AG1064A: Professional Practice - Personal Statement

Proposer:  Julia Gompertz

Student Number:  0802230

Programme:  Computer Arts

Specialism(s):  3D Environment, Modelling, Animating, Audio Production, Direction, Lighting, Compositing

Personal Statement:

I would like to create an animation that utilises and pushes forms of communication and semiotics within the narrative and the mise-en-scène elements, drawing interests from psychology, science and the supernatural.

Inspiration and Interests:

Psychology:  Understanding the mind and the reasoning or the unexplained.

Communication & Etymology:  Languages or symbols in various forms fascinate me.  Whether it be social situations, science or religion.

Science:  How we understand the Universe and what lies within it, but still learning new things everyday.  How people have invented and created what we have before us.  Like an old fashioned Blue Peter “make” with things just lying around you, but on a mind-boggling scale.

History:  Understanding where things came from or re-learning things that have been forgotten.  Going back as far as you can to see the origins and where the paths actually led or changed course for specific reasons.  Also the art of historical periods, how fashion and styles have changed throughout

Theatre/Film:  The romantic nature of the process.  The work involved (scripting, direction, acting, set, lighting etc.) to produce entertainment for the human mind, but also knowing what, why and how it's entertaining.

Music/Audio:  The storytelling or emotional communication through audio gives me images in my mind.  Everyone is different therefore a huge range of images could be gained from the same piece.  In a sense we are all directors of our imagination.

I find it hard to communicate through speech a lot of the time, so my interest or motivation is to communicate my view or ideas through my work.

Career and Creative Aims:

I always said if I would have been born with brains I would have been an Architect.   The next best thing for me would be 3D Environment Artist.  As I’ve progressed through my degree I’ve had a strong pull towards Motion Graphics or Animation.  Having a varied background in Audio Engineering and Theatre Studies I still like to keep a keen foot in the door of lots of roles and Motion Graphics seems to let me do that.  Eventually my dream would be to obtain a Masters in Direction so that I can draw everything together.  Dream job, that would be creating/directing/ producing music videos, but I’m always looking for something new or different to push myself further.  Science/Historical/Fictional based films/title sequences would be other choices.

Current Skills and Abilities:

Traditional Art:  Includes life drawing and landscapes, mainly in pencil, charcoal or pastel, but open to other mediums such as ink, acrylic, watercolour and gouache.

Physical 3D Models:  I created a number of model sets using my own bare hands, these were initially for a stop motion animation project back in the 90s where home technology for 3D animation was limited for a tight budget.

Technical Drawing:  A qualification in technical drawing and reading abilities.  Studied the subject instead of Latin at school where I gained the understanding of perception and lighting.  Within my HNC of Technical Theatre Skills, my ability to read and produce design plans for sets, props and lighting in stage production grew stronger.

Audio Engineering:  I have spent various years studying the technical side and also many more years on the creative side.  This not only includes music but also radio production.

Digital Art:  Having started on my Amiga 500 many years ago at school I have changed and developed on many platforms, including Windows and generally now on Apple Macs.  Originally my main work would have been 2D and very standard animation, but as technology has risen so high between then and now, being able to create digitally in 3D has pushed my work beyond my initial dreams back in the Commodore days.

For projects I currently use Photoshop, Maya, Final Cut, Motion, Logic Pro and recently After Effects.

Skill Gaps:

Modelling & Textures:  These are definitely areas where I want to progress.  I want to keep pushing what I can achieve visually.  I don’t think there will ever be a point where I will down tools and say I can’t achieve any more in this.  There are too many competitors that wow me with what they achieve and they are the ones that inspire me to produce better work than I have previously.

Direction:  As stated previously I would like to gain a Masters Degree in Direction.  I would like to build as much foundation as possible towards that goal, which means gaining as much knowledge in the areas of lighting, cameras and narrative direction as I can.