Jack Woodcock Freelancer Portfolio Crit

After attending the Glug Manchester metope i arranged a meet up with jack woodcock a motion design freelancer.

His Showreel of some of the work he has done:
I really liked how down to earth he was an because of this i felt that this metope was really inspiring and helpful.

First off i showed him some of my work and he gave me some really great feedback:

I showed him my silhouette piece in which he mentioned that i should consider a beginning middle and end and possibly a message or story line to display more clearly within the piece, as if i showed the piece to a none creative person or potential client, the abstract metaphorical undertone of the piece my not be too clear, and i thought that this was a good way in which i could constructively review my work and weather or not it is clearly portraying the message or feelings that i want it too. I have always been used to creating illustrations or pieces of artwork that don't necessarily have to have a clear meaning or target to hit with regards to content as it is expressive and the viewer is usually left to make up their own conclusion based on the work i have created, however when it come to creating animations there is somewhat more clarity that needs to be involved and especially if i was making work for clients the message or goal at hand would have to be clear and i have noticed that i still have a more 'interpretive' intent to the meanings behind my pieces when i am making animations which is not a problem however when jack mentioned to think of how a none creative or imaginative person would perceive it it made me think that it would be beneficial for me to start getting used to being more clear and assertive and organised with my projects and the theme and directional flow of my work.
He said that he liked the walk cycles that i had made for my characters and told me to use easy ease in parts to create a smoother effect.
He told me to look at Richard Williams book for reference to walk cycles and the details of motion used within to refer back to with my character animation.

 He also said that the best animations of walking and movements are the ones that pay close attention to detail in motion such as arm swinging for walking or the odd skip in the walk as this adds realism and quality to the aesthetics of the piece.

However he said he liked the interaction between the characters that i involved such as at the start of my animation where the stag nudged the boy to make him get up. He gave me some advice on making smooth movements for my character animation by using easy ease on the graph editor and making things neater and cleaner.
He explained that using the graph editor for the easy ease key frame in the speed option can help and showed me this youtube video to give a better understanding about how the shapes of each of the graphs curve variations have different effects on the objects movement.



He also showed me another video to have a look at in order to get to grips with using the speed graph editor:

Intro to Animation Curves in After Effects from School of Motion on Vimeo.

The next of my work he gave me feedback on was my showreel in which he commented on the timing i had used and how it is good to keep it around that length of a minute as people are often too busy to spend too much time watching a show reel. He also said that i have shown a good variety of work with regards to technique and types of animations.
Onto of this he said that the pig sound i used is good because it wakes people up slightly as it is something that breaks the pattern and was not expected. But also that small detail sounds like background subtlety add to the viewers intrigue even if they don't fully realise that they have noticed the sounds they would just know that there is something that is working.
He did mention which i really like the idea of and will add to my show reel, that i could show the 3d design stages, such as the boat scene in my show reel i could show the wireframe render, and then the untextured version and then the textured version, he also mentioned that showing the lighting process and stages of creating this section would be good as well as it shows the viewers how i have created it in stages and the work behind it, gives a little bit of a behind the scenes feel, it also shows my current knowledge and understanding of the programme.

He then explained that with regards to the music i used for the showreel that he liked the song and said it is relevant however the ending fizzled out slightly and showed me in premier how i could slice sections of the song into each other, therefore if i found a section that would sound like it could be used as a lively ending sound that i could cut that section and try and stitch it to the end finding sounds that it could seamlessly fit in. And blend it in so that it ends a bit harder.
He also said with regards to my name tag and contact email at the end that it doesn't need to be as long and i could add more work in if i cut it down as the last frame that plays on screen will stay showing until the viewer clicks off.

we also got onto the topic of content aware fill in photoshop and making realistic movement animations using still images and the cloning tool and content aware fill in photoshop to make the back ground fill in where the moving elements were once state in. He sent me a link to this video to better understand it.

I found this quite interesting as i think it looks effective and is fairly simple and a quick trick for slow motion animation however this is also a similar technique and approach to technique that i have been working on with my work experience placement at fix 8 studio in stockport and this was also freshly relevant process that he explained clearly to me.

