Artist Lecture #2: Sarah Perkins

Overall Sarah Perkins was work in metals was interesting however how she went about her

presentation turned me off a little. The was she spoke of her work she sounded like she wasnt enthusiastic about. Only in a few pieces did she sound like she actually liked her work. But I think was the issue was she just not good at public speaking. However her a lot of her work incorporated a lot of the human body but you couldn't tell because it was just a regular teapot or a cup. She also uses occasional color in was that represent small facets of the body such as an organ. Overall her metal/pottery work was definitely as different was to look at a teapot or cup.

Goals and WebLinks

Goals for Winter Break:

• Key Animation
• In-between Animation
• Finished Staging
• DVD Menu and Cover Designed
• Information for Spring Presentation Gathered

Web Links:

Vimeo:

http://vimeo.com/user5077114

Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AshleyHolmes012

Outline

Starting Point:

Thing that help influence me

Inspiration (Personally and for Project)

a.Love of Character Driven Story and Character Development

b. How each character have to deal with themselves but also other

people, (Inner Conflit vs Outer Conflict)

c. How character change over time and learn some form of life lesson

bases upon mistake

d. And emphasis on defined personalty in characters

e. Simplistc style from Doll Makers

(e.g Doll Flash Maker)

f. examples: Hey Arnold, Doug, As Told By Ginger,Daria

B. Love of City Scapes

a. The way Hey Arnold Showed the beauty of a city

b. Traveling around a lot

c. Love of Hey Arnold and art deco (poster art),which I incorporate geometric forms in everything because of it.

a. ex: Hey Arnold

II. Overtime

I. Overview

{shows Two Charactes}

a.Theresa wants to go on a vacation however her co-worker is determined

to stop her

b. Two Character piece both based upon love to Inner and Outer Conflict

with emphasis on character.

c. ex devil wears prada)

d. Want the audience to root for Theresa (underdog)

e.Two Character Dynamic both play off each other but there is a dominate one.

f. Also to show how to treating others will ultimately have an

effect upon the other. (consquenstion of actions)

III. Future

a. To became an concept/character artist.

b. works for a graphics department developing title sequences or

visual work for eighter films or television

Updated Calandar

Production Inventory

BACKGROUNDS:

1.Frontal Shot [DONE]

2.Vacation Shot [DONE]

3.Side Shot (Theresa's Side)[DONE]

4.Poster Shot [DONE]

5.Bulletin Board Shot (close up) [DONE]

6.Closer Working Shot (frontal;Theresa)

7.Side Shot (Bridgette's Side) [DONE]

8.Coffee Mug Shot [DONE]

9.Closer Frontal Bridgette

10.Side Shot (Bridgette's Side) [DONE]

11.Slight Over Desk Shot (Theresa)

12.Paper on Floor

13.Plug shot

14.Basket Shot

15.Signature Shot

CHARACTERS

1.Turnaround (Theresa)

2.Turnaround (Bridgette)

3Hawaiian Outfit (Bridgette)

4.Hand (reaching and grabbing) (bridgette)

5.Behind Shot (co-worker #1; man)

6.Behind Shot (co-worker #2)

7.Behind Shot (co-worker # 3)

8.Face Shot (boss)

9.Behind Shot (boss)

10.Hand (reaching and grabbing) (bridgette)

11.Hand (reaching and grabbing) (Boos)

12.Floor Pose (Theresa)

13.Bridgette Kneel Pose

14.Blinks

Character Extras:

Blinks

Emotion Chart

updated calendar

Branding

branding and possible color scheme

Project Stills

Updated Calandar

Self-Critique: BFA

Overall my progress on my bfa, is going pretty slow at the moment. In should have more assets by now and close to animating but thats not really possible. So mostly I am trying to get the animatic finalized so I can finally figure out how many views i need, how many action poses, etc. I guessed what slowed me down in the beginning was that I was unable to figure out what i want with this piece, eventually i keep changing it to the point were i disliked it. But eventually I started to like my piece more and more. Visually it actually easier for me to understand and so i will just progress from there. What i really need to do is make a master asset list and knock a certain number out each day/week. It sounds like common sense but I never really took the time to think about it in depth.

