My CV

I usually update my CV every 6 months, if not more often if applying for jobs, so this task was relatively easy to complete as I had already got most of the written content.

With my past CV's I have usually included small illustrations around the edges, and made them more colourful as it reflects my work and personality more. However for this one I wanted it to be more professional whilst still reflecting my style. To do this I put more emphasis on what I have done in the past, filling a whole column on the right hand side, and split the left hand side into contact details, education, the software that I use and a small list of hobbies. I added colour by making only the titles black, and the actual written content in a dark blue. I also added red bars to divide the sections making it easier to read and digest fully.

It was really hard to not add a little illustration of a panda in the space left at the bottom left of the page, but overall I am proud of how professional it looks and how much I have achieved in the last few years.

Pop Up Show

I was unable to take part in the organization of the pop-up show or the event itself, as I had to take time off during that period of time.

I feel really upset that I was unable to have any involvement in it, as I have past experiences in event management when I worked for the University magazine 'NEST', as well volunteering at larger events.

The worst part is I feel I let my group down, as I was unable to produce the finished work for the show, so now I am looking into other ways to show our work once it has finally been properly finished.

My Showreel

Sacha Frampton - Showreel from sacha frampton on Vimeo.

Here is my first ever showreel, with little snippets of work I've created over the last three years of being in Leeds. There is so much I've missed out but I chose work that I felt showed my personality more, as well as the type of work I like to make. When editing it together, I made sure that it flowed well, ensuring that your eyes always follow the main action.

Julia Pott - Your World Only Better - Task Five

Task Fine - Choose one of your three themes to focus on ~ go with your gut

Out of my theme choices, I have decided to choose Agoraphobia as my main theme to focus on. This is because I suffer from this phobia and it has effected my life drastically. I have found it really difficult to find many films/animations/books which cover this subject matter, which made me feel even more isolated, and I feel by making this animation be based on this subject matter it will help raise awareness, be personal to me, and help others suffering with this phobia.

Julia Pott - Your World Only Better - Task Four

Task Four - Choose three themes to focus on

The next task is to choose three themes to focus on. For event or item based themes I have chosen jumpers, lonely animals and Agoraphobia. For the emotion based themes I have chosen loneliness, fear and embarrassment. These are the themes I have been drawn to the most when doing external research, and the feelings I have experienced the most recently. Although these don't match my own personal visual diary, I have chosen to document only good experiences to look for visual references to contradict and juxtapose with the feelings I may be having.

Julia Pott - Your World Only Better - Task Three

Task Three: Research everything

Like the second task, I chose to keep a visual diary where I could collect all the images that interested me here on this pinterest mood board.
http://www.pinterest.com/iambambiwillow/narratives-workshop/
Below I have chosen a few, both illustrative and photographic, that caught my eye the most, and a small description underneath why.

Illustration

I really liked the monster/creature outside almost acting like a hidden force which makes you just roll back in bed and hide from the world. For me this links more to how I feel when my agoraphobia is at its worst, rather than it relating to coldness.

When you are scared to leave the house or have social anxiety, I have found that I communicate more on the phone or via the internet, so this image stood out to me. I really like how oversized it is in relation to her. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I love objects in unusual sizes, and to me this looks as if being on the phone is a burden or at least a bit stressful.

This image I found really funny at first, because this is what I used to do myself when I was younger, but then it made me feel strangely sad. I think it's because whoever is underneath can't move their arms (or at least they are very limited) and they are unable to see/hear/smell under the hood. This limitation reminds me of how I've felt with both depression and agoraphobia, that I am unable to escape, but it is easier and safer just hidden away.

As I mentioned in my last post I really like it when animals are dressed as humans (not only when they are humanised and anthropomorphic). I have a slight obsession with panda bears, and I especially love that this one is wearing a jumper and is blushing. Lots of my friends know me for my love of the animal and say in another life I must have been one, so this could be an interesting link for my animation.

I was really drawn to this image as it relates not only to memory, but also nostalgia and old technologies which were around when I was really young. It also reminds me of the film 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', for some reason.

Photography

This image really interested me, as the trees inside are as they were before, however the outer edge of the tree borders have been trimmed back into straight edges, showing an organised madness. It also could show how someone feels confused and jumbled inside, but from the outside it looks organised and together.

Sea cows, or as I know them manatees, are one of the most gorgeous creatures, and I love this image for the child's reaction and the look of wonder and amazement. I have a fascination with seeing animals in real life, but have never had the chance to see any in the wild other than British wildlife like deer. This 'behind bars' theme keeps cropping up.

I love jumpers, and when I feel scared or nervous I put on a small jumper to feel as if someone is giving me a reassuring hug. I love these patterns all together too, and really appreciate the autumnal and Nordic feel to them all. 

I love the colours and framing of this photograph, and like the image of myself in the last blog post, I love how this lady is staring in adoration. This brings back the childhood qualities of amazement and ore for history.

Jelly shoes were every 90's child's first choice in footwear, and I love how this image is of young adults reconnecting with their past. I also love how the two ladies are wearing matching clothes, which reminds me of myself with my sister when I was younger. The colour tones are also really soft and beautiful.

Julia Pott - Your World Only Better - Task Two

Task 2: Personal research ~ Keep a diary 

Julia suggested looking at how Rookie present their ideas in a diary style format, with collages and snippets of writing, mixed with larger text pieces.

I however decided to document in a completely visual way, and collected photos which interested me, that either I took or that someone else took of me. So below are these photos, with a short piece of writing under each describing the photo and what it means to me.

