On Thursday 17th of January and Friday the 18th, we had a visit with workshops and lectures from London based visual effects company The Mill. Our course at Duncan of Jordanstone has a good relationship with the company it appears, and this was the third time I met people from The Mill whilst studying here.
There were a lot of very interesting techniques with node set ups for computer generated lighting for visual effects to tweak the lighting using HDR images for image based lighting in the master class. We also discussed our studio work with them individually and as groups which was a good wee chat with likeminded and more competent/experienced people in our fields/industry. So, all round this was a good visit, well worth just blogging, and we will meet up with them again in April in London to have a look at our project we are doing with them.
This blog stands to show Fraser Murdoch's progression from undergraduate animation to postgraduate graduation... The blog is available to the public, but is also used for assessment purposes..
Friday, 18 January 2013
Thursday, 17 January 2013
My Belbin Profile
We got our behaviour within a team results based on our self evaluation questionaire which we answered last week.
My main results were as follows:
Plant - creative, imaginative, unorthodox. Solves difficult problems.
However, ignores incidentals. Too pre-occupied with own thoughts to communicated effectively.
However, ignores incidentals. Too pre-occupied with own thoughts to communicated effectively.
Shaper - Challenging, dynamic, thrives on pressure. Has the drive and courage to overcome obstacles.
However, prone to provocation. Liable to offend others.
Resource investigator - extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative. Explores opportunities. Develops contacts.
However, over-optimistic. Can lose interest once initial enthusiasm has passed
Other results were:
Co-ordinator - mature, confident. Clarifies goals. Brings other people together to promote team discussions.
However, can be seen as manipulative. Offloads personal work.
Monitor evaluator - Serious minded, strategic and discerning. Sees all options. Judges accurately.
However, can lack the drive and ability to inspire others.
Completer finisher.
Specialist.
I am not:
Teamworker - co-operative, mild, perceptive and diplomatic. Listens, builds, averts friction. Indecisive in crunch situations
Implementer - Disciplined, reliable, conservative in habits. A capacity for taking practical steps and actions. Somewhat inflexible. Slow to respond to new possibilities.
However, prone to provocation. Liable to offend others.
Resource investigator - extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative. Explores opportunities. Develops contacts.
However, over-optimistic. Can lose interest once initial enthusiasm has passed
Other results were:
Co-ordinator - mature, confident. Clarifies goals. Brings other people together to promote team discussions.
However, can be seen as manipulative. Offloads personal work.
Monitor evaluator - Serious minded, strategic and discerning. Sees all options. Judges accurately.
However, can lack the drive and ability to inspire others.
Completer finisher.
Specialist.
I am not:
Teamworker - co-operative, mild, perceptive and diplomatic. Listens, builds, averts friction. Indecisive in crunch situations
Implementer - Disciplined, reliable, conservative in habits. A capacity for taking practical steps and actions. Somewhat inflexible. Slow to respond to new possibilities.
Nickname:
'An explorer' (secondarily a 'maverick')
'An explorer' (secondarily a 'maverick')
My thoughts:
So, it is clear to me that everyone reading the descriptions for the profiles and roles can relate to them all in some way. It is a bit like cold reading in a sense but at least there are 9 different options and not just one.
I took a similar test in 2011 with Dundee-based company Insights. They used a different technique in the questionare and were based more on personality defining, and so the profiles I got back were harsher as this apparently can't be changed it is in your DNA and the way you are, but nonetheless, again, true.
I only had two 'least preferred roles' in the profile, so I practically was competent in them all as the other 7 were either preferred or manageable. They say this is behavioural, or not a personal, evaluation so these things can change in the future. So it is likely, I believe, that these 7 roles will fluctuate in competency or preference through time for me. However, it was a good idea and as I say I do relate to the profiles and it does make you think about your behaviour in a team and where you can fit in, improve or where you are allowed not to be so great or as good as others are if you want to take up a particular role. I like the idea this can also adapt. I would agree with the particular roles I least prefer as these do not 'talk to me' like the others do.
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Reflection on Practice and Definition of Animation
Last week we had a tutorial with Sharon Campbell.
At one point we discussed the definition of animation. People seemed to make it very complicated by adding 'emotion' and whatnot into the definition. I made it clear that I believe emotion is separate, but can be applied to animation, however the definition of animation is simply along the lines of:
Visual trickery using frame-rates.
Everything else is applied thereafter to make a film provoke a reaction if it is needed for the piece, for example, entertainment, joy, heartfelt sadness, laughter, and so on...
I feel it is important to separate these things to realise them. The combination created is the most powerful thing, and there are many things to combine.
