Portfolio Review- The Neighbourhood

Since visiting in the first half of this year, The Neighbourhood has been one of my favourite studios, not just in Manchester but also, in the country. This was due to their relaxed atmosphere, their friendly demeanour  as well as their professional attitude towards the work that they produce.
It was these reasons that i made sure that in the second half of this year, i had another Portfolio review with this company. As i have already talked about the studio and atmosphere in the previous visit, i will instead just talk about the advice given.

The last time that i had a Portfolio review with this company, i didn't have a showreel to hand and so, this time, i made sure that i had feedback on this particular piece. This is because a showreel is the first thing that most companies want to see, second maybe to the actual person that they are interested in hiring/ talking to.

As this was my first attempt at a showreel, i knew that their would be much room for improvement and so, i never feel disheartened when people criticise it.

The advice given to me was similar to that of the other companies, that the main flaw with my showreel is my choice of music. Although they all seem to like the Tron soundtrack, they say that the style and beat of the music doesnt suite the showreel. Axis animation said that it made my personality seem slightly angry however, they knew this wasnt true as i had been more than friendly when talking to them and emailing them. Jon (The Neighbourhood) said that the music was the wrong tempo for my piece as in order to fully pull it off, i would need a really fast edit and many more pieces of work in my arsenal.

This advice is something that i have been thinking about with my new showreel edit as, i feel that they are both right. That i need to have a slightly slower, more relaxed piece of music accompanying my piece in order to suite the piece and my personality.

Further advice was given about the order of the pieces within my showreel, that the first clip should be something graphically strong, which leads the audience into the piece. Jon's suggestion was to use a different part of my Apocalypse piece, that the ending (leading towards the city) would be a good piece to use as it is leading the audience into the rest of the showreel. I will heed this advice as i have been told by Axis as well that the opening clip should be different. There suggestion however, was the Condemned clip as it leads the audience whilst having a basic and strong graphic approach to the piece.

The final piece of advice which Jon gave was about the control screen test using Andy as the characters. He was interested in me breaking down the process which i used to create this screen. This is something that i will be doing in my Making-Of and so, i felt that a stand-alone piece on the screen would not be necessary, once my making of is completed.

All in all, i felt that the advice given was informative and positive in the criticism. I cant wait to start my 2 weeks within the company as then, they will be able to see my working method and get a better look at my character and friendly attitude. This is something that you cant achieve in a 20-60min portfolio review, its something that takes time.

What does the future hold?

For now, i am uncertain about my future within the industry. I have constant doubts about what i will be doing after this course has finished. For a while now, i have been apprehensive and have been wanting to get out of education. Now that i have spent 19 years of my life in education, i feel that its time for me to move on. Many people enjoy the environment of working towards something however, i have gotten bored of this and want to progress.
    The only down-side to this, is that after this final year, i no longer know what i want to do. Dont get me wrong, i want to carry on working in the moving image industry however, i am unsure of what area of design i want to work in.

In all honesty, i think that i want to move to Glasgow and work for Axis Animation however, i am untrained in the programs they use and i also feel that i am not at that level in my design skills. I know that people dont expect new graduates to be the 'dogs bollocks', however, i dont think that i am at a stage to do this at all. Maybe, once i have developed my design skills to meet this criteria and maybe, when i dont have to work towards to confines of what i need to do to pass my degree, i will be able to let my creative juices flow and create something short and sweet that people will say 'wow'.
I know that the criteria in my degree aims to help me meet the marks and will subsequently, help me during jobs when pitching and working for clients and so, i dont want to seem ungrateful with my degree, i just want to progress. Everything that has happened and everything that will happen is in fact, down to the choices that i have made, the people i have met and the goals that i want to achieve.

Lets hope that i get there in the end.

Design opportunities

From looking around this week, as well as my mother being a super sleuth, I hopefully have two separate opportunities coming my way.

The first, is the Possibility that I have work for a family friend called perry from grassington. This however is not the exciting part of this arrangement as his best friend is a gent called Lee Munden, a director who has worked for Coca-Cola, Sony as well as a variety of other things. From working for Perry, I will be gaining contact with this valuable resource.

