Home › 2023 › March

Month: March 2023

By Posted on Posted in Networking, UNIT 3 No Comments

It was a pleasure speaking to the students from Royal College of Music to collaborate on our films.

Although exciting I was also stressed, knowing I was basically pitching myself and my film because it was also the Composers’ choice with whom they’d like to work. I might have gone through my presentation a bit speedier than I wanted due to this as the room was much more fuller than anticipated – I also forgot how to give presentations in person? I’ve given my presentations online before and it’s much less stressful when I don’t have to make eye contact. It’s definitely something I’d like to practice more.

For my final presentation, I would like to try and practice it in class with either fellow students or teachers.

Luna_Presentation_PDFDownload

It was really a great experience to hang out and talk with the composers a bit more casually with the composers in the Bar. It definitely encouraged me to try and go to more events in person and network with more creatives.

Also, I was very lucky to be approached by 3 different composers who would like to work with me on my film. It was a bit nerve-wracking to go through their portfolios knowing I could only choose one. I tried to be very encouraging in my ‘rejection’ emails, as I decided to collaborate with Haukur Karlsson due to his flexibility.

By Posted on Posted in Talks and Lectures, UNIT 3 No Comments

It was extremely informative to hear about Alexandra’s experiences and what it’s like to work with directors as a composer. It is always so useful to hear the other side and the best way to learn.

We also had a chance to look at her Cue Sheets to see what kind of feedback was industry standard.

As well as this, I found Alexandra’s exercise very insightful: we drew a random ‘feeling’ and needed to find a piece of music to express it, then see if the rest of the class guessed it right. There are some feelings that will easily overlap, and others that would definitely become clearer with visuals.

By Posted on Posted in Talks and Lectures, UNIT 3 No Comments

I’m really thankful to Sophie for her insight into the industry. She was kind enough to bring up budgets and day rates with us. She also talked us through having a personal as well as a commercial style to be a more successful freelancer until our personal work can pay for everything. 

It was really good to look at her pitch examples and find out how to market our ideas and make them approachable and exciting.

She also took some time to speak to me and my aspirations. I managed to show her my Production Schedule and express my interest in Production Management. Having learnt that I previously did sculpture and was now specialising in 2D animation, she recommended I look at applying to BlinkInk Studios as they work in many different styles.

Funnily enough, apparently last year she spoke to a student in the same seat last year who is now working in Production. Fingers crossed! 

By Posted on Posted in Animating, Presentation Research, UNIT 3 No Comments

The Making Days with Sophie Koko Gate were really inspiring. I was previously not a fan of animating in Photoshop, however, it’s the main program she works in and I was willing to give it another shot.

She gave us a lot of useful hints and tips, as well as Auto Actions which made making New Frames and Filling Lineart much more streamlined.

I do enjoy Photoshop in general as an art program and I really like how easy it is to alter and add new brushes. The biggest difference to me is the fact Photoshop doesn’t ‘cut-off’/’crop’ drawings when moved outside the canvas, as well as its transform and liquify tools compared to TV Paint.

Sophie was kind enough to share the steps for setting up our Photoshop workspace.

Here are the shots I completed during the two days. Again, I found it really helpful to be able to transform the lines in the way I was used to from illustration work.

By Posted on Posted in Networking, UNIT 3 No Comments

It was nice to attend the online networking event and speak to the alumni to see where they are today. I definitely followed their social media accounts and I look forward to meeting them in person in the future.

Here are some of the notes and advice:

  • As a freelancer, the work-life balance is on you.
  • Prepare for job seeking now, don’t leave until the last minute. Reaching out to the studios now is OK.
  • Keep track of your process (rendering, drafts, colours).
  • Short courses are good for networking &expanding your knowledge and skills.
  • When writing a cover letter or an email to a studio, talk about what work of theirs you like and why you want to develop with them.
  • To show off your skills as an artist and storyteller there is no need to make a 5-minute film. You’re better off making a short trailer. Or animating the first 30 seconds of it. It will be less daunting and you’ll be more likely to finish a project.
  • In the UK most of the available work is preschool and commercial.
  • When doing prop/BG/character design, look for current design vibes and trends on current shows.
  • Ask your mentor to set you up for an internship.
  • Post your progress (on socials or a blog).
  • Don’t be precious with your work.

Regarding some other questions, I would like to ask:

  • What things do you wish you did more of while you were still at uni?
  • As a freelancer, how do you go about pricing?
  • Where do you go looking for work?
  • Do you follow individual studios?
  • As a freelancer, do you seek out potential clients to send cold emails to or do you hope you’re found by clients through your work?
  • Do you find it difficult to do personal work after you’ve spent a whole day/week/month being creative for work?