Creative teamwork is built on the idea that you need to be confident, yet open-minded around your peers. You need to have the initiative to speak your mind and opinions on the project yet be able to take criticism from others to expand your knowledge and create the best version of your work. This part of the module was the most important part of my learning experience, as previously I was unsure of group work. However, through this experience, I would confidently say that I am no longer on the fence and would happily do it again. I usually prefer to accomplish individual tasks though working as a group allowed me to gain insight into how other people undertake animation work as well as meet new people who I wouldn’t have a chance to otherwise. Group work has helped expand upon my verbal communication skills and task management as it was important to keep everyone up to date with what was being done and by whom throughout our project.
On the other hand, I did not like that we had to move around groups as it meant instead of focusing on one project and ideas for the semester, we had to work on multiple projects almost at once. I would’ve preferred to stick with one group, which would’ve allowed more time to get accustomed to the idea for the final project. However, it was fun to see what different ideas people came up with. Although, once I was with my final group and things were underway for our final project, it was fun to come together and take in different perspectives.
Overall, I found character design to be my favourite part of the project as it allowed for the most creativity. Once the story portion of the animation was solidified it was nice to be able to add details to characters and work on making them expressive. My group took an approach that I liked whereby we each designed two or three characters out of the main line-up we had already chosen (A Vampire, Werewolf. Mummy, Mushroom, Cyclops or Devil). If I was to do this project again, it would be interesting to do rough sketches for each character with final designs coming together based on everyone’s work.
If I had the opportunity to redo this module, I would do things differently. I would adjust my priority between 2D and 3D, as I allocated more time to 3D to make up for my inexperience with it. I don’t think this needs to be the case, as it only hindered my workflow in 2D and ruined the balance between the two. Despite this, there is a lot I would keep the same. The experience as a whole has changed my view on the course, and I will take this understanding into the next semester. The most important thing is the resolve to get everything done to the best of my ability.