Study Task 5

My current social media include:
-Facebook
-Reddit
-Instagram
-DeviantArt
-Tumblr

I mostly use these social media for personal things, however I do often post my work on my personal instagram account. My DeviantArt has been abandoned for a few years and consists of bad anime drawings from when I was younger, but I would be interested in reviving it with more current work. I also intend to branch out by using LinkedIn to make more connections, and I intend to make an instagram account purely for my work, however at the minute i dont feel that my work is up to the standard i want it to be for me to make one. I think i will also make a vimeo account to post actual animation on, and eventually a facebook page dedicated to my art as well. I dont think making a twitter account would be that beneficial for me, because its less about image and more about what you have to say, but im sure it is useful for other purposes.

Study Task 4- Networking

10 Networking Oppourtunities
Face to Face-
-Manchester Animation Festival
-Dublin Animation Festival
-Internships
-Collaborations with students from other courses/unis
-Leeds illo
-University visitor talks

Online
-LinkenIn
-Messaging professionals on instagram
-DeviantArt
-Emailing stuidos about possible internships
-Online Forums/ Responding to live briefs

SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis helped me to determine some of my strengths and weaknesses, from my own analysis and from my peers feedback.

My strengths that I identified are mainly in drawing. I also think I am good at adapting to using new software such an Adobe Animate and Photoshop. I am also hardworking and determined.

The weaknesses that I and my peers identified were mostly along the lines of confidence in my own ability and in general. I struggle with anxiety so this makes things like presentations or socialising a weakness for me. I also often put my work down and become very easily discouraged when Im not good at something right away, and compare myself to others a lot. I also worry too much about what other people will think of my work.

Who am I now?

What I have learned so far

• How to use animation software like Adobe Animate and Photoshop
• The different stages to producing an animation, such as pre production techniques like storyboarding
• How to design characters
• How to develop an effective story
• Developed presentation skills

What do I want to know more about?

• Stop Motion animation
• Concept Art
• Backgrounds
• Character Design
• Story development

Strengths

• Perserverance
• Problem Solving
• Working as a team
• Fast learner
• Patience
• Drawing skills

What do I want to improve?

• I could further improve my presentation skills
• Time management
• Skills in animate and photoshop
• Drawing skills
• My use of the principles of animation

Practitioners that demonstrate my interest in animation

• Natasha Allegri, the creator of Bee and Puppycat and a storyboard artist and character designer on Adventure Time
• Studio Ghibli; I am particularly interested in the concept art and background designs that Ghibli uses in their animated films
• Cartoon Saloon; I love the backgrounds and general art style of their films like Song of the Sea
• Nintendo game studios- although not exactly animation I am extremely interested in the environments in nintendo games such as Legend of Zelda or Animal Crossing
• BreakThru films will soon be releasing their film 'Loving Vincent,' a film about Vincent Van Goghs life which is entirely made up of oil paintings. He is my favourite artist so im excited to see how the animation turns out

Online resources that demonstrate my interest in the creative industries;

• I follow a lot of artists on instagram whose work I admire and use as inspiration for my drawing skills. Some of my favourites are artists Cyarin, octoplum and fairyhands.
• Ctrl-Paint.com is a website with lots of free tutorials to teach you how to paint digitally. I followed a lot of the guides over summer and found them very useful.
• The Art of animation - this is a facebook page i follow which regularly posts lots of images and videos showing the production of animations from studios like Disney etc. I like seeing the different character designs and concept art from the various productions art books.
• Living Lines Library- shows pencil tests, character designs etc from popular animations
• Skwigly- online animation magazine with interviews, reviews etc.

Twilight Princess

Twilight Princess is probably my favourite game in the Legend of Zelda franchise. What I particularly loved about the game is how much darker and morbid it is than the other Zelda games, it creates a really immersive atmosphere and gives the game alot of depth. Not only is the game visually darker than most of the other Zelda games, such as Skyward Sword, which has a bright and more cartoon-like aesthetic, but the story itself is darker and has much scarier enemies. What really makes the game feel so dark is the sense of loneliness and isolation in it, you can visit locations that were in older Zelda games, for example, Lon Lon Ranch which was in Ocarina of time, but in Twilight Princess you find these places completely desecrated whereas before they were so full of life. The evil in Twilight princess can literally be seen, as a dark shadow falls over the land. The colors are darker and more somber, the music isn't quite as bright and upbeat; also the fact that during parts of the game you are playing through a never-ending twilight where people no longer really exist but don't realize there is something wrong really makes the game an atmospheric experience. 

