Mike Mignola & Richard Starkings Talk - 3/11/16

Going to see Mike Mignola was a really good experience for me as even though I'm not that interested in creating comics it's still beneficial to hear about the creative industry and how he fitted into it. Mike Mignola explained that he was a 'workaholic' and that he was always thinking about stories, drawing or doing something along those lines all the time, which really made me think about what kind of people are successful and how determined they are. He also talked about always being true to himself and that whenever he created something he needed 'to do something that's me'. I think that this is something that is really important as sometimes your own needs and interests can get lost along the way. 

A really good tip I got from this talk was that one of Mignola's techniques was to go 'through books and circle parts that I could use to piece together a plot'. Coming up with a story is something that I sometimes struggle with, so I found this technique to be something I'm going to try in my own storytelling. He went on to say he went through folklore books and took parts he liked and parts he felt would be good to draw and this helped him create HellBoy. He also explained that you need to 'get a beginning and an end, then a good few bits in the middle with markers, then just fill in the blanks'. I really liked this tip and he even explained 'I never planned to be a writer, I became a writer so I could draw'. I found all of his tips to be inspiring and that you don't need to be the best idea person you just need to want it and be determined.

Some of Mike Mignola's inspirations were Frank Frazetta, Barry Windsor-Smith & Ray Bradbury.

I've put a few of their artworks below just to get a feel of the kind of inspirations he likes.

Overall, I really enjoyed this talk and I found it to be really inspiring even though I'm not very interested in the comic book world. I understand that you have to be open to every part of the creative industry and it's good practice for me to research different kinds of practices and how they work and can work together.

Going to Doncaster! - Channel 4 Pop-up Experience 2/11/16

I got the amazing opportunity to go to a Channel 4 event in Doncaster where I got put into a TV Production workshop, I was selected with 150 others from the country to attend this event. I really learned a lot on this day and I got the chance to show my talents and be more confident in myself. I also met a lot of inspiring and amazing personalities that has really helped with my networking skills.

I got the the chance to network with lots of people from Channel 4 and got lots of tips about the industry, including how to get into TV and where to start.

The challenge we were given was to create a 1-2 minute long film that related to something we were all passionate about. I got into a group of 5 with people I had never met, which came down to what roles we were interested in. I selected the role of 'Editor', but I also ended up creating the storyboard and was the camera operator.

To the right is a preview of one of the interviews we conducted and as we only had 2 hours to film and edit the film, it was quite a challenge to get good content and make it look good. The people I worked with were really great and only by chance we worked really well together, even though we had never met before. We took the hashtag YESICAN and made a film based on this theme, where we explored the idea of where you are born stopping you from reaching your dreams and gaining opportunities.

After making our films they screened them for all the Channel 4 judges, staff and other participants to view and above is a preview from the film that we made!

I also got the opportunity to hear from Channel 4 staff about how they got to where they were now and what struggles they faced. This was really inspiring as it opened my eyes to way that life can work out differently to how you might have planned it and this isn't always a bad thing. One of the main things I took away from this is that employers are mainly interested in the experiences you have instead of what you 'know'.

It turned out that as a team we actually won the competition they held and above is a picture of me and my team with one of the Channel 4 judges. This means that we get to go to Channel 4 HQ in London to go behind the scenes and meet with lots of producers and people in the industry. This is an amazing opportunity and I'm so excited to go to London, I wish I could do it all again!

Painting on Glass! - Possible Practitioner

As part of my PPP I want to look at interacting with Paper Panther as my practitioner/organisation, they are really inspiring to me. Above is a video of them painting onto glass to create animation and as this isn't the most popular way to animate I feel it would be interesting to get to speak to them and ask them why they would choose this. They make really beautiful animations and I feel that this is rare for a studio these days to solely create animation that they like instead of following the most popular trend. As I love to paint with oil, I would also like to find out a little bit more about the technique.