PPP2- Self Evaluation

PPP this year has been a bit of a mixed bag for me. While I have been engaging in Professional Practice; attending/submitting to festivals, organising interviews with practitioners and attending seminars with visiting professionals, I have not been keeping a detailed enough documented account of such activities, which I feel is leading me to be unfocused and disinterested in PPP. I have not been documenting and reflecting upon work as I should have, nor engaging in the adequate amount of research. While I do feel I absorb a lot of different media which influences my practice, I don’t properly document the effect it has and as a result, this is stunting my development professionally somewhat.

I could have organised myself a lot better for PPP2 this year. Time management remains an area in which I desperately need to improve as I feel this year I didn’t fully realise my potential with PPP. I came into this year determined to take PPP more seriously than I did last year; to keep on top of the workload, update my blog on a weekly/monthly basis to stop the work from piling up and I did not do that. As a result, I definitely feel my performance in this module has suffered and it’s really making me reconsider how I approach PPP moving into Level 6.  For starters, I’m going to try habitually keep a documentation of my professional progress over the course of the summer so I don’t slack when it comes to PPP when I get back. This should be fairly easy as I will be keeping myself busy professionally; attending Annecy Animation Festival in June and working on two freelance gigs at the end of May. I’m also trying to organise another internship at Paper Owl Films for in August.

Generally I also need to reach out to more places and rely less on my pre-existing industry contacts and make an effort to make new ones, whether that be through email or attending more networking events. I’m also hoping next year to expand my online presence and begin to hone a personal brand I can market myself with professionally. While I did start a Tumblr Blog this year I have somewhat neglected my Twitter account, which potentially could be used to reach out to industry contacts. A Facebook Page would also be a more accessible way of showcasing my Pre-Production work to a wider audience, as more people use Facebook than visit Tumblr Blogs.

Overall, while acknowledging my shortcomings for PPP this year, I am moving forward towards PPP3 more optimistic and motivated to address said shortcomings and really focus on forwarding the professional side of my practice. There is a long way to go, but over the summer I will begin to take steps to up my game when it comes to Personal Professional Practice. I will keep myself busy on my own personal projects, documenting how they are going to inform my practice moving into next year and thoroughly marking out a direction to which I can take my future animation career.