Right sooo, I have been meaning to carry on blogging regularly but life sometimes has a habit of getting in the way unfortunately.... However I do have a showreel which has gotten 2 agencies wanting me to get freelance animation work, none so far so my faith in them isn't the highest at the minute, although I assume you've heard of "Creative Recruitment" they didn't seem that bothered so not sure whats up with them... The other sounds more promising called "Trigger Creatives" they seem much more thrilled and i'm not sure if they've seen work of my calibre because they seem to be drooling over me, not sure what message that send to me but still can't look a gift horse in the face so the saying goes. They do however seem to be very late replying to all my questions I had and so are either incompetent, have so many emails sent to them that it takes a week before you get a reply, or they just don't read the emails regularly, either of those 3 don't fill me with hope either, however it is taking a lot of the work of looking for work out of the equation however I am still doing that too which again makes it like I have 2 jobs when i'm not actually employed or earning anyting from them....
I have also been in contact with a company about working for them on a temporary basis which by december can lead to permanent employment, which again is a very good oportunity, and in fact is my number 1 choice at the minute, this is the job i've been craving, and it sounds very interesting working on stuff for the royal navy, I have my fingers crossed for that one.
anyway back to why I assume at least a couple of people read this, my work, I have a working showreel which has enabled me to get all of this interest, which again, what I already knew, if I do some work and compile a showreel it'll get me noticed and possibly a job in turn, but i've done the work now and am thus enjoying the rewards of doing so, however I have now needing to be working harder than ever to keep improving my showreel, I think once I get some character stuff going i'll be more pleased as that's the area I'd like to be able to be a part of, although I really enjoy effects animation too, so thats two fields I can do, I just need to decide on one because it's almost impossible to specialise in 2 disciplines, but alas this is for the future to decide, one thing though, I would love to do something in games one day, that would be very cool.
anyway, heres the link to my showreel the thing thats going to get the attention in this. Please enjoy and if you think of anything wrong with it, or anything right I would really appreciate feedback on it
Thursday, 7 August 2014
Sunday, 29 June 2014
the indignities of Vimeo uploader and a week off
Right so this time, the work has been done and awaiting to be
uploaded to vimeo, however it has bee "processing" for the past 3
days... So I can only assume that I will have to re-upload it to vimeo as
different files altogether, I made a cool sun thing, with nice fire coming off
of that and with a heat displacement I made for that, I thought that was pretty
cool, and the other thing I did was a weird, matrixy, tron looking grid thing,
made that look all shiny and awesome.
Now I am having a weeks holiday, a bit of a silly decision being
self employed and no income at the moment, however I did need a break and well
cornwall is nice this time of year so I thought why the hell not, what is a
week in the grand scheme of things, and i'll be getting right into some
character animation the week after my holiday and I think that will really add
to the old showreel, get a couple things really well animated and polished and
get that sent off to some animation studios and get well on it all.
However because of this malarchy with vimeo I can't show my work
on here atm.... Slightly frustrating, but there we go, there's always something
to go wrong in life and thankfully this is not anything drastically infringing
on my life as I still have the work so more frustrating than anything else.
** Ammendment** THERE IS NO INTERNET AT THE HOLIDAY... I NEED HELP, THE ONLY INTERNET AT THE BAR, AND IT CLOSES BEFORE 9PM!!!! GET ME OUT OF THIS BARBARIC PLACE!!! THIS IS THE NINETIES ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!
Saturday, 21 June 2014
When it rains, it pours!
So finally after 3 long weeks I have finally been creative!! over the past 4 days I have done 5 pieces of animation and 3 pieces of illustration/ art!! now my last post was quite angry as I was very frustrated about not being able to do any work, but now I've hit the ground running and nothings going to stop me now!
https://vimeo.com/98537774 - Particle Ring
now this bit of animation is a particle ring, unfortunately the stock particle system in After Effects is a little lackluster so it isn't the best piece of partice effects animation, but the process behind it now means I can apply it to almost anything, and because I now know how to control particles in After Effects the possibilities are endless for it. Although I am looking into getting Trapcode Particular as that is 100x better for particle effects and as soon as the clients start coming I can get it and it's a knock on effect, my work will get better and therefore will attract more clients and then my work will get even better etc... Now I'm fairly happy with how this turned out, It's a nice effect, it sort of reminds me of the O2 adverts at the end.