Gudetama the Lazy Egg

Gudetama is a lazy egg with depression created by Sanrio. He has his own short 20 second animated episodes, where he does typical lazy egg things. I love how cute he is and his little bacon blanket. He is usally a fried egg but can also be in many egg forms, such as hardboiled or scrambled. He has quickly become one of Japans most popular mascots, following in Hello Kitty's footsteps. I think he's so loved in Japan because unlike most pop culture icons, he shows less expressed emotions like sadness and laziness. Japan seems to be really good at giving inanimate objects personality and making them internaitonally loved. He shows how we all feel at times, just wanting to retreat back into our shells - which he does literally. I like the Gudetama facebook page and seeing the animated shorts makes my day sometimes.

Me either

I got my own Gudetama flask in Tokyo

Life, Animated

For my research into autism in the Applied Animation module, my group and I decided to watch 'Life Animated.' The film was released in 2016 and produced and directed by Roger Ross Williams. The film tells the story of 23 year old Owen Suskind and his life, particularly how he deals with the challenges of autism through Disney films. I found the film really touching and it opened my eyes more to what living with autism is actually like, and a better grasp of what people who live with it experience. 

Although most of the film was live action, the animated scenes were really beautiful and i think the style suited the story alot. The animated scenes were used mostly to show points of Owens life when he used Disney animated films as a form of escapism, he would frequently be shown in a world of his own creation, The Land of the Lost Sidekicks, where he was shown as a child, with some of his favourite sidekicks, like Baloo the bear from the Jungle Book, and Sebastian the crab from the Little Mermaid. The darker times in Owens life were shown using a sketchier style of animation with very little colour, which contrasted alot with the vivid scenes when he had learned to cope through Disney films.

 I found it really interesting how he used different points in the films in order to relate to and cope with challenges he faced in real life, like leaving his parents home to live alone, or when his girlfriend broke up with him. It gave me a new appreciation for Disney because of how much it helped him to deal with lifes challenges. 

Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing is one of my favourite games of all time. It doesn't have any action or a fast paced story, and provides a completely different experience than other games. The game is so simple; living in a town filled with cute animal neighbours; with simple goals like collecting fish or decorating your house. The sense of immersion and tranquility in the game is what makes it so special, it doesnt have to rely on action scenes or even amazing graphics to be thoroughly enjoyable to play. The adorable style of the graphics in the game make the towns you inhabit so picturesque and eventually you actually start to feel at home there. Another thing I love about Animal Crossing is the soundtrack; its so mesmerizing and tranquil, perfect background noise for the activities in the game. The themed holidays were also a favourite aspect of the game for me; because the game was in real time, you could go to you town and celebrate christmas day, new years, halloween, etc. This level of escapism is what makes the game so special and loved.
 I've owned 3 animal crossing games, Wild World on Nintendo DS, Lets Go to the City on the Wii, and New Leaf on the 3DS. My favourite, and the first one I owned, was Let's go to the City. There was so much exploring to do in the game and because it was my first time playing its got such a nostalgia now for me.

My Life as a Courgette

Because I didn't get to go to Manchester animation Festival last year, I had a lot of catching up to do hearing about all the great animations my friends saw there. 'My Life as a Courgette' was definitely the most talked about, so I decided to watch it online. I didn't really know what to expect at all because I knew nothing about the story, but once I started watching I found myself really enjoying it. The animation looked visually striking because of the characters big, tired looking eyes, which definitely lent itself to the story because it was very poignant. I haven't watched a stop motion i enjoyed alot in a while, so this was really refreshing, especially because the story itself was purely based in real life, not having and fantasy elements, which is interesting for a stop motion. I loved howcharming and emotional the story was and how it was simple but reallymoving.

The Walking Dead game

Telltale games make a few different brilliant games that all have the same comic book style graphics and distinctive feel. The walking dead game, which I played a few years ago, has remained one of my favourite games of all time. I love how you have to make decisions in the game that could potentially result in some dire consequences for the characters,it makes the game feel so intense and as if you are actually part of the story and in danger. The game is also extremely emotional in the way that it can so easily take some of your favourite characters away from you, and alot of the times it can be your fault. I love zombie apocalypse stories in general, and I played this game before watching the AMC tv show, which has a completely different story line and set of characters, and in my opinion the story is much weaker than the game. I got bored of the show after season 2, but the game is something i always go back to. I also love the comic book style of the game, it works so well as the walking dead is based off a series of comic books by Robert Kirkman, which I have read a few of.

The Lego Movie

I wasnt too enthusiastic about seeing this movie, but I gave it a chance and actually found i really liked it. I wasnt expecting to like the humour but i actually found it really funny, bringing all the characters together from different pop culture worked really well together and the link between the story in lego and 'real life' was really interesting at the end. I think the references throughout the film really made it stand out as more than a childrens film.