My professional pratices is slacking a little. I have what internships I want but what slowing me

down is the issue of jobs. I can look at jobs all day and have a hard time picking. To be honest my issue is that I really dont know what I want to do. Or what I am good at. And it is making job hunting really difficult. Im aware that there are a vast amount jobs for digital media artist but what specifically can I go into? Its really frustrating for me. Eventually I will get past this and hopefully figure out what I want to do.

Turns

goals for tuesday

• updated animatic
• at least 2 background sketches
• turnaround

Behance Research

Here a three reels that I found to be pretty interesting:

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Cartoon-Network-Spain-ID-back-to-school/147417

This one was pretty organized. The animation was video first thing you saw.Concept art, background art, and stills really gave you the feel of the different projects she works on. You can actually she how she planned it out even though in the animation the cameos of the character is pretty brief.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Danton-Diphthong-Episode-1/222117

This was completely different. Its a little chaotic at first but after reading

this person page I realized it was for a show. So this would be

perfect for a pitch. I diffently get the feel of this show and shows every asset of the show down to the font, color, and humor style. This one is incredibly detailed. I really get a sense of

understanding even without look at the animation/show.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Chorbiose/202607

This one has impressive visuals. Even though this person is making a small

animation the stills keep making me think it is an actual animation.

It draws in the viewer visually even though the animation is in

prodcution.

Updated Calandar

Presentation Self Critique

A. For my critique today, I will present just my updated animatic. Which I really need feedback on and character sketches. I feel like Im a little behind, but I actually caught up a little this weekend. Hopefully that will continue

B. After doing this presentation, I never really fully realized how difficult it is to actually

talk about yourself. It sounds easy enough, but when actually getting up there and speaking

I came to a blank. The hardest thing for me was to get out what was in my head. Next time I will have more specifics to shoot out instead of just broad general terms. What I meant to say was that I like character narratives, and character emotions. Basically anything to do with a character development. Next time I will be a lot more specific and actually pinpoint things. Also I need to organize my words a little better. I noticed during the presentation I couldn't exactly find the right words to describe my work. I know how I want it to be but without disadvantaging myself. Basically next I need to figure out what i want and how i want to say it. Talking about yourself really shouldn't be this hard.

Calendar Updated

Fellowship

Brainstorm: For the fellowship, I was thinking in term of what exactly can I do. So I came to the conclusion that I would like a little of everything. What I mean by that is I would love it If i was able to apply to some sort of animation or media production company and work through experience. I know my knowledge is a little broad based but possible this fellowship can help channel some more areas of foccus. However, while I was thinking about it, I would like to go into more into the production process. My work tends to be narrative based, so it would be great to work a studio that develops animations or commercial work.

For the fellowship, I would like to travel to Europe to focus my energy on learning the animation industry. I imagine to work in visual production, or maybe concept art to help develop my skills and help learn more about working in an animation enviroment. In a way, it sounds like an internship but I view as more so a way gaining a foundation. I mean if they are willing to teach me than I am willing to learn.

Here some of places I'd like to go. Smaller independent animation places would be more ideal than the larger companies but the links below are just to get a general idea.

Places

London (they have a lot of small independent studios)

Hungary (studio Vargas)

France (they are pretty well known for their intricate animations)

Spain

http://www.aardman.com/_-The UK

http://www.marathon.fr/-France

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varga_Studio-Hungary

Job Listings

http://www.productionhub.com/jobs/view.aspx?item=32898 ~ Running Pony

This job would be excellent for me to get a grounding in the actual industry. Since most media

jobs require some form of experience, this would be a great place to start. Although my 3D skills are pretty limited, I wouldnt mind giving this a shot.

http://www.productionhub.com/jobs/view.aspx?item=32871~ Production Assistant

Although I like animation, broadcoasting would be pretty interesting to try out. This is one of

few jobs that didnt require year of experience. Even in the description they will offer to train people which is a plus in my case.

http://www.productionhub.com/jobs/view.aspx?item=32584~ Storyboard Artist

This job didnt have a lot of information but being paid to do storyboards is sounds appealing.

