theblackjackcat

[theblackjackcat]

Final year animation (Toon boom and photoshop) 

What I could improve upon: Alot of the frames were cut out, due to the time and relevance of the timing and delivering plot points. The animation is a little rough and sketchy due to editing within the movement and the fluidity could use some improvement. 

A few more frames within the sequence could make it a little less choppy. 

[theblackjackcat]

Creative futures 2017

28th and 29th and March

Making Things Happen: Building opportunities after graduation

Doug Fishbone 

http://www.dougfishbone.com/en/home

For our first session on Tuesday we had an American fine/pop artist who came to discuss his career art and how strange a reputation he gained doing odd projects that really made him stand out. (as the example above).

The cycle of the artist:

Make work - Exhibit -sell??? - no. - Show the world your work before you ask for money, network or become an attraction that would draw in a confused or curious crowd. Don’t expect others to understand, just let it be. 

Who are the people you need to interest?

Curators -  exhibitions 

Gallerists - sell to

Collectors - Fund or buy works

Critics - For reputation

Media - Network maybe even meme

Funders. 

Advice: Community based projects will give you a humbling start, don’t be afraid of building around and with others. Extend your horizons and don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

The Games Industry: What is it and how to break into it?

-Alan Mealor 

A games designer who’s been working in the industry for 16 years in companies such as: Reflections, Bizarre creations and playground games. Currently he is a manager at Lucid games. 

http://www.lucidgames.co.uk/

The size of the video game industry: 

$99.6 billion worldwide -> 30% mobile / 40% consoles / 30% PC

It is estimated to reach $120 billion by 2020

The figure for the UK is of £3.8 billion in 2016 -> 50% console / 30% mobile / 20% PC 

UK development ---> 2000+ Video game based companies + 250 studios 

The UK market has has a 22% increase as of 2011 - 2013 and has received an interjection of £1.1 billion contribution from 11000+ employed in development.  

What technologies are being used?

Middleware

Physical based rendering 

Procedural texturing and 3D texturing painting 

The technology continues to update and mature with each passing year. 

Benefits for developers?

Reduced; costs, Team size and prototype’s are created swiftly.

Benefits for students:

Free to use programming

Increased speed 

You could make a game independently; just consider your target audience and publisher.  

Write a good CV.

Portfolio hints and tips: 

Less is more, put in your best work.

Play to your strengths, build around your strongest skills

Tailor to the goal and job description. Only put in what is apparent or needed to where you are applying.

add substance 

use your mood boards and inspirations. 

Online Portfolio’s: Artstation, CGSociety & Polycount (for games) and welcome feedback!

BBC From Hacksaws to Hollywood 

Alex Jones and Pete Griffiths

One of my favorite talks; as an example of success they brought up the actor Harrison Ford and his career from a humble carpenter who kept up acting as a secondary profession, one day painting backgrounds for one play George Lucus came into the room by chance and gave him the roll as Han solo which set forth his climb to fame, ironically its his least favorite roll but the moral of the story is that you’ll never know when you’ll catch your break. Just keep going. 

Emphasize with peoples needs on a product, say webdesign which is their specialty and always consider the visually exciting. 

Define the problems

Idealization of Solutions

Prototype of the solution 

Testing of the product

If any of this fails in production, recycle and start again.

Marvel Comic book artists: 

https://twitter.com/ten_bandits?lang=en

http://www.brandtandstein.com/

https://twitter.com/RosyTintedSpecs

Two illustrators who gave a very interesting perspective on the illustration business and how hard it was for them to get settled after university and the struggles of being able to find employment only to be lied to and used multiple times. 

They made alot of mistakes including “working for free” on one comic and another they set up a deal over skype with no written contract they could save or document that would garentee their pay and that they would receive any credit for the amount of work they put in. Out of desperation they sought each other out and worked hard, days and nights putting together comic books for others gaining any pay they could. Until one day they struck their luck and managed to gain a deal working in marvel comics, mostly with Captain America where they do mainly the line art and submit to the editor. 

Illustration is a life consuming career, with little to no breaks as they do work for comics which they must produce weekly without fail to hit the deadline. The constant strain of stress and perfection in their line work is clear, but they are persistent and clever people none the less. I greatly admire their progress and the maturity in the experience struggling through and making such a colossal break doing what they love. 

[theblackjackcat]

life drawing sketches

[theblackjackcat]

Post Graduate plans: 

Take a gap year to develop my skills with the software and updating my blog and website to an even more presentable and professional manner. Extend my network of artistic friends and influences. 

