28th October

Buy ticket for BAF animation ticket, on the college shop.

7 steps to make a better mind map.

1. start in the centre
2. uses images and pictures as well as words
3. use colours as they are exciting and subconsciously highlight details
4. association, connect ideas to central image to connect thought processes
5. used curved lines because your brain remembers curves better than straight lines
6. use key words to make it powerful and more flexible
7. use lots of imagery

Brainstorming

• think of as many ideas as possible
• encourage wild and eccentric ideas
• resist evaluating ideas till later
• look for associations between ideas
• make random associations

SCAMPER

Substitute; can you swap materials and process? Start off with 3D switch to photoshop stop motion? Swap a character in the story? Change the location of the story? 

Combine; could two characters function as one? Do you really need so many characters? Can you combine the skills of other people? Combine strong pieces of concept art into one?

Adapt; reuse and recycle materials and props? Change the role of a character or a situation?

Modify; What could be emphasised exaggerated? What can be added to make it more fun?

Put to another use; could research be put into another idea? Recycling etc.

Eliminate; What can you tone done? Is there too much?

Reverse; Can roles be swapped? Look at a story back to front. 

SWOT

Strengths, 

What are you good at? 

weaknesses

Gaps in knowledge, timescales, commitment, reputation, planning.

opportunities

What are you going to get out of it? Networking, partnerships, able to new learn skills

threats

Time management, competition, perfectionism

Planning Ahead

So I've been doing some idea generation on how I can start getting my work out there into the public and make a few bob and I've thought of something that could work really nicely with this new PPP brief of refining and practicing a skill under fifty hours between now and submission that could potentially be put out there. 

At first my initial idea was to do life drawing because I went to a class last week and here were my outputs.

So we started with a couple of minutes to do a continuous line drawing of the figure. I really don't enjoy doing these, just look at how skewed my proportions are, it looks terrible.

Then we had to do sixty second action shots which were really about getting the key lines of the body in. I read this article the same day I went to this which I think really made an impact on these drawings about how the body has one main flowy line through it which is always over exaggerated in traditional animation.

Then we had a couple of longer drawing tasks to do which I just don't like the outcome of my work for I think proportion is something that I really need to work on. But what was encouraged in this workshop was the use of textures which is why we had the metal cage and scrunched up newspaper is the pose above to try and encourage mark making and textures, but I think it's difficult to get them through in pencil and crayon we had really basic materials I think it's something that would need to require chunky pens and ink and thick paint if you're going to cover textures.

Finally the forty minute pose left me in a rather unfortunate position, but i tried to embrace the charcoal and come up with something that feels textured. I just don't think it has the feeling of skin it looks more like the same texture and wrinkles that you'd find in a scrunched up paper bag. However saying that I think I am my worst own critic but this is definitely an area as an animator I need to improve. Which is why this was my initial idea for the 50 hours, but here I spent three there and paid £10 and so I just think it would be quite expensive to do this in the time frame we have. So it's something I am going to try go to monthly because I think it's just so important to have decent perspective and proportion and drawing skills and it's something I've really lost this last year because I never force myself to do it properly like I used to. So instead of life drawing I'm going to keep it to drawing on the whole.

The project I'm going to set myself is to do big A2 drawings possibly A1 if I can get decent paper that size of landmarks in Leeds. I'm going to aim for 10 thinking five hours on each but this might have to adjusted because I'd rather have less but more time put into them if they need the time and then I'll also get them printed at postcards and see if I can sell them as well at the Tourist Centre and places because I think we actually get a lot more tourists than you'd realise and there's a big market for postcards. 

So if you go back to the big note at the top that's actually a rough draft of what I want to explore as part of my creative practice because I don't really want to be just an animator I don't mind have my fingers in all kinds of pies. 

So I know we have PPP tomorrow but to step into sync with this my Plan of Action to take this forward is to go around and take loads of photographs of the landmarks and thumbnail different angles and record them. And to also to look into a couple of different people and see what they sell their work on and begin to analyse prolific websites that are catchy because I think that also needs to be my next step setting up a really nice website.

UPDATE:

So we are required to do a swot analysis to justify the area we want to spend developing during PPP.