The second opportunity is from York and is the possibility to meet up with a guy called Alan Welsman, the European marketing director for Disney. Although i don't know how far this contact could go, I'm still quite excited about the opportunity.

Lastly, (I know I said 2 but why not) I have been offered to work at The Neighbourhood for 2 weeks commencing the 23rd May. This will last for 2 weeks when I am working towards my end of year show. Let's see if these help me with putting my foot in the door of industry.

Axis Animation Portfolio Review

When i was looking at companies which i would have been interested in looking at, one of them was in Glasgow and i was willing to travel up in order to see them. As a company, they seemed really interested in having me up however, due to work loads on both ends, we decided that it would be best for them to look at my work online and then go for a visit after my course had finished. I thought that the idea of visiting them after my course had finished would show that i wasn't just wanting to visit them for my uni work but instead because i was interested in themselves as a company.


After having many conversations with Jill Wallace (production manager) and Stuart Aitkin, my showreel was then passed on to one of the directors Wiek.


Hi Rory,

I've asked one of our directors Wiek to have a look at your reel. Here's his comments :

The duration of your reel is pretty much spot on, not too long, not too short. Your choice of music I find slightly aggressive (despite loving the TRON soundtrack), but that's obviously personal taste. I think it is a good idea to get something of your own personality in your music choice. Are you a cheerful person, are you a calm or hyperactive person etc. It might seem trivial, but it's all about the impression you give somebody with your personal message. The reel sells you as a person and an artist. So that's why I think an aggressive sound track doesn't work unless you have really quick edits of fast bombastic shots. 

I'm not sure it is relevant to anybody watching the reel to see the quick shots of the software you used. It is much more interesting for people to see what you have made with it. Talent is what it's about. Although having said that its useful to run a card at the end naming the software you've used, as well as your contact details, email, weblink etc for the purposes of studios being able to get more info on you, or contact you easily.

When it comes to the visuals of your reel, It is very important to start with your very best piece and end with an equally strong one. It's all about first impressions and leaving people with a nice dessert. As it is, I am not sure what you're trying to achieve with the first shot. I'd suggest for instance, using the "condemned" part or the footage of you drawing the explosion. They are much more graphic and stronger pieces.

As it stands, I'm not sure what your reel is selling you as, artist or designer as there's quite a mixture on there. Overall I think you should really think to yourself, what is it I want to do, what is it I am best at? Focus on that. Really try to create something special and impressive that makes people go WOW. And as with most things, that means working really really hard and put in lots of personal hours. Look around at showreels of people that you admire via cg sites/forums, vimeo, you tube channels. What is it you like about them, do you feel your work is as good as theirs. If it isn't, why not? What can you do make it better in terms of quality ?

I think the best advice I can give you is to ignore the idea of passing exams at your school with projects that are "ok". You have to stand out from the crowd. You have to set yourself an ambitious goal and really really go for it. It doesn't mean you have to create something long, on the contrary, create something that looks stunning. 2 seconds of stunning stuff are worth much more than 5 minutes of mediocre drivel. The 2 seconds are all you need to impress. 

All the best!!

I hope this is useful Rory and good luck!!

Jill

From reading this, i agree with the comments that he has left and will re-edit my showreel in order to take the advice of what has been said. I hadn't thought about the soundtrack in the way of showing my personality however, if this is the impression that people get from using this style of music, i dont want to be perceived as being hyperactive or even aggressive.

The use of opening and closing my showreel with strong pieces is a good idea however, i was surprised with the reaction to my making-of's being in my showreel. They weren't meant to show the programs i use but instead to show the construction of the pieces, a little something different. Taking this advice on, as well as the advice i received from Claire at Mainframe, i will create a separate showreel that uses my making-of's as the focus.

Overall, i think that the advice that i am receiving in my third year is much more critical and useful that what i was receiving in the other years and this is a good thing. It will allow me to move forward as a designer and into industry without as much worry.

Portfolio review 1

Rather soon after posting a rant that i had about Portfolio visits and reviews, i have found a light at the end of the tunnel. Although faint, i am hoping that this light will burn a little brighter.

