Month: May 2024

Future plans.

I chose London College of Communication for a few different reasons. Initially I was applying for two courses, the other one was Illustration at Camberwell college. However my main goal was LCC due to positive first person feedback I got from some of my friends who previously studied there. LCC as a college feels very design and art directed compared to CSM which is obviously a lot more fashion focused. LCC has renovated its spaces and opened up many more facilities for people who are doing visual media such as graphic design, illustration, printmaking, publishing etc. I don’t have a proper education in illustration therefore I really want to be able to experiment with mediums and learn about it on a more professional level. 

I started my application process in January, where I was asked to submit a portfolio of my work and a video introduction of myself. To prepare for it, I decided to create a completely new portfolio to demonstrate a range of my abilities that have accumulated in the past 5 years. That included my bachelor’s degree design projects which involved a more hands on skills that I acquired while working in workshops. This also included my personal comic project which I am currently working on, and of course my LIAF film from this course. Because I applied in January, I didn’t have my grad film done yet, and I still think of the LIAF trailer as one of my bigger artistic achievements.

I wanted to demonstrate a wide set of skills to prove that I was prepared to be able to self direct future projects on the course. LCC Illustration and Visual media is a very free course which doesn’t put restraints on projects and ideas, and its very independent led. 

 During my application process I was also asked to write a letter to immigration explaining why I decided to do another masters in UK. 

My explanation is simple: After being in the UK for 8 years I grew very fond of the culture and to me I feel the most free to express my creativity here. Unfortunately the same privilege doesn’t apply to my home country. Taking another masters course will assure at least one more year of me being in the community that I learned to treasure and respect, and most importantly feel part of. 

I’m hoping to find connections that won’t feed me empty promises of a career, but give me a more realistic view on the job market. I’m hoping to find my place in the publishing business or maybe in advertising where my place can be secured for the time being, and not limited to one project only. I’m looking for a position that will guarantee me a presence in the studio or company. Hopefully I can start with being an artist’s apprentice first, as I find being in the studio especially wonderful. But I’m trying to stay realistic and latch on to any opportunity that arises. Whatever gets me through to my goal.

As an immigrant with a goal to stay in UK on the working visa, finding a job in animation industry that will sponsor a visa seems almost impossible. That has been proved by multiple visiting lecturers that straight up announced that if you are not a UK or EU resident you basically have very little chance of finding a job in this field. Regarding this factor, I had to correct my course of action and focus on finding a job anywhere in the creative industry as long as I will be sponsored a visa. As much as I want to be part of animation and film industry, it seems highly unlikely that in such political climate, I with a Russian passport will find any job that’s proximate to my field of interest. Since my primary goal has always been to escape the looming dictatorship of my home country, I’m willing to put my interests and passions aside and take on any boring low paid job in the UK as long as it grants me a chance to stay and later on file for residency. 

Because I am delaying my inevitable exile from the country, I have applied and got into another master’s course under UAL’s branch which is Illustration and Visual Media at LCC in hopes that I will get a slightly higher chance of finding an internship and an in-studio job.

I am aiming at finding connections and internships in the illustration and visual media area because it feels slightly more commercialised. Eventually I got accepted into LCC and I will be starting the course in September 2024.

To prepare for the course, I want to be back in my artistic state. Not as an animator or director, but as an artist with no boundaries. I’m trying to remember my days in high school when I was doing art for A level. I want it to be fun and inspiring process again and this summer before I start the course I will be going back to my fine art roots and explore more subjects that matter to me. However I am not forgetting animation as it will forever be an ace up my sleeve on any occasion. If you can draw-it’s a plus. If you can draw and animate-you are a God. That’s why I am eternally grateful for the skills that MA Character Animation course has provided me with.

What have a learned in these 2 years?

Unit 1 basics of animation/softwares

During unit one of animation course I have gotten a proper introduction into basics of animation, starting with its principles at the core and finishing with software learning pathways. I don’t regret choosing 2D pathway if animation, since it provided me with a lot of useful knowledge in softwares that I haven’t learned before in my Bachelors course, and it gives me a better chance at acquiring a job in a wider field. Since 2D softwares are not used solely for animation but also in other areas of visual design, UX, and motion graphics I think I have an advantage when searching for internship and a job. Also my background in design allows me to reach out into more commercial oriented areas, like advertising.  However reflecting back on my time at the course, I do regret not taking a more experimental approach and valuing emotion over practicality. If I was to start this course over again, I would definitely try myself in stop motion as it seems like one of the fewer mediums that can be freely explored at the university, because in job prospects, stop motion path is incredibly difficult and even more competitive than the general animation market itself (which already is insanely unavailable for new animators).

Unit 2  tough me about working in a team, and the importance of good pitch. During the LIAF project and being the director of a short made me realise that I found my passion in being part of the creative direction and pre production. To me, solely animating is extremely tedious and uninspiring activity. I wish to be a bigger part of the creative process, making my own decisions on the visuals and the story. My long lasting passion for narrative illustration, still proves me that I cannot work mindlessly and executing one task over and over again, without having any creative input in it. Which makes it almost torturous for me to be part of cleanup team or any starting animation jobs. I want to be able to write and visualise stories, create worlds and lore which can only be achieved either through many years of emotionless practice at an entry level role in animation industry or going in a completely different direction. This course made me realise the importance of knowing your own strengths, and patience and obedience are definitely not part of my strengths. 

Unit 2 was also a starting point in trying to make a first film on my own (using someone else’s script). That made me realise about the importance of writing my own script for the film, because it’s a part of my creative strength. However being able to control the visual of the film was definitely something that gave me inspiration.

Unit 3  is self directed project, where I was fully personally responsible for the graduation film. I could definitely sense the overwhelming pressure of being responsible for every aspect of my film. Sometimes too much responsibility can be jarring, and working in a team with a split responsibility is the best way to assure that outcome is to the best standard. However as unfinished as my film is for the submission, I can say that I’m very happy and satisfied with all creative decisions I’ve made so far. This project really pushed me outside of the comfort zone where I had to learn new software on my own, manage my own time with the help of schedules, and keeping up a conversation with people that aided me on this project such as composers and my first year assistant.