Unit X: Reflection Submission

As a group we took the opportunity to experiment by moving away from our respective practices to create something new. Working as part of a team can both be challenging and rewarding especially on a project such as this. I believe I have been an effective team member throughout the project by engaging in all aspects of the unit. After the holidays I returned with research which greatly contributed to the idea we finally produced despite the challenges I faced initially. I also took the opportunity to attend a number of workshops in preparation for our work including: VJ, Digital Stream of Consciousness and After Effects workshops as well as archive visits including: Manchester Cathedral and The Science and Industry Museum. Even though the workshops may not have contributed to the final product in the end, I still took the precautions before-hand in case these skills would be useful to the team. I may not have been able to attend every meeting as I had medical appointments, I was still able to attend most meetings, sharing ideas and developing our concepts further.

However I would improve how I did not manage the team effectively. I did not take the step to manage the team because I stood back and allowed the team to progress with their respective roles and responsibilities. However this lead to some jobs being incomplete which affected us greatly later on; one example being that the lights were not organised and no-one had booked the lamps. I trusted the team for tasks to be completed without communicating; therefore I should have asked the team what tasks had been completed. From this I feel that I have developed to recognise a team that does not have a clear leader using my understanding of Belbin team roles. In future I would therefore use my initiative to ensure the team has a clear goal, roles are assigned and jobs are completed well before the deadline. This would done through clear communication through our chosen method of communication and regular meetings.

I believe my choices have been just and that I have worked effectively throughout this unit. I contributed through the actions I took such as attending workshops, recognising contacts to gather materials and producing tests to share the results with the team. As other members gathered their materials, I produced tests of how the objects would appear using the materials we had chosen during the meetings. I gathered the materials myself and took a number of photos with changing variables including light and wind on how elements could potentially affect our work. I would improve how I’ve worked by communicating with my team more; this way I could have produced even more tests and gathered more results.

Research of hanging objects post: 

http://georgebowdenmanchestermetanimation.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/unit-x-hanging-objects-tests.html

http://georgebowdenmanchestermetanimation.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/unit-x-hanging-object-test-2nd-edition.html

During meetings I shared my thoughts and opinions on the work and what we should produce. I always wanted to take our ideas further by both producing a visually stunning piece of work with a clear link to our chosen theme. As I shared my ideas on my research involving the mental dislocation of Giselle, I shared ways to visualise this incorporating ideas from the rest of the group. I felt at times the theme of ‘The First World War’ was taking over from the theme of dislocation; I always had the fear that our ideas would advance and develop so quickly that that theme would be lost in a complex explanation. I believe this was due to my own paranoia which only affected myself negatively; therefore I would improve this by communicating with my team clearly and not allow my feelings to affect my work and contribution to the team. I would apply what I have learnt from this unit to my own practice which is teamwork; within animation you work as part of a team. With what I have learnt from this experience I can apply this to future projects to ensure the work produced is what we set out to create and even more.

Research Blog Post:

 http://georgebowdenmanchestermetanimation.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/unit-x-research.html

 I attended a number of workshops; this was made upon person preference rather than team requirements as there were no workshops that directly applied to what we planned to create.

Because our work was a structure the work was very intense during the installation as we spent the rest of the time collecting research and materials; which is very different from my practice which requires a lot of work spread over a long time.

This has informed me in different ways which I could work; in how to manage my personal time and communication within my team. This relates to my practice of animation because animation is regarded as a team profession and these skills of team work and leadership that I have learnt can be applied in future projects.