Sound Design Workshop - Semester 2 Begins
SEMESTER 2 began last week, and it started properly with a sound design workshop on Tuesday. I had done similar things before in the 1st year general foundation art and media course 4 years ago as part of a Time Based Art module over 6 days (including shooting and editing footage) and have since used my skills learned occasionally.
Myself, Ross Douglas and Sarah Gillespie took a clip from Megamind and created sounds for a robot stomping through a city, for example. For this we used a gate crashing, dropping a rubber tile thing from a park, standing on cereal, etc, etc, to create the effect along with some changes within ProTools. It worked incredibly well we thought and we completed the first few seconds of the clip with a feeling of achievement.
I will upload the clip once it is on the net.
Reflection on Practice: One thing I feel about sound, from a filmmaking point of view, based on a comment made by the tutor exclaiming that visuals and sound go 50-50, is that it is very minimal and overwhelmed by the wealth of visual storytelling techniques. Some people say it is 50-50, but I don't see how. Filmmaking is visual storytelling. Film is founded on visuals. Initially film was silent. Radio is founded in sound. As in, film is still a film without sound, however a film without visuals is the radio or a podcast and is no longer a film. Even radio and podcasts don't have the ability by themselves to be filmic.
Visual storytelling is vast. Sizes and placements of objects or characters, angles of the camera, movement, balanced shots, cuts - jump, transtions - dissolve, compositing things together which aren't possible to film... The list goes on and on and on, far and beyond this mild attempt. However, after this workshop it appears that in a couple of hours you can fake sounds very roughly which are effective only to add to the visuals which took months to produce meticulously. This is simply because the sound is syncronised with the timing of the visual (and the timing was produced primarily for the visual to work, not the sound). There is no way that sound can demand a 50 per cent importance in the filmmaking process. It is merely another important element in filmmaking, and I am not saying it is not important - every element of filmmaking is important. It is larger than a dissolve or jump cut, but minuscule in comparison to the visuals and the process of producing them.
When sound is used best is when it is designed in the writing process, such as dialogue or a character hearing a sound from off camera, or associating a sound with one part of the story, for example. That is why I believe in filmmaking, every element needs to be considered to make a well-made and thorough picture, and sound is one of those many, many things.
Myself, Ross Douglas and Sarah Gillespie took a clip from Megamind and created sounds for a robot stomping through a city, for example. For this we used a gate crashing, dropping a rubber tile thing from a park, standing on cereal, etc, etc, to create the effect along with some changes within ProTools. It worked incredibly well we thought and we completed the first few seconds of the clip with a feeling of achievement.
I will upload the clip once it is on the net.
Reflection on Practice: One thing I feel about sound, from a filmmaking point of view, based on a comment made by the tutor exclaiming that visuals and sound go 50-50, is that it is very minimal and overwhelmed by the wealth of visual storytelling techniques. Some people say it is 50-50, but I don't see how. Filmmaking is visual storytelling. Film is founded on visuals. Initially film was silent. Radio is founded in sound. As in, film is still a film without sound, however a film without visuals is the radio or a podcast and is no longer a film. Even radio and podcasts don't have the ability by themselves to be filmic.
Visual storytelling is vast. Sizes and placements of objects or characters, angles of the camera, movement, balanced shots, cuts - jump, transtions - dissolve, compositing things together which aren't possible to film... The list goes on and on and on, far and beyond this mild attempt. However, after this workshop it appears that in a couple of hours you can fake sounds very roughly which are effective only to add to the visuals which took months to produce meticulously. This is simply because the sound is syncronised with the timing of the visual (and the timing was produced primarily for the visual to work, not the sound). There is no way that sound can demand a 50 per cent importance in the filmmaking process. It is merely another important element in filmmaking, and I am not saying it is not important - every element of filmmaking is important. It is larger than a dissolve or jump cut, but minuscule in comparison to the visuals and the process of producing them.
When sound is used best is when it is designed in the writing process, such as dialogue or a character hearing a sound from off camera, or associating a sound with one part of the story, for example. That is why I believe in filmmaking, every element needs to be considered to make a well-made and thorough picture, and sound is one of those many, many things.
Sunday, 16 December 2012
Vivomotion | Ident Test
In order to add to the visual representation of science-based animation company Vivomotion, I have produced some visuals and have started an animated (ident) version.
Here is a small section as it is so far:
I have tried to show the techniques I can provide - modelling, using mental ray mia shaders and bump maps, mia_roundcorners, ambient occlusion passes, final gathering and other redner settings, HD, image-based lighting, compositing...
Saturday, 15 December 2012
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