Another note i took from him was that if i wanted to make a video look old and jittery easy i could lower the frame rate of a video lower than that it was made in and this would give this effect.

He then went on to tell me some insight into his experience within the industry and career path. And explained that he first got work experience and then a job with Fresh Group and worked there for a while before going on to doing freelance work and he had built his client list up with people he had met at events or through education. He mentioned that connections like this is also how he gets people to help him do larger projects that require more than one person working on it.I found it interesting that as a freelancer he is also sometimes still working in studios when they require freelancers to come and help them on larger jobs swell and he explained that he uses his laptop and another screen monitor to do his work. He made his website in 2015 to advertise himself in order to receive this contact from clients.

His website is a good source of inspiration again when it come to thinking about my own form of self advertisement and i like the friendly inviting tone of the main page, which also explains clearly what services he offered as well as giving clear links to projects he has already created and a way of contacting him.
http://www.jw-motion.com

Overall the meet up with jack was enriching and he gave a lot of good advice for me. He also said that i could email him for advice for future projects and that when i have finished the project i am currently working on he would be interested to see what i have done with it.

Before the end of the meet up he also showed me some of his work that he made in his third year of university which i thought was really great to see his progression and also to see how he commented and reflected on his work. when thinking about my own work he also explained that employers don't mind if my work is not super amazing and as long as they know that i am interested and keen to learn and show a passion for the industry and creative approach and flow of work then that is what counts.
And said its always still good to go back and refine your work though.

Chris Moran Portfolio Crit Visit At The Neighbourhood

I arranged a visit to the neighbourhood studio in manchester with Chris Moran who is a senior animator and designer there.

As i have had time to make a start on my current project i showed him a short section of my first scene that i have rendered to see what his opinion and advice for improvement was on this.


          

He said he liked the style and the atmosphere created, and said the boat could sail even slower perhaps to allow the viewer to take in the environment more.
He sugested i look at Eran Hilleli's between bears piece for environment inspiration as he liked the fog i tried creating in my scene and said i could amplify this even more to create a stylised feel.

This is the piece he suggested i look at and the style that has been used is very simpler to what i have had in mind for my animation. I like the shapes that he has used to create the elements in the piece as well and will consider using this kind of technique in my work (with regards to hills and objects). 




I then showed him my show reel to have a look at Mathew Lucas's work (who is also a designer at The Neighbourhood).
He showed me some examples of his work on Giphy which could be used as inspiration for my current project as well as for sprucing up my show reel "floating world" section of the video, as he explained that Lucas uses Cinema 4D to make his work and just looking at the various bits of detail and stylisation he has included in his pieces could be a good way for me to decide on how i can improve some of the 3D pieces i have made:


via GIPHY



via GIPHY

via GIPHY

My Show Reel first attempt that i showed him:


Show Reel - Rachel Fielding from rachel on Vimeo.

some of the feedback he gave me for my showreel:
The floating world shot could do with some added detail such as perhaps the trees swaying and potentially more lighting, which are easy touch ups. As we'll with regards to the fact that i have used ink in water for some parts of my animation (such as the bird flying out of the ink) i should use the ink shapes as a wipe screen transition for my next shot, as this would create more of an interesting flow to the piece.
He also mentioned perhaps trying rubber hose in after effects for animating the character animation for my silhouette animation.
I watched this short simple intro tutorial to using this plugin and i like the effect it has and how simple it seems to use and will defiantly try this:


He also said to perhaps ease the movement of the orchard pig when it lifts its head up to make it more realistic and less robotic, and mentioned that easy key framing could help this. And said that he liked the fact that i used the sound effect for the pig at this point.
He showed my this piece that the neighbourhood has made for the saucy fish co campaign, as an example of using the rubber hose and also to look more closely at taking care to add little details to movement that give personality and create realism.
The Saucy Fish Co. Frozen 30" from The Neighbourhood on Vimeo.

Self Promotion

I have been looking at art and Graft's shorts to promote themselves where they show a small animation that displays their style, however climaxes to a self promotion logo.
I was considering doing something like this myself as a short self promotional style clip in which i would consider my brand name for myself and design a logo perhaps and then create a short  animation to promote this image.
Here are a couple of clips that Art And Graft has produced that inspired this idea:

Art&Graft Intro - Woodsman from Art&Graft on Vimeo.
Art&Graft Intro - Landscapes from Art&Graft on Vimeo.

