Short Film: Update #27 the struggle continues

This week has been a bit of a mixed bag: I was optimistic going into the week having just completed all the colouring, but that was dampened fairly soon after struggling with a few of the backgrounds. Some of them are proving a lot more complex than I had imagined, which kind of sent me back into the ‘disliking my film’ slump I was in a few weeks ago. I appreciate that’s not the most mature response to a difficult task, but I honestly felt extremely out of my depth in terms of skill to be able to pull what I wanted to off. But after my little tantrum(!) and once I was over the initial hurdle of ‘oh, these might actually take a while and be pretty difficult’, I ended up producing a fair chunk of work, some of which I’m quite proud of, too. A lot of trial and error went in to the making of these backgrounds (some more than others), but I thought it was better to get them ‘right’/ how I want them and spend more time doing so, rather than settle for something I’m not especially happy with. Nothing good ever comes easy, does it?!

There’s one or two backgrounds I’d like to redo and/ or tweak from earlier on, too, when I was getting into the swing of things and ironing out the process. But those can wait until I’ve done the first pass, then I can asses in full what else needs doing, including any effects I need to add etc.

I exported the film again Friday afternoon, to appreciate what I had achieved during the week and to give myself a well needed confidence boost. Which actually worked! It has come on leaps and bounds from the week prior and has made me feel better about this weeks progress, especially when it has felt quite slow at times. It feels like I’ve been working a lot on various shots, but not especially having anything to show for it, due to it’s been a lot of sketching stuff out and trying to make things work. But watching it through has shown that I have done more than I think and it is actually looking quite filled out now. There’s actually not a whole lot to go- how exciting!! It has also showed me that I can overcome the difficult shots if I just keep working at them, even if I don’t manage them straight way- a little bit each day works wonders! I also received some positive external validation towards the end of the week, which was a nice feeling, as the only other person to have seen the film since the animatic stage (back in July last year) has been my boyfriend, so it’s nice to know it’s landing with other people, too. I understand that validation isn’t the be all and end all and if I’m happy with my film then that’s what matters, but it is nice when you do get some feedback in this way, when you’re essentially working in a bubble.

There may or may not be one of these next week as it’ll be a shorter working week for me, as I’ll be taking some time off to enjoy the bank holiday weekend: seeing my family, watching lots of football and getting a few skate sessions in too, of course! So if I do, it’ll be on Thursday, but if not, it’ll be the week after. I’ll see how I feel! Right, back to the backgrounds..!