PP3- Moving Forward (Evaluation)

Making the leap from three years at University, surrounded by friends and peers, with a network of people to support you, financial certainty in the form of a student loan, to the cut-throat real world of freelance animation is going to be a rough one, and it's not necessarily going to occur overnight. Establishing sufficiency, even if it means taking on a part time job not related to my degree, is going to be the key to a happy and successful future in my intended field. I am not expecting to wake up and be in a cushy studio job overnight and understand it's going to be bumpy as I try to form my own path and develop my own creative voice; as is the nature of the industry.

Moving forward then I intend to move home and weigh my options.

• Part-Time job & refine showreel. Apply for jobs.
• Part-Time job & refine showreel. Freelancer.
• Apply for studio jobs. Work for Dad. Live at home. 
• Apply for Internships. 
• Live at home and do nothing. Be sad. 

Over the summer I fully intend to finish my grad film to a high standard with the help of peers, as well as beefing up my portfolio and showreel, revisiting uni work and continuing to hone my skills as a 2D generalist. All the while I will also be looking for part-time and full-time work, both in animation and outside of it in order to become self-sufficient as soon as I possibly can. As of the time of writing I have been actively seeking feedback and inquiring about work to various 2D studios around the country and received feedback pointing me in the direction of job applications as well as internally circulating my portfolio details internally to their company database.

I can see myself taking on Freelance work and fixed term contracts working for studios in the near future but in order to bring in work I need to continue work to define myself as the best 2D generalist animator I can be. This means continuing down the path of honing my character animation, design and layout skills which I identified this year as being my specialty as a practitioner. I now feel as a result I have a clear direction in which to take my showreel and will continue applying this mindset to portfolio work in the future to ensure that I continue to craft the best possible showcase of my work I can.  I am also open to going anywhere to work, so I am not tied down with any obligations to anyone; I feel comfortable in going where the work is and am willing to compromise depending on the situation as long as in the long term I continue to advance my practice to the place I want to be.

I'm ending my time on BA(Hons) Animation with a fairly clear idea of where I want to be and where my strengths lie. I feel confident that as long as I keep animating I will eventually get to where I want to be. But it's going to be hard work and require a certain level of discipline. In a years time I want to be at least part-way on my journey to being sufficient and thats only going to happen if I keep pushing my brand out there, sending out my CV, honing my craft, updating my online presence and networking with professionals; all while never losing the passion for creating illustration and animation. It is also important I continue to reflect on my practice in a critical sense and to evaluate scenarios for working towards where I want to be if I am to continue improving as a creative.

In conclusion Whitley Bay is a shithole and I don't want to stay there.

PP3- Professional Presentation

PP3- Writing a CV

For my professional CV I wanted to ensure I forgo any fluff and condense the entirety of my skills and qualifications onto a single sheet of A4. This was for several reasons; a simple, dense, to-the-point CV is more likely to be read, this is on branding with the rest of what I have put together in my promo pack and it allows me to emphasise my numerous instances of work experience in a clearer way. No employer wants to read pages of an online CV, so by keeping it short and highlighting my core attributes I hope to gain more attention.

The header of my CV uses the same assets as my website and business cards. I laid out my CV in accordance to web design convention, using Adobe Indesign with a grid guide layout of two columns, one taking up roughly 2/3 the width of the A4, the other 1/3. Font Hierarchies also follow the same usual web design conventions as my online portfolio, with text being Helvetica Light, with titles in Helvetica Bold and quotation in Helvetica Italics. I chose to highlight Key skills in a blue box as it is the most important decider for the employer when applying for a job, so it makes sense for an employer's eye to be drawn to it first in order to colour their impressions over the course of the rest of the essay. Keeping it simple and only using one block colour also is in keeping with the adherence to a minimalist style. 

I decided to prioritise paid work in the experience column as I feel this presents me as a more valuable practitioner.

(As results for my Undergraduate Degree come in I will update my CV to reflect the mark I get after graduation.)

PP3- Identifying 2D Generalist Studios

As uni comes to a close I need to be on the eye out for work in whatever form that may take, animation or otherwise. The nature of the industry, with the majority of work being fixed term contracts, essentially means everyone is a freelancer and the hunt for work doesn't necessarily end when you get your first job in the industry. As a 2D animation generalist I have identified several UK and Ireland based studios I feel I would benefit from collaborating with in the near future, identifying the pro's and con's for me working at each one in order to determine some sort of ideal path to work and where I am best suited to based on my skills and availability.

Arcus Animation Studio: Multidisciplinary Commercial/Creative based studio with a variety of clients.

Pros:

• Within commuting distance of home. (Based in Gateshead)
• Variety of styles I can see myself fitting into. 
• Variety of different clients.
• Have collaborated with Gas Tank Productions on TV pitch. 

