Teaching

After starting the PGCE a couple of weeks later than everyone else have managed to catch up, with assignment1 handed in and the micro session went really well.
Am loving the teaching side of it as usual and finding different ways of getting a lesson across. next week will involve different coloured thigh high socks and cut out people. Single camera production i'm specialising in Storyboarding which again i'm loving with the aim of improving students drawing skills at the same time as explaining the nuances of types of shots, camera movements, focusing, mise en scene etc.
Next week have PGCE teaching assessment and the following week Estyn inspection just hope everything goes according to plan. As Kolb would say planning is the key to good teaching.
Have also been refreshing myself over half term on the wonderful program Toonboom as we will shortly be using this aswell as AfterEffects at the college.
Right back to lesson plans............

My website

At last I finally get my website up and running after spending a good few weeks and some this year working myself round the nuances of Flash have done my own website which you can find at

www.spikeyhexer.co.uk

The look of the actual site is good but think the front end is in need of a revamp already, am also thinking of adding a link to this blog which would be a sound investment, this may well be put on hold till Xmas, as the homework is thick and fast at the moment.

Graduation

Well it has been along time since I have been on here but I start the the new term with vigour and positivity.
I have again got teaching hours this year in the best subject ever Animation and have decided to put them to good use and have now started a Post Grad Certificate of Education at Coleg Sir Gar, I started last week as the previous we were at our Newport graduation "Yeh!!!! Hey!!!!!"



The course looks very intense, but ever the optimist, i'm sure I will complete it, I do love a challenge. The first week I was there we had to talk about random subjects for three minutes and also involved lessons in reflectivity(learning from your experiences and focusing on ways to improve).
I had an absolutely great day teaching today and preparation and communication paid off, c'est formidable!! Films shown today included Jan Svankmeyer's Dialog and Norman McLaren's Neighbours and Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel, Directed by Stephen R.Johnson - animation by Aardman and Brother's Quay, finished off with David Anderson's Door.

Showreel 2008

We have a showreel for this year which is shorter than last year( always learning) am still a fan of the quicktime H264 compresssion technology. Handdrawn and technolgy meld into my style, which I hope makes it that bit different.

Never stop learning; knowledge doubles every fourteen months.or so they say. if that's the case i should be a genius by the age of 50.

Final film update

At last the final film is completed I have certainly learnt alot with this film every shot looked at and retweaked extra scenes put in, often you need to stand back and have an untainted view, also having Pasha do the audio for me helped as again he was seeing it from a different perspective. In the end the collection of files for the film came to 44GB, but today I proudly handed over the final version for the Newport DVD and entry into competitions.



Am including an excerpt of the Film - Cut

commission

Well I was privileged to get a commission this year via the Newport website and so my introduction to the world of Freelance has commenced, sleepless nights, timescales and also the world of uploading to servers a must have for any budding animators.
The wonders of "Usendit" have been a godsend.
This method proved so successful, it was only on the day of handing the DVD over did I finally meet Bambo( the lady who commissioned the animation, Place in Me.)
The brief to complete the visuals for a script based on interviews of 3 girls that were in foster care including past and present memories, feelings.



I used three different animation styles/techniques to correspond with the present and the past and also ages of voices of the people concerned. Young girl think compositing meets fuzzyfelts, the girl talking about her past handdrawn the older girl a mix of Film stills edited in photoshop then again composited. Feedback "fast and sensitively done" and all completed in under 3 weeks.

Final Film Update

Well haven't posted on here for a long time, just been too busy trying to the get the film up together.
Last Friday was the first draft hand in and found it very useful, lots of positive criticism to be working on.
Apart from tweaking have quite a meaty chunk to do as she goes to work, the day is over too soon, so my intention is to have her looking in a shop window again to reinforce her duplicity and indicision,reflections! reflections! I picture it that the reflection( with short hair) superimposes with herself using it as a metophor for her wavering decision. Also I read in I think a newspaper cutting from the 1920's about these huge queues of women outside barbers and it would be interesting to incorporate this, it was stated that one barber cut over 70 ladies hair in one day.




Scissors need sorting I agree they look too 'home madey' and really should emphasis contrast between materials.

Will be having a meeting with Caroline on Friday so should be interesting what the feedback is.
(uploaded 12.5 fps Quicktime H.264 set to 70% quality)
not perfect but at least there is something up now to see my progress with it.