Visual Diary ~ Photo's I have taken or people have taken of me

Petting animals is fun. Especially when they are friendly and don't bite.

First time my immediate family met my boyfriends immediate family. We celebrated Chris', Mark's and my birthday. I was so nervous that they wouldn't get along and worried about it for months before hand and I still worry now, seven months later, that it was just luck and it will all mess up.

I love this photo so much. I am waiting for warm donuts.

Imitating statues is hilarious, especially when people are watching you and the wind is really strong and you might blow away any second.

This has to be the biggest block of cheese I have ever seen. I love strange sized items, which are either overly massive or teeny tiny. Something a bit weird about it.

Since being a little child I have had an interest in dinosaurs, I hadn't seen any dino bones in over a year when this picture was taken without me realising. I look oddly like an engrossed child, which I think is really interesting, when adults show their childlike qualities.

Fed donkeys for the first time since I was really little. I loved how calm they made me feel, but the little shetland pony was really naughty and kept head butting the donkeys out the way to get to the food which really upset me. I didn't like how it got away with it and the donkeys just let it happen.

For the last year I have been really interested in becoming a beekeeper, and on one hot summers day I was helping Chris put washing out on the line, and afterwards put the laundry bag over my head and ran around pretending to snuggle all the bees.

I found some skittles at the bottom of the vending machine and someone had left their change in the machine too. Small little things which cheer you up momentarily.

I love unexpected visits from my best friend Derrian. This is us on Valentines day where we ran into my bedroom whilst her boy friend slept on my sofa, and we just sat giggling and telling each other silly stories and hugged and wrestled.

Nostalgia. It is so weird to listen to music which brings you back to an old memory of being young. I went to Pixar in concert where an orchestra plays a selection of songs from Pixar soundtracks. The most moving was Finding Nemo where I remembered watching it with my little sister and choosing which character we wanted to be. Up's opening song was also so gut wrenchingly sad, and all of the Toy Story songs brought a tear to my eye.

Weird packaging is great, especially when it's unexpected. This was a take away box which was shaped like a house.

Flailing your legs in the air is so calming after a long day. Especially with cute slippers.

Celebrating big occasions, in this case new years, in a chilled out way. I prefer being with a few people I'm comfortable with than lots I don't know. We missed watching the fireworks because my internet cut out, but it didn't matter.

Family photos. I don't have that many from the last few years so the few I have are really important.

Pretending to be a walrus or wooly mammoth whilst eating is the best.

Pretending to be a panda on Christmas day. I like when humans dress as animals and vice versa.

Pride in someone else other than yourself.

Julia Pott - Your World Only Better - Task One

As part of my Responsive brief I stated that I wanted to complete Julia Pott's 'Narrative for Animation' course which she produced and shared on the learning platform Skillshare. 

I have been an avid follower of her work since I was 14 years old (so that's a good solid six years of obsession, and calling her my number one role model/animator/illustrator/human I don't know in real life), so when she announced she was doing this course I was beyond excited to enrol and suck up all her juicy knowledge.

The way Skillshare works, is the teacher/professional uploads a series of videos, and with each video sets a task for the student to complete (and share with the other members of the class if they wish to do so for feedback). In the next few blog posts I will share my work created for each task, aiming towards the development and completion of a script for animation.

(A picture of Miss Pott)

Task 1: Initial brainstorm

The first task was to create a spider diagram on what inspires me. I found this task actually really difficult, as I take my inspiration from a whole variety of sources, so I stuck to the headings Julia Pott suggested. 

Mood Board - two

We then made a second mood board of games and illustrations with the aesthetic style we enjoy. 

Mood Board - one

Once we had discussed the last two mood boards in depth, and found each of our individual interests, we made a couple of mood boards of games which had certain elements we were interested in. 

We primarily looked at pixel art games, and then early 3D work which was still blocky. 

We all really liked the game FEZ which combines both perfectly, and allows you to switch between playing as a 2D sprite in a flat platform game, to the world around you spinning and turning into a 3D model. This concept really sparked off ideas between us, in the idea of two worlds. Ash then remembered in Zelda: A Link Between Times, there is an interesting game dynamic, where you can switch from playing as a 3D character, to merge with the wall and become a strange cave painting style 2D character to help solve puzzles. 

Style examples

From the basic theme ideas we started to think about how the game would look aesthetically. As part of the brief we can't have a flat platform game (unless that is only for a section of the game), and we needed 3D rigged characters. However we were all interested in 2D pixel art and looked into how we could combine this with the mandatory aesthetic outcomes.

Basic Ideas

After the briefing, we looked at previous work completed for this module from the year above, and looked at each output we need to complete. After this presentation we split into our groups and had the rest of the day for development. 

We first did a spider diagram of the three themes we have to work under, and different game concepts for each. We found we were drawn to the topic challenge the most as most games could fit under this theme.

Module Information - with notes

Module Overview - with notes

Studio Brief - with notes

VFX roughcut

Here is my VFX rough-cut with my animatic behind for timing. I have roughly keyed out the green screen which still needs more work, and I have positioned and roughly scaled the footage to the size I want it.

VFX anamatic

This is the animatic I created from my storyboard. There are a few timing issues I can see already, but I will generally stick to this when editing.

Storyboard and initial thumbnails



Here is my final storyboard for the film.

 

 

 

 

These are the initial thumbnails I created before storyboarding, to help me with composition.