IT IS DONE!!!!!!!

I have finally did it, I have finished my Honours Project Animation!!! and a week before it is due might I add :), which is a personal achievement for me cause I always found myself working straight up until the deadline day and there is nothing more stressful than that. Now all I have to do is finish my 3 Artwork pieces and my Special Effects video and I am done, finito, the end......of my education that is :).

The past 4 years have been a rollercoaster for me, people have came and gone, family events left, right and center, fighting my own demons and the birth of my amazing, beautiful and insanely smart and inspiring daughter, and she is only 1 and a half. I never thought I would ever have finished my course, there have been countless times where i have just wanted to give it up and find something else, something easier but then I wouldn't be following my passion and if I gave up I would never get better, I would never learn. It wouldn't help me or my family if I did. Life is hard and the industry that I want break into is hard but I am willing to fight for it, to have that chance to make and leave my mark like the great animators and directors before me like Tex Avery, Richard Williams and John Lasseter. (if i spelt that wrong i greatly apologise)...........Again I have no idea where I am going with this, it's just how I feel and I pray that it encourages anyone else that reads this to just keep trying and follow your passion with an undying endurability.

I shall now leave you with a screenshot of the final product. Enjoy and please leave a comment I'd really like to know what you think :)

See You In The Future

and

God Bless

Good Week

It's been a good week. I actually started the animation for my Honours Project, I know shocker and i only have 3 weeks left to do that, a poster and a report, WHOO, bring it on! Oh and also 3 character designs in Photoshop and a short Special Effects animation which i need to film then animate. Got a few ideas already.

I feel my animation is already looking good. Got the keyframes done for my first character now I'm going back and adding all the inbetweens and this is the point where you can start to see your work really come together and see the magic happen :) I will admit it has not been easy but it is very exciting and I've been getting this awesome feeling of accomplishment with every frame i finish, can't wait to see the end result and let you all have a look too. I will admit it is my third....no fourth BIG animation even for thirty seconds or so, so please critique it HARSHLY!!! Because I want to be one of the best animators out there and i ain't going to improve with sugar coated comments! Although the odd "Well done" will be greatly appreciated :).

You never realise how much effort is put into an animation or a film until you step back and look and you go, "Wow! It took a lot of people just to animate those characters walking across that room." Or even when you go, "Iron Man's Armour is FAKE!!....well you fooled me." And that is our job, that is an animator, or a special effects artist or even an actor's job is to convince you that that spaceship is real, his/her emotions are real. This may seem like i have gone off in a tangent but this is just how I feel about films and cartoons, I love them and I want to be involved in them. Thats what this Blog is about, my work and my passion :)


On another note, saw Oblivion today it was really good, the special effects rocked! The gear and technology rocked! Morgan Freeman rocked as per-usual. I recommend it especially if you're into Sci-Fi.

Here's a wee snip-it of my animation for ya, and no it is not complete.

Lion Cub staring at the clearly distressed Bear

God Bless you all

See you in the Future!

Pretty hard past couple of.....well months i guess.

I know i haven't put much up in the past few days but i had a Special Effects assignment which was a high priority and also really difficult to do cause i had no clue what i was doing but eventually i got it done :) happy days.

Anyway as i have said it has been hard, mostly due to a lack of motivation, lack of a creative environment and the Christmas season is just too long, from the start of December to the start of February is too much time away from work, even though i did have work to do over the holiday period there was still family gatherings, New Years and personal issues as well that distracted me a pulled my motivation down. Not to mention my daughter Islay is a handful at times and obviously I can't just ignore her that would be wrong! This may seem like a rant or something but i'm just venting I guess. It's hard being a Dad and at Uni at the sametime, double-edge sword if you wish, if i do my work i'm not helping with Islay and if i look after her my work gets worse.

To be honest it is my own fault, there are plenty of times where I could be doing my Uni work, building my portfolio and creating a showreel but instead I play a video game or watch T.V., surf the web for too long or watch a film. I need to have more self motivation and more drive to do good and be the best at what I want to do. And its just that simple have the motivation, believe in yourself and you and I can achieve anything!

God Bless and See You In The Future!