Along with a brand name and logo i think of i could incorporate these into a website to promote myself also.

I decided to try making a logo ident for myself as a short promotion animation for my self and to also show a bit of my skills while doing so. I will possibly use this as an intro to my show reel when i come to making it (which i will use to send to employers when i come to looking for employment):


i drew up some quick designs as a guide line for how i want my logo to look and decided it would be best to see how i go when making them from this point onwards to decide on a final logo for myself:

I ended up with a combination for the logo designs in one using elements i liked the most from each one and chose the R and D logo as the main base as i liked how the shapes together made a connecting and curvy overall shape. I kept the colours simplistic but made the shine high to look good quality, because of this i decided to use cinema 4d.
This was the first render i made and although i thought it looked effective when i was modelling and key framing the animation, i decided that i didn't like how the yellow shape intersects the logo.



I came up with the idea for the animation because i wanted keep it simple as the logo is quite simple and i thought too much animation might over power this. the logo to have some kind of reveal which is why i had the shapes pull out from the background and then i thought the opposing spins the two shapes make worked well together and then they finalise at the end to make a balanced composition.

I re rendered the animation out after fixing this and this was the result:


I then took the logo footage into after effects and added the shadow strip across the centre of the design to add a bit of depth as it defines some of the shadows more (so it doesn't look as washed out) but with it only being small still keeps the logo nicely centred:



this is my first attempt at my showreel using this logo design at the beginning to establish myself.
I tried to keep the edits fast passed to keep the viewer enticed and wanted to see more and to make it look like there is lots of work to show. I used clips from practically all the pieces i have made since my first year on the degree to show the variety of work i have been able to produce with regards to the programmes i can use and the range of methods i have gained experience in. I still need to add sound and will use a song for the sound with potentially some of the original footage sounds underneath (such as the pig squeal in the orchard pig clip) to add a bit of depth. I will used an energetic and upbeat song in this to reflect my approach to this profession and my enjoyment and enthusiasm towards my work. In this video i also made sure i added my contact details along with my name and my position of study to provide viewers with some more information.


Vimeo:
My Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/user37010813

I have made myself a Vimeo account to use for my self promotion as this is a very effective and easy way to send my work off to other designers to look at or potential employers as it is a quick link i can give them to my videos lists or to a specific video (such as most likely, my show reel) and by doing this also offers the option for them to look at the rest of the work i have published on my vimeo. Its low file size to send a link and is quick to access and therefore would be less likely to off put people from looking at it.
To keep this professional and as a means of self promotion i have only included my finished projects on this site unlike my youtube account which i have put all sorts of making of clips/ first drafts of animation etc for me to use to upload onto my blog to talk about my exploration and progress within the projects and my work.

End of Year Exhibition:

Venue - Leaf Gallery :

Although this is being arranged by the college and students across multiple courses, this is going to be a good form of self promotion for my work and myself within the industry and to get myself some recognition potentially from employers.
To prepare for this opportunity to boast myself and promote my self as a designer i am going to have to consider what work i am going to show and how i am going to show it. I had in mind that what could work well for this depending on the space is potentially to have one of my pieces projected onto a wall to grasp peoples attention with some still prints around it and then have my show reel on a small screen near by and some business cards. Obviously i am going to have to visit the space that the work will be being displayed in and consider the size and lighting of the room that i will have to work with and will also have to consider that some compromise may have to be made as i will be sharing the space with other students as well.
Opting on displaying only one of my project pieces along side with my show reel (instead of multiple projects) allows me to celebrate this one piece more as i will have more space for it as opposed to if i displayed more than one project and will more likely catch peoples attention if i do this, and then i have the show reel which shows small elements from each of my projects through out the year which could hopefully create interest and make the viewers want to see more which is where the business cards with my contact details will hopefully come into play.

