Collaboration: Knockout Studios- Reflective Statement

Overall, I have found this project one of the most challenging but rewarding yet. All projects completed before this have been individual projects, where you would work by yourself to create a final product, however this time we were introduced to working in a group with two others.

Before beginning the project, I was rather excited, as this would be the first time, I wouldn’t be facing a project alone, and would have others there to support me, which in this instance really drove the project.

Working with Karris and Olivia has really helped me understand the importance of communication and adapting to find different ways of doing things. This has also allowed me to learn more about working with a creative team and making sure that everyone’s views are considered.

Personally, I don’t believe my animation has not been to the best of its ability. Actually, doing the animation has forced me to push myself away from worrying about not being able to do it, and just going for it to see what happens.

Most of my animation featured within the final animation, still needs a lot of work, which could probably be aided a lot with the technique of using the graph editor, to create some over shoot and just smooth the overall look of the animation I created.

I am aware of one of my more ambitious scenes that includes Victoria walking in, needing a bit more work. As on my very first attempt I used the walk cycle tutorial, and instead of moving Moom out of its circle, I moved the whole rig. However, once talking to Alan and Simon about this, with a little help from Karris as well, I produced an arguably better-looking version. (although she still looks like she has a slight limp). This was my most feared scene, as I knew there was going to be a lot of movement that I wasn’t a hundred percent confident in doing, but I am proud that I tried my best and asked for help when needed.

My strongest points during the project, were the first few weeks, when designing and creating the story. This was a lot of fun working with Oliva and Karris, to help decide on Idea’s and the looks and aesthetic of it all, something I had not been able to do in previous projects. By working with others this also allowed me to watch different approaches be taken to various tasks.

My favourite part of the project was designing the characters and giving them personalities and stereotypes that would help aid the comedic value of the short. Although as pointed out by Simon, we maybe went a bit too far with Cici’s character and could have dialled down on the abuse we put her through.

Another favourite part of mine was also drawing out outfits, that each character could wear, learning from Alan that it is important to really have the clothes embody that character and sort of be a character by themselves. For example, thinking about Victoria, and how she would have her hair a little shorter to keep it away from her face, so as not to mess up her look, as she is very classic and likes things in a neat manner.

I was also tasked with all the texturing used within the project, which I was very happy with. With my prior project, textures became a big part of what I enjoy doing within Maya and Photoshop, so getting to actually texture clothes onto moom rather than texturing Russian dolls in my prior project was a fun leap. As with much of texturing, this was a trial and error, with each outfit having multiple versions to get fit just right on Moom. Yet, I feel this really added to the overall look of the piece and am pleased with how they came out.

If I was to do this project again, I would definitely focus more on the time management aspect of it, as I feel we focused too much on the creation, and should of moved onto animation a lot sooner, in order to get the final results we really desired, rather than (in my case) rushing through to get the animation complete. I would also like to practice more animation, as I want to improve, and add more animation principles to my work, along with using the graph editor in a way that will enhance my animation, and really gather an understanding of how it works.