My first commercial animation.

Jar Pixie - Final project submission - Mission being the operative word!

Team building and new work

Ejected from school into the work-force, trying to find a way through to employment.

Currently I am volunteering on the short film "Minor Head Injury" for Adam Harvey and Evangeline Than. That is a cool experience. My role is stand-in 1st Assistant Director. This I see as mainly being a team building exercise. I will need skilled, reliable people to create my own projects. Film is a related field to my past (theatre and circus) but this is the first work I have actually done in it. I enjoy it.

My first paid animation work has come through - a corporate client. The first draft was accepted and enjoyed. So I can start to build my Flash portfolio now. This is also a team-building exercise in a different sense. I am not working with these people - more I am a sub-contractor who fulfils a task offsite. I need to satisfy the clients (3 of them - my agency, their client and the client's client - ha). By doing this, I line myself up for further work.

And suprise suprise, teaching work seems to be paying the bills - websites, animation and circus teaching are going great guns. I hope that they will keep me afloat long enough to establish a foot hold in creative work as well.

Wish me luck!! (even as I make it :)

Networking.

I am now a Wanimate committee member. Wanimate is the peak body representing animators in WA. Part of my plan to be an EMPLOYED animator is to network as much as possible, and see what opportunities it presents. Part of Wanimate's emphasis is examining the employment options for animators, and working to further them. Here is their website: http://wanimate.org.au

Already as a committee member I have been exposed to opportunities that I would not have seen otherwise. Additionally, being in a position to talk to people I respect in the Perth Ani Industry is great. It is very educational for one, and inspiring for another. Educational because greater experience is filtering down to me and I can see wisdom is certain actions (like not being a sole-trader to cover myself legally), and inspiring because these people have years of experience behind them and are still working in the industry (and I keep getting asked about my short film project - so I'd better do some more work on it!).

All in all I am happy with the move. The next week will be very busy. I am getting 1st and 2nd Assistant Director experience with a short film being created by people I met through the animation department at FTI. I have a my first animation job to work on, and the FTI final project to complete. I have potentially 32 hours or more of available time to do these last 2 projects, SO it is "heads down, bums up". (thumbs! I mean thumbs).

Animation work in Perth?

And now the real test begins. The course has completed but for one final project. And now, will the industry bear us? Can a diploma grad make a go of it in Perth?

On the basis of my student work as well as my previous work in web and visual arts I got my first job today! I feel lucky to be working on a portfolio, and a bit daunted to be in the corporate world already. I found the job online googling animation jobs in Perth. It is Flash based, and was advertised on several popular employment sites. Essentially I am working for a temping agency that fill jobs for corporate bodies in and around the CBD. Which is good because they get the work, then call me, which I like.

I am yet to complete the job, or get anymore work! But importantly, I feel, my foot is in the door. Stay tuned for more on animation, soon.

My 3D assignment submission - The Caveman's Dream

Caveman wire frame.

 I'll render the video off soon

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24 Comic Day, Perth

Why comics? Comics are often cited as good reference material for animators - each drawing is a story telling pose -  like the initial breaking down of an animated sequence into key shots and poses to tell the story the best way possible.

The last day since 10am Saturday morning was drawing flat out with 20 or so comic compatriots. I'm very impressed by the quality of work. There were alot of laughs to be had from reading the work.  I thoroughly enjoyed the process and meeting a bunch of really cool and nice people. Today I am totally shattered, and will very much enjoy some sleep, soon... ish.

My comic does not contain many laughs. By contrast it is a existentialist tragedy - but I got alot of laughs during the creative process :) I liked writing the story and plotting it out - I was inspired mostly by
a) The FTI building itself (featured on page 2). Once this was locked in the other pieces fell into place.
b) Books -  Holy Blood and the Holy Grail , all about the history of the knights templar, with lots of secrets hidden for centuries in it, and Umberto Eco's Focault's Pendulum, a great book and finally
c) A news article I heard about a discovered underground passageway between an old monastery and a nunnery.

 Also I enjoyed nutting out the arc of the story and using elements to help build it - eg repetition, pacing, and reveals. Also the intentional use of graphic elements to represent different things - e.g. gradients represent the 15th Century. It is so short it all flies by and you could miss it all, but it's there.

Like all the comics on 24 Comic Day, the story was created on the day, with no preparation.
If you read it I would like to hear your thoughts on it - just reply to this post :)
My entry is here.

Simon Allen rocks

Thanks, Simon, for sharing so many gems. I'm sure I'll be learning from these 2 days for quite some time yet. Here are some gems that I picked up, that I hope will inspire others to attend your workshops.

Try to capture the essence of life.
Show one idea at a time.
Get an office with a bar.
To get more work done, workout!

For me the 2 days of workshops cemented ideas that had been sifting in from various other places. For others I know it was simply enough to sit and listen, and soak up the goodness. I, on the other hand, recorded as much as I could. I feel so little and young compared to the ancient giants of animation, and like I need to absorb as much as I possibly can.

But now, there are no more notes to edit. I've read and re-read ( and will re-read more again). But there is simply nothing left for it but to put my head down, butt up and draw, draw, draw.

Simon Allen of Pixar talks to Wanimate.

Simon spoke easily, practicedly perhaps. Nevertheless the jokes queued the laughs and everyone was enjoying the presentation this engaging fellow from Pixar (from Perth) had to offer.
Key points for me were:
Pixar invest heavily in having high morale - because directly it affects the fiscal return.
That a group like Pixar values ideas as well as being awesome at animating, or editing, or lighting.
That being fit in body and having a fit mind are importantly related.
That the Pixar's art department work the longest on a movie of all departments.
That a lucky break can be enough to get you into the big time.
That top students are pulling 80-90 hr weeks.
That Perth is deemed as good a place as anywhere to set up. If Weta can do it in Wellington, why not in Perth?
That online learning, in particular Animation Mentor, is valued highly in the States as a cheaper but viable (even prefferable) method to learn animation deeply. And you can train anywhere because of that. Some Pixar staff also mentor and teach for Animation Mentor.
That constant learning is highly valued.
There were others, but in a nutshell it was an entertaining talk. I'm looking forward big-time to the emerging animator and masterclass days next week!!