When we went down to London, I emailed many companies and some of them offered online reviews of my work, others cancelled on the day and others were an out right NO. Dont pass GO, don't collect any sort of feedback.

Although its been a while, i have finally got a reply on my work from no other than Mainframe (London).

I had already been to the manchester branch of this company and i thoroughly enjoyed the experience however, i wanted to see where the roots of this company lay. Although unable to go round the studio, i did speak to Emma Philips on the phone about my aspirations for industry, that i wanted to work for a company who were interested in all sides of the Industry, 3D and After Effects. Although she wasn't able to talk for long at the time, she was interested in what i said and agreed to look at some of my work online.

Weeks and weeks then went past without any sort of communication however, i have recently received an email talking about my showreel and how i can now improve my work to help get the foot in the door of the industry.

Hi Rory, 

Thank you for sending this through. 

I think that the 3D stuff at the beginning of your reel is great - I would try and show more of that as you obviously are good in this area. 

When we look for staff / freelancers we look for their strength be it animation, 3D,  comping....you should try and hone in on your skills and what you want to be employed doing. When you have your foot in the door somewhere then you can start broadening your strengths and showing off in other areas. 

Instead of such a broad showreel - try and have a couple for your different skills and then you can send these accordingly...

I hope that this helps! 

Good luck! 

Emma 

This is rather interesting advice when thinking about the showreel. Having multiple showreels, one for each area of design that i do work in, is something that probably seems like more work however, it is good advice. I am interested in both 3D and After Effects work. I have especially liked building the display for my control screen and so, i feel that a separate showreel for this style of work will be useful. I also feel that with my online work, i dont have to opportunity to show my ideas generation and sketchbook work. My sketchbooks are something that i have pride in as they show that i can generate multiple ideas and plan out visually what things can look like. 

This email has given me an idea, maybe I should have a sketchbook showreel, showing ideas and how they develop into final looks in my piece. Essentially, it will be a showreel of my 'making-of's'.

Portfolio rant

As part of our third year, we have a requirement which states that we need to have 6 portfolio reviews by the end of the course, 3 in the first term and another 3 in the second part of the year.

Although i have sent out many emails and rang even more companies, i have found that a lot of companies either hang you dry, lead you on or just don't reply to anything you send them. This is rather disheartening when you think that, without these visits and reviews, i wont be able to pass my course and will subsequently walk away without a degree.

This is something which i feel is where the industry could improve. I have found that many companies, although successful, aren'y helpful when people are trying to put their foot in the door and make some contacts. Dont get me wrong, some of them are beyond helpful. They will let many of us talk about our work and are usually happy to give feedback on where you could be heading.

When i am a part of the industry, working for a company or even later on in my life, when i have settled down and am happily working away, i think that i want to be one of those people that will help put an end to this rut that i am in. I would be happy to talk to anyone about their work as well as how they could improve.

Lets just hope that i can get the opportunity.

Nexus Productions

After visiting Tandem Films, the majority of us then moved on to a company called Nexus.
Considering we had just come from Tandem Films, i found myself constantly comparing this
company and its work to Tandem. This however, wasn't a bad idea as the whole point of us visiting companies is to see where we want to be after we graduate.

Nexus, unlike Tandem, was much more hectic in both the amount of people working there and the amount of jobs they had on at one time. This meant that, although there were many people in the building, a lot of them had their head down, working on different projects and not collaborating with their peers. This seemed a tad too stuffy for me as there was tension in the air.
When we got into the building, we were initially escorted downstairs into a room which resembled the inside of a piece of extruded geometry. Lots of lines and angles filled the room which was used as a meeting area for clients as they had a large LED TV and hidden surround sound system. This room could also be used for conference calls.

The good thing about this company is that they, like Tandem, have the ability to make all the models for any stop frame animations in house. This workshop was located next to the meeting room which meant that when we were being shown to this room, we were able to have a sneak peek at some current models.

