When you reach the end of the second year of my course you get the chance to pitch an idea for a potential graduate animated film that you will work on next year if you get picked. The pitching takes place infront of the whole course with a voting system that happens at the end of the week when everyone has pitched. Fortunately I did go through, but now I will have to make the thing! But I will be doing so with a talented crew beside me which gives me hope:) Above are a few of the character designs I did for the pitch.
This is the animatic I showed during the pitch. It took a lot of effort to draw all the panels and for some reason I rather enjoyed staying up at crazy o'clock working on them.
This is the latest version of the animatic. Though since the time I made this one, there has been a few changes to it. Some shots were unnecessary and just added more time on an already ambitious task. I hope the finished film will not fail to deliver what it promises. We'll see in a years time!
8 comments:
I voted for this..
Will I get a prize now? : x
Can't wait to see it! Keep it up Ben!
Howe Cheng
AIB Film & animation 02'
Cheers guys! Hope not to disappoint you lot:)
Pete, thanks for the vote, you get a sock!
Hi Ben!
I like your drawing style very much, you sure have great talent!
I'm from France, Paris, and I am interested in your school. When I searched for "best animation schools in UK", I found AIB, and afterwards I found your blog :p
But I would like to know more about these studies.
What is the precise program for this bachelor? What "lessons" do you have exactly in year 1, year 2, etc? Do you study perspective, background-drawing, life-drawing?
And for the softwares, do you learn how to use Photoshop, Illustrator, 3D StudioMac, Maya, After Effects...?
I've seen AIB website, but I would just like to know what you, students, are thinking about this course, and your everyday "schedule"
Oh yeah, last thing... Is Bournemouth a "party" city??? :p
See you and thanks in advance for your answer,
Julien.
Hi Julien,
This is an animation production course. It is based on traditional drawing skills (though you can work in 3d if you want) the focus is on 2d drawing and that is something that can be applied to 3d too. The course is described as a film course but with drawing in that people work together in many areas to complete an animated short film at the end of the year. So there are animators involved, I am specializing in painting the backgrounds for the characters. And there are other film roles were try out like directing, and storyboarding etc.
The first year is more about training. You go through a number of animation exercises and drawing exercises too. We believe good artists make good animators so the foundation drawing stuff is not ignored. There are plenty of life drawing sessions going on and workshops on perspectives.
Digital painting is not really taught much here, its kinda up to you to take up yourself if you are interested.
The 3rd years work in a team to produce a graduate short film for the year. The 2nd years work with the 3rd years in these teams as well as carrying on with their other units including life drawing.
The softwares we get taught are: Maya, Shake and ToonBoom. Though there are extra classes available to everyone at the school for other programs like Photoshop.
I love the course. It may not be suited to everyone though, it is pretty intensive. Theres a lot of work involved and you will have to be quite organized and keep on track with the amount of work you could get. The course is team based so you will have to be prepared to work with people on big projects. But if you are enthusiastic and determined, that will go a long way.
The university is about 15minutes bus travel from the town center (or an hour's walk) and theres a lot of clubs there. There will be the occasional house parties flying around nearby too, so there is a lot going on :)
Best of luck with your studies! Hope this was helpful :D
I couldn't of said it any better, Ben!
One thing he forgot to mention is that there are a lot of really talented people here. People seem to 'naturally' help one another and try to become better artists and animators. Coming from 2-3 other animation/art courses, I know that this is a RARE thing to come by. The quality of the tutoring is superb as well.
Oh and if you do come here, go to the buffalo bar or ibar. Nice atmosphere and good drink!
Petey Magic
Great !!
Thanks for the info, guys :D
All stuff I’m reading on AIB is positive.
Now, I still have to get there :p
Any tips for the interview + portfolio matter?
Thanks, and I wish you good luck too, for your great last year~
Julien.
With the interview, show that you are enthusiastic n determined. But be honest about yourself too. These will go a long way. Treat it more as a conversation than anything else.
As for portfolio, its good to show sketchbooks and life drawings. Observational work and other studies are good to show. Basically, you want to demonstrate you are willing to learn and study to improve your drawing skills as well as show what you are capable of. Dont put too much work in there though. Maybe a portfolio of 10-15 of your best work, and a few sketchbooks (a showreel might be nice but not many will probably have one at this time).
Thanks and good luck again :D
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