mi6014roishutton

[mi6014roishutton]

Reflection

At the beginning of this module, I felt that I was very hopeless and lacked significant confidence in my work, often feeling ashamed when I tried to compose any kind of showreel.  I did not feel that the work I included reflected the effort it took. In these past few weeks as I have begun applying for numerous positions in the animation industry, I have felt my confidence in my work rise as I have learned to adapt my showreels to each role. Furthermore, I have learned that the work included in my reels does not need to be fully completed and that tests and unfinished projects can still demonstrate skills when necessary, if not being a skill in themself.

As far as industry is concerned, I have learned that getting my first steps will be an uphill battle. Whether through speaking to industry professionals or simply being unsuccessful in my applications and receiving no response at all, the silence is something I believe I will have to grow accustomed to and push through regardless if I am to break in to the industry any time soon.

I have quite enjoyed the application process, which frankly was unexpected as the beginning of this module was quite stressful. To be able to make any reel at all, I had to strip back the high expectations I had on myself to be able to showcase work that would be above graduate level and give myself more consideration for the position I am in, and know that any companies I apply for will also be aware of my graduate status and so may view my work through such a lens. Going forward, I will keep this in mind but wholly intend to keep developing and improving my practice based on any feedback I get so that in the coming year I can move beyond the ‘graduate’ label and its implications.

Overall, I’m grateful to have completed this module as it has been an essential eye-opener into how the next year or so is going to be. I think to get used to the rejection now will make it easier going forward. At the same time, it has been very interesting to see where this career could take me, especially as an EU passport holder, I have been considering internships and jobs on the continent. In the future, I would love to travel as much as possible throughout my career, particularly to other parts of Europe such as France and the Netherlands where there seems to be a number of opportunities with several notable studios. I would rather travel abroad than have to move to London for my career despite being told time and time again that many go to London as it seems to be the hub of animation studios in the United Kingdom.

From this project, I now have a handful of showreels displaying different skillsets that I hope will be useful to me in the coming months and I am grateful to have put these together now so that I might improve on them and receive feedback from industry professionals.

[mi6014roishutton]

3D Animation Internship - Ado Ato Pictures

"My name is Róis Hutton, I am a recent graduate from Northumbria University in Animation and, though early in my journey, I am driven by an eagerness to learn, adapt, and refine techniques that elevate visual narratives. 

As someone with a deep passion for visual storytelling and a keen eye for detail, I am thrilled to apply for the 3D Animation Internship with Ado Ato Pictures. The company's dedication to creativity and collaboration in producing captivating animation and projects that promote social justice resonates with my artistic working style and ambition to contribute meaningfully to the art and film industry. My educational background in Animation has provided me with hands-on experience in a variety of software from Maya and Blender to After Effects and Photoshop. Beyond technical skills, I thrive in collaborative environments where ideas are exchanged freely, and creativity flourishes. I am particularly drawn to the role's emphasis on teamwork and innovation, as these values mirror my own approach to problem-solving and artistic expression, as well as connections to continental Europe and how such cultural impacts inform productions.

As I am graduating this summer and summarising my final project this coming week, I would be available to begin work from the beginning of June."

The email I sent along with my application to this position.

[mi6014roishutton]

Showreel - Submission Project

After showing my reel to Izzy, she advised me to add a 'thank you for watching' credit at the end to make it more professional. I also took out the project name so that if I wanted to use this for job applications I could. I think the different in the font and wording has definitely boosted its overall appearance and makes it feel more polished.

The music I believe compliments it well as it does not distract from the work, the cuts to each new shot follow the beats and I think this has added a nice rhythm and flow to the reel overall.

[mi6014roishutton]

Showreel - Project Submission

I changed my showreel so that the type motion graphics would come at the end as advice I have received is to put your strongest work first and although I think those pieces of my work are nice and look well-made, they're boring compared to the rest and I want attention to kept throughout the reel.

[mi6014roishutton]

Showreel - Project Submission

This is my first draft of a showreel that will be submitted for this module. Following advice from those in industry, I avoided making it too specific or niche and chose to demonstrate the range of skills I have acquired throughout my time at university, from 3D to stop motion.

[mi6014roishutton]

Illustration Portfolio

I put together a quick portfolio for illustration jobs also as my sister has some connections to illustrators/designers in industry and has offered to pass on any portfolios I had for them to have a look at.

[mi6014roishutton]

Blue Zoo Summer Internship - Motion Graphics Intern

I have applied to the Motion Graphics Internship this August with Blue Zoo in London.

The role does appeal to me as it aks for software skills I've acquired throughout uni, particularly After Effects, Photoshop and Premiere Pro which I feel very comfortable in using.