 Part time jobs for work experience in Chester or in my local town: Sandbach as a bartender or working in a team set environment in a shop.

Take an apprenticeship in a company in Manchester or London. Depending on my Financial situation. 

Doing some online freelance work for youtube and Vid.me

Considering taking a short course in sound design. 

[theblackjackcat]

Creative Futures-2017

(day 1) March 27th Feburary

Everything you wanted to know about Creative futures (but were afraid to ask) -Clair Taylor (Vice Chancellor)& Prof. Alex Shepley

The opening session to creative futures week was a simple talk discussing what we would learn during the week and gave us some key notes on we can do to succeed in the creative industries. 

Time management: Meeting deadlines, planning accordingly and practice daily if you can.

Collaborative work: Gain work experience in other fields if you can, get to know what it’s like in a team working environment.

Communication: Get yourself out there and establish a brand or some sort of online recognition in social media portraying your work, interests and build friendships.

Problem solving: Alot of of jobs higher artists or creative people not only to apply their known skills but to also solve a difficult situation when needed. 

As an introduction to creative futures week this talk was useful in that it reminded me of my own flaws and issues that I hope i can improve on in future. 

Panel session -Collaboration in the Creative Industries

Gareth Jones- Founder and CEO of company Welsh Ice:

http://welshice.org/

Welsh ice is a company base founded on collaboration, community and connectivity. 

Gareth Jones the Ceo of this company explained to us the inner workings of the process and types of artists (Illustrators, designers, animators, musical engineers) gathered there to make connections and meet potential future employee’s or work together on collaborative assignment or project of their choice. The company provides them with the facilities and the space required for such assessments. 

Tamara Harvey- Theatr Clwyd

https://www.theatrclwyd.com/en/

A theater house located in Mold city wales, dedicated to mostly Opera and plays. The speaker discussed the process of which they began their business , their problems and how they solved them through sacrifice of what they enjoyed going from preforming 9 - 12 plays and Operas a year cutting it to 8 a year. To solve this issue further they contacted other opera house, opening up the stage to collaboration projects further more allowing them to preform more and bigger with shared funding. 

With alot of effort and hard work this has allowed for anyone in the creative industries with any curiosity in the preforming arts to explore and open their future to more possibilities within the creative industry. 

Andy Cheetham -Cheetham Bell 

http://cheethambelljwt.com/

http://cheethambelljwt.com/clients/

Andy Cheethman was not the owner, but a representative of this Manchester based company. Their specialty is mainly in advertisement, using creativity and wit to put across a simple message for any client needed and they generally have a great reputation. 

They put alot of research into every project, to make it as memorable as the product they’re marketing and the company they represent. 

Alferdo Cramerotti- Mostyn 

https://www.mostyn.org/

Mostyn is an art gallery based in Llandudno, north wales. Alferdo Cramerotti explained to us his position as a fine art Curator as well as what that would entail as far his responsibilities went. His work as Curator would include: planning and keeping art expeditions within a museum, whether its with his own or in many locations around the world according to the theme or the customers or the event. 

He is in charge of choosing not only the location but he must also contact the collectors, authors or illustrators for the event. A time managing and consuming career in which you are expected to over come difficult circumstances and organize to the best of your ability for everyone involved. 

How to get a Creative job; stop procrastinating and other useful tips:

Simon Amor-

Simon introduced himself and his experiences with his clients in companies such as: Thorntons, Moss Bros, Waterstones, BT and Emirates (varying companies within the UK) They approached him for his creative talents within business, because of the correlation with problem solving. 

-Design must be effective as well as Aesthetically pleasing.

-Focus on your goal, specialize and keep on track.

- Be flexible about your opportunities.

-It’s difficult to get into the industry but do all you can to put your foot in the door and seize it. 

Get a good blog, portfolio, show reel, and brevity in your specialization of work well presented and specific to the job you’re applying for. Create interesting content. 

-Be unique; other skills that makes your work stand out. 

Number 1 rule, there are plenty of stories of first time artists working themselves into stressful situations in which they have put so much time and energy into their work to not get any credit for it in the end. 

Be charismatic, flexible and kind though build up that persona and people will always be there to return a helping hand. 

