit quirky office space. It had a very homely a personal feel about it and she made us very welcome. Angela joined us soon after and they looked through both of our portfolios.

I decided that I would show my newly created showreel, as I felt that it showed a broad range of the work that I have created. It allowed me to include pieces of my work that I didn't necessarily feel were the right ones to show in full in order to get feedback, but I would still like to show the range of pieces I like to create. Before I went I was unsure before I went whether or not to show my showreel, however I'm glad that I did because in terms of how I decided to present my work it was a nice ice breaker in terms of introducing me and my work . On reflection their feedback suggested that they liked what they saw.

I decided to show them a few pieces in order to get feedback on them.

Self Initiated Project: Title Sequence
This was the first piece that I showed to them. They liked the aesthetic of the piece and its overall look. We talked about the way that I had played with depth of field towards the beginning section of this piece and felt that this worked. They thought that the colouring worked well and the way that I had explored the use of live action footage in a way that wouldn't appear cliche worked, looking at voyeurism.

D&AD Competition Piece: 'The Ever-changing City Brief'
In terms of this brief I discussed how I felt that for me that this was an ideas driven project and that although I am happy with the concept of the piece, that I would like to rework it. They liked the idea but with a similar feeling to me they felt that I could look at the use of the books aesthetic and play on this more. They thought that the books looked quite illustration based and maybe I should make them a little more realistic. This feedback was really helpful in terms of this piece because this is definitely a piece that I intend on reworking the get it to a stage that I am happy with.

 Discovery Channel Ident
They seemed to really like this piece. They liked the way that I had used 3D in a way that wouldn't necessarily be the expected way. They liked the way that I had chosen to use the vector line style and how you were able to see the working parts. Louise said that she also liked the use of smoke and felt that it complimented the rest of the piece. We talked about how I would like to rework the end section when the Discovery channel logo comes in and they suggested that maybe reducing the logo in size might help to so this. I was happy that they like this piece as I feel that it is one of my stronger pieces of work.   


Door Project
I didn't really think about showing them this piece originally however after we started talking about the way that the collaboration project worked and how both me and Olivia felt that it was one of our favourite and most successful pieces of the year. They were really intrigued about the way that this brief worked and said how more universities should adopt similar real-world briefs. We talked about our own experiences of project managing and how we thoroughly enjoyed it. I therefore thought that it would be appropriate to show them this brief. They liked the way that we had used metaphor to show the life of a person and the way that although we felt that we weren't necessarily driven by production but working in a collaboration that the final outcome was effective. They liked the jerky feel of the stop motion and the way that we split the project up as a team.

Overall, this was a great experience for me and I came away from the visit excited and motivated. They said that we should definitely keep in touch so with this in mind as my work progresses I would like to get back in touch with them and show them my work as it evolves.

JOHN CAGE UNCAGED: SONG BOOKS
Manchester RNCM

We went to see this John Cage event at the Royal Northern College of Music. When we first walked in it seemed a little surreal, but sometimes things that initially seem strange turn out to be the most interesting! We went to the event with no expectations or idea of what it would be like.

From what I understand both staff and students took the challenge upon themselves, to take John Cages scores and interpret them in whatever they felt was appropriate. We had a look through a copy of his notebooks and the graphical score were really interesting. It was intriguing that each notation looked different and was shown in a different way. When thinking about people interpreting in a different way it got me thinking about how this could be explored in a different way, i.e. a moving image piece.

Here are a few images that a took on the night of some of the performances:

Andrew Brooks- Panorama Special

We went to see a talk by Andrew Brooks at the Whitworth Art Gallery. It was a really interesting event in which he talked to us about not only his work, but how he goes about creating it. He actually opened PhotoShop on screen and showed us how his composition was made up of layers. The pieces he showed us were just incredible and unless he had told us there's no way that you would of know that they were composited together.

Here are a couple of the images that he talked to us about:

http://www.andrewbrooksphotography.com/

I found it mesmerizing that the images that he created are all composited together in PhotoShop from different shots. He talked about how he goes out and finds the perfect elements in order to create these scenes. For example in the image shown above he talked about how it took him so long to find the right boat that he wanted to use to construct this shot. Not only did he take shots in many places around the country but in other ones too, I think he said that he finally found this shot of the boat in Ireland. I think the idea of constructing your own compositions from multiple shots is exciting when you think that the possibilities are endless.

Another thing that he showed us, was the way that he constructed a mechanism that housed multiple, mounted cameras. He did this in order to create a 3D esc image. He had video on screen almost in two panels next to each other, in which you had to make yourself go cross eyed in order to see 3D like footage. It was extremely interesting.

If you haven't seen any of his work you should definitely take a look at his site. Here's a link to another talk that was filmed in June, (not the event we went to), but still covering his process. http://vimeo.com/14012293

I think that seeing this talk was helpful because as I have been researching compositing as a medium, it was interesting to see the application in in terms of simply working with composition.