This company was spread out across four separate floors. The basement was the workshop and meeting room, The ground floor was sued for reception and some work stations. Im assuming that a fair bit of the accounting and promotion is done on this floor. The first floor had various design stations spread out around a single massive room. This was where we spent most of our time, talking to a few of the  members of staff however, this wasnt where my interest lay with this company. It was the top floor that sparked my interest as it was almost like being inside of a smaller company, housed inside this larger one. This floor was taken up by 3 freelancers who, for all intensive purposes, were part of the Nexus team as they had worked with them on various projects. This crew of motley men reminded me of myself and Steve in foundation year, a group of guys who were easy to talk to, knew how to take a joke and seemed at home with their environment. These guys were fun to talk to and didnt mind us playing with their stuff (small models created for animations). This made talking to them and asking them questions much easier as they were happy to help and seemed quite layed back.

All in all, i felt that Tandem films was more interesting and more informative however, the top floor of Nexus had something about it, something more natural and appealing. With this in mind, i feel that i would like to work for either a smaller/ more compact company where the atmosphere is relaxed and everyone works together OR i wouldnt mind working in a larger company but as a small group within that company. This would mean closer bonds are formed and you would feel more like an equal and less like a cog in a machine.

Tandem Films

(click the logo to visit the website)

Recently, the moving image crew (well 2nd and 3rd years anyway), went to London in order to see some companies and have a perusal at their work and the environments in which they work. The first company that we went to visit was a delightful place called Tandem films. You may recognise their work as they produce the Simon's Cat animations.

Although i knew some of the work that Tandem Films produced, i wasn't familiar with the style and various other pieces of work that they have produced. This meant that whilst visiting their company, i had a welcome surprise when i found them both fun and interesting to talk to.

Tandem Films produce work ranging from stop motion to 3D which means that they have a broad range of skills within their department that allow them to accept work with various requirements.

Although from the front this building seems compact, it is in fact a lot like Narnia. Upon entering the building, you soon realise there is a lot of depth to the building. This space extends out into a glass roofed area in which all the work areas are. Due to all the glass, it can get rather hot inside the building resulting in many sun umbrella's around the work areas. I had never seen this done before, especially within a design studio and it was these kooky elements that made this company stand out. They knew how to have fun whilst also being very professional.

Further surprises were in store when they took us all downstairs. This area covered the same as the ground floor however, all of the technical items were kept here. They practically had their own tv studio down there with many possibilities. This was due to their infinity wall which can be painted to be used as a green screen or blue screen or whatever coloured screen they wanted. They also had a sound proof room which can be used for folie work for their animations.

It is this ability to have all the work produced in-house that makes Tandem films a tight nit team who can produce projects as varied as they do, whilst not loosing out on time renting rooms and equiptment out for projects.

In the beginning...

In order to update my blog, i will work through all the things i intended to put up, from sketchbook 1 to sketchbook 3. This will then give me something to work by. I will also be adding various other posts including tests and maybe a couple of my sketchbook pages so that you get the idea of how i work.

DVEIN

When i first decided to use realflow as the basis of my animation, i automatically thought of Dvein. This studio, based in Barcelona, uses Realflow in order to create some realistic looking fluids which are aesthetically pleasing and have the ability to be controlled, without ruining the look or feel of them.

I first came across Dvein in the first year as they did the animation for the Diesel Fashion show. It was here that i was introduced to programs that control fluids. Although this interested me, i never thought that i would be doing the same thing in my final year.



This showreel from 2007 shows some of the earlier work by Dvein. Their use of contoured shapes and fluid like textures helps create an environment in which anything seems possible. Various elements within their pieces have helped me in creating my own environment and the main focus of the piece, the globule.

There work has progressed from this year, moving on to more complicated fluid(esqe) designs and due to technological advancements, the fluid had more dynamism and character.




The use of fluids are something which u really want to develop as i feel that they are yet another skill set which can improve my work. I have always found the use of fluids and the ideas behind them fascinating, the way they flow and act, almost independently of real world forces, is interesting and now that i know of various ways (programs) which can realistically show these fluids in action, at whatever frame rate i wish.

This is definitely a program which i will carry on using after i graduate. I wonder what i will be able to achieve with more time to play with controls.

Studio AKA- feedback

Thankyou for your swift reply, even during this busy christmas period.

I feel that the responses given will help me in refining these pieces in order to make a better, more professional portfolio.

