I think that in the time given to us, we achieved quite a lot as a team, as our animation is quite long. For a movie intentionally designed with two different mediums, the style between Lilith and Sandy in both 2D and 3D look coherent with each other, which really helped separate the dreams from reality.
This was the first movie where I have ever had to work with any other people, so I was very fortunate to be given a large team where I could experience lots of different people's levels of leadership, work ethic, emotional/ health related capabilities and also thanks to covid 19, what it's like to work with people without meeting with them. I really jumped in to the deep end.
We were lucky to have a very good voice recording cast as well as good contacts for both audio and external studio spaces, which were very useful as it was none of our expertise. In other works, I've done all of these roles myself or used free non copy right sites. And though talking with new people is nerving, Naomi and Charlie gave me a good glimpse in to a real industry setting.
We didn't use the external studio space for the 3d in the end but it was reassuring knowing the guys had it up their sleeve in case of harsher lockdown that might have closed the uni during shooting.
Besides the filming, I think a problem that covid caused was going home in December, because I found it difficult to tell people to get a move on without being face to face. And this meant that it left Naomi and Ayesha with a lot of work at the end of the project. Throughout the project I just silently took work off of other people until it got to the point where I was then the one who felt over worked. There was a large portion of the production where I felt a little cheated but I soon realised that people like Naomi were working hard on planning notes for the art book and organising folders and things we don't all really see in credits of a big production. So I'm grateful for all of what everyone has done.
By the end of production, I did feel kind of like the Director of the movie. Lots of the art directions went through me before it was added (mostly because I was changed to the 'Art Director' right near the end of production) , but also I helped with the writing. And because of my position as the designer and animator, I knew what everyone was doing and their well being at home during covid. So I knew what everyone could and couldn't manage to do during this production and tried to help people adjust accordingly. It was nice being able to help the group even if it was a little draining and not a role I intended to take.
Sometimes I think I should have said something but I'm very weak about hurting people's feelings or causing panic and stress. For instance, I don't think our editing was finished. I think some shots like the dance I made longer so it could be cut in editing but it wasn't cut and just dragged in. Mat mentioned getting rid of the wires in vfx, which I personally wouldn't know how to do but I agree possibly should have. Mat also mentioned a vignette lighting effect to make the stop motion less white. And I made room for some fading transitions. But in the end, we did cut the 2D very close to the deadline and that is in part my fault as the middle man of the animation for not pushing people to hand in on the deadlines I gave them. So it's not really his fault when he had a day to insert the last two shots.
WWW:
- Team work
- We finished an almost 4 minute short film!!
- Coherent characters between 2D and 3D
- Good lip sync
- Lots of industry experience I was yet to witness
- I tried very hard keeping people up to date with what I was doing and where I was at. The schedule was updated every day.
- I was on top of the group and their abilities and home environments and emotions.
EBI
- The schedule was more what we did when we did it. I think we needed deadlines.
- Group communication was lacking until the end. I felt like I wasn't answered very regularly when I had a question.
- Tell someone if I'm not happy. Don't struggle in silence
SKILLS TO TAKE AWAY
- Masking shading!!! Awesome for both animation and not outside of uni.
- Working in a team
- Knowing how to be a Director? Even though I wasn't the official director, I felt like a big role in the direction of this film
- Knowing how to limit what I take on - I think I've done a lot of work in a lot of areas now and I know my limits. Between writing, designing, scheduling, reassuring team members, animating - I know I didn't enjoy the lip sync even though I copied Ayesha's sketch layer for the majority of it , and i didn't like writing in the art book.
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