The Countdown to the Big Au Revoir

I have just come out of a meeting to discuss my future here at Dagobert. Everyone was massively complimentary and everyone seems very happy, and I was offered a contract extension. However, it seems the terms aren't quite what I would need to continue living in the expensive city of Paris, so I am facing my final month here. Over the past 5 months, I have built myself a great little life here in Paris, and I can already tell it'll be an emotional farewell. I only planned on being here for 6 months, but as time has gone on, I've become more and more settled. All I can do now is get my head down, knock out some top drawer work in my final month here and plan for whatever is round the corner.


Onwards and Upwards.

Copyright Shenanigans

Unfortunately, it would seem the work I am producing at Dagobert right now cannot be compiled into a personal showreel for a few months. Annoying, as it means not only can I not showcase my latest work, but I also can't send it out to prospective future employers. Ahhh well, that's the nature of the industry I'm afraid. Just wanted to put it out there, I am actually doing loads of work I assure you, I'm just contractually bound to keep it to myself for now.

A Kooky Scientist

I sketched this guy out between projects at work and wanted to colour him in. I used an erratic paint style to match the style of the character. Plus, I got a chance to play about with the pressure sensitivity setting on my new Wacom. Hands are awful, a sign I need to get back into life drawing as soon as I'm back from Paris. Anyway, hope you like.

Planning and Scheduling - The only way to get things done.

Apologies if my Blog seems to be morphing into a sort of self-help style guide for budding interns or young professions, I promise I am still doing actual work and doodling and stuff. I scrolled through and noticed how long it'd been since I actually put some art up here.

I just wanted to write a quick piece about planning and scheduling. Most people absolutely detest the idea of sitting down, making a plan and dividing up their time mostly because they're pretty sure there's no way they'll stick to it. Me, I love a schedule. It really is the only way I know I'll get something important done. I also love the feeling of crossing something out once it's done, it gives you a great sense of progress and reminds you you're one step closer to your goal. This is a technique I believe the people down at Weight Watchers swear by too, but for different reasons I imagine.

I am currently slashing together a new showreel, and have a mountain of animation to complete. Working all day at the studio, I only have weekends free to complete my work, so all of my time needs to be regimentally laid out. I have spent 3 or 4 weekends slumped on the sofa, partly because I'm tired but I imagine mostly because I have no structure and guidance to my workload. Whilst at Uni, the schedule was my best allie. When people said something couldn't be finished in time, I'd show them my schedule and that was that. Anyway, my point is, half hour spent before you start a project can save you 10x that during the project. Give it a whirl, you never know.

Making yourself Indispensible

To continue from my post 'Making the most of an Opportunity' (see below), I think it's worth carrying on by talking about trying to make yourself indispensible. I touched on this before, but it's the stage of making the most of my current opportunity that I am currently immersed in. I love nothing more than being asked to work on a project that I know is heavily dependent on my input. There have been 3 projects here now, where I have hand drawn character, or animated characters in Flash, and the client has specifically asked for my drawing style. And not to boast, but these are big clients, and big projects. I usually make a point after of asking who would have done the work had I not been here, and the response is always, we'd have had to bring someone in. Not very subtle I know, but just a gentle reminder that I am contributing work of a high standard, and that they would normally have to pay a lot more for.


Also, the English lunches I am chairing - they're great because I have a skill that they are looking to use that in theory only I can provide. All these little things, they will all be taken into account when the powers that be sit down to discuss my future at the company. And aside from that, I'm always adding killer work to my showreel, and gleaming additions to my CV.


A lot of people rubbish internships, and I can totally see both sides of the coin, and at times, I feel like I've well and truly paid my dues. But to get up every morning and actually really look forward to going to work is pretty rare. We could all work in jobs we hate and earn good money, and we all know people in that position. That's not the life for me, I love what I do, and in due course, it'll come back around.

Half Way Point ... 3 months down, 3 to go

I have had an amazing 3 months here at Dagobert, and the first half of my internship has absolutely flown past. The language is inevitably getting a little bit easier to cope with, and I feel like work-wise (c4d aside), there isn't much I can't handle. People still help me along the way, but hey, it is an internship, and once that really hit home, and I realised I can't expect myself to be amazing at new software straight away,  I took a lot of pressure off myself.


I will be having a chat with my bosses next week to see if I can physically set aside some time for C4D training, because the bits and bobs I have picked up have been 'on the job', with a looming deadline and last minute tutorials. I think if I sit down and actually learn it, it will help massively. It's a daunting piece of software for the traditional animator, but if I can leave Paris with a fairly solid understanding of it, I'll be well happy. I'm already striding forward with After Effects, and pushing my Flash up to advanced levels, and at the very least, am conversational in French. If they speak slowly.


In other news, the first English Lunch went well yesterday, got some great response on the feedback form. It looks like that'll become a regular thing every 2 weeks which will be cool. 


Here's to the next 3 months ...

'An English Lunch'

Had a meeting with the HR lady here at Dagobert, and she asked me if I'd be interested in holding some informal English lessons for my colleagues over a few croissants a couple of times a month. I thought why not? Talking nothing but English for 2 hours every few weeks is ideal for me, and it's always nice to help out. I'll be holding the first session, which they've named 'An English Lunch' - I had to ask them very kindly not to call it 'An hour with Nick' - no-one would have turned up for that. Anyway, another string to my bow, and another way of differentiating myself from the other interns.


They're providing the croissants too. I asked for pie and mash but they can't find a place in Paris that does 'em.

Blottr Instructional Video

In December, I created a little animation for the citizen's journalism site Blottr. It took a day to storyboard, 3 days to animate and another day for client alterations and tweaks. It was a busy 5 days but the clients were happy with the outcome, as was I. Check out blottr.com , it's interesting stuff. Have a nice Friday all.

Hello, potential TFL 2012 Participants

Hi there,


You may well have stumbled onto this blog after receiving the Transform@Lab newsletter and seeing my brief article. If so, hello and welcome to my Blog. I attended the TFL course last year and am currently reaping the results on a 6 month internship in Paris with the Digital Agency Dagobert. Just to talk the whole course up a bit more, it really is a great opportunity to meet some fellow creatives, come up with some ideas and learn a load of new skills. I found it helps if you jump in head first - don't let little things like not knowing anyone and language barriers get in the way of potentially career changing opportunities. Anyway, I'll leave it there, but if you are thinking of applying and have any questions, feel free to get in touch via nick@nickclackett.co.uk.


Cheers.

Tearing up the Showreel

Since I graduated, my showreel has been a mash of student work and work experience, and each year, I've tidied everything up a bit and made it a bit snappier without really splicing in much new work. Well not anymore!


This Summer, I'm planning on launching 2 new showreels - 1 for Animation and 1 for Motion Graphics. The animation showreel will feature 20-30 seconds of new character animation, and the graphics showreel will feature work I have produced for Dagobert, as well as a new animated sequence throughout. So come the Summer, 2 brand new 45 second showreels - it's a big ask but who needs weekends and spare time anyway?


GOooooO!