Considering your input for the smile for london (silent version), i had already changed the interior to make the environment less muted when creating the version with

music added. I also rendered out a silent version of this piece but felt that i could still show the changes just by adding the music version. In regards to the music, how, may i ask, do you

suggest i make it less over-powering?

Much appreciated, 

Rory Snaddon

---

Subject: Rory Snaddon 2nd Year Moving Image Student @Stockport College
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 13:02:27 +0000
From: ren@studioaka.co.uk
To: rory_snaddon@hotmail.com

Hello Rory,

I have checked out your 5 videos and these are my comments and personal responses.

I do not know the briefs and time scale of all your work at college so just take on board what is useful to you.

Post Apocalypse Project. Intriguing imagery and a project worth doing and developing further. Good compositors are always sought after in post production companies.

Smile Competition. Clyde and Friends Version. I liked the volume increasing as the doors open but found the actual music overpowered the animation.

Smile Competition. Silent version. I liked the final character taking over full screen in the train doors. The London underground train is a good device to reveal the animated story. Felt there was not much depth to the interior landscape and a very muted colour palette – was this by design?

Ident /Sky 1.

Collaboration Project. Well documented and looked like great fun. Moments when peripheral information crept in added interest to the film – chairs, projector light, people sitting. Abrupt ending to me?

Hope these comments are of some help and the rest of your course at Stockport goes well.

Best regards,  Ren

Renato Pesci/Production Coordinator

From: Rory Snaddon [mailto:rory_snaddon@hotmail.com] 
Sent: 20 December 2010 13:24
To: Ren Pesci
Subject: Online content

Sorry for the late reply, i was busy sorting out my current project and lost track of emails.

If its still ok for yourself to give me some feedback on my work, then here is the link

to my vimeo account,

http://vimeo.com/user5168414/videos

Yours Sincerely

Rory Snaddon

These are the emails, sent back and forth between myself and Ren Pesci as part of my Studio AKA feedback. Within this email, i found that alot of the feedback has helped me to see where my skills are dipped. With this feedback, i will hopefully be able to take this into my stead and adapt the work already done as well as apply it to my Final Major Project.

Online Critique

As i was unable to get my final Portfolio visit, due to cancellations and massive work loads from companies, i instead decided that i would send out some e-mails with links to my Vimeo account. This way, i would be able to get feedback on my work without taking up mass amounts of time for the companies.

This type of feedback was offered to me by 2 companies, both of which i applied for visits to however, they weren't able to oblige. These were Man Vs Machine and Studio AKA.

http://www.manvsmachine.co.uk/

This company produces a wide range of work, mainly idents and short animations for events. It is, however, in these snippets, that we can see the full potential of this company. Lets hope that the feedback that i get off of them will be helpful.

The second company which i emailed is Studio AKA. The link to the website as well as a link to the previous Blog post i have already done.

http://www.studioaka.co.uk/


http://rorysnaddonmi.blogspot.com/2010/09/studio-aka.html

Have a gander : )

Revisiting and Refining

This is about the work which i have been doing over the past couple of days, leading up to the deadline on Monday.

As my competition deadline was on Wednesday, it meant that as we had the group crit on the monday, i had the rest of the day as well as the tuesday to finish my piece. I did, surprisingly, and enjoyed every second of doing it, other than the uploading of the video. Since then, i have shown the piece to Rick and have decided on a few things within the piece that we can change.

Its all about the Easing.

I have changed elements to both the Maya part of the piece, as well as the AE composite for the imaginary world within the train. As there are 3 separate layers within my piece, Back - Mid- Fore Ground, i have had to tweak each of the layers in order of the whole thing to be in keeping with each other.

This has meant that my workings out have also been developed within my sketchbook, with new sections revisiting old things in order to make the best of the time i have.

Alongside this, i have also revisited my Post-apocalyptic piece, in order to tweak a few areas which will hopefully mean that the piece will feel better as its being viewed. The tweaks have been suggestions which myself, tutors and Companies (Portfolio visits) have suggested. I hope that this will make the piece look more aesthetically pleasing. I have also gone back over the research and storyboards and annotated them so that the viewer has a better understanding what they are seeing,

Group Crit feedback

This image is a page from my sketch book and, you guessed it, this page is about the group crit that we had. The feedback which i got is in the bottom right corner of the page and is various feedback from the entire group. I initial dismissed some of the ideas however, made sure that others were thought about, decided upon and then executed.

