Tuesday 5 May 2020

CAFF - QUICKDRAW

'Together' link

I took a part in the QuickDraw 48h  animation challenge. Due to the Coronavirus situation, I could not get a collaborator to join me at this. Nevertheless, I joined in.

  • 48h is challenging but not impossible
  • great networking event, the organisers created a chat room for all the participants
  • the organisers have shared our portfolios and films on Social media and Cardiff Film Festival website.  Unexpected amount of very welcomed exposure. 

  • collaboration with music composer that I met during the challenge
  • mixture of abilities and a lot of new practitioners to follow their work
  • My film got a mention in the 'about' article and received some lovely comments during the live screening (link below) 

Zero Carbon Headingly - commision

G. Dixon Lynch and I got commissioned by Zero Carbon Headingly to produce an animated short film.

As part of the project and research:

  • Engaging with the local community.
  • Working for a real-life client.
  • Audience: Students
  • Funding sourcing experience.
  • Regular meetings with Matthew Hill on behalf of ZCH.
  • Attended Zero Carbon Headingley organisation meeting at Headingley Heart Cafe of 29th February, learning more about the behind the scenes of the organisation and the purpose that this project will serve. 


More information in the additional work submission folder due to privacy reasons.

Heureka! I want to be an animator

Anxiety-driven Procrastination or Professional Practice?
After two weeks of lockdown and countless times my boyfriend has played and sung his own interpretations of Matt Lucas' 2020 version of Thank You Baked Potato, I could see a purpose in making an animated response to this oh-so-popular song that has already raised a decent amount of money for the NHS. All thanks to Matt Lucas' tireless engagement with his audience. 

I have just been going through a little crisis because I got the opportunity to make a spare room into my workspace less than 2 weeks before the lockdown but it needed rearranging for the second time. It was time-consuming to make it functional but it is a space where I plan to animate over the year after graduation. 

I look back and still trying to argue whether I used the time wisely, could I have done better if I tried to work on my final film more over the 10 days I was making this short film? I am not sure, but I know that I have reached my absolute rock bottom in the last two weeks and this project helped me get through.

What went well?
- it got retweeted by Matt Lucas
- the film reached a satisfactory amount of audience
- more showreel material
- experience in making dog armature and puppet dressing

What went wrong?
- animating in daylight, it did not reach its potential result
- I got a visit from a huge thick-legged spider and for at least a day I thought I will never walk into that room again. I have a decent phobia. It all happened a few scenes before the film was finished and the room was messy with props and materials everywhere, making for perfect hiding spots. But I put Basil and essential Lemon-Grass oil in the room and that boosted my confidence that it won't come out again. The Basil is still alive and I normally cannot keep plants alive, but the room gives me shivers whenever I am working in there.




Screen Skills - what next



Recommended by tutors, I have been looking at the Screen Skills to help me understand my options of getting into the Animation industry.

Stop mo specific - animator
Other industry - storyboarder

Pre-production and production

---> Animator

The field of model making and puppet making as well as storyboarding seem a little alien to me still. I enjoy it, but I feel that my skill is more of a personal project level than an industry entry-level so will take a little extra work over the next months or years.

Interesting Articles  17/04/2020

https://creativepool.com/magazine/features/member-spotlight-facing-change-with-steve-frith-and-tcc.23101

https://creativepool.com/magazine/inspiration/10-awesome-stop-motion-videos.1626?from=search:stop%20motion;;:0

The Bins and The Bees - Festivals and that Sort of Stuff

Premiere - Scalarama, Chapel FM Arts centre 7th September
Screening at Open Fright Night Chapel FM Arts centre -  very well received, communication with Tony Macaluso.

Planned return of the screening at the Leeds Big Screen after being cancelled due to Covi-19 as part of the LYFF 2020. Now it is being brought back to lighten up the atmosphere at the Millennium Square


Slow Steps Forward

Self Portrait

In this post, I would like to touch on a topic that is personal, nonetheless important, part of differentiating between becoming professional and being amateur. Apologies about the long post.

It came to my interest a last year in fact and this year I invested in two books to help me resolve the matter.


