In this blog, I will be detailing my self-assessment and plans for the next five years. Since the B1 project is all about creating a brand and online identity, compiling coursework and preparing for the future, considering the journey so far and the next steps is quite important. It is a chance for professional reflection and preparation for what is to come and I plan to take advantage of this and work towards my goals. For the presentation, I will include my PowerPoint and notes for each slide, as well as a reflection on how everything went and any feedback that I will have received.
. ⋆ ｡ ⋆ ☂˚｡ Next Steps PowerPoint ⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆.
◁◁ Who I am and my journey so far: ▷▷
I am an 18-year-old student from Bulgaria but I have lived in England for most of my life and consider this to be my home. I love reading and drawing, especially when the fantasy genre is involved, which partly explains my dream of entering the creative industry. I want to be a part of the animation pipeline so that I can create amazing worlds such as these [movie slide] which are some of my favourite animated films and inspire me majorly. As for my journey so far, I’d say that I’m making good progress, especially in my last two years at Confetti where I feel that my artistic and software skills have improved the most. The bunny GIF is an animation that I created without reference and is like a milestone for me, showcasing my improvement. I am to improve more in university though, which brings me to the next slide…
◁◁ 5 Year Plan: ▷▷
The following three years are going to be dedicated to earning a bachelor’s degree in either 2D or stop motion animation, hopefully in Teesside. Although I am interested in both, I plan to use the course’s modules to choose which one since Teesside lets you pick a ‘specialist area’ by the end of year 2 (and I am leaning more towards 2D). As well as improving my skills, I am planning on travelling more, hence the goal to save up, meeting loads of new people and stepping into my freedom. Things like learning to cook properly and gaining an understanding of financial literacy are part of this. I am also hoping to do a work placement, preferably abroad, which might extend my course by another year. This is alright since either way, I will be stepping into the ‘world of work’ after university. I see these post-uni years as my ‘sponge years’ since I want to gain as many skills and experiences as possible; I don’t want to stay in one place for too long so that I can work on tons of different projects. Some other things that I want to achieve in five years include becoming somewhat fluent in French and having one of my films entered into a festival, hopefully, winning a prize.
◁◁ Skills Audit: ▷▷
For my skills audit, I’ve put that I am fluent in Bulgarian and English and I’m learning French. I am skilled in Adobe and Maya. This is one I’m quite proud of: I’ve been teaching myself to type and I’ve gotten pretty fast, I can go faster than that depending on the keyboard but that is my average speed. I’m also good at drawing, writing and self-motivation.
◁◁ SWOT Analysis: ▷▷
I can take advantage of my eye for design, creativity and research skills. My time working for Stencil is also really valuable since I developed a lot, professionally and I can use that in the future. My weaknesses include presenting, timing in animation, marketing (I still don’t know how to market a project properly) and executing my backup plans when something goes wrong. For opportunities, I know that Teeside has an animation festival called Animex where a lot of huge companies gather, such as Disney, Dreamworks and Aardman and I am really excited about that. LinkedIn is a network that I want to tap into and in both Skillshare and Youtube, I have tons of helpful tutorials saved that I simply need to get round to. As for threats, I put originality as one because although an animator needs to be flexible, I believe having a personal style can help you stand out and I don’t have one as of yet. ‘2D vs 3D’ refers to the market; a lot of studios are now making their films in 3D because it’s faster and cheaper. Not only does this threaten my chosen career path but I also just don’t want 2D to die out because it has this indescribably quality that I love and can’t seem to find in 3D. ‘Scaling down’ is about my stubbornness when it comes to my ideas – I can’t seem to scale them down even when I know they’re unrealistic and finally, I’m not active enough on social media, meaning I can’t keep up with industry advancements and progressions as much as I should.
◁◁ Next Steps: ▷▷
So what’s next? Well, I plan to finish my Creative Project first since I worked so hard on that and I just didn’t finish it the way I wanted. I plan to follow through with my brand schedule, which I will create now and I’m not so certain of this one but get a job or volunteer if I can. I want to bump up my CV but I am going to a uni that’s 2 hours up North so I don’t know how likely I am to find something. ‘Driving lessons’ is pretty self-explanatory, I need to start those, and the rest are personal goals that I’m excited to finally make time for.
✼ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ✼
At this point, I am going to thank everyone for listening and move on to the Q&A section.
Post-Presentation Reflection
– 05/06/2022 –
Having completed my presentation and officially done the ‘Next Steps’ part of the project, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on how it went and what kind of feedback I received. I was noticeably less nervous about this presentation, perhaps because I have already done one in the Creative Project and my concern was instead focused on the subject(s) of the presentation. I had never planned ahead on such a long-term, so close. For example, I have always had dreams for the distant future, but I have never thought to plan out what I would be doing year by year leading up to them. I think about the next stage in my journey and grab hold of what I feel is necessary, which often stretches out and fills longer time slots. College took up two years and I know that university will take up at least another three, and that has always been enough. I’m glad that I have been pushed to plan in a different way however and I am reminded that things are a lot closer than they seem; I may, very well soon, be stepping into the world of work and I am already responsible for a lot of important areas of my life. This is why it is important to start thinking about upcoming years in greater detail whilst remembering core values and dreams and remaining open-minded throughout.