This then helped develop my piece in order to make it look better and more accessible to an audience. The entry that i  made into the competition used all of the points above (not the ones crossed out though) and now, i am developing the piece further for the final hand in.

The Neighbourhood Studio Visit

The other week, myself and 2 others took a visit to The Neighbourhood for a Portfolio visit. This was the second studio that i had visited this year, and it was also only he second studio in which i had visited in Manchester.

The Neighbourhood had recently moved to a new Studio, after spending many years in the same Studio as Love Creative. This new studio worked for them as it allowed them to show their ideas and imagination within the studio environment. This was seen via the table made out of books and the old style chairs, both in the waiting area and the presentation room. This was then mixed with the modern style of open space, clean lines and exposed pipes. This style allowed us to feel more comfortable as we were talking about the environment and joking about the gnome within the waiting area.

The Portfolio visit was within the main presentation room and was taken by Sarah the Project Manager, Jon the creative Director and Stewart who is the main animator and a huge enthusiast for everything 3D. Although there were 3 of them, this wasnt daunting as the environment and atmosphere was quite relaxed. Whilst there, they were asking us many questions to do with our futures, what and where we want to be once we graduate. We were also asked what area of Moving Image we work in and want to work in. Once we explained our working environment and that we were able to explore our imaginations with Stop Frame, compositing, flash, 3D and even Matchmoving, they were surprised by what mediums we were able to work with.

After having a chat and many drinks offered to us, we eventually got down to showing our work. As the first to show my work, i wanted to show them a wide range of work that i can produce, that i dont just work in a single program. I also didnt want to take up mass amounts of the time we had there and so decided to show a maximum of three pieces. The first was the colaboration piece which we created in the second year. The reason for showing this as it allowed them to see both a working method and the fact that i can illustrate and draw out my ideas. As the piece was rather long in length, i was explaining the idea behind the project and the delivery method that we chose for the exhibition. They all seemed to like the idea and the style of the piece. the next piece that i showed was the Sky 1 Ident that i created. This is a short piece and shows how an idea can start off small and grow to a final piece. Again, i explained the idea and the brief for the project, as well how i wanted to incorporate the different programs shown on Sky 1 into the Ident. Again they seemed to like this and the fact that they kept on replaying the piece to have another look at it, seemed to give me hope.

The final thing i showed, i decided instead of showing the post apocalyptic piece i had just made, i would instead show my current sketchbook for the Smile For London brief. The reason i chose to do this is because i had already gotten constructive criticism from Mainframe for this piece and felt that i would just be given the same advise. Luckily for me, Jon was a huge fan of sketchbooks and sat there quietly, flipping through the pages as the rest of us had a chat about various things. Although i didnt get any advise for my sketchbook, i feel that by showing it, it allowed them to see that i was competent in writing down ideas, developing them, and then sketching them out to help in the creation of my final piece.

At the end of all of us showing our work, we were treated to a view of some of Stewarts work. He had just been using Studio 3D, post production, in order to change a pop up book he created so that it worked on their 3D TV. This was a good experience as it was an insight into the current direction of the industry and that The Neighbourhood is ahead of the commercial industry in what they are doing.

This company is somewhere in which i would be interested in working, or aiming for after graduation. They are a distinguished company in which i would be able to see a project from start to finish, which is something that i want. They are passionate about their work and this was especially clear in Stewart who, when talking about 3D, gets increasingly excited and would happily talk for hours about the subject. It is this level of enthusiasm, after many years in the industry, which i want to have and at a company like the Neighbourhood, this would be possible

Something Lurking

Whilst i was having a play with some abandoned items at Uni the other day (in order to create my animated world), i decided that it would be good to find other pieces of work which use objects to tell a story. Although its on a bit of a tangent, this idea was to use toy characters to tell a story and pass on a message. This is what they created.