While feeling anxious and turning to anxiety driven procrastination did affect my experience at Leeds Arts University, I am determined to work on this matter and over time eliminate the effect it could have on my future opportunities of working within the creative industry.

How I procrastinate:  remaining active with activities outside of University, attending societies, tidying the flat, walking my dog, working part-time or other normally positive activities. At the same time dreading some of the course tasks completely, to the point I would space myself away at even a thought of approaching my PC or opening my sketchbook. This year, I have experienced the strongest dose of this behaviour in the period before Christmas. 

In the above literature I have learnt more about this type pf procrastination and finally found a vocabulary to try to explain the cause of my situation to myself.

I have turned to this book The Worrier's Guide to Overcoming Procrastination after my second attempt at counselling with Student Welfare. Useful sessions, but I am still indecisive to what extent it is helping me to overcome my situation. I find it complex explaining my feelings - myself ending up misunderstood and misinterpreted to myself.

I have reached out to this book after Christmas 2019, when I felt desperate, my creative spirit levels were critical and my CoP LAUAN601 practical outcome has suffered greatly, as well as my pre-production for LAUAN603 and maintaining contacts after rather successful networking at MAF 2019. A week could fly by without me even knowing and whilst weekly presentations were a source of feedback for others, for me it was a source of anxiety.

I have been experiencing the pressure to keep checking my social media for messages and I ended up swapping my smartphone for a cell phone for at least a month to resolve this.

Since coming back after Christmas break, I have managed to step up and work somewhat to my expectations of myself keeping by these two in mind:

#1 I have fallen behind and so I have to do a little bit of Uni work no matter how small every day
#2 take precautions to avoid burnout (happened in the past - not good) whilst trying to work to my full ability

I would like to summarise that usually when I am self-evaluating myself I do not feel like I fit categories fully, or doubt whether I do or not. Yet, I ticked myself into almost every category in the chapter on Understanding Anxious Procrastination in the book. Some things I already was aware of - Fear of Failure, Perfectionism. Already giving me trouble at tasks in high school when I had to do any sort of estimates - now with a lot of creative freedom, it escalated enormously. I prefer rules, whole skeleton over a backbone.

I do touch on self-doubt too, especially when it comes to blogging about my work, I end up in a cycle of feeling exposed and doubting the work I have done. So far dealing with it in a form of unpublished posts or notes to write the posts later.

As well as fear of success - this is probably least obvious and hardest to talk about, but my passion for criticism and being an overthinking perfectionist sometimes leads me to isolate from the conversations to avoid accidentally hurting my relationship with peers, collaborations etc.

To add toppings to this ice cream (unhealthy yet irresistible), I often find myself with NPC when it comes to people. Many times feeling like I have nothing to say/ask/comment on or the other party won't be interested in what I have to say, or I will be very much judged on what I will say.

All in all, a lot to work on, but hey, one step closer to understanding myself. :)

Study Task 3 - Networking

I made attempts to connect with:

Tecarat
(Stop motion animation studio) - part of CoP LaAUAN601 research, Tecarat was very friendly and responsive and provided me with useful materials informing my practice
Joseph Wallace (Stop motion animator) - another person I have contacted regarding sustainable set design for my CoP Lauan601, Joseph was very helpful and approachable in sharing his expertise.
Gadzooks - I met Gadzooks at MAF 2019 at their talk, I was impressed by their puppets for Mad Dogs 2018
Michael Tharme - I have had a long discussion with Mike at MAF Market 2019 regarding armatures and parts choice for my Final Film. Mike was very approachable and I will definitely be in touch when/if I make a project with ball-joined armatures (useful for my Sign Language Animation future adventures).
Dr Birgitta Hosea - whom I have met before in 2018 but only spoke with her in February on her visit to Leeds Animation Workshop.
Linda McCarthy (www.tinyelephants.co.uk) - I met Linda at MAFterparty at MAF 2019, she has a very unique stop-motion style.
Jo Chalkley (Factory) - I have spoken to Jo after her talk at MAF 2019 and I was invited to contact her regarding a visit to the studio, but I felt as that I should figure out where my feet stand within the art of animation to be able to make the most of such visit so it is pending

For the same reason I still need to get back to Ben Kruner (MA Animation student) with whom I had a long talk regarding all things animated, including Sign Language Animation and who linked me with Melvyn Ternan who did a talk about British Sign Language and Animation at the Academic Conference before MAF 2019 started.

