Eyes
Animation on our new film officially wrapped last week! Bar a few fixes and extra bits, we're all done. Working on a cartoony movie has required a very big adjustment from me, as I have never really attempted anything of this nature before. I hope that I have consistently improved over the course of the film, which is all i can ask for, really. I've benefitted greatly from being able to pester all of the really amazing people around me. It turns out that you can't animate in a vacuum, and taking the opportunity to bounce ideas off of another brain improves things tremendously.
Flashing back to a time not so long ago... When at University I was always terrified at showing my work to others, (a constant fear of being rubbish being the primary cause), to the extent that some people in my final year thought me a snob! That really wasn't the case at all, but it wasn't until I arrived in the States as a newly-hatched assistant animator that I began to get over my fear of showing work; it's hard to hide in a corner when you have to show to a theatre full of your peers and directors! I still have to psyche myself up to stride confidently down to the front of the room, present my shot and not get a burning face when my work appears, but at least it's getting easier.
It turns out that all of the best animators seek out another pair of eyes when creating a shot, which makes total sense given that the closer you become to your work, the less you can see. Each artist has a unique vision of how a shot should be realised - the aggregation of experience and personality, and things I would never have thought of have thus improved my work by an order of magnitude. Why I didn't spot this before baffles me, even when prompted by friends, coursemates and academics!
Oh well, at least I know now, while there's still time to wander off and pester someone about the something that's not quite working yet...
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Comments
One of the things that makes it easiest to get over showing your shot to others is to realize that people aren't judging your ability when they look at a shot... If you're with professionals, then everyone knows that animation is HARD. The only way to get better is to do it over and over and make mistakes and find things which work. If you can do this in a supportive environment, where people have a vested interest in you suceeding, then they're not going to belittle you or make fun of you or anything like that when you show a shot.. they'll be supportive and encouraging, which is what you want anyway!
So even if a shot turns out like crap (and everyone gets those), you gotta chalk it up to experience and think "okay, THAT didn't work!" :)
Posted by: Jason | March 24, 2005 09:19 AM
Flashing back to a time not so long ago... When at University I was always terrified at showing my work to others, (a constant fear of being rubbish being the primary cause), to the extent that some people in my final year thought me a snob! That really wasn't the case at all, but it wasn't until I arrived in the States as a newly-hatched assistant animator that I began to get over my fear of showing work; it's hard to hide in a corner when you have to show to a theatre full of your peers and directors! I still have to psyche myself up to stride confidently down to the front of the room, present my shot and not get a burning face when my work appears, but at least it's getting easier.
It turns out that all of the best animators seek out another pair of eyes when creating a shot, which makes total sense given that the closer you become to your work, the less you can see. Each artist has a unique vision of how a shot should be realised - the aggregation of experience and personality, and things I would never have thought of have thus improved my work by an order of magnitude. Why I didn't spot this before baffles me, even when prompted by friends, coursemates and academics!
Oh well, at least I know now, while there's still time to wander off and pester someone about the something that's not quite working yet...
--------------------------------
Comments
One of the things that makes it easiest to get over showing your shot to others is to realize that people aren't judging your ability when they look at a shot... If you're with professionals, then everyone knows that animation is HARD. The only way to get better is to do it over and over and make mistakes and find things which work. If you can do this in a supportive environment, where people have a vested interest in you suceeding, then they're not going to belittle you or make fun of you or anything like that when you show a shot.. they'll be supportive and encouraging, which is what you want anyway!
So even if a shot turns out like crap (and everyone gets those), you gotta chalk it up to experience and think "okay, THAT didn't work!" :)
Posted by: Jason | March 24, 2005 09:19 AM
posted by Kevan at
3/23/2005 04:59:00 PM
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