'Bear' Animation Week 3

Hey hey! I was back from my holiday this week (it was brilliant, thanks! We went to Plymouth followed by the Fife area of Scotland and watched 9 football matches in one week) and therefore back on track with the animation again.

My riding a stone Hippo in Glenrothes. I'm not childish, I promise.

Despite this week not being the smoothest in terms of actual hours I spent animating due to several other things I had going on, it was actually a fairly productive week in terms of ground covered. I finished 8 shots and nearly completed another 2. So again, up from the previous week. I like this trajectory!

I also started sequencing the completed shots on the timeline- something I should have probably done from the start, but neglected to until now. It felt like a little bit of effort as I had to export the outlines from each separate TVPaint file from the start, but it was definitely worth it. I can see my progress really clearly and it’s encouraging to see a fair amount of it sequenced together. It’s given me a well needed confidence boost in terms of my film as a whole and seeing it come together is a big motivator as it makes me want to put more and more completed shots on the timeline. I’ve changed my tune from my existential crisis a few weeks ago!

I’ve not got a clip to show this week- I’m in two minds about doing this that regularly, because there’s only so much I want to give away before the film is complete, but I do want to share parts of the progress as I continue. Perhaps I’ll share one every month (or when I feel the urge to post something on Instagram again)! Until next time, be safe and have fun xo

'Bear'- The Edit

After filming, I was extremely eager to get editing- I’ve always enjoyed editing as it feels like the bit where you actually ‘make’ the film. You know, turn a load of seemingly disjointed clips into something which tells a story. There’s just something fun about it- kind of like cooking a meal, going from ingredients which totally don’t mean much on their own, but when mixed properly, seasoned and cooked, you end up with something tasty! It’s quite fascinating what you can make with what doesn’t look like much to begin with.

I started the rough assemble edit the day after we finished the shoot. This was so what was shot was fresh in my mind, especially because I ended up not boarding a lot of it towards the end as we were pushed for time, but also because I was excited to get editing it!

Despite having moved from Premiere Pro to DaVinci Resolve (Adobe’s sub fees are ridiculous), I didn’t find much differentiation between the two and from a technical standpoint, the edit went really smoothly. To be honest, there’s not a large gulf between editing software anyway, it’s all pretty much the same but just with different hotkeys. It felt great to be back editing again especially a narrative piece, something I’ve not done for what feels like (and probably is) years.

I ended up spending a lot more time in the edit than I had originally scheduled for. This was because for some reason, even after multiple script and storyboard drafts, the story just didn’t seem to be working and the pacing was ‘off’. This was confirmed by my feedback process in which I asked several trusted friends/ colleagues for some honest feedback after a draft of the cut.

I decided to ask people who didn’t know the story to take a look to see whether or not my story was coming across. It was an interesting, but exciting process and I had no idea what to expect. I did this feedback stage as it’s something I’ve never previously done (or at least not to this extent) so thought it might be helpful, plus as I’m so wrapped up in the story, it’s hard to know whether the film I’m making translates/ comes across to people seeing it for the first time. It mostly did (phew!), though there were some slight issues echoed throughout a few of the responses- which I knew deep down anyway.

After a couple of breaks (to try and freshen my viewpoint), I redrafted several times. It was hard to get the mix right, but I feel I got there in the end- or at least for now. I think once everything is animated with the backgrounds and music/ SFX etc it might need a few small adjustments. Fun fact: it’s actually quite hard to tell if a story is working from watching a live action cut with none of the animated aspects included!

I’m aware this post has been a long time coming, but hey look, I got here in the end (just like the edit process)!

'Bear' Animation Week 2

Hello! It’s now the end of week 2 animating on my short film ‘Bear’. And so far I’m keeping up with these weekly ‘round up’ blogs. Small wins and all that! But if I give up at this stage, then something is definitely wrong..!

This will be a significantly less wordy post than the previous week due to time or lack thereof, so here goes…

I completed 6 shots in full, almost completed another and started a new one- which is up from last week. I honestly thought I would fall behind this week, because I lost pretty much a full day on Monday due to unforeseen circumstances, plus I had a couple of days where I didn’t do the full amount of hours due to prior commitments. I know it’s a personal project so there’s no 8 hour work day hanging over me, though I aim for between 6-8 hours as I feel that’s a healthy amount.

I’m really happy at the pace the project is going- I didn’t set any targets in terms of how many seconds a day/ week I want to complete, but I currently don’t feel I need to do that. I think if that’s something I do decide to implement, then it might be further down the line if I feel it’s going too slowly etc, but for now, it’s fine.

I’m also really, really enjoying it- I know last week I had a couple of issues with how it was going, but I put aside the shot which was frustrating me (my boyfriend suggested I did this) and moved onto others. I’ll tackle the harder shot later on when I’m deeper into the project. I don’t have a clip to show for this week, as I was concentrating on the animation rather than any exporting, but hopefully I’ll get one for next time (heads up: I doubt there will be a blog next week due to taking a holiday so don’t wait up)!