https://vimeo.com/98548224 - Audio React Ring, Music Video
Now this is a music video I made, applying the same principles for the Particle Circle above, but with a pre-rendered particle effects made from Trapcode Particular, so the particles look much better, but because the pre-render was only 30 seconds, and I was lazy and just time stretched it instead of stitching the pre-renders together the particles are very slow and it looks a bit ugly for that reason, however the proof of concept is very solid and i'm sure it will get some people interested in doing something similar once I've updated it so that the pre-rendered particles run smoothly.
https://vimeo.com/98553996 - Showreel Intro/ Outro 1
I made this for my Showreel intro, however the showreel is still a work in progress, but it's a really cool effect and it reminds me of like an apple keynote screen or something of the like, which is no bad thing really! I think it's probably a little bit short and needs my contact details on it but other that that I think it looks really cool, and i'm definitely going to be using it for me showreel intro.
https://vimeo.com/98756043 - Showreel Intro/ Outro 2
Now I was thinking about using this for my Showreel outro, however, I know it is much better to keep things in a certain style, so whichever one I choose the lighter more apple looking one will have to be both Intro and Outro, or this one, which is a little darker on the screen and also a lot simpler, I know that it's meant to be simple as anyone who looks at the showreel won't really care what the intro and outro are as long as it's clear, so I think I will probably be using the apple looking one as there is more effort into it, and I think it is the nicer looking one also.
https://vimeo.com/98797174 - Light Streak
This is a nice light streak, The lens flare is again a bit lackluster due to the stock lens flare in After Effects is very basic, but again the effect is very nice and very professional. I feel that if I had access to some flare plugins it would make the world of difference and again would just boost the quality to that next level, however as it stands, I feel that this is fine for what it is and would work well in music video's and other things of the like
Right so this is A cool banner type thing, I really like how new and edgy it kinda looks, I like the sharp edges from the diamonds, and also the blury text adds depth and dynamism to the composition. I like the negative space around it as it forces the eye to the colours behind the text which is what you want the viewer to do.
This is the back of a badge template I made I think it looks really cool, and it would work as an actual badge template so that you can see what the back of a badge would look like, but also on things like leaflets, brochures etc..
This is the front of the badge, I think it looks really like how a badge would look like in real life, this is just a template so any design, logo or graphic can be put on it and it's really quick and easy to see how, if it is to be made into a badge, would look like in real life.
https://vimeo.com/98537774 - Particle Ring
now this bit of animation is a particle ring, unfortunately the stock particle system in After Effects is a little lackluster so it isn't the best piece of partice effects animation, but the process behind it now means I can apply it to almost anything, and because I now know how to control particles in After Effects the possibilities are endless for it. Although I am looking into getting Trapcode Particular as that is 100x better for particle effects and as soon as the clients start coming I can get it and it's a knock on effect, my work will get better and therefore will attract more clients and then my work will get even better etc... Now I'm fairly happy with how this turned out, It's a nice effect, it sort of reminds me of the O2 adverts at the end.
https://vimeo.com/98548224 - Audio React Ring, Music Video
Now this is a music video I made, applying the same principles for the Particle Circle above, but with a pre-rendered particle effects made from Trapcode Particular, so the particles look much better, but because the pre-render was only 30 seconds, and I was lazy and just time stretched it instead of stitching the pre-renders together the particles are very slow and it looks a bit ugly for that reason, however the proof of concept is very solid and i'm sure it will get some people interested in doing something similar once I've updated it so that the pre-rendered particles run smoothly.
https://vimeo.com/98553996 - Showreel Intro/ Outro 1
I made this for my Showreel intro, however the showreel is still a work in progress, but it's a really cool effect and it reminds me of like an apple keynote screen or something of the like, which is no bad thing really! I think it's probably a little bit short and needs my contact details on it but other that that I think it looks really cool, and i'm definitely going to be using it for me showreel intro.
https://vimeo.com/98756043 - Showreel Intro/ Outro 2
Now I was thinking about using this for my Showreel outro, however, I know it is much better to keep things in a certain style, so whichever one I choose the lighter more apple looking one will have to be both Intro and Outro, or this one, which is a little darker on the screen and also a lot simpler, I know that it's meant to be simple as anyone who looks at the showreel won't really care what the intro and outro are as long as it's clear, so I think I will probably be using the apple looking one as there is more effort into it, and I think it is the nicer looking one also.
https://vimeo.com/98797174 - Light Streak
This is a nice light streak, The lens flare is again a bit lackluster due to the stock lens flare in After Effects is very basic, but again the effect is very nice and very professional. I feel that if I had access to some flare plugins it would make the world of difference and again would just boost the quality to that next level, however as it stands, I feel that this is fine for what it is and would work well in music video's and other things of the like
Thursday, 12 June 2014
And the Frustration Sets In...