Expect rejection and don’t be disheartened by it, keep at it where you think you can make it. Don’t be beaten by your own dreams, the future is uncertain. If you have a heavy time on a project, feel too down or too worked up. Put the project aside for a bit and just work on a separate project on the side to help bring back your inspiration and put you back on track. 

Between Art and the Creative Industries:

Ioana Pioaru- Illustrator and fine artist

http://ioanapioaru.webs.com/

http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?artid=27683

I connected with this illustrator on a personal level as to her interest in Life drawing, character based studies and her intertwining her passions into her fairy tale genre based art work. 

Romania, has a less liberal approach to their fine art course. They take what is essentially a seven year life drawing course where they go in everyday over the same poses to an almost photographic perfection. During the talk Ioana explained how she had to eventually try different mediums and art styles to make her body of work more visually exciting and vibrant. 

Her favorite character and main icon is of a character she read up on in a book or on the internet called Dr Vom Rom, who was a plague doctor during the middle ages; with the characteristic crow like mask and goggles. What captivated her most about his character was the implication of his personality being judging and the foreboding left hand of death seeking the sick and purging them from the the pure lands. 

She created a Facebook profile with the name Dr. Schnabel and role played imagined responses of the doctor in the modern day era. A personal hobby of my own that I really connect with as I share an interest with her as such dark and insidious beings. 

I really want to stay in contact with this artist as we share the a similar fascination with filling in space and with characters, architecture or machinery interloping a story within the main focus of the piece. 

[theblackjackcat]

Creative futures (Life Drawing)

After visiting some studios in London a few years ago, they showed me it’s not enough to just understand computer programming. You need the drawing and sketching skills to meet up to a high enough standard. They took Life drawing classes locally everyday three times a day for practice and to ensure a professionalism in their work. 

First year of University I was able to attend but it wasn’t continued on past Christmas. So I took it upon myself to look into finding a local school offering weekly night lessons in Life drawing within Sandbach the closest town to my village. Which evidently also hosts an art gallery within the center with a range of different mediums to choose from as well as Life drawing classes. I’ve been attending now for 8-9 months: 

http://theblackjackcat.tumblr.com/post/160675198785/life-drawing-sketches

[theblackjackcat]

Animatic created on Toon Boom Harmony (trial version): 

What I was able to do in colour is at the beginning, the rest of the animation will look somewhat the same. 

I’ll remove some shots to make up for time. 

[theblackjackcat]

Final Storyboard (part 2)

Read from left to right

[theblackjackcat]

Final Storyboard (Part 1)

Read from Left to Right

[theblackjackcat]

another concept

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Dragon concepts

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colour pallette 

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[theblackjackcat]

I took a trip around Wales and Derbyshire to look at the mountain tops and how I envisioned the backgrounds would look like. I put into mind the expansion of story if I wanted to work on it further.

[theblackjackcat]

Negotiated studies plan

The Dragon and the Mad Princess 

Duration: Silent 30 second to 1 minute 2D animated piece.

Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Children’s entertainment. 

Target audience: Ages 6+

Voice acting: Preformed in grunts, roars and laughing. 

Watercolour backgrounds, animated in ToonBoom with effects done in After affects over the watercolour background.

Synopsis: 

A Mad Princess and Dragon fight, a twist on the classic fairytale genre.

Script: 

A lone young dragon maniacally rests upon an ancient monument atop a tall mountain side, before the long ride through the dragon breath valley. There he is startled awoken by an alien rustling sound coming from the forest facing the mountains edge. Curious, but cautious he observes. Stretches and returns to his rest. 

There we change perspective to Princess Bubbles; an eccentric, innocent looking but cunning and powerful witch. She had been waiting and scouting this monument for some time, knowing this it was a common resting place for dragons passing through the valley to reach their home. Her goal is to capture one and use their scales for a purse and her vanity. 

She pulls out her spell book from her long and curly unkempt hair and begins to sing and cast an enchantment in the form of a purple cloud that flows out of the forest and follows the mist rolling in the surrounding area. There the dragon upon seeing the strange mist, ascends quickly in alert noticing at the speed of it’s approaching. He fights to escape it, following the currents of the wind but ends up surrounded despite his efforts. 

Below the mad princess emerges from the forest cackling gleefully twirling below in triumph. The dragon, now spotting the culprit and with nowhere else to fly to, dives fast to confront the witch and battle. There the fight begins and the dragon attempts to whip at her with his tail only to be blocked by a shield spell reflecting from the spell book. But the dragon having gathered enough anger, begins breath out fire attempting to shatter the shield, flying around it finding any gaps in which to singe her. 

