My premise project has definitely had its ups and downs. I started the project unsure of what direction I wanted to go down. I got stuck trying to find an idea I thought would work out. I internalized my thoughts a lot rather than actually trying to develop the project and experiment with designs and concepts. I started to become very worried as I felt like part of me had already given up on the project, and I was posting less frequently to my blog. I felt like this year was just going to be a repeat of last year. It was very frustrating as I could see myself getting worse and worse. I really had to think about my feelings towards the course, and if this was truly the right course for me. For so long I have neglected the 3D side of the course, which is silly considering that 3D is the main focus of Computer Animation Arts. I was very scared during this project because the ideas I wanted to explore, I shut them down without even trying to experiment with them, and my project was getting nowhere for months.
There were two conversations that really were the turning point for this project for me. One with Phil, where we discussed my relationship with 3D software and the course in general, and how I just need to dive into it before it's too late. The other conversation was with Alan, where I showed him some of my concept drawings, and he suggested that I should try using a different metaphor to visualize the theme I was trying to convey. This is where things started to make more sense to me. I suddenly had such a clear idea of what I wanted to make, and could actually sit down and work properly without feeling stuck. Of course, I was still extremely worried, as I had lost so much time and had to make up for it very quickly, but I started to actually enjoy the project.
At the interim crit, I was given the challenge of meeting the list of accomplishments I had stated that I would do in my presentation. Phil mentioned that my goals were not that ambitious for the average student, but they were ambitious for me, considering my past projects. I wanted nothing more than to prove to myself that I could achieve this.
I have finished the project feeling positive. I managed to complete most of the goals on my project commitment list, and the final crit left me feeling confident in my idea. I finally dived into 3D, even though my character is simple. It's taken a long time, but this is the first project I have completed where I truly feel proud and happy with my work. There's a lot I wish I could change, like how the project started, how I organized my time and also reading the brief properly/listening more as I completely forgot that film reviews and the magazine article were part of the premise project, and now It's too late to complete them. I wish I had gone to more one on one tutorials as that would have helped me out so much, especially at the beginning of the project. I didn't give myself time to add sound to my animatic, and I wish I had experimented in 3D/Maya more.
Although there's much I still need to improve on, I'm extremely proud of how far I've come. I looked back through my blog at my first try at the premise project, where I only had a few drawings and one very small interim crit presentation and compared it to my premise project from this year and I can see how much I have improved. I still have ways to go, but I'm finally starting to feel like I'm properly engaging in this course.
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