Production Study Essay

I found the Collaborative Projects module and the process of creating a film from scratch to
be a very strenuous process and at times it was difficult to get through as the learning curve
was so steep, but by the end I was happy with the film we had made and I’m proud of the
work we managed to do.

Early Pre-Production was exciting for me, as I was lucky enough to be with a team of very
committed and creative individuals, who were really fun to brainstorm with and bounce ideas
off of. Generating ideas, concepts and characters was extremely enjoyable, but once we
started to create the thumbnail boards, we hit our first roadblock. Having a creative and
passionate team ended up being a double-edged sword, as we all had strong personalities
and it was difficult to get everyone to work towards a singular creative vision, with a group
consensus being nearly impossible. By the end of Pre-Production, I personally felt like I was
unable to contribute in any meaningful way and had to take a step back and distance myself
from the story. This did help improve my relationship with the rest of the team, but it also left
me feeling like the story didn’t belong to me at all.

Going into Production I managed to regain some of my passion for the project, but it was still
a stressful process, as I had to practically relearn Maya and the CG Production Pipeline from
scratch, in addition to adapting from solo work to group work.

I found it difficult to coordinate with my team, as they often went off to do their own thing,
meaning many of our models and rigs were inconsistent with each other. File management
was especially difficult as everyone liked to work in their own way, and it was difficult to find
certain assets in the group drive, which was especially frustrating in CG. I found certain
models, rigs and textures wouldn’t work properly when transferred across different
computers or networks, so we often had to rebuild rigs or node trees mid-production.

Each member of the team was involved in nearly every step of production, rather than
splitting off into different roles. This meant that we all got an opportunity to try a bit of
everything, but it also meant each person would create varied styles for each shot that we
had to try and make work together. As a result of this, I found myself taking on more of a
production manager role, as I attempted to make sure we stayed on task and that the assets
we created were all able to be used by every member of the team. I was also able to handle
some of the technical and organizational aspects of production more easily than some of my
teammates.

Ultimately, it felt like we did very little work on the film during Production as we were
spending most of the time putting out fires or resolving technical issues. Luckily our
characters and models were relatively simple so once (most) of the issues had been
resolved, the animation was a somewhat smoother process – or at least less stressful
compared to the rest of the project. One thing I loved about working in a team was leaning
on my other teammates for aspects of the Production Pipeline which I was significantly
weaker in. Aspects such as colour, environment/background and sound design I especially
found my teammates to be great at where my own skills were lacking. I also enjoyed having
other skilled animators to constantly get feedback from, and I felt my skills significantly
improving just by showing my scenes to others and iterating on their suggestions.

Corin Astles 1
In comparison to the CG animation, the 2D Production was quite relaxing. Partially because I
was more familiar with the process and partially because the 2D elements of the scene were
much simpler than the 3D elements – being mostly relegated to special effects rather than
full character animation. This was largely done in ToonBoom Harmony, although some of my
teammates preferred to work using Procreate.

Post-Production took a lot of work, but it was also the part I found myself most motivated for,
as I could see the finish line and knew (roughly) how we needed to reach it. We still
struggled with plenty of technical and coordination issues, but by this point, I was more
familiar with how everybody worked and was able to work around it. I had also learnt how to
keep my distance and allow people to work on their own shots without trying to
micromanage how they were doing it. This is where we got to combine the 2D and 3D
aspects of the film, and it was satisfying to see them come together and create the film’s
unique aesthetic.

Most of my previous animation work was done in 2D, and it felt like this was the first time I
had properly done an animated project in CG (although the hybrid nature of the film means I
didn’t have to completely change medium). Although I found CG immensely frustrating to
work with, I still liked doing it and want to work more with it in the future. In addition to
increasing my comfort in Maya, it also gave me ideas on how best to blend 2D and CG
animation, and in the future, I want to work on more hybrid projects that incorporate both
aspects.

This project has also given me experience in production management and organisation.
Although I doubt that I want to do production management for the rest of my career, I still
found it to be a useful part of the pipeline that I may be interested in doing more of in future
animated projects going forward.

Overall I’ve found the project to be testing and it’s pushed me to my limits at times, but
seeing the finished product is relieving and it has increased my confidence in working on
more animated projects going forward.

Corin Astles 2