In the industry and during education it can often be hard to find the time to self-reflect and aim my projects in a direction that is accurate regarding self-improvement and artistic growth. This is often due to been immersed in the creative process and creating engaging content for personal interest and that of a client. There is a time though where a line must be drawn, and an artist must be self-critical and decisive, this is where ‘S.M.A.R.T’ targets come in! ‘S.M.A.R.T’ Is an acronym that stands for ‘Small’, ‘Measurable’, ‘And’, ‘Realistic’, ‘Targets’. This translates into a weekly review of my current projects and goals for the purposes of artistic growth through accurate and appropriate target setting regarding my current goals and skillset into a concise action plan.
Context of previous weeks
Last week I planned the completion of my “Work Based Learning” proposal and treatment alongside the planning and idea development of my project. I achieved the scripted creation of these documents ready to move onto the next stage in my projects production. One aspect of last week's target that I didn’t achieve was the implementation of my idea generation within my project sketchbook. This is something I intend to address on Tuesday the 2nd of April this week. It is of vital necessity that I complete this stage of my module for the pipeline production to be complete on the intended deadline. The third target that I had proposed for last week's production was the creation and posting of two SWOT analysis summarising the reflective cycle for my “Compositing” and “Contextual Studies 2” modules. I achieved this goal last week and the posts are now live on this blog as testament. My week was finalised attempting to finalise the idea generation aspects of my work-based learning module and this target will need to be addressed early this coming week to ensure that production meets the intended deadline.
What’s Happening this week?
This week on Tuesday the 2nd of April I will be taking part in a “Final Show Exhibition” meeting between my tutors, my peers, and other courses who will be sharing the space. This meeting will cover the intentions for the exhibitions as well as dividing up the venue to each person who will be presenting their work including myself. On Wednesday the 3rd of April myself, my peers, and my tutor will be performing a portfolio review as part of my “Commercial Animation & Illustration Production” Module. This session is intended to explore my past work over the 2 years studying this module and identify what skills I am demonstrating with my work. I will be comparing the skills I have demonstrated against the skillset I require for my aspired career role. I will then be devising a plan to fill in the gaps of my portfolio before my projects end. This will be covering in next week's s.m.a.r.t targets blog post.
Within my proposal document for my “Work Based Learning” module I created a time plan which outlines my intended schedule for my project. The week starting the 1st of April to the 7th has been allocated to the drawn refinement of my thumbnail sketches as well as the beginning and finalisation of my animations storyboard. Ideally the style-frames for my production will also be completed by the end of the week. This set of tasks that I have allocated for this week will translate into my weekly targets to ensure the successful completion of my project's soft deadlines.
What I need to reflect on
As outlined earlier within this blog post, this week I will be exploring my portfolio and planning my final show exhibition for my “Commercial Animation & Illustration Production” Modules as well as executing the design and visual development aspect of my “Work Based Learning” module. The targets that I need to reflect on following on from my previous week's development are intended to reflect my priorities for the three projects I am currently pursuing the development off and I am confident in suggesting should I achieve this week's set of targets that I will be on track to achieving my intended design results and securing my prospects for my aspired future career.
Due to my portfolio review being positioned on Wednesday my first target will need to be prioritised over the other targets for this week as the materials and documents needed are required for an earlier date.
Target 1 – Collect the final pieces for each and every project whilst studying both my level 4 and 5 foundation degree in animation and illustration for a portfolio review.
To kickstart the development and refinement of my “Commercial Animation & Illustration Production” module I am required to collect each and every piece of work I have created whilst studying my module and compile it all together as the basis for my graduating portfolio. The aim of this target is to enable a full assessment of my currently demonstrated skillset to explore what I need to strive towards demonstrating within my portfolio. I will measure the success of this target by having a body of work within a digital file ready by Wednesday morning, by having this prepared I will deem this target a success.
Target 2 – Finalise the drawn development of my thumbnail sketches and refine them into final roughs for my style frames.
Discussed throughout this s.m.a.r.t targets blog post, I have expressed that to ensure the refinement and completion of my “Work Based Learning” module I need to maintain the momentum of my project through the completion of soft-deadlines to ensure that I am meeting the projects targets and goals. Currently I have defined the conceptual narrative of my project through scripted exploration and peer to peer discussion but to ensure the proper development for my project is defined It is vital that I finalise my drawn preparation for Monday the 8th April. I will deem this target as successful should I have a drawn sketchbook full of thumbnail sketches prepared on Monday.
Target 3 – Catch up on Blog posts by creating 2 scripted inferences into trends within Illustration as well as artists I find interesting.
An industry professional in commercial animation is not defined by their ability to execute a technical skillset alone, but also 9by the insight, knowledge, and direction they provide against a given brief. Like any muscle the brain requires exercise for the maximum potential of its ability’s and boundaries to be pushed as far as possible during productions. In reflection to this concept, the pursuit of knowledge around the subject of a creatives chosen vocation is vital for the continued development and I am no different. To ensure that I am continuously growing not just in my technical ability but in my creative thinking I will create and complete 2 blog posts covering trends and style in commercial animation which will be posted onto this blog. I deem this target as being successfully achieved should there be 2 blog posts submitted by Monday the 8th of April.
Conclusion
Last week saw the attempted spearhead production of my “work based learning” module through the creation of idea generating techniques such as mind mapping, mood boarding, drawn iterations, and the scripting of my proposal and treatment. This week I intend to continue the refinement and development of this module as well as begin the exploration and production of my work-based modules style frames and storyboard. In addition to the development of this module I intend to achieve the successful execution of the two other targets I have set to achieve aspects of my two other modules: “Commercial Animation & Illustration Production” and “Personal Professional Development”. This includes the collection of all realized design outcomes from September 2017 to present for my portfolio as well as the scripting of two posts for this blog. To consider this week's work a success I will need to have produced results in regards to my three outlined targets by Monday the 8th.
Thank you for reading.
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