Created by Psyop for LG

The reason why this piece is so interesting for me, is that they are using techniques which i would like to become more familiar with. The use of us compositing in order to create something which is aesthetically pleasing is a technique which i would like to get better at as i feel it will help me in  becoming more accessible to companies. Although this is probably Matchmoving, i feel that the style can be applied to other mediums and is something i will play with in this project, as well as other ones, maybe even the Final Major project.

Why wasn't it on here sooner?

Thats the only question to really ask about this next entry. I have been raving about it for months and months and is one of the only ways in which i can ESCAPE from the real world (in the sanest way possible). I Love this game and all that comes with it : )



The above video is the trailer for the first game. This game allowed millions to relive an almost childhood time, allowing you (by this i mean me) to let go of the world and create little characters and place stickers everywhere, without having to  deal with consequences. This was something different for the video gaming generation, taking many gamers away from hyper real battlefields and into a world created using thoughts and dreams. The fact that Stephen Fry narrates it as well, may just be the cherry on the cake.



With the utter joy that i express for the first one, who knows what ill be like with this sequel. Although it is no longer "original", who cares...No one is the answer. This video, as well as the music, excites me in ways which cant be described. I haven't been more excited for a game to be released than this one.

Now that you know how i feel about this, lets get down to the official side of it.

With my current brief (Smile for London) being about escapism, especially as, according to the brief, commuters in London are dull and gloomy after the festive period and need a smidge, then what helps me escape could be relevant to them as well. The style of these games excites me as a designer. The use of simple shapes and pattern, along with simple design, allows for the complexities of the Little Big Planet world to shine through. Within the adverts, they describe it as a handmade adventure. The idea of handmade is something which definitely sounds like fun. This is also a good way to see whether the style will work before the production. Within the second trailer, they also use the words 'Digital Puppetry'. Although this seems to have been done recently as well within the CS5 launch trailer, the use of puppet elements would be something fun and interesting to play with.

Puppets? Strings? Are they practical within a 3 week period?

Portfolio Visit

Today, myself and the one called Steve, visited the lovely little company called Mainframe within the boundaries of manchester. This portfolio visit was my first of the year and even stranger, my first within Manchester, so, exciting in 2 ways.

The company is separated between London and Manchester, with this this one being the smaller of the two. We were met by our contact Chris within their studio which seemed welcoming as well as practical. Due to the stresses of deadlines and work coming in, he could only spare roughly half an hour with us both however, this was enough time for us both to show some of our better pieces as well as getting some critical feedback from Chris. 

I showed Chris my Cross Pathway project, Sky 1 Ident as well as my current piece along with the making of video which accompanies it. I pointed out some of the 'Easter Eggs' within the Sky 1 Ident which are there for fans of the channel and its Sci-Fi programs. I showed the latest piece that i did at the end of the Visit as i thought that this would show a progression and my ideas of experimentation with other programs as well as working through my ideas. 

The feedback that i got on this piece was to go back and edit it so that it runs a lot smoother. This includes things which i already knew as well as some suggestions which i had overlooked. The beginning of the animation, the live action video piece, needs to be edited in order for it to run smoother. My own suggestion was to expand the video as it is larger than the comp, then i can choose a point within this area and make sure that it keeps along the edge of the comp. This will then make the transition between video and animation smoother. This was then agreed upon during the constructive criticism, however, that i should expect further tweaking in order to make the transition even smoother. It is these, little things that professionals will look out for. Even though i can build things in 3D, i need more skills in order to stand out above the rest of the rabble.

This same level of tweaking will need to be done throughout the latter part of the animation, the part which needed to be changed anyway as the change in video length caused the animation to jump. My plans for this is to go back and change the video length within Maya and re-map the camera to this new frame length. This will then cut out the jumping within the animation and hopefully, allow the city to reveal itself the way that i want it to (without the James Cameron style of editing) : )

Whilst at this portfolio visit, myself and Steve both took it upon ourselves to ask some questions about the industry and the work that comes in. This included asking about, whether they, as a company, can see a project from beginning to end due to there size?

As they are a relatively small company compared to ones within London, they have the ability to see the projects which they take on from beginning to end which is something that i like. This is because they are all working on it instead of working on specific areas and not seeing the finished product until the end. This is something, within the industry which i would like to be able to do. This would allow for a wider range of things to be done as apposed to doing the same thing day in and day out.