Okay lets start off with my honest intentions.. I intended to have done all the work and more by now, and have a really strong showreel by now, unfortunately I don't and I have to take some of the blame for that, but I am really quite annoyed at my partner who has been so helpful and not let me know when we're not at home, or when we're meant to be leaving, It's no wonder I don't have any substance to my claims as an animator yet because I've not been given the time to sit down and actually get animating and getting a good showreel, because she'll make plans to go to her mums for 5 days and tell me the day before, and this is only 3 days after I got over my hangover from my 21st birthday party. So I can safetly say I am really annoyed, because not only not get on with creating a better showreel so it has in effect started a cycle, we "can't" stay at home because of bills are too expensive, but the flip side of that is that I can't get creating a better showreel so I can't get paid for jobs, so we can't stay at home.....
So apart from being really fucking annoyed by the situation I find myself in, i'm frustrated that my partner is unwilling to give me the opportunity to at least get to the point where my showreel is up to scratch so that I can start getting paid so that we can actually live at home, instead of paying rent and lesser bills to not even be there, which really frustrate's me, because I really love where i'm living and where i'm based at, but i degress, I needed to vent somewhere and here was as good as any place.
I must say, although i've got all this pent up frustration at the situation I find myself in, it is nice to just not do anything, all though that makes me antsy and really quite worried that no one understands that I have to be at home to do work and that I can't just roll up and go yo can I get a job I swear I can do it I promise... I have to do it before and the only way I can do that is by being at home working, but again problems there..... So here I am sitting writing this blog, learning to code instead of doing what I love to do, Animation.
So apart from being really fucking annoyed by the situation I find myself in, i'm frustrated that my partner is unwilling to give me the opportunity to at least get to the point where my showreel is up to scratch so that I can start getting paid so that we can actually live at home, instead of paying rent and lesser bills to not even be there, which really frustrate's me, because I really love where i'm living and where i'm based at, but i degress, I needed to vent somewhere and here was as good as any place.
I must say, although i've got all this pent up frustration at the situation I find myself in, it is nice to just not do anything, all though that makes me antsy and really quite worried that no one understands that I have to be at home to do work and that I can't just roll up and go yo can I get a job I swear I can do it I promise... I have to do it before and the only way I can do that is by being at home working, but again problems there..... So here I am sitting writing this blog, learning to code instead of doing what I love to do, Animation.
Thursday, 5 June 2014
1 Week in, Whats Happened?! (Part 1 of 2)
So Like I said I would be updating this weekly and hopefully you at least didn't hate the first post?
Regretabley there is no work as of yet this week, I turned 21 this week so as you can imagine much more drunk things were on my mind instead, having said that, after a few days off doing not much of anything I feel very refreshed and recharged and ready to get back to animating and being creative, hopefully there will be another post to follow in the next few days to show off some more animation and/or some illistrations to get started showing off what I know and what I can give back into the creative community.
Like I said in my last post I am by no means a master and know everything there is to know about animation or related subjects but maybe I can help and impart some of the knowledge i've acquired over the 3 years I spent on my degree. I want to make very clear I am not making a tutorial or a "How to" blog, I want to keep it very informal and it will most likely be something more of if I find anything that is just so useful like a plugin for AFX or something, or if there is some little known fact that would be useful to let people in on that secret perhaps I would do that rather than make some how to series or tutorials, but I suppose I will never say never.
Back on topic, There have been a couple of freelance jobs I've seen and would of put my name on had I not been so distracted by the prospect of doing absolutely nothing and also not having my computer with me while I saw them, so obviously i was dissapointed in hindsight but again it gives me the strength to keep plodding along, keep doing what I'm doing and just get a foot in the door of the animation/art/film/tv/game industry and once i've managed that I feel good that I will do very well, as will anyone else in the same position, it's always the getting your foot in the door, getting in that opening, getting someone to see your potential and see that your worth taking a chance with.