I am most likely at this point (unless my next project is better somehow), of using my utopia in decline project to display at my exhibition as it is the largest project i have had and i think probably the best piece of work i have produced on this course skill wise and would therefore be the best piece to show to sell myself. And also has the strongest theme that i based the project on. The title of this project i think creates intrigue and the style i have used is bold and so all these factors are good qualities for sticking in peoples minds and making my self recognisable and rememberable. This poster i have made for the project utopia in decline could be used as a good intro before the start of my animation and i could maybe animate this as well to swipe the text and boxes off either side of the screen and have the particles move away and swipe into the start of my animation as these particles are actually a still shot from my forest scene in my animation where the particles do move and so it is also relevant to the content of the animation.

I am going to visit the space at leaf gallery that i will be having to work with sometime in the near future to start getting an idea of how exactly i will be able to lay out my work in order to make appropriate preparations for this and keep on track with regards to what i need to produce in time for this. I have some time to prepare for this after my project deadline's as well and therefore will make any further adjustments on my project pieces that may need to be made even after the marking process of my work is done as the exhibition standards of my work could get me employed.


Business Card:
Another form of self promotion i have to consider is my business card, which i will be making available at my end of year show where i will be exhibiting work as the design on the card is something i need to consider as well because if people do end up taking my cards with them the design on the card could be the selling point that makes them remember my work or sell myself to remind people to potentially contact me.
i need to consider creating design that is relative to my style and recognisable to what the viewers will see of my work so that the connection will be made and this can be used as a signifier of myself and what my work was.

this is one of my first designs for the front of my business card:

I have so far chosen to start with using the particle shapes again that resemble those of the particles in the utopia in decline poster so that it relates to that piece of work and would be recognisable as my business card as an individual. I also like how the particles suggest movement as my profession is within the world of motion as a motion designer and animator.
I also like how the style is bold and shouts at the viewer to hopefully again make it stand out and be recognised by viewers.

I do think however that the style is a little bit too bold maybe and perhaps a bit too cluttered.
Another point i should take into consideration is that a lot of designers i have met have mentioned to me that it is good to see a female designer starting to join the industry (when talking about myself) and that there is a lot to be said in having a touch of femininity brought into the design process and approach to working. The style for this card is very masculine based with the straight edges shapes and strong colours and it could be worth toning it down slightly and trying to make this look slightly more feminine to reflect myself more truly and play up to this slightly although again without moving my self too far away from my own particular style (which i think probably does have a slightly more masculine feel overall) however i do also think that this is a good point to consider as it has been mentioned to me by multiple animators within the industry.

I also think that i should consider what it is that i call myself as thus far i have given myself the title of motion designer perhaps due to the fact that this is the course title that i am studying, however this is not necessarily what i need to declare myself as and i should consider how people would best recognise what work i am capable of creating and what it is that i do with regards to how i define myself.
Potential titles:
Motion Designer
Animator
Motion Graphic Designer
3d Designer
2D designer
3D/2D motion graphics
Motion Designer/Animator i think this is probably the best well rounded form of recognition for my self as it signifies to the majority of people what i do by saying i do animation as this is probably the most recognised title however by also saying motion designer it bring in the idea of the creative element and process towards my work whilst still signifying that i create motion pieces it still suggest i have an understanding of the foundations of the design process such how people would assume graphic designers would and this is an important aspect of what i do. (considering how thing looks nd work together and the rise en scene of my work/ also how i am portraying themes and feelings/moods in the piece and how i am communicating these across).

I have had a look at what some of the designers within the industry are calling themselves and how this reflects their nature of work in order to best consider how to define myself and my work:

Natalie work has a lot of character animation involved in it which i think is what most people do actually think of as well when the term animator is used.



Jack wood cocks style of work is reflected by his title i think as the work he showed me does involve a lot of graphic image pieces moving across screen and text motion as well.

Steve swan boroughs work does have an in-between quality to natalie and jacks work and therefore i would think that this is why he has defined himself as an animator and motion designer.

Business cards:

Show Reel - Rachel Fielding from rachel on Vimeo.

In my show reel now that i have finished my major project and my live brief project i am going to add more scenes to my show reel relevant to my current work for my end of year show as i have been told by designers that it is good to keep your show reel up to date as it makes you seem more active and proactive with the world.


Website:
I have set up a website using square space that i am going to use to promote myself on i will include ethos web address on my business cards for people to find my work on.