Cons:

• Within commuting distance of home.
• Might need to become acquainted with Toon Boom Harmony. 

Paper Owl Films: Irish television production company based in Holyrood. Produces 'Pablo' for CBeebies.

Pros:

• Have had an internship there and it was a very good experience. 
• Small team, all in the same building. 
• Am a fan of their 'Pablo' art style.
• Already have a foot in. 
• Currently hiring in Dublin for Pablo S2.

Cons:

• Uncle works there.
• Looking for animators trained specifically in CelAction.

Sixteen South: BAFTA nominated Irish television production company based in Belfast. Has worked on childrens television.

Pros:

• Variety of eclectic art styles. 
• High profile programmes for television networks. 
• Multidisciplinary. 
• Already know a layout artist who works there. 

Cons:

• I don't live in Ireland and would have to move quite far.

Brown Bag Films: Multifaceted animation studio based in LA with studios in Dublin, Manchester as well as Toronto.

Pros:

• Produce a wide variety of 2D and 3D children's programming. 
• Wide variety of styles and types of project.
• Creates programming for big clients such as Disney and Nickelodeon. 
• Currently hiring in the UK.

Cons:

• Produce a lot of 3D work too. Might be difficult to find suitable 2D jobs. 

Factory: BAFTA nominated studio based in Manchester which works across 2D, 3D and Stop Motion.


Pros:

• Large multidisciplinary studio.
• Based in Manchester.
• A real charm and character to their output.

Cons:

• Judging by recent output, they haven't been putting out many 2D animated projects as of late. 

The Line: Commercial / Creatively focused animation studio based in London. Does everything from music videos to original content.

Pros:

• Lots of really cool 2D design work across multiple styles. 
• Small studio creating original content.
• In touch with trends in viral marketing and social media.

Cons:

• Based in London. (Very expensive to live there.)
• Judging by how cool their output is, they're probably one of the most sought after places to work. 

Boulder Media: Irish Animation company based in Dublin. One of the largest studios in Ireland which produced 'The Amazing World of Gumball' and 'Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends' and currently 'Danger Mouse' for CBBC.

Pros:

• Has worked on big projects for Cartoon Network. 
• 2D Generalist across the board. High quality content. 

Cons:

• Don't live in Ireland. (Again, would have to move quite far.)

Karrot Animation: Creators of Sarah & Duck for CBeebies. Produces 2D children's shows as well as commercial work.

Pros:

• Wide range of eclectic styles.
• Created Sarah and Duck. 
• High level of high quality 2D output. 
• Seems broadly 2D generalist. 

Cons:

• Again, based in London. (Living there would be expensive.)

Keyframe Studios: London-Based studio creating 3D animation as well as 2D motion graphics work for television and stage.

Pros:

• A large part of the studios output incorporates 2D into 3D. Mix of the two styles.
• Produces work for stage. 

Cons:

• Seems mostly focused on 3D work. (Not for me.)
• Again, based in London. (Living there would be expensive.)

Gas Tank Productions: London based studio consisting of a network of freelancers. Am working with them currently.

Pros:

• On brand with where I see myself going as a 2D practitioner.
• Variety of interesting projects. 
• Have already worked with them and they're nice people. 
• Have ideas I want to pitch to them. 
• Essentially am already working for them. 

Cons:

• Say it with me. Living in London is expensive. 

PP3- Collaboration with Gas Tank Productions

From my networking at Manchester Animation Festival I met up with a couple of freelancers and producers who made up Gas Tank Productions, a London based animation studio which was in the process of preparing to pitch a new IP to producers at the MIA (Miami Film Festival) festival in Miami.  They were impressed by my showreel and asked me to help them produce the animated pilot they were developing alongside a pitch bible for a television show aimed at children aged 5 and above titled 'The Inspectigator'. 

Show synopsis taken from Gas Tank Productions Official Website (May 2018)

The deadline was for early February 2018, with work beginning in early December working over Xmas break. 

The company had previously collaborated with Gateshead-based studio Arcus Animation on an original IP pitch for childrens television 'Soupa'. Their brand sensibility of slick cartoons with an emphasis on clean linework, for older children around the ages of 7-12 appeals to me greatly and I feel is a great opportunity to establish my own brand in tangent with them as our house styles are very similar. 

Before undertaking the work I was briefed on what my role would entail in a Skype hangout with director Greg and producer Seb. After signing an NDA I was tasked with converting Greg's storyboards into a usable animatic for voice actors Marc Silk (veteran voice actor and the voice of Johnny Bravo on Cartoon Network UK) and Kate Harbour (another veteran of children's television voice acting) to use as reference when recording the voices. Helping me would be two other freelance animators Gemma and Jack who would be assisting in key-framing and the final compositing process. Our first Skype meeting was an introductory welcome from the team followed by a going over of technical specifications (such as frame rate) and deadline goals.

