It's been a while since I have posted here...This is mainly because I have ben busy with Uni coursework events etc. So heres my update of everything since September:
I have been working on my three modules: Digital Storytelling, Motion Graphics and 3D Character production. All three modules have been very interesting and have given me lots of work to do. Digital Storytelling has been broken up in to three courseworks:
- A proposal - an advertising document to provide an Above the Line advertising campaign strategy, using the story stucture of a recognised fairy tale. This was a challenge in itself, but in the end I settled on making my strategy for the made up company Alba Denim, using the story structure of Jack and the Beanstalk. In short, I changed the major plot points of the story to fit around promoting Alba Denim.
- Adding a new character: the next phase of the coursework was to create a new character to add to the existing story to help drive the campaign forward. It proved very difficult to create an interesting character with depth, however I settled on a villain, in particular, a rich and cunning villain.
- Phase three is yet to be introduced however it will involve transmedia. So more updates on this soon...
- The Adobe UK Campus Tour: This event was great in short. The whole day was about the new products Adobe had to offer with the Creative Cloud and the industry standard workflows already being practiced now. I learned very interesting techniques used in VFX which can be carried across any software not restricted to Adobes tools. After attending this event, I wanted to find more...
- The VFX Festival: This is a 10 day festival in the heart of London, filled with London's industry professionals giving tutorials and holding screenings about the VFX industry and recent movies which have been released. So I booked my bus from Edinburgh and left on Tuesday 12th November at 5:45am to see one of their screenings, How to get into the VFX industry and a special talk about the Assasins Creed live action trailer. The event was an eye opener to say the least. My perspective on the VFX industry has changed. Here's what I have learned from this:
- The VFX industry is largely Freelance, meaning I would be essentially my own business. The downside of this is work can be sparse so I would have to be good at my own book keeping.
- The industry is very competitive. I was in a room full of students and industry professionals working in the industry and I saw some amazing showreels from students. So I need to make sure I have the right skillsets for the job.
- Become a Generalist - I found from the screening that Generalists tend to have more work. So I intend on learning as much of the VFX pipeline as possible, which includes, Modelling, Rigging, Lighting, Compositing, Colour Grading and Animation. I will do this using industry standard software such as After Effects, Photoshop, Maya and Nuke X. I will focus most of my attention towards After Effects and Nuke.Although Nuke is the industry standard software for most films at the moment. I still feel After Effects will definitely be worthing knowing.
- Learn a second language - I feel that if I learn a second language, I will be more employable in the industry, in addition may open more doors to me in other countries. I intend on learning German. At the moment, I am looking into adding it as part of my degree, but if this is not possible, there is always night classes.
- Be more of an Artist - at the festival, all I kept hearing time and time again was the word 'artistic' and 'talent' etc. I looked at many showreels and found that many of them had a grounding in art to help them express themselves creatively. So it is part of my plan to start an art class at night school. In order for me to become more of an artist, I need to do a little bit of art.
Cheers