He continues to do so and the witch despite her gleeful laughter becomes to cocky and doesn’t realise that her shield has weakened to a point that the dragon now has a chance to end the fight. Upon seeing where the mist was emerging from the observant and clever dragon whips his tail and the spell book cutting it clean in half claiming his freedom and victory. 

In the end we find out why Princess Bubbles was named so, she as the book has, becomes bubbles and evaporates into the air. But this isn’t over, despite her shock at losing her first fight, she begins to laugh maniacally. Her shark like teeth remain etched into bubbles as her laughter echoes through the valley. The dragon leaves, flying away into the valley to his much deserved escape and the film ends on one last bubble laughter before it pops and fades to black. 

[theblackjackcat]

How I became a children’s book illustrator:

http://www.katiemaygreen.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/katiemaygreen

Katie is an illustrator whom I find I have alot in common with when it comes to story telling, curiosity and interpreting the narrative in a classical painting. Sure, you have the artist’s notes and their influences and portraits are for the rich who wanted to leave something iconic about themselves besides their accomplishments. 

But I love the creative concept represented in films such as: Toy Story or the Night at the Museum, where when human’s are not around, inanimate objects with their own set of personalities or ones influenced by what they’re based off of come to life and mess around or communicate with each other, then hide so as not to get caught. 

One of my favourite illustrated books by the same nature growing up was called “How to live Forever” by Colin Thompson

“In a quiet street of tall trees, there is a library with a thousand dreams. On the the shelves there are copies of every book that has ever been written. But one book is missing. 200 years ago, someone hid it’s record card under the bottom draw of a filing cabinet. And the book quietly vanished. The book is called ‘How to live forever’. 

When the library is closed and the night watchman has fallen asleep in his big arm chair. The Shelves come to life; lights come on, doors and window’s appear on the backs of books and the sounds of voices drift out between the pages....”

The rest of the story describes the journey of a boy named Peter, who found the lost card and began his long journey through each story in the library to find the missing book, so he could never grow old. 

 I can see by the narrative ‘a boy who never wants to grow old’ was probably influenced by Peterpan, but what captures my attention was the small stories in-between each genre of book he visited, the attention to detail and that characters in books aged, maybe faster than ordinary humans; and the way they lived in books like cities, always as a child made me wary about picking up hard cover books in case I disturbed the people inside. 

I remember wanting to build my own cities out of them and getting told off, books are not toy’s after all. They’re tools. 

Katie, reintroduced this thought in my life one I had long ago and now feel more imaginative about, that even though these characters could be based off of real people or other fictional characters they have a mind of their own, with their own journey’s to make. 

 I adore her use of water paint and pastel soft colours with a gothic sketchy style to give it that oil painting texture to each character and how their personalities; mischievous, playful and up-to-no-good expressions; mocks the traditional value of ‘Children should be seen and not heard’, they find ways to retaliate when no one is looking and are the picture of innocence when we turn back around. 

http://www.picturebookparty.co.uk/2014/10/the-secrets-behind-seen-and-not-heard.html#.VxlmP3ErKUk

I have Katie’s contact details, with hope I would like to discuss my own ideas in story telling, both through animation and maybe illustration. 

[theblackjackcat]

Can you make it in Media: Career in Television and Digital media by Alex Cannock 

https://twitter.com/MrAlexConnock

https://twitter.com/ShineNorth

http://www.shinenorth.tv/Showreel/

9 really useful things you should know about tv and media:

What a brand wants

Sell the idea

Make it

Advertise it

Television company based in Manchester.

Lesson 1:

Content has changed, with instant information and entertainment accessible online gaining people’s interests in television is much more innovated as it was before, with much more choices available, the content created by this company is a combination of Advertisement and documentaries, clashing viral attention and pacing with the movement of culture and intrigue.

Advertisements are just as much content as television series and are even apart of them. 

Lesson 2:

The Northern (Britain) Powerhouse is a great place to be; your career chances are just as good if not better than your chances would be in London. Wrexham is within an hours Journey from the major center of the entertainment industry. 

Lesson 3: 

Practice editing 

Lesson 4: 

Always film, everywhere there’s a story to be told.

Lesson 5: 

Your style is apart of Brand recognition. 

Lesson 6: 

Resourcefulness and contacts. Keep in touch and use social media to your advantage. And use your Charisma to your full advantage.