I've been told that this internship is a fantastic opportunity and I do hope to hear back soon, even if I do not get it but can get feedback on my showreel that I submitted.

[mi6014roishutton]

The 10th Studio - Test

This studio got back to me with a test of 10 seconds to animate and so I completed it.

In the style of Bill Wurtz.

[mi6014roishutton]

Freelance Storyboard/Generalist Artist

[mi6014roishutton]

2D Animator Application

I've finally gotten to use my godforsaken egg animation.

[mi6014roishutton]

Junior composites position I’m going to apply for.

Showreel I made for it:

Cover Letter and CV I created for this application:

[mi6014roishutton]

Puppetry Festival Volunteering

[mi6014roishutton]

Old Showreel

This is the showreel I had made last summer when applying for an artist studio job back in Derry. Although the job application didn't work out, it was nice to hear from a fairly local artist based in Belfast that he'd seen some of my work before.

Because of the job I was applying for I included a mix of graphic design, art and animation.

It's also 2 minutes long which I think is a bit unnecessary.

Looking through it now I really dislike a lot of the stuff in it such as the experimental motion graphics parts.

[mi6014roishutton]

Showreels

Watched showreels yesterday to see what we did and didn't like.

I focused moreso on 2D showreels cause that's where my interest lies as of right now and what would be of most benefit for me to assess considering my final film.

With this one I noticed there was a nice mix of completed and rough animations, as well as plenty of action and movement.

I also like the use of the perspective lines on certain scenes, as well as the recurrence of certain characters such as the samurai adjacent characters.

I like the mix of human, animal and object in this showreel, as well as the exaggerated movements they've practiced.

I'd have liked to have seen some finished work however its possible this person just does rough work and that's why it makes up the showreel.

I also liked seeing different animation at varying degrees of rough, some more cleaned up than others.

I really liked seeing finished animations, as well as the use of quite a bit of camera movement alongside some of her work.

[mi6014roishutton]

The Gap: Reflection

The gap feels huge. The gap between where I am now versus where I want to do. I acknowledge that I've been given the opportunities to try various softwares and mediums throughout my time at university, however I feel like far too much emphasis was put on learning 3D modelling, nevermind 3D animation.

ToonBoom, which was been highlighted as industry standard and incredibly useful, has only been taught so far for a total 4 hours over 3 years, with 4 more hours on it to come. For anyone like myself who prefers 2D or wants to develop it, it feels like ToonBoom was completely neglected but still suggested to use. I've been slowly figuring it out myself however, like Maya, it takes a long time and a lot of trial and error before reaching any moderate level of skill, which is time I would prefer not to waste in my final semester when I have a short film to make on top of figuring out the software.

I have always struggled with creativity despite having a high skill in art, I was just very good at copying images not necessarily coming up with ideas and being creative. This has been very challenging while at university and in my life in general and I feel as though this can't just be fixed overnight but will be something I will work on for the rest of my life and I feel like this throws a spanner in the works for getting a job in the creative industries.

[mi6014roishutton]

Ikigai: Reflection

We looked at Ikigai diagrams last week and I've been trying to consider what is my priority.

Right now profession is my priority because after university I want to go into a job as soon as I can and hopefully avoid hospitality for the future. The likelihood of getting a graduate job however is slim and I don't feel as though the course has prepared me enough for what the industry seems to need. I don't feel ready to enter the industry but don't want to do a masters as I think it will just be delaying the inevidable and a waste of money.

In terms of passion, I know my interests lie moreso with 2D animation, illustration, concept art and character design areas. I don't feel good enough as any of these currently, I sacrificed a fairly high skill level in fine art to study animation and I feel as though now I am at a moderate to low skill level in both animation and fine art. I also get the impression these areas aren't very employable and with AI becoming more and more prevelant these jobs seem to be disappearing fast for the sake of convenience that AI offers. For these reasons I believe my passions in animation won't lead me down a very successful path if I pursued it after university.

For vocation, I'm unsure where this ranks at the moment. I don't feel so self-important to think I can offer anything that the world NEEDS, considering the impact of animation on the environment I really don't think it's NEEDED. I think art is needed as long as humans are here.

I don't what my mission is, guess I'll wait for the calling or religious experience that changes my life. Maybe I should have been a nun.

[mi6014roishutton]

Reflection

1. What inspired you to choose animation?

I loved doing fine art in school but didn’t want to pursue it as a degree or a career, I also considered illustration but after looking into illustration courses around the UK it didn’t seem quite right and graphic design was the same, seeming a bit too far from my interests and I knew I wouldn’t enjoy it and be able to apply myself to it. Animation I don’t remember ever being a calling of any kind to me, I just came across it and considered it during my A-levels and it felt like it aligned most with my interests in art and film.

2. What am I inspired by right now?