Think that's all for now- this has probably been the most uninspired piece I've posted on here for a looonnnggg time!! So if you have only just started reading this blog, then I'd suggest to skip this post and choose a more exciting post- that could literally by any of them!

Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood | Official Trailer

Remember I said back in October that I worked on a Richard Linklater film? Well, the trailer is now out and it looks amazing!!

And, even more exciting: a few of the bits I animated made it into the trailer! I animated this rocket shot:

And coloured these characters:

The film will be released on Netflix April 1st. Will try not to go on about it too much, but can't make any promises!

'Bear' Animation Week 1

After each week of animating on my short film ‘Bear’, I want to try and get a post out on here to track my progress. I guess it’ll also hold me more accountable if out in the public domain, too! I’m really self critical, so finishing a big project like this for me will be HUGE because I so often start things and then stop them if I don’t feel they’re going ‘perfect’ or turning out how I envisaged. I already had a battle with that this week (it’s only week 1- I honestly need to pull myself together!!) where I thought I should just stop it because I didn’t like how one shot (out of easily over 100) was turning out.

It’s ridiculous- you can’t even tell if something is ‘good’ when it’s not finished. And of course it won’t look good, because *news flash* it’s NOT FINISHED! Mainly telling that to myself, but it’s also there for anyone who needs to hear it.

Right, so now that’s out the way, back to the point: what have I achieved this week? OK so I cheekily started animating the film even though I haven’t quite finished editing it (when that’s ‘locked’ I’ll write a post about that). This was because I didn’t want to push the animation back any further, especially after the delayed shoot. I feel this was a good idea as it also gave me some well needed breathing space away from the edit, allowing me to view it with fresh eyes when I went back to it. I was able to start animating some shots, because some were not negotiable: i.e. they’re in every version of the edit, so I’m able to start on those whichever version I go with in the end.

I’m very pleased with my progress: I completed 4 shots (one being a 13 second long one) and started 2 more. I have been averaging 6 hour animation days, which I want to ramp up next week and average 7. Some went very smoothly and I love the outcomes, though some gave me an existential crisis (see above). I feel a lot of this first week was doing quite a lot of figuring out, too in terms of getting a feel for the outline style I want to use and how to go about animating some of it, plus what to do about props/ backgrounds. As the project goes on, this will all iron out and the animation process will become faster and smoother- or at least I hope so.

One of the main takeaways from this week is that animating something like this solo is hard- more so mentally, rather than creatively, I feel. Without being surrounded by a team or in a studio with dailies bringing you from your head back to reality, it’s easy to get lost in your head about what you’re making and critical thoughts rise to the surface. Knowing this in week 1 is a good thing, because it means I can develop healthy mechanisms to combat this issue and create a support network of people I can turn to when I need a bit of a pep talk.

Saying that, it’s also been a lot of fun. I’ve finally had the to catch up on my usual podcasts and a lot of music I’ve been wanting to listen to, but not had the opportunity recently due to editing and pre prod- I usually find listening to music whilst doing those tasks too distracting. It’s also super cool how I’m working on my biggest self initiated project for some time. I love having a project to be working on and if I’m quite honest, I can’t believe that I’m now at the animating stage. Last October it seemed a bit of a pipe dream when conceiving the concept/ early story development, though now I’m actually bringing it to life and that feels like a massive achievement in itself- getting it to this stage- having done numerous script drafts, a storyboard, filmed it etc- is no small feat. Can I give myself a pat on the back? Yeah I’m going to do that! And if anyone reading this is working on a project under your own steam then pat yourselves on that back too- you’re doing AMAZING!!

Yeah so I’ve definitely rambled a bit in this one, hopefully there has been some useful information for anyone reading this and it didn’t totally feel like you’ve been reading about me while I go through a breakdown or crisis or anything!

I’ll leave with one of the completed (outlined) shots. I might get one of these out each week, but that does depend as I don’t want to give too much away… We’ll see!

xo

Recent Football Photography

I've not posted on here about football for a while, but I have been going to games more regularly again (and photographing a lot of them too). I think the weather beginning to get a little warmer has played a large part, but Ben (my partner) and I have been choosing some interesting grounds/ games to attend, which makes it all the more enjoyable.

Above: me at Molineux Stadium (home of Wolverhampton) for a women's international Spain 1-0 Canada in the Arnold Clark Cup. See, I sometimes go to actual stadiums!! Had to get one of the foam hands as well- mainly for nostalgia reasons: they used to give them out at cricket matches I went to as a kid, so as soon as I saw them here I was all over it. Real mature, I know.

Below: some photo's from a recent trip down south to Desborough Island for Hersham FC 2-1 Guildford United in the Surrey Premier County Football League. You can view the full set here. 

Below are some images from my visit to Kendal County FC 2-1 Crooklands Casulas (played at Netherfield Cricket Club) in the West Lancashire League, chosen because of the castle backdrop. You can view the full set here.