Internal		External
Strengths	Weaknesses	Opportunities	Threats
Improve drawing skills, perspective and proportions. Quality of Line. Will influence other animation project that require a lot of drawing, especially responsive with competition briefs, storyboarding etc. Potential to use them as backgrounds for a short animation at the end as well.	Time management. They're a lot of briefs on and this has potential to turn into a large project to have a go at. Also includes a lot of planning in promoting and getting them out there.	Opportunities to have them made into postcards and sold on in and around town. And explore Transmedia outputs. Can develop portfolio around this make website and business cards, network, and actually have products to sell. Also will end up with large pieces of work for pop-up show.	Perfectionism could ruin outputs and have me put off making them into postcards.

http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/swot-analysis/main

Alexander Khokhlov, Photography

Alexander Khokhlov and Veronica Ershova is a photographers duo world renowned for it’s creative projects. Unconventional ideas and daring approach to common shootings are their calling card.

2D or not 2D?

Most talked-about series Weird Beauty and 2D or not 2D were created in collaboration with famous russian make-up artist Valeriya Kutsan. Mix of face art, photography and post-production allowed to create optical illusions. 2D or not 2D series were included in Designcollector’s top-10 of Russian projects in 2013.

Optical illusion photography is something that has always mesmerized me, it blurs the lines between art direction and real life, I think it could push animation, because as animators we always say what's the point in doing this animated when it could be done in live action, if that's the case then there is no point. By looking at optical illusion photography you can see what aesthetics would be capable in live action. I also think that they always have really nice compositions and lighting techniques that could inspire my work.

I think it's interesting that this couple did an exhibition that was amazingly colourful and then there next was Weird Beauty was striking in comparison in Black and White. The diversity of their photography style even though they specialise in portrait pieces pushes itself as will continue to do so.

Weird Beauty

In this collection of photo's (bare in mind, I only chose a few from each selection there is an overwhelming number to look at, all visually striking), the lightening face is the most captivating to me. It's so cool how flat the lightening bolt looks.

I think it's important to recognise at this stage that it has come about from a collaboration with a top makeup artist, and I think as photographer's they could of pushed themselves more. I appreciate that they were really trying to push the emphasis on the make-up but from a photography point of view, I much prefer the compositions in the series White Garden.

White Garden

I feel like by this selection of work as photographers it's really matured. I like the space around the focal point. I only think they could of done more in the art side, the white paint on the bodies looks a bit patchy. Their could have been more detail in the flowers. I like it because it explores fantasy themes and it's real life but it's a bit magical. I wonder what the male equivalent of White Garden would be, Black City?


http://www.alexanderkhokhlov.com/

Richard Swarbrick

I love the visual qualities of this animation, and in fact all his work (included a screen shot of his portfolio on his web page so you can see it's all in this style.). It's simple, there isn't actually a lot on the screen, but the paint brushes in the people and in their faces are really complicated. This is something I am so envious of. It's something that's always bothered me that I haven't been able to manage during first year, is getting the simple side of things without overdoing it.

Now I couldn't find any information on the production of these animations, and after watching it few times, I feel like it might have been rotoscoped. Which makes me a bit sad, because if that is the case he hasn't actually added anything else to the scene to make worthwhile to be animation, except for being beautiful. I need more substance than this in my life.

With this in mind I decided to reassess his other works, and I feel empty and sad about them now. There beautiful but meaningless. He should stick to illustrations.

http://www.richardswarbrick.com/

PPP Briefing

PPP

Second year is critical, self inner development.

Build on the experience of level 4.

Investigate, personal professional, innovative and entrepreneurial aspects of external creative industries.

Creating a Showreel for internships, summer work etc. Web presence is about communication.

Follow the animation press.

Be aware about future technologies try and predict future trends.

Develop a body of work as well, showreel, learning journey presentation. More critical and evaluatory. 

We will look at Broadcasting standards.

Minimum of 30 Blog Posts.

Critical Incidence, is whenever you’ve had an experience about someone changing your mind about something, that requires a response is a PPP blog. If your practice is reaffirmed. 

Attend conferences and festivals.

Identify an Area of Practice you wish to research and develop further. The journal should document your enquiry with the process, and outputs and reflection on the personal development. Showcase this development of the 24 March. (Life Drawing?) Should be achievable in 50 hours.

A write up of the course Pop-Up show. 

Related blog tasks.

Continue to research on practitioners.

Don’t double up on other Modules.

Target your showreel for which company you apply for. Look at other peoples showreels. Professionals, companies, level 6.