Is there any techniques which we could use in order to make more realistic camera movement?

Chris told us that, if you want a camera going down a 3D corridor, the best thing to do would be to grab a camera, go and film what you want within the corridor and then, take the footage into an editing program (AE) and track the camera movement. This will then produce realistic camera movement which will look and feel right.

       Another way to do something similar is to hire out a tracking rig and crew for a couple thousand a week/day, something on them lines anyway. I think i may try the cheaper one in all honesty.

Whilst im talking about Mainframe, i may as well throw in their showreel.

Lumiere Studios

Yet another company based in Soho, London. This company produces a large variety of work including advertisement, short films, music videos as well as event graphics. They are a company who used 2D and 3D graphics, VFX and motion graphics.

Although i am unsure about how many people work within this company, the website indicates that they are looking to expand and are constantly looking for freelance artists to join their team for specific projects.

When looking through Lumiere's catalogue of work, i am unable to see anything specific which they are proud of however, there are certian things which i recognise such as the Carbury's creme egg ad and the Ford focus 'plasma' ad.

I am unsure of any awards that this studio has won, however, they were sought after for the second series of 'Rome', specifically for there ability to create flowing liquid as realistic as needed.

This again, is another studio in which i was familiar with their work before i knew the company. As i watched 'Rome' and have seen many commercials on TV, i was bound to see their work and it was by happenstance that i stumbled upon them when researching companies.

WeAreSeventeen

Again, this is another studio which i have written a contact report about, however, i have also had a portfolio visit with them once before and they were interested in seeing my work as it developed. This meant that they were happy for me to come back for another portfolio visit later on, hence why i shall be writing more about there studio and work.

WeAreSeveneteen are a London based studio just off Chancery Lane. The studio is a small area, comprising of 2 rooms, one for work, the other seemed to be more of a relaxation room as the second time i went, alot of the people in that day were stood around eating and relaxing.
They produce work based around adverts and Idents. This is a step away from what i really want to do however, i still find their work interesting on a professional level.
This, being a smaller company, only has 3 main staff, 2 of which founded the company whilst the 3rd came along soon after. Although there main staff is small, their work area includes many other stations in which freelancers can work.

From looking at the website, as well as speaking to them directly, it seems that they are proud of a fair few pieces of their work. This included their work for Universal Channel and ABC1. These two projects were both briefs which they fought for instead of being commissioned to do them.

They were international clients and they spoke passionately about both of these projects, in both the studio visit and the portfolio visit when they were helping me over come problems with my own work.

I am unsure whether they have won any awards for their work however, they seem to get a steady stream of work which is something any company can be happy to recieve. 

I was unaware of any of the work that WeAreSeventeen produced before the studio visit however, since then, i have kept my eye on what they are doing and have often thought back to their constructive criticism with my work in order to produce better, more industry worthy work.

GlassWorks

This company was founded in 1996 by CEO Hector MacLeod and is based in Soho, London. As well as this office, Glassworks also has offices in Amsterdam. 


'Glassworks was launched as a modern post-production facility supplying high-end digital animation and visual effects expertise for the production of creative content, from award-winning commercials to film, promos and digital material'


Glassworks currently have 60 staff using the best equiptment to produce their work. These include  6 Flames, 3 Smokes, 5 Flints, Telecine, 2 Avids, 1 Final Cut Pro suite, 40 3D stations (30 seats in London and 10 in Amsterdam) and a Shake Farm. 


It seems that Glassworks are proud of a large variety of their work and their client base includes companies such as Guiness, Sony Ericcson, Pepsi and Sprite. They also produced the music video for Bjork's 'All is full of Love'





http://www.glassworks.co.uk/3D

Glassworks have won many awards, including a BAFTA, several Cannes Lion awards, a couple of D&AD's and even an MTV awards for best SFX in a video, given for the one above.

Yet again, with such impressive work, i knew this company from its work as opposed to its name, most notable, the Bjork video and the Churchill ads. There portfolio of work also includes numerous other things some of which i recognise, others i dont. Its good to see a company with a large range of work which the client has been pleased with in order for them to return numerous times.