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.
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.
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