So unfortunately like I said at the begginning of this blog, no animaton or creative thing in this post as having my 21st birthday other things were on my mind, and being away from home too I was unable to even add anything to my showreel, which is unfortunate.
So because there isn't any sort of substance to this blog I think this will be the end of the post, But in the next 2-3 days I will be uploading the completed animation..
Regretabley there is no work as of yet this week, I turned 21 this week so as you can imagine much more drunk things were on my mind instead, having said that, after a few days off doing not much of anything I feel very refreshed and recharged and ready to get back to animating and being creative, hopefully there will be another post to follow in the next few days to show off some more animation and/or some illistrations to get started showing off what I know and what I can give back into the creative community.
Like I said in my last post I am by no means a master and know everything there is to know about animation or related subjects but maybe I can help and impart some of the knowledge i've acquired over the 3 years I spent on my degree. I want to make very clear I am not making a tutorial or a "How to" blog, I want to keep it very informal and it will most likely be something more of if I find anything that is just so useful like a plugin for AFX or something, or if there is some little known fact that would be useful to let people in on that secret perhaps I would do that rather than make some how to series or tutorials, but I suppose I will never say never.
Back on topic, There have been a couple of freelance jobs I've seen and would of put my name on had I not been so distracted by the prospect of doing absolutely nothing and also not having my computer with me while I saw them, so obviously i was dissapointed in hindsight but again it gives me the strength to keep plodding along, keep doing what I'm doing and just get a foot in the door of the animation/art/film/tv/game industry and once i've managed that I feel good that I will do very well, as will anyone else in the same position, it's always the getting your foot in the door, getting in that opening, getting someone to see your potential and see that your worth taking a chance with.
So unfortunately like I said at the begginning of this blog, no animaton or creative thing in this post as having my 21st birthday other things were on my mind, and being away from home too I was unable to even add anything to my showreel, which is unfortunate.
So because there isn't any sort of substance to this blog I think this will be the end of the post, But in the next 2-3 days I will be uploading the completed animation..
Friday, 30 May 2014
Begginings...
Hi there,
Well here I am, I've just finished University, and the sudden realisation that I literally have nothing at this moment in time, no job, no income, no experience... Right so Here I am thinking what to do with my life right now, I have a teaching PGCE lined up so at least i'm not completely lost, but being completely honest I would much rather go out into industry and start using my skills in animation learned over 3 long years and start earning money for what I really enjoy doing, and don't consider it as "work"..
So here I am starting this blog, getting into the big blob that is social media to help get my name out there, starting doing work just anything, So my ultimate aim with this blog is to get creative people to see my work, see what I can do and just ultimately get into industry.
Now my aim is to update this blog at least every week, maybe on a friday, but my hope is to get a new piece of my work to upload with this blog to not only provide a talking point for the blog post but also just to keep me doing what I love and provide more motivation doing it. Because even though I truly enjopy animation and it really is my passion, I am such a lazy fuck, not that I do a bad job, but my god it took me 17 years to get out of 2nd gear, and I wish to god that was an exaggeration, so you could say old habits die hard. But you know its not all procrastination and playstation with me, I worked at a school teaching while doing my last year at university, so I have some drive in me when I do get my arse in gear.
Please don't be discouraged by my perpetual laziness, I do a good job and although at this stage in my career it my not be disney quality just yet I work incredibly hard and also do my best, and I suppose that is all you can really ask for of anyone.
So this post I finished my short film a couple of weeks ago and I am happy with the result of it, it's a nice finished piece of animation, with a very distinct aesthetic. I'm proud of what I achieved with it, as it is my first film and I believe your worst, especially as it is a student film and to me it really looks like a student film, but again I can't complain I worked hard on it and I'm proud of how it turned out.
https://vimeo.com/96896473
However This post isn't meant to be a reflection on any piece of work, I am simply getting started and hopefully I can get a couple of views and maybe some comments on what to talk about next? anyway I haven't really defined the direction for this blog as of yet, I know it will be animation based, and also a place to showcase some of my work too, but beyond that the possibilities are endless so yeah perhaps some input will be needed on that part, but I suppose i'll take a wait and see approach for now.