The work pipeline was that Greg would transfer his finished storyboards PSD files via Wetransfer to me to animate and add keyframes in Photoshop using his drawings as a model reference. He also provided me with a temporary audio track before Mark and Kate recorded the final voices for their parts. Once I'd created the animatic I would then hand it off to Jack and Gemma who would composite my animated characters into the scenes they were drawing. Creating this animatic served as a sort of trial run for the workflow I would apply to my Extended Practice, creating storyboards which could later be expanded upon and refined in the animatic phase. Being a part of a larger team instead of the overseeing role allowed me to refocus my attention more on character animation and animated performance, to hone my ability at drawing and remain on model, which I feel proved to be a useful experience going forward.

Over the course of the month I was working on 'The Inspectigator' we had weekly group Skype meetings to discuss amends to the script, to the animatic as well as any ideas of our own we had to contribute. Overall I created an animatic for up to 38 of Greg's storyboards and the total animation produced at the end ranged from around 2 minutes. Not bad for a month's work I'd say.

The team pitched Inspectigator at Miami Film Festival in February and I have been in correspondence ever since, with him offering to provide more freelance work in the future. Since then I have also been featured on Gas Tank Productions Instagram feed as well as listed as a member of their team on their website.

Name featured on Gas Tank Productions' website

Work featured on Gas Tank Productions' Instagram Feed

In summary, my experience with Gas Tank has been a pleasant one and they are definitely a studio I am going to stay in close contact with in the future as much of their output falls very much under the brand I am trying to establish. They also provide a solid starting point for me going freelance in the industry, with their connections to Arcus Studios and voice actors such as Mark Silk.

PP3- Showreel / Portfolio

Making my Showreel

Going into this year one of my main priorities when it came to my own practice was to address some of the shortcomings brought up by my tutors in regards to my previous showreel, most notably the lack of character animation. My main way of addressing this over the course of Level 6 was to concentrate on my characters, more substantially fleshing them out in the pre-production with turnarounds and preliminary walk cycles. Just as important however is cutting out work which doesn't fit the brand I am trying to build as I progress on from uni in search of freelance animation work and fixed contracts working for studios. A lot of my work from first and second year, which appeared in my previous showreels was cut. Shots from 'Adrift' were cut and the film made private on my own personal Vimeo at the behest of my tutors who felt it didn't fit with the style of animation I had grown to specialise and the animation was not on par with what I was now capable of a year and a half on. I also got rid of some of my rougher looking DUIK animation, as a lot of it seemed unimpressive compared to more recent work and I wanted to keep a fast pace for my showreel in order to showcase myself as more of a multidisciplinary practitioner.

Previous Showreel from Autumn 2017. Made in preparation for MAF.

I mostly worked on top of previous showreels I had made for the end of year shows of the previous two years as I feel the format and the song I used makes the showreel stand out from the pack. Too many showreels I feel are slow and boring, incorporating boring stock music or low energy lo-fi hip hop which doesn't do enough to excite the viewer. For the past three years I have chosen to use the beginning of the track 'Hajnal' by Venetian Snares, as I like the pace at which the strings keep changing, placing emphasis on every 16th note and every third verse allowing me to structure my showreel in a way which allows me to place emphasis on particular shots while keeping a fast pace of editing.

I wanted to include as many shots from Monsieur Sausage in my showreel as possible, as I felt these were the best demonstration of my ability as a character animator, designer and layout artist. Shots taking place with my characters around a table showcase all three of these aspects. However, I felt for the sake of cohesion, shots in my showreel must play out chronologically, almost as a cut-down version of the final film inter spliced with animation from other projects in-between. This did mean however not including what I feel is one of the stronger shots from the film, the opening shot, in my showreel as it is over 10 seconds long and wouldn't fit with the pacing of my showreel, which I want to keep short and punchy under 50 seconds.

Summer 2018 Showreel

Also, in tangent with creating my own personal branding I created an end title card which uses all the same branding assets as the rest of my promo pack, to bookend my showreel with. (I would also go on to use this image as a signature on my Gmail account.) 

Showreel End Title Card / Gmail Signature

Feedback

Feedback in regards to my showreel was positive, from both peers and tutors as well as professionals. My tutor praised my renewed focus on character animation feeling it addressed some of the shortcomings he had with my previous showreels to a certain degree, while also agreeing with my uncle who works as an Animation Director, who told me to incorporate more shots highlighting my process in animating/compositing shots as well as speed paints of backgrounds and layout work. As a 2D generalist, it seems to be a strong reel, though I do want to expand on the background/Layout aspect of it over the summer in order to sell myself more in that regard. 

Upon completion and immediate peer feedback I began emailing my new and improved showreel to studios and people I know with ties to industry in order to both promote myself and garner feedback. This includes people working for studios such as...