The Pink Panther

The Pink panther was my favourite cartoon as a child; I remember renting the same video again and again. I loved the mystery of it and the way it looked, with simple block colours, and how clever the pink panther was and how he found solutions to his problems that took advantage of the animation aspect, like painting a door on the wall and walking through it.  I still watch some of the short episodes on youtube nostalgically; I realise why i liked it so much as a child now. I think the lack of narration with just the simple music in the background also adds to the individuality of the show.

Bee and puppycat

Bee and puppycat is a short animated series on youtube. I discovered this series a few years ago and I loved it. I love the art style in particular with the pastel colours and how cute it all is. I would love to one day be able to animate stuff like this, the simple story really appeals to me and I love how surreal it can be sometimes. The humour also really appeals to me in the series. The detail in the backgrounds is also a reason i love the look of the show so much.

Coraline

I rewatched Coraline for about the 50th time on the plane to Japan last month. I love this film because I am a big fan of spooky things and I think its such a good example of this and how animation doesn't just have to be really childish and light hearted themes. There's no other animation like it that creates such a suspenseful and creepy atmosphere and that has such an interesting storyline. I also love that the film is stop motion, I think it really backs up the stories ominous story line because it can look so creepy, especially the way the characters move and I think the film would have lost alot of its charm if they had done it in 2D or 3D. I am a fan of Neil Gaiman's books because of the amount of imagination and creativity that goes into his stories and this depiction of this story suited it perfectly. I think its a perfect example of how both adults and children can enjoy animation. I love stories with hidden mysteries and different dimensions so Coraline is really one of my favourites. I also think the moral in the story is great, and I love how they presented Coralines desires when she gets to her 'perfect' dimension but how things slowly start to take a darker turn.

Tokyo- Day 3

On our third day in Tokyo we got to visit the Studio Ghibli museum. I am a big fan of Ghibli, and was really excited to see what the museum would be like inside. When we got there, it certainly didnt let us down. The museum was so magical, it was almost like you were in a Ghibli film. It was bright and colourful and had such a charm to it, with little arched doorways and spiral stair cases, every bit of interior design had been elaborately thought out and it made the experience so magical. Although photographs werent allowed, i managed to get a few sneaky ones.

A Sneaky photo of one of the windows in the bathroom

A photo i found online of the zoetrope

My favourite room in the studio ghibli museum, that i WISH I could have taken photos in, was one were they tried to replicate a ghibli animators work space. The room was covered in sketches, concept art and designs for various Ghibli titles, and it was so inspiring and beautiful to look at. I could have stayed in that room for hours. There was also a big open plan room that had an amazing zoetrope device that spun mega fast so that the figurines spinning looked like they were moving. We must havee sat and watched this for about half an hour, it was so enchanting to look at. Another favourite room of mine was one that had a life size version of the catbus, covered in fluff and it was SO squishy. 

After we left the Studio Ghibli museum, we made our way on the metro to Harajuku. This was one of the places i was most excited about visiting, and it didnt disappoint. It was filled with cute fashion and food and had such a buzzing atmosphere. We did most of our shopping here, and also got a glimpse into what its like to be a japanese teenager, seeing a Jpop boy band perform in a shoppig centre to their adoring fans. It was so different to anything we have here it was quite a culture shock. 

I think I would have needed at least a fortnight in Japan to truely do all the things i wanted to do, but in the three days we were there we managed to do so much stuff it felt like longer than it was. I definitely want to visit Japan again, its probably my favourite place ive ever been to. Who knows, maybe one day I could have the chance to live there. 

Tokyo 2017- Day 2

On day two of our trip to Tokyo, we visited the Tokyo Metropolitan government building, which was right beside our hotel, and gave an amazing view over all of Tokyo. It was such a clear day you could see all the way to Mount Fuji. I was totally amazed at how massive Tokyo actually was, coming from a tiny town in Ireland. After this we visited the park that was joined to the building, and sat on some blobs. Then we visited a little flea market thing, and bought many cheap and cute plushies.

Tokyo is big

Later in the day,we visited Tokyo Disneyland. Once more, Ally came to our rescue to navigate our way through the metro, and a few stops later we were there. We only had a few hours in the park, but it was long enough to go on a few rides. I was reminded of how creepy 'Its a Small World' was and also got to go on Space Mountain for the first time, whcih I loved. The atmosphere at Disneyland is always so amazing, and you go there with nothing to do but have fun, so it really does feel like the happiest place on earth. I don't think my happiness level will ever rise above the level it was that day again.