Premise Reflective Statement

Even from my most primitive premise work, I had already outlined a general idea for this project and my year three final outcome. By focusing on environments and characters, I wanted to evoke strong feelings of wanderlust, mystery and curiosity by exploring magic realism, immersion and escapism. All whilst heavily inspired by music. I aimed to explore my ability creating authentic, meaningful and detailed stories that transport a viewer into a new world. I wanted to achieve these goals with a balance between narrative, and on-screen 3D visuals. Carefully crafting and overseeing all areas of the animation/ production pipeline. I enjoyed how this project was self-initiated, being the first academic opportunity for complete artistic freedom. The year three roadmap is malleable and I therefore indulged in my interests and soft world building. 

Investing in an iPad hugely benefitted the volume of digital drawing I conducted for this project. I was able to create more comfortably without the limitations of a desk. Drawing was no longer a chore, which is how it felt for Fantastic Voyage. This has therefore been a great opportunity to develop my illustrative skills, but I still feel weighted by the need for reference. I think my character gestures and expressions are restrained my by lack of skill. I hope to develop my drawing skills through the summer through life drawing and hopefully gain a stronger personal style to distinguish myself apart from my influences (Simon Stalenhag and Hayao Miyazaki). 

Workshops including Maya and Substance Painter programmes boosted my confidence to conduct independent tests. I chose to model a little glowing spirit character and a Mortar & Pestle, getting very successful results that I'll directly use in my year three animation. I think my modelling skills have improved since the fantastic voyage project; I focused on good quality geometry made from quads that didn't rely on 'smooth preview' for desired cosmetic appearance. 

I've already grown attached to Adobe Substance Painter from just a few workshops. From the success of my Mortar & Pestle model, I see myself utilising this program to model many other assets for my final animation. 

Feedback from my presentation outlined my extremely ambitious animatic, but I look forward to condensing my ideas and creating a narrative enriched with character building and world building that's even shorter and even sweeter! I also look forward to working with a composer to elevate my story even further. 

I never envisioned a target audience. Instead, this project was a manifestation of my childhood ideas as a maladaptive daydreamer. I therefore felt extremely vulnerable when presenting my project work. This has, however, been an amazing time of self discovery and I've finally acknowledged my passions. Overall, this has been my favourite CAA project, it's been very fulfilling. 

Please find my Careers Pack reflective statement on Basecamp.