So here i'd like to talk a bit more about me, kind of like a diary thing, so as of right now, I have nothing on the cards, I wouldn't dare think about sending my showreel off to anyone as it wouldn't live longer than the amount of time it takes to click the vimeo link and click back again. So I have been working on things for it but again everything is about half finished and again that is the laziness of me as I did actually have a plan/schedule, so by this point in time I was to be finished with my first 3D character animation, finished of my spash and fire loop 2D effects and done at least one 11 second club... where I actually am is maybe halway through doing my first 3D character animation, and maybe a third of the way done with my fire and splash.... So as you may have guessed need a good kick up the bum to get going.
And yes I know creating this blog is procrastination but it's a good form of procrastination as hopefully a couple of people will see this blog and mayeb they like it and maybe they tell there friends about it or maybe even share it, **hint, hint, nudge, nudge**. but again I am painfully aware that the animation in this is sort of quality needed to get out there, and even by my own standards is not the best animation I can do, but it's a good starting point, especially for me having never made a complete animation film before.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this, hopefully next week I'll have some better animation to show, and maybe a nice drawing too
Well here I am, I've just finished University, and the sudden realisation that I literally have nothing at this moment in time, no job, no income, no experience... Right so Here I am thinking what to do with my life right now, I have a teaching PGCE lined up so at least i'm not completely lost, but being completely honest I would much rather go out into industry and start using my skills in animation learned over 3 long years and start earning money for what I really enjoy doing, and don't consider it as "work"..
So here I am starting this blog, getting into the big blob that is social media to help get my name out there, starting doing work just anything, So my ultimate aim with this blog is to get creative people to see my work, see what I can do and just ultimately get into industry.
Now my aim is to update this blog at least every week, maybe on a friday, but my hope is to get a new piece of my work to upload with this blog to not only provide a talking point for the blog post but also just to keep me doing what I love and provide more motivation doing it. Because even though I truly enjopy animation and it really is my passion, I am such a lazy fuck, not that I do a bad job, but my god it took me 17 years to get out of 2nd gear, and I wish to god that was an exaggeration, so you could say old habits die hard. But you know its not all procrastination and playstation with me, I worked at a school teaching while doing my last year at university, so I have some drive in me when I do get my arse in gear.
Please don't be discouraged by my perpetual laziness, I do a good job and although at this stage in my career it my not be disney quality just yet I work incredibly hard and also do my best, and I suppose that is all you can really ask for of anyone.
So this post I finished my short film a couple of weeks ago and I am happy with the result of it, it's a nice finished piece of animation, with a very distinct aesthetic. I'm proud of what I achieved with it, as it is my first film and I believe your worst, especially as it is a student film and to me it really looks like a student film, but again I can't complain I worked hard on it and I'm proud of how it turned out.
https://vimeo.com/96896473
However This post isn't meant to be a reflection on any piece of work, I am simply getting started and hopefully I can get a couple of views and maybe some comments on what to talk about next? anyway I haven't really defined the direction for this blog as of yet, I know it will be animation based, and also a place to showcase some of my work too, but beyond that the possibilities are endless so yeah perhaps some input will be needed on that part, but I suppose i'll take a wait and see approach for now.
So here i'd like to talk a bit more about me, kind of like a diary thing, so as of right now, I have nothing on the cards, I wouldn't dare think about sending my showreel off to anyone as it wouldn't live longer than the amount of time it takes to click the vimeo link and click back again. So I have been working on things for it but again everything is about half finished and again that is the laziness of me as I did actually have a plan/schedule, so by this point in time I was to be finished with my first 3D character animation, finished of my spash and fire loop 2D effects and done at least one 11 second club... where I actually am is maybe halway through doing my first 3D character animation, and maybe a third of the way done with my fire and splash.... So as you may have guessed need a good kick up the bum to get going.
And yes I know creating this blog is procrastination but it's a good form of procrastination as hopefully a couple of people will see this blog and mayeb they like it and maybe they tell there friends about it or maybe even share it, **hint, hint, nudge, nudge**. but again I am painfully aware that the animation in this is sort of quality needed to get out there, and even by my own standards is not the best animation I can do, but it's a good starting point, especially for me having never made a complete animation film before.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this, hopefully next week I'll have some better animation to show, and maybe a nice drawing too
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