As always before a presentation, I run over the PowerPoint and what I plan to say multiple times so that I’m not going into anything blind and I have the key information I want to relay memorised. Something I noticed when doing the CP pitch is that I ignored the flashcards I had prepared for a lot of the slides. They were only supposed to be there to glance down at if I forgot something, but I found myself getting mixed up, forgetting the order and having to shuffle through them whilst the audience waited. They were also somewhat restrictive, so I didn’t create any this time! I decided to let the words I wanted to say flow out naturally, rather than trying to stick to a script. This helped massively on the day because each time I presented, the phrases were slightly different, meaning I was freer in what I could say and I didn’t have to worry about missing out on anything. It made me sound more natural and casual.
Sadly, the stage fright is still undeniably present. Even in front of those I know, I feel this uncontrollable unease and fear and it affects my voice and body. At the start, I trembled quite a lot and although this went away, further along, I was strained throughout. As always, it got easier the longer I was up there but I still felt the fear affecting my manner of speech and behaviour. I am simply grateful that I am able to push through and present despite that and I know that with more practice, the feeling will become less apparent and hopefully fade. One thing I found difficult apart from that, however, was how I should present. In trying to mask the stage fright, I put up a cool front, concentrating on trying to remain calm and maintain open, casual body language. I also pace as I do so because I think this is a sign of confidence: being comfortable enough to inhabit more space and interact with it. I wasn’t sure I found the balance between composed and fun, however. I know that a professional presentation isn’t supposed to be fun per se but everyone seems to have their own style of presenting and I don’t feel that I have mine quite yet. I felt that I was boring my audience at times. Again, it is hard to find the middle ground between hiding the anxiety of presenting, remaining calm and also relaying the information in an interesting way. I also had to think about eye contact and projection so that the volume was appropriate and everyone in the room could hear. It was difficult but I have hope that these things will come automatically one day.
Here are the questions that I received after the presentation was over. I will be adding to the answers I gave because I didn’t elaborate at the time and I feel like I have more to say for each.
『 ↳✧･ﾟ What is your inspiration behind wanting to do 2D fantasy animation in particular? ;
Fantasy has always been my favourite genre. Growing up, those were the movies and TV shows that I engaged with most because they were most immersive. And they still are, it’s quite simple. I love mythical creatures, made-up worlds and magical characters, and every time I watch animated films with those things, even now, I feel more alive. I feel like my soul is being transformed and refreshed. It’s not just a temporary escape from reality – it’s a window, a way to view these stories and step into them. I want to be a part of expanding this window and helping people step into stories, be more interested in them and fall in love with the characters. Fantasy is a brilliant tool to make a message clear – combine it with 2D and you have a beautiful, effective art medium.
『 ↳✧･ﾟ Do you have a backup plan in case animation doesn’t work out? ;
Yes, although I haven’t thought about this too much. My plan B is writing, which I’m sure is unsurprising to many of you. Based on professional opinions from secondary school and reactions to my blogs, I believe that I am quite capable, and talented if I dare say it, in writing. I’m proud of that! And whilst I do love reading, poetry and creative writing, I enjoy art more. Art and cinema are the ways that I have chosen to create stories, although I wouldn’t mind writing them either. It’s simply a secondary passion: I haven’t done a lot to prepare for it since I am focused on pursuing my main dream. If something were to go wrong, I think I would feel lost, even if I had a detailed contingency and plan of action to do with literacy. I absolutely have to succeed in the creative industry, in terms of animation or at least art, design and visual media.
『 ↳✧･ﾟ How did you create your PowerPoint? ;
Thank you for the compliment [the person asking looked quite impressed!] but don’t worry, it’s really quite simple! I browsed through the available themes PowerPoint had and I didn’t really like anything. They’re all quite basic and overused wouldn’t you say? I decided to look for other themes that you can download from the internet. You have to keep in mind what the topic is and how the theme reflects that, but the aesthetic is pretty much up to you! Since ‘Next Steps’ is about our career, it can be quite personal, so I went for minimal, clean and purple of course! I then customised the slides, rearranging anything, adding and removing text and throwing in my own art and favourite films. I think the visual components are almost more important than the textual ones.
『 ↳✧･ﾟ Do you think 2D animation could become a niche like stop motion? ;
[At the time I didn’t understand the question well and I rambled but I will answer properly here]. Yes, I do, but not soon. It’s sad that the 2D style is diminishing and 3D is taking over the industry – it may very well become a rare but well-loved occurrence in film & TV. However, stop motion is almost exclusive to films. We have to remember that 2D also exists in many other areas, such as children’s shows, advertisements and music videos. Streaming services like Netflix have also recently grown a higher demand for adult animated series, so 2D has a future. If it does become a niche, I don’t think it’ll be anytime soon. This makes me happy since although it would be a cherished style if this were to happen, it would mean that it is seen a lot less often so there would be far fewer job opportunities, effectively narrowing the entryway into the industry for new animators. It would lead to an eventual 2D extinction in the worst case!
Finally, here is my feedback slide (please ignore the jokes). I am so pleased and flattered with the things that were said – my classmates were so kind and encouraging. It makes presenting much less daunting in the future knowing that I have improved. I was delighted to find a common thread that my confidence and presentation skills have bettered and everyone seemed to love the presentation theme, like last time. Thank you all for being so supportive!
