Aesthetica SFF

I attended ASFF in York, because I wanted to see the Brothers McLeod seminar on Aesthetics of Animation & storytelling. This was because it was a great opportunity to speak to them to gain some feedback for my COP, but also because I just really wanted to go and meet them and get inspired.

During this seminar, it became apparent to me that Greg and Miles were very but about creating content that they enjoy, and being experimental. Greg, who is the animator has a love for 2D animation and deliberately gives some of this work quite a messy aesthetic. He talked about how sometimes his frame paper scrunches and creases, and he likes this messy look and it adds to the animation. This was really refreshing to hear, because up before this point, I was found myself becoming worried about making all of my work look perfect. Greg's perspective really encouraged me to relax a little, and just focus on enjoying what I work on. 

Paying The Bills

Although they enjoy using their time to produce the work that they want, Greg and Miles talked about this importance of being able to pay their bills. They have worked on numerous projects for different clients, including Disney and Dreamworks. Not all of these projects they have worked on have had the same style as their more personal work. They talked about the importance of being able to produce what the client needs. 

In my opinion, the Brothers McLeod are so successful because they are able to organise themselves in such a way that allows them to take on the work needed to support themselves financially, which then allows them to have the time to create their own work too. They also reinforced the importance of keeping up communication with a client, and not going quiet. As well as this, they stressed how much easier it is to pick up the phone and speak to somebody directly, even though using the phone isn't everybody's preferred choice. 

I came away from this seminar feeling in some ways, much calmer and more confident about my work and my abilities as an animator. I felt much more hopeful about the possibility of one day working as a freelancer, which isn't something I had given much thought to before now. I also felt much happier about having a preference between 2D & 3D, because before this point I had been trying to convince myself that 3D was for me, which I don't believe it is, at least not to the same extent as 2D. 

This seminar and meeting with the Brothers McLeod also encouraged me to keep being organised with my time, and to carry on being a good communicator. I believe this is one of the main reasons why they have been so successful. This also made me eager to get on with building my own website!