Visiting professionals:
Kerry Dyer - helpful information on puppet-making portfolio.
Barry Purves - lecture about the importance of the use of artifice in animation. 
Terry Wragg - valuable information on sourcing funding.

Sundeep Thor - I met Sundeep through the Quickdraw challenge and I contacted about her experience with professional showreel.

Jennifer Kidd - we connected on LinkedIn, Jennifer has expansive knowledge in puppet fabrication showcased on her website. I am also attending one of her advance stop-motion puppet fabrication workshops as soon as the box of materials reaches me.

Claire Welling from West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service - I attended one of the workshops at the Stringer House, very useful contact for anything to do with Freelancing and Small Business.

Further contacts:

Peter Kottman - maintaining contact with Peter who did my showreel music.
Tom Kavanagh  -  Tom did the music and sfx for my Quickdraw Challenge animation and will be doing my Final Film SFX
Matteo Falco - music composer for my Final Film
Ben Gardener, Li Marrable - future collaborations in concept art and character design

Networking opportunities:

  • Manchester Animation Festival (went)
  • Northwestivus, MAFter party, MAFter dark and MAF closing ceremony ( same as last year, I chose to not go with the University for MAF 2019 to be able to attend MAFterparty (extra night at the other Hatters hostel) and the ceremony - both very much valuable events, it meant that I had a flexibility of going where I wanted (it felt a little bit lonely last year, but this year I was more confident  and a busy bee meeting new people) and by doing so I saved almost enough money to cover my new creature ball-joint armature which I could not resist at the animation-toolkit stall. )
  • Scalarama (went, met organisers of some of the screenings)
  • Visiting Professionals at LAU (went)
  • LIFF (did not manage to go)
  • LYFF (Covid-19 interference)
  • Animation Socials at LAU (went)
  • Philip Taylor Cinema LAW event (went) 
  • Speculative Lunch - UoL and LAW event (couldn't attend)
  • Animarkt - planning to go in the future
  • Annecy - planning to go in the future
  • Cardiff Animation Festival (following online screenings and events - thanks to Covid-19, some festivals I would not be able to attend financially are made affordable from home)


Study Task 5 - Creating Brand

Old logo, raster image 
Previous LinkedIn

Updated LinkedIn

I have started making a website on WordPress in Autumn 2019 however, I have changed it to Wix when I saw CathyJ's website. The layout looked more professional website and less like a blog, an important element as I am looking to upload my portfolio there.
Template I chose for my website

Wix feels a lot more intuitive to me and editing is easy for both desktop and smartphone view.

I like the blog element and the template of my web has the option like this for it, too
Things I did to make it work: 


  • Bought a domain: If I am to pay to promote myself through business cards and elsewhere, it has to be memorable and simple. Therefore no Wix or Wordpress extensions. 
  • I chose the name Bunkhouse Stop Motion because it expresses who I am and what I stand for as an artist and as a person.
  • Showreel with contact details and logo embedded on the website (also on Vimeo, Twitter, YouTube), muted on autoplay of the opening page. 


  • Linked all my social media in the Contact section allowing me to only put my domain on the business card or wherever I want to promote myself and be easy to find on other social media. All the media is separate from my personal Gmail, Facebook and Instagram accounts. 
  • Hide all the section that are undergoing development - a portfolio of set and puppet making (some available to view on Instagram), blog
  • A logo that communicates with the website name.
  • Simple design, the focus is on the content.
  • https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-icons/, for checking that all the social media link logos are legal.
Logo

First I approached members of the LAU Collaborations group, however, I only got two responses and I did not have the budget to cover the costs of the work, so I took some free sessions on Graphic Design at Shaw Academy monthly trial and with back and forth feedback from number of contacts I created my own branding.
Logo requirements
Initial ideas on a template from Shaw Academy
More initial ideas.
Developing idea of bunkbed in the design
Version 1 development

Version 2 development

Version 3 development
Version 3 further development


Further development, testing colours


Testing the functionality in B&W



Ideas of redesigning my old logo

Ideas of redesigning my old logo

Redesigning my old logo, I prefer the original photography version, but it is not scalable and therefore not practical. 