Arcus Animation Studios 

Gas Tank Productions

Sixteen South

Paper Owl Films

Brown Bag Films

Boulder Media

Factory

Red Kimono Media

The Line

Blue Zoo

Example of email sent to companies asking for feedback on Portfolio work

Most of these companies deal with 2D animation, and as a generalist I would be very much interested in hearing their feedback on how I can improve on the different aspects of my work. 

PP3- Online Prescence & Personal Branding

One of the most important aspects of one's online creative presence is ensuring you establish a brand which effectively communicates your practice. As a 2D generalist with a preference for character design I opted to showcase this aspect front-and-centre by incorporating a caricatured self portrait into the branding across my entire portfolio. One of the strongest elements to my drawing style is my linework, so I wanted to emphasise that as much as possible in my branding. Text retains a clean, hand-drawn aesthetic which foregoes cursive in favour of block lettering as to echo the contemporary style of web design which favours sans-serif font choices and simplicity of design. 

Initial business card design printed for MAF (Back)

My initial business card designs which were hastily thrown together in time for Manchester Animation festival served as a template for my branding guidelines. Feedback I received from peers, tutors and professionals on the design of the cards leaned mostly positive, with some criticising the self portrait on the back as being boring, not communicating the fact I was an animator too clearly. 

Self portrait used in branding for Website, CV, Showreel, Business Cards etc...

To amend this, for my updated design, my character is now at a graphics tablet drawing, with comically exaggerated curly blocking the face,  which lends more character to the design. I also chose to more concisely highlight my social media links using icons, as there was some confusion as to whether my username was for my Instagram or my Twitter, as both use a similar format. 

Updated business card design (Back)

jayfoster.co.uk

Website

My website (created in Wix) serves as the centrepiece of my online portfolio, a hub that links all my social media accounts together and serves as a promotional pack to highlight my strengths as a practitioner and areas in which I specialise. As a generalist, my showreel serves as the main showcase of my ability as an animator, while the gallery highlights pre-production work such as backgrounds and character designs using images and animated GIFs. I decided to give my gallery a collage style layout as I felt showing the images in full alongside one another was the best way to showcase my multi-disciplinary skillset. In future however I would like to subcategorise the gallery along the lines of Backgrounds, Character Design and Illustration, as I become more specialised with experience.

The headers at the top of each page also fall under the same style of branding, incorporating the handwritten, non-cursive look. The rest of the text lower down in the hierarchy is all Helvetica Light in keeping with the otherwise sleek contemporary web design layout. I also garnered some feedback on my site from my dad who works in web design in order to make my online portfolio more professional. He suggested changing the thumbnail of my portfolio on the homepage, as this doubles up with the header on the page as well as purchasing a domain and getting a Wix premium account in order to get rid of the Wix banner ads at the top of my page.

Instagram

Over the course of my Extended Practice module I have gotten into the habit of posting pre-production work to my Instagram account in order to garner peer feedback. Instagram also serves as a useful way of showcasing work in a way which prevents plagiarism due to the sites image dimensions and compression. Luckily however this isn't usually an issue as UK copyright law grants rights to the original owner of the image if they can prove it, so by only showcasing lower resolution imagesthrough Instagram, I can ensure my work is not lifted by someone else.

It's also useful in terms of self promotion in the industry through the use of hashtags, which draws people to my work through search terms such as #BackgroundLayout & #CharacterDesign. One of the limitations however is images and video have to be uploaded from my Google Drive account via my Iphone which effects the quality of the overall image, which is why my website is designed to serve as my core portfolio. Instagram serves as more of a convenience, as people often access it through their smartphones.

Vimeo

I chose to set up a Vimeo account instead of a Youtube account as it is a more niche community for creators, with a more tight curation centred more on showcasing creativity over generating clickbait content. Vimeo isn't nearly as big as Youtube and hosts/promotes much more creative content from videography to animation, allowing users to post video in collaboration and with less stingy algorithmic restrictions on copyrighted content, which is useful for when I post my showreel. Vimeo's player also allows for a higher quality of video than Youtube's compression algorithm and makes for a more highly optimised video sharing experience. Overall the interface is just cleaner and largely free from ads, fitting the brand of my portfolio more than other video sharing sites.

https://www.dailydot.com/debug/what-is-vimeo/

LinkedIn

Perhaps the most important aspect of a creative's online presence, my LinkedIn account serves as both a sort of online CV, linking to my actual CV as well as my showreel and a social network for professionals. My LinkedIn is likely the first thing a professional is exposed to as I apply for jobs working freelance or in studios, so it is important it best reflects my personal brand as a practitioner. Most the branding assets are on display here as well as links to all my other social media accounts and website. Its important for me to keep my LinkedIn up to date and I have been doing so as work has come in and showreels have been updated.LinkedIn also proves to be a valuable resource for keeping in touch with professionals via email as well as individual studios listing jobs as they are posted.