Judging off the description, they are mostly looking for people to bring to life their story.

Calandar

Layout of Office

Meeting with Gadsby

Took Place: Sep 21, 2011

My meeting with Gadsby was pretty informative. She really stressed the importance of

internships before I graduate. I originally thought there many options for animation/

digital media majors for internships, however I was proven wrong. The one that really stood out the most was working for wmc-tv in the graphic departments. I never had a general idea of what kind of job I wanted but the idea of working for a news station sounds pretty interesting.She also gave me helpful feedback of resumes and how to call people for questions, etc. Overall the meeting really helped step forward towards figuring out what I want to do.

Artist Lecture #1: Howard Rosenman

Howard Rosenman's lecture was in a sense overwhelming. A lot of the information that was given did help me realize how important an pitch and an elevator line was. I never really thought of how much effort it takes just to come up with a simple one sentence summary. And also that a simple elevator line, tone, and theme helps you finalize and even improve an idea. Also the idea of using source material to come up with a story was an interesting idea. In addition to that his lecture also made me realize how important the smaller jobs in movie production are. Usually when you look at credit the most important people are the producer and directors.Followed by fancy a title card. But the smaller jobs such as location finder helps make the entire process run smoothly. That many people have such a large impact. It makes me want to stick around when the credits of a movie start. In the end, Howard Rosenman's lecture was very informative.

Pitch Updated

Elevator Line: Theresa is determined to win on an epic vacation, however her co-worker Bridgette does whatever that is in her power to stop Theresa from winning anything.

Themes: Jealousy, overcoming of obstacles, and good vs evil

Tone and Execution: quick paced and humorous, a dreary environment to bring

out the character

Objective: To show how to overcome obstacles in order to make a goal or dream a reality.

Synopsis:Theresa dreams one day of leaving her mundane secretary job in hopes of a little relaxation.Conveniently, the publishing company that Theresa is working for, is offering an expenses paid trip to a sister company in California. However the trip reserved only for people who are considered "hard-workers" and valuable assets to the company. In order to show

her own worth, Theresa starts to take on more jobs and extra work. However all of Theresa's handwork goes askew,Theresa's main competitor starts to play dirty and sabatooge all of Theresa work. Through sheer determination and a little luck, Theresa is forced to contend with and overcome all of the obstacles that Bridgette puts in her way. Ultimately it is Theresa that gains favor.

Character Designs and Enviroment

Storyboard

Demo and Job Reviews

After going through different demo reels, there are a couple of attributes that they all differ from. One of which is timing and arrangement. I noticed that many of the demo reels (especially the 3D ones) tend to be bit longer. Although it does makes sense to show detail,is it necessary after 3 minutes? Also it seems that transitions and title cards are useful in a sense. Some showed what type of work is shown just by the title cards, however I dont think this should be used all the time. It distracts the viewer a little. Music is also an issue. On some demo reels I felt as if the creator of the reel was just using music from their own personal collection. Sometimes the music became a little distracting, As a final note, I noticed that many of the creators of different reels had the tendency to post the info at the beginning of the reel. Which makes me think of how much information is needed for a demo reel? Is address required in demo reels or just the e-mail or even just the number?

Jobs:

After looking at everyone else's job links it makes me start to think about what exactly type of media job do I want. Some jobs are specific for what kind of person they want, whereas other are more broad. This confuses. It makes me feel a little overwhelm in trying to figure what I want to look for exactly. Though, overall the jobs that were linked, makes me want to aim high but be realistic about the job search. Im not entirely sure what i am qualified.

Pitch Revision

Elevator Line: Theresa has a goal or desire to win an expenses paid vacation but how she achieves it is what ultimately causes her to question her own morale.

Characters: Theresa and Bridgette

Theresa is the overlooked worker, while her competitor, Bridgette is the one has constant recognition and awards.

Setting: Large Office Building, with two secretary desk off to the side.

