Alright you got my point right(which is pointless).Well actually this post is about showing your work for critiques and comments. I just cant stress enough about its importance.
Let me guess how would one feel showing his work to his fellow animator,friend,director.
First and foremost we never feel like showing a wip. Even if its close to final. Its basically just because artists are never satisfied with their work. They say something like”art is never completed or finished,its just abandoned. The first step to take as an animator is to overcome this mind block ASAP. Showing your work is the most important thing you could do to progress as an artist.
C'mon you've been working on that masterpiece for weeks and days now. Your at the risk of getting tired of it,falling in love with it or even losing track of what is needed of that shot and what not??This is exactly why u need the the help of an world class animator like me. OK!OK! I know how u feel hearing that and thats why theres an comments section. Go ahead and blast me.
Now coming back to the point. With a new set of eyes going over your work you'll get the most valuable comments and direction. Most of the times these would be from a perspective that you've never even thought of. The gag you thought to be hilarious wouldn't even get a smile. The comment you'll be getting will push your work to the next level,After all this is what we want isn't it? To satisfy the audience and improve yourself. Well the person to whom your showing your work is like the preview audience. It doesn't matter if its just blocking or first pass or close to final. Infact we're so lucky because most of the time the screenwriters and director doesn't have this freedom or at least not as much as we have. Of course they have their own ways to check if the idea is working out as good as they thought it would. Sometimes in a tight production schedule even animators don't get this freedom. You can forget about that now.
But of course u wont be able to fix all the corrections that u get. Sometimes the fresh eye reviewing your work might miss the whole point of the shot. But such things hardly happen if its someone involved in the same project.
So get up ,pull you friend,show them your work and listen to them explaining stuff in their words. Well,usually there will be a lot of mistake that you've thought of fixing later on but you'll get comments on that too. Thats how it works and you have to put up with it. Don't keep saying ” yea i know, I'll fix that later. Some people get annoyed and they wont bother to look at your work next time.
Some of the best acting choices that I've got was by showing it to my fellow animators,so its better to fix things at blocking stage than showing the fully finished animation and then realizing that it dint work the way you thought it would.
And also it feels good when people appreciate your work. You'll be all pumped up and work even harder. In turn you'll inspire the person who's looking at your work too. How better can it get than this??
Ok Then!! if you've read this far.. u might be too bored already. So get that can of redbull and don't forget to watch Nikita Thukral on youtube. I sound like her PR don't i?? damn!!I'm shameless.
