Introduction

This past school year has really been something. I still remember back when Mr Olson was showing us how to animate a worm with the puppet pin tool. The most important thing I’ve learned these past 9 months is that what you plan will be very different than what you end up with. If you don’t prepare yourself enough.

Project Management

Getting things done in time is somewhat of an achilles heel for me. I’m a lazy worker so I push things off, or I do them extremely slowly. This was especially true on the animated story project:

It turned out decently I’d say, but that was only about half of what I had on my story board. Two weeks spent on designing the bird and the first scene really came to bite me when I only had one week left. I had to stay after school multiple times a week for hours to finish half of it. I really need to curb that habit of procrastinating.

Technology

Before we got to our story animation, however, we had to learn how to use photoshop and after effects. We first started on Photoshop to draw our worms and background scene. Then we moved on to After Effects and learned basic 2D animation. Our final product was a cute worm wriggling about:

I learned how to use the puppet pin tool, making basic shapes and shading, and then how to use keyframes in Adobe software - the most important thing of all.

Communication

Me and my fellows would often talk about our project ideas together. Take, for instance, our container project. Me and my classmates would discuss our ideas for different containers - mayonaise jars, soda cans, etc. Because of that, I was able to come up with my own idea very quickly. They helped inspire my muse and as a result Savannah Soda came into existence:

Collaboration

Working together is an integral part of any team, be it one member or twenty. Being able to successfully finish a project with others not only cuts down the workload, but the time as well. That was put in practice just last week, where we made a video with special effects and 3D modelling:

I was in a group of two, so the workload was distributed in two. We managed to finish on time and turned in an okay assignment. Proud of it.

Leadership

We didn’t really have much opportunity for leadership in animation this year as there was only one group project. But I did try to be a good leader - egging others on to finish their work and such.

Self-doubt

I think my greatest strength would have to be in VFX, and my greatest weakness Photoshop. I am not very good at design in general.

Thanks to this class I have become more accepting of turning in subpar work, as long as it’s done. I hope to improve and grow more as a person in general once I leave the program.

Bye Mr Olson E-con will miss you.