Progression
My preferred media to work is 2D. I have been drawing and sketching for a long time so I am much more comfortable with 2D and 2D animation. I am very passionate about character design, and creating my own narratives. I have plenty of sketches with character designs and story ideas, however at the moment I am trying to work on some backgrounds.
I think I have pretty good drawing skills, which allows me to express my ideas better as I am able to put on a paper what I see in my head. I believe this is why I make quite clear storyboards and sketches. There are still some techniques I want to learn and master, for example perspective and different facial and body gestures, that I have researched before, but never really developed my skills any further in these areas.
I think my 2D animation skills have improved significantly since the time I first started, however there is a lot more to be desired. I aim to research on the 12 principles of animation, in order to see what skills I have at the moment and to see what skills I need to learn or work on further. As for now to actually learn and practice my 2D animation skills, I find tutorial of animations and also frame by frame movements, for example a 14 frame run cycle of a more and I use it of trace over it in order to better understan the process and hopefully in the future I will refer less and less to references, as I will have basic techniques in my memory.
Progression options
My options:
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University (UCL, UAL, University of Westminster)
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level 4 MGA
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Work Experience/Apprenticeship
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A gap year between college and university
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A Job
University
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Requirements: Personal statement, portfolio/showreel, specific UCAS points, good academic references....
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Pros: network opportunity, away from home, makes you more employable
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Cons: cost, time
Jobs
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Requirements: CV, experience/ work placement, qualifications, skills: time management, interview, portfolio, cover letter
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Pros: Paid, good experience
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cons: lots of competition
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Level 4 MGA
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Requirements: Attendance, punctuality, showreel, interview, successful completion of level 4.
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Pros:Free, just 1 year.
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Cons: No variety.
Apprenticeship
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Requirements:portfolio, 4-5 GCSE, 16 or over, not in full time education, CV, cover letter, good academic reference
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pros: you get paid while learning
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cons: you don't get paid much
Portfolio examples
I looked at some examples of digital and physical portfolios. I couldn't find portfolios that I particularly liked, but I need an example of each.
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I choose this example of a portfolio because it seems to be a digital one and I have been looking for digital ones that I liked. I like that it looks like a power point slide show and it has all the 'slides' presented. All slides include few images and text, to make it more entertaining and pleasant to look at. The same colour scheme is kept trough out the portfolio (skin colour/bright pink, grey, and white). I think that is pretty neutral colour scheme and I think it fits what it is supposed to present. Every image is supported by text that explains what it shows.
This one is an example of a physical portfolio. It is more of a interior design portfolio, however I can still use the template. I like how there are different types of page design on all different pages. All off the photos are arranged differently on each page and there is always a text that supports them with explanations and descriptions.
I was thinking that in case I do have a gap year, I planned to use it to gain experience and new skills, so I decided I could do an apprenticeship. Since I moved to Watford, where Warner bros. are, I thought I could look for position there. I went to the website and looked for apprenticeships, there there were none that fit. I plan to keep an eye on the vacancies in case something useful comes up. I will continue to look for positions somewhere else too as I know that getting apprenticeship is quite hard, however if I get one it is going to be a great opportunity, as I will be able to learn from profecionalls that work in the industry, and aslo that will look good on my Personal statement when I apply for University and on my CV when I apply for a job.
Universities
Since last year I have been thinking what universities I could go to. The most important factors for me when looking at a university is the course and how far it is. I usually search for universities that are close to London, as being even 2 hours with a train from the capital makes me quite mobile.
The course is 3 years long, which is the standard for this course. There is 4 year options, where the first year is considered year 0 and that is where you a thought basic skills to help you with the following year, but that will not be necessary as the college course I am on is giving me all the skills I may need.
University of Creative Arts
This is the first university I ever looked at. I like it because it specialises in creative arts. The university has 4 campuses , but the animation course in the Farnham campus. It is around an hour with a train to central London, which I think is very good. Also the course does not specialise in one media, but it includes 2D, 3D and also stop motion and CGI so since I haven't made up my mind about what I want to specialise I think that is pretty good.
I think that the reason why I considered this university was because I was impressed by the course and the industry connections it has.
University of Art London
The second university I looked at was the UAL. This is also a University that specifies in creative arts. I found an animation course. I read the description of the course, and read all the requirements. At the moment I am interested in an animation course as I believe this will give me the most job options to choose from if still haven't decided what speciallity to go with.
The reason I concedered this university is firstly it is in London and the capital is very accessible and easy to travel around. Secondly the university scpecialises in creative arts, so if I go there to study I will be part of a big creative community, which is very similar to UCA.
The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:
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96 UCAS tariff points which can be made up of one or a combination of the following accepted full level 3 qualifications:
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A Levels at grade C or above (preferred subjects include: English; History; Media; Business; Art and Design, or other subjects within Social Sciences).
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Pass at Foundation Diploma in Art & Design (Level 3 or 4).
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Merit, Pass, Pass at BTEC Extended Diploma (preferred subjects: Art and Design, IT & Computing).
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Pass at UAL Extended Diploma.
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Access to Higher Education Diploma (preferred subject: Digital and Creative Media, Film and Production, Computing).
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OR equivalent EU/International qualifications, such as International Baccalaureate Diploma at 24 points minimum
And 3 GCSE passes at grade 4 or above (grade A*-C)