Colour choice 1

Colour choice 2


Adding text for banners
  • Scalable for various online platforms and for print, with and without background version
  • Logo with text used for banners, logo used for profile pictures on social media where the banner option is not available, ta photograph used on LinkedIn and Twitter for the profile picture. 
Business Card

Folding business card

Preview of layout one

Preview of the final layout
  • I wanted something original, the way to describe my practice would be 'textures' 
  • Why does it matter what my business card looks like?
  • One of the options, printed and cut up fabric, I found an option of faux leather and recycled leather too. However, I understand that some people may not like it.
  • Another unique idea is folding business cards from https://www.vistaprint.co.uk/. This suits me very well as a stop motion artist as it allows space for logo, contact details, small portfolio, as well as blank space for writing (to have the back side printed costs extra £). This company offers a preview of the design, very helpful. 
  • Matte paper finish, to be able to write on the card

CV 
  • Created using cvhelp.co.uk for ease of adjustments and formatting. 
  • About and partial CV also embedded on my website. 






Monday 4 May 2020

Shaw Academy - Graphic Design




I have spotted a free trial of Shaw Academy sessions including Graphic Design.
I started attending it shortly after Covid-19 lockdown as it gave me a sense of purpose especially during the hardest week or two and I continued with the subscription afterwards.

Reasons:
  • To be self-sufficient in maintaining my online and print presence, including logo, leaflets, posters, production books and so on. 
  • Graphic Designer jobs are a lot more common than stop-motion animator jobs. (proportion in LAU live briefs and Indeed jobs website) once I develop a portfolio it could also be a side freelance opportunity.
  • Internationally recognised Professional Diploma Qualification after the final assessment. 
  • The way it is taught clicks with me. 
  • CV enhancement.
I have completed module 1 and will continue with the rest of the modules after the submission of Extended Practice as it does turn out to be fairly time-consuming at the moment. 

Software - after Graduation

Due to the current Covi-19 situation, getting any job may prove to be difficult. Therefore, I am considering Software alternatives to Adobe Suite:

Pros: Affordable and serves the purpose.
Cons: Portfolio and CV - may not be versatile across the animation industry

RoughAnimator https://roughanimator.com/ Practical for animatic? Yes, it supports audio and works frame by frame with the image. https://roughanimator.com/userguide-windows/ Cost £4.99, works on Windows and Android, perfect.

Dragonframe I will also need to upgrade my student license to a professional one. As a stop-motion generalist, this is one thing I do have to pay for to be able to continue with a professional standard of stop-motion animation. I have Stop Motion Studio on my phone bud sadly I could not make it work with my DSLR camera on my PC.

Corel Draw suite - fixed price (£599), not affordable at the moment but it is a one-off payment that could be worth investing into for making production bible, advertising material etc.

Storyboarder Pro - fantastic piece of software, again, a little bit too expensive for an annual or monthly subscription for me to pay out of my own pocket, however, there is an option for a permanent license and is worth considering for when I earn money with animation or if I ever want to set up a studio (1030USD).

My work in Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, working on J. Leece's project

Storyboarder is definitely not as good with tools and brushes, however, it does have timing for scenes, script and dialogue can be imported and scenes can be exported for Premiere or FCP (Mac-only software). It is easy to use and free.

My work in Storyboarder software, commissioned project

Replacement for Premiere Pro - Out of all these software, I may start using Premiere Rush for its similarity and compatibility with Premiere Pro (good for collaborations), and start learning Da Vinci Resolve for a long term use.

This is also an option, NCH Software. Though my objection was the way a different combination of bundles are priced - it did not feel trustworthy to me. So would need to read reviews from stop motion animators to see what they have to say about it.

Also, one crucial part, for me as a stop-motion animator is the ability to import and edit sequence.