Theme: Jealousy, Personal Growth, Consequences of actions, ambition

Tone and Execution:

quick paced story, slightly light hearted,

Enviroment: Large company

slightly depressing environment

not very lively

Synopsis: Theresa dreams one day of leaving her mundane secretary job in hopes of acheiving her ultimate dream of becoming a traveling photo-journalist. In order to jumpstart her dream she needs some sort of opportunity. Conveniently, the publishing company that she is working for is offering an expenses paid trip to London to visit a sister company. However the trip is only for people who are deemed "the hardest working" employee. In order to show her worth Theresa does takes on more jobs and does extra work. However, this does not seem enough compared to her main competitor, Bridgette. So in order to make herself look good Theresa does whatever she can to sabotage her competitor. Each time Theresa tries to sabotage Bridgette it always ends in Bridgette's favor. As a last result, Theresa through her final sabotage attempt manages to get Bridgette in trouble. Theresa ultimately becomes victorious and wins the vacation. However she starts to realize that her small tactics had a worse impact than she anticipated. And once she realizes what she has done she gives the vacation to the competitor.

Objective: To show that anyone can achieve a personal and moral growth regardless of actions

Demo Reels and Resources

Overall with the demo reels, I noticed all of which focused on particular themes. What they were aiming for was very clear. In the first demo reel in felt as if i was watching a larger storyline or a animation, not a demo reel. The second one made me focus in on the effects via the use of visual negative space. The third one was one I chose because it was a demo reel for a dvd but instead of just showing the interface, this person just animated everything, She manged to bring life to her designs.

http://jobs.awn.com/c/job.cfm?site_id=500&jb=8462734

http://www.wreg.com/about/station/jobs/wreg-jobs-story,0,6073273.story?page=4

(internship??)

http://jobs.apple.com/index.ajs?BID=1&method=mExternal.showJob&RID=83802

(type of job I would like) (mult-media type job)

Pitch Review

My two out of class sources (Shane and Meredith) both provided and gave some interesting feedback. Collectively their feedback was for me to focus more and a little specific about my characters. They also want to know more about what kind of job that the character was going to have. I was also suggested to trim down my idea and focus one set area of morale or what im trying to say with this project. Overall the feedback helped me develop my idea a little bit better.

Pitch:Context

A slacker office worker has goal to win a vacation but how she goes about it is what ultimately leads her to question her own morale.

Themes:

Jealousy

Taking responsibility

consequences of actions

Synopsis

Theresa is a slacker worker that never takes anything at her job seriously until

one day a prize is offered for the one person who works the hardest. In order to achieve this

goal she does whatever it takes to sabotage anyone who get in her way of her prize.

Tone:

a depressing environment

Every person for themselves

chaotic and unorganized

competition heavy

crappy building

Objective: to bring awareness of the consequences of actions.

pitch: Office examples

Pitch: Three Acts

Preliminary Rough Draft Structure

Act I:

Exposition :Main character (office worker) sits down at desk and checks e-mail

Inciting Incident:

Informed of looming deadline date change. She only has 2 days to finish deadline

that she slacked off on.

Plot point 1: Freaks outs and immediately starts working

Act II:

Obstacles:

starts to working feverishly

starts the sequence of events

computer cracks

computer starts malfunction but she work through it

eventually starts slow her working pace down and starts to crash (mentally)

Midpoint:

enter hallucinations

starts to hallucination as a result of lack of sleep and combination

of bad energy drinks

imagines paper clips dancing across desk

imagines the large stack of papers taking over workspace

the papers stack and sticky notes starts to fly through the air (like birds)

the clock starts to ticks loudly and come off the wall

Act III:

Climax:

with all the flying paper sticky notes she imagines it as candy and

tries to grab them (in mid-air). As a result she falls off chair.

Resolution:

Hallucination ends

looks back at the clock and her deadline is a couple of minutes away

rushes to finish last minute work

turns in work

and goes to sleep under desk

Est. Time length (of film): 2-3 mins.

Preliminary Rough Draft Character