PPP: Study Task 2: Personal SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis form is designed to help you identify and reflect upon your own strengths and weaknesses as a practitioner so you can address them over the academic year. The purpose is to help develop a personal development/employment strategy.

PPP- Leeds Light Night 2016

Shortly after starting back at Uni, I took part in Leeds Light Night, submitting a short 1-second animation to be displayed at Kirkgate Market accompanied by a live-band and various displays of projection mapping in collaboration with the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and Leeds College of Music. The theme for our installation was ‘the universe’ so I created a short animation of an astronaut, floating through space connected by an umbilical to a rotating earth in After Effects. I tried taking into account the venue and context of how the work was going to be displayed as much as possible when creating it, as I wanted the imagery and mood of the piece to take precedence.

PPP: Study Task 1: Who am I now?

What have I learned so far?

• The importance of critique in improving ones own practice.
• The importance of flexibility. It's better to be good at lots of different things than amazing at just one thing.
• Various different pieces of software in greater depth. (Photoshop, After Effects, Maya etc...)
• Networking is a vital part of the industry. Make connections now and it'll pay off down the line. 
• If you want to experiment with something, do it. At uni you're allowed/encouraged to take risks.

What do I want to know more about?

• Maya and 3D Modelling. I feel learning this will open me up to new forms of animation which interest me. 
• Different types of Hybrid Animation. Looking forward to the opportunity to experiment and combine styles.
• Collaboration and managing workflow within a collaborative group.
• Sound Design. I would very much like to experiment with sound design a bit more this year, perhaps record my own sound effects for use in animation.
• Projection Mapping.

What do I think are my strengths?

• Strong, distinctive style.
• Character Design.
• Visual Storytelling and storytelling through design.
• Adaptable to different styles.
• Open to trying new things and pushing myself.

What do I want to improve?

• Figure drawing/drawing in proportion. I'm attending life drawing at the Fenton every week to try remedy this.
• Background/ layout design. I have a strong desire to flesh out my background design and experiment with different styles.
• Frame-by-frame/full animation. I did a lot of limited animation last year, I would like to flesh out my animation style a little more.
• Use more colour. I used B&W way too much last year for my animations.
• Time management. (Particularly in regards to blogging)

Which practitioners demonstrate my interest in Animation?

• Genndy Tartakovsky 
• Tomm Moore
• David O'Reilly
• Hideo Kojima
• Osamu Sato

What websites/online resources demonstrate my areas of interest within the creative industries?

• https://vimeo.com/categories/animation
• http://www.davidoreilly.com/
• https://www.youtube.com/user/everyframeapainting
• http://www.adultswim.com/
• http://www.manchesteranimationfestival.co.uk/