I am very disappointed with myself that I haven't been able to get more work done over the Christmas break, and hand in on time rather than relying on the extension I have been given by Sussex Student Support. My thinking had been that I could leave most of the harder, practical work until I went home for the Christmas break; but I should have foreseen that because of the problems my family is experiencing at the moment, it would not be a good environment to work in. I got practically no work done and am really worried that as a result of that I won't be able to hand in a great piece of work for the extended deadline. I have around a fortnight now to collate all of my existing work together and put it in a presentable form; to actually settle on a final story idea and board it; and to start physically animating.
So far, I have been really pleased with the research and concept aspects of the project. I think I have a solid basis for my idea and great theory to back it up. I hope this comes across most strongly in the presentation of this process book. Towards the beginning of the semester, Mary had mentioned that she was unsure my project would make sense or be easy to execute with theoretical backing: I hope now that I will be able to prove that my idea is as strong as anyone else's.
I have enjoyed so much getting to do background painting, character design, and other forms of concept art. I think one of my strengths is my actual artistic talent, which I hope is reflected in this aspect. What I actually aspire to do after university is some form of concept art or development work for animation, so getting this part of the project right has been really valuable and important to me. Regardless of whether it is reflected in my grade, I myself am very proud of the work I have done for this, so am happy either way.
The thing I am most worried about is firstly the pilot material (2 minutes of animation). I am not sure if I am going to be left with enough time at all to create something worth handing in. I have been watching many tutorial videos, learning how to use Toon Boom software; but I just haven't put it into practice enough yet which is silly of me. A few little attempts I made earlier in the semester, for some reason have not exported in any sort of format that I can upload to my process book, so now I have nothing to show for it. I'm very aware of the fact that I might have to abandon this part of the submission in favour of working on the other parts, and forfeit a great deal of marks for it. I suppose I will have to make that instead my main priority for next semester instead.
The story is troubling me also. I have done quite a bit of work on the storyboard already, and I feel confident that I have a strong beginning and ending, but the middle, fleshy bit of the plot concerns me. It is the part I have thought about the least but it is difficult because it contains both the greatest length of time passing within the story, but the least action. I will carry on with perfecting the beginning and end, and if needs be I can leave out the middle for now and revise it with the help of one of my tutors next semester. I am happy at least that I have a good story in general, even if the pieces need to be put together more tightly.