Sunday 23 February 2020

Study Task 4 - Exit Strategy

My Exit Strategy

Before Graduation: 
  • Online presence - updated website, logo, schedule time and set budget for the maintenance
  • Show-reel - keep documenting my work and update my show-reel to be relevant to my area of practice. 
  • Focus on networking with scriptwriters, directors etc. and professionals that cover areas that I do not.  
  • Separation of Personal life and Work. Dealing with pressure of using social media for communication. I am working on being consistent with the communication across different media, at the moment it triggers anxiety in me, when I have a mix of University work and friends conversations in one place. For example - Facebook is my personal account only, if someone approaches me regarding work matter, I will redirect them to my WhatsApp or Email. 
  • Continue working on an assertive work pattern - keeping steady pace, no burn outs. 
  • Managing mental health and healthy relationships in personal and work life. Work on my messaging anxiety. 
  • Get in touch with potential spaces for providing workshops as a freelancer, such as the Aire Place Studio. 
After Graduation:
  • Part-time/full-time job, any area is OK at this stage to support myself financially. 
  • Getting industry ready. Due to my recent decision (beginning of the academic year) of specialising in what comes most natural to me, stop-motion, I would like to take some extra time after graduation on building my expertise and portfolio. Then compose the portfolio to each of the Universities specifications for Postgraduate studies applications. 
  • Exhibitions, screenings, workshops, getting out there - think of the location. 
  • Stay with the Leeds Animation Workshop and gain more experience in sourcing funding and writing Project Proposals. I will need this for Postgraduate studies. 
  • Continue building network for British Sign Language animation projects. 
  • Apply for Masters at the University of Edinburgh, Sheffield Hallam University and continue research about Postgraduate studies at other Universities. 
  • Complete the rest of the modules and final assessment for Professional Diploma in Graphic Design with Shaw Academy.

Sunday 9 February 2020

Philip Taylor Cinema and meeting Birgitta Hosea

Thanks to the Leeds Animation Workshop, The Bins and The Bees 2019, mine and G. Dixon Lynch's film got screened at yet another Leeds location. A screening at the Phillip Taylor Cinema, University of Leeds campus preceding the next day's Speculative lunch with attendees including 'VIPs in the world of animation/film/archiving from London & elsewhere' one of the most important meetings fin the process of archiving LAW's over 40 years worth of work. 


Unfortunately, I was not able to attend this meeting, however, I have visited LAW after University that day and met Dr Birgitta Hosea at her visit of the Workshop, which resulted in a very nice conversation about Dr Hosea's practice and my final year work, including that of Shadow puppets, topic in which Dr Hosea holds a lot of expertise.

 I had the honour to be on the panel with Birgitta Hosea at the Rio Cinema event back in 2018


Study Task 2 - Future Plans Exposed

All plans include Cherry

My future plans are a bit bizarre, putting lifestyle first, but in the last three years, I have learnt a lot about myself as an artist and becoming a practitioner as well as a young adult, my needs, skills, aspirations. I have also learnt a lot about maintaining my physical and mental well being. Something I did not expect from a University student life. 

Aspirations: 


I have a love for the city of Edinburgh, it makes me feel at home. I also have an ambition to produce animated fairy tales in British Sign Language or Sign Supported English, depending on resources and connections I can build with people who know either, but eventually, hopefully, both. With already 4 years of work experience in 4 different jobs, truly, I would rather do a part-time job and leave time for making an animation I believe in and can emotionally connect with. Before I even joined the course at LAU, this was really important to me and I can see that I have still a long journey to walk before I can do commissioned work and recognise the difference between art that I do for my own emotional satisfaction and commissioned live briefs. 

Side note: I look up to Pat & Mat  (1976 - present) creators and their 130 episodes of entertaining, silly and engaging slapstick-comedy animation. In my opinion, very meaningful animation and would love to be part of similar projects if I ever get a chance in the future. Unlike Smelf the Elf series that somehow made it on Amazon Prime and left me jaw-dropped. So that is an example of work I do and  work I do not connect with. 


I would love to end up in Edinburgh

Ideally, I would like to study BSL Animation again at Postgraduate studies, it is very extensive and little-explored as I have learned through my Context of Practice in Year 1 and 2. If I could do so in Edinburgh, that would be great, but I feel that I need to scan the horizon more for the suitable University facilities and opportunities to network within the city. I am worried that I may not achieve the entry-level grades to do so (2:1), in which case, the university does also consider the portfolio and 'relevant professional experience'.


