Major Project Reflective Statement

We did it. I did it. I made it. *waves white flag*

This sums up yesterday's mood: exhausted, bruised (metaphorically speaking), but smiling through the pain (and the gain that comes with it).

3 years... Wow. When thinking what to write for this reflective statement the first thing that comes to mind is how appreciative I am to everyone that's got me this far. My family and friends for their support and belief in me, to Alan and Phil for their kindness and knowledge, for always giving me help when I've needed it and for not once making me feel stupid for asking - this knowledge will change my life. When I was at school I had teachers tell me I wasn't anything special and that I was not capable of going to university because I struggled - that stung but more importantly they were wrong. Right now, I feel immense happiness for what I've achieved and the person I've become since then. People may not view me as anything special but what I've managed to create in the last year is pretty damn special, I've immortalized part of my family's history through animation. I've become my characters in order to understand and animate them, I feel like I've got to know them too even though I never knew them myself in the real world.

Thinking back to the beginning of premise, I had no idea the events that would unfold. The second most traumatic thing after losing my Nan was having the panda mockumentary idea rejected (that was a joke) but looking back I'm glad it was, otherwise I wouldn't have discovered my Grandad's story. I have learned so much I can't even begin to describe not just technically in Maya but about myself as a person. I think one of my strengths is that I never quit and I think it's because I have genuine heart about what I'm doing. From blocking out animation I've learned how to animate and how the mechanics of living beings work, I've been observing the life around me and projecting it into the film, I'm surprised with how well I did with some shots (such as Fred on the doorstep, how he wakes up when the milk cart arrives and how I created a character from half a body, implementing behavioural traits in the host using just her lower body), I exceeded my own expectations at times. However, I have shots that are quite bad too and obviously need a lot more work (such as how the milk bottle leaves Fred's hand).

If I were to do this project again... I wouldn't change a thing because I gave this project every bit of me and that's how I went from being behind for minor to on time for major.

I'm looking forward to what comes next which is... 3D PRINTING!!!!