Screenshot of Entry Requirements for Masters in Fine Art, Animation at University of Edinburgh

  • Completed film - tick, The Bins and The Bees 2019 and working on my Final Film. 
  • Life drawing - tick, sessions at the Fenton Pub.
  • Storyboards - some old work, my final film storyboards are not done by me. Needs updating. 
  • Very little character design from me. I do not consider myself a character designer. Needs updating. 
  • I do have schedules for my Final Film so that is covered but will benefit from more work.  
  • I believe to have a fair range of animation techniques, I am not quite sure how much they require from a stop-motion artist so I will have to contact the University for clarification. 
  • Again, software, I  may have to clarify this with UoE to see more specific requirements. I would assume - Dragonframe, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Storyboarder Pro. 
For this I would also need to produce a film proposal and the year out of education will be perfect for doing so and to carry out networking and applications for funding. I may try developing a project proposal on Crowdfunding and look at other potential funding opportunities.

I also went to the 
Getting Animated With Young Audiences Content Fund talk at MAF 2019 and I can see this topic being relevant as they are looking for projects specifically for British audiences, however, I may be looking at younger audiences than this is focused for. It also requires a certain amount of funding to be sourced from elsewhere before applying. Also, I am not quite sure how does funding work for student projects - area for further research


So, for the upcoming year I am staying in Leeds, to continue to be part of the collective at Leeds Animation Workshop, live near my friends and family and work on my portfolio. I will be registering as a freelancer and aim to learn a thing or two about funding applications while continuing to rent out the spare room in our house as a little studio space. 

Networking:

I will continue going to Manchester Animation Festival, they do not disappoint with the amount of stop-motion orientated programme and I can afford it - location, accommodation etc.. Including great pub event, Northwestivus that has proven to be great networking event for me at MAF 2019.  I will also be going to
 LIFF and LYFF, Sheffield Documentary Festival and Aesthetica Short Film Festival.


Other festivals - it will depend on the programme and my financial situation. I may have to spend a decent amount of money and time of getting a citizenship, but if the wallet allows, I would love to go to Animarkt


I will aim to engage in Stop-Motion Forum more too. 



Sunday 26 January 2020

Study Task 1 - Mirror, mirror on the wall - who needs to review their presence most of all?

Final year BA (Hons) Animation student making footsteps towards becoming a multi-disciplinary practitioner across stop-motion animation. After solidly turning to stop-motion in October 2019.

At present:
Showreel 2018

Showreel 2019

  • enjoy working with tangible materials, organised mess and team with a positive attitude 
  • believe that animated stories for young audiences contribute to their visual learning experience, where there are rich textures available to observe
  • environmentally conscious where practical
  • previous show-reel, a mixture of various traditional and digital techniques ( no longer reflects my practice) 
  • previous online presence - lack of frequency, professionalism, quality and reach across Vimeo, FilmFreeway, Instagram, Wordpress website, YouTube, Twitter. Also does not represent me as a specialised stop-motion artist. 
  • investing in essential equipment for going forward after graduation.
  • Grammarly - confidence boost in writing this blog and replies to emails. 
  • skillset varies in level across Dragonframe, Adobe CC - Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Effects as well as academic writing, managing and organising project files in Google Drive, thinking ahead. Drawing, painting.
  • set and puppet making - learning in progress. 
  • running my station at workshops by Leeds Animation Workshop - building upon teaching and problem-solving skill in non-computer animation
Ambitions: 
  • advanced techniques of puppet and set building 
  • online and offline presence consistent
  • improve engagement with the audience and other professionals, build predictability 
  • work on overthinking habits and fear of failure 
  • start earning money with art/animation
At the end of the course:
  • a part-time job to support myself financially
  • experience and portfolio in the area of stop-motion animation. 
  • staying in Leeds for at least one year after my graduation 
  • continue connection with Leeds Animation Workshop. 
  • start using alternatives to Adobe CC and go for one-off payments options 
  • put money into armatures and tools needed to develop my skill in stop-motion animation.