The Neighborhood - Portfolio visit

For my 3rd portfolio visit I got in contact with The Neighborhood in Manchester, and arranged with Sarah Baker to have a talk with her and the Director over my work. I have been familiar with their work since my second year so was exciting to see the studio, and how they all work together.

We started off talking over what I've been up to in my third year and how I go about producing my work. I started off with showing them the work form my third year. The first response to this was that it displays my editing skills well, and especially with my 'Deal Me In' sequence, they enjoyed the use of continuous editing and how each scene flows together smoothly. The editing side of moving image is an area I want to work towards in the future and have really tried to push this in my final piece.

They also said the Masterchef and Feelgood Frogs pieces showed some interesting sense of timing and direction in both areas of 2D and 3D. The modeling however could have been improved by stylizing to suit the aims of the show, but they felt my skills in editing and camera control were well carried out.

I got chance to see their latest showreel, which shows a very diverse range of medias and styles. Which made me think about how they all bring different skills to the table, including different formats and visual styles. I really got a sense for their creative forward thinking attitude.

So i came out from the visit with a big reflection on the direction of my work and definitely made me feel more positive about it. One of my worries about my work so far is the direction, as my showreel displays many different areas of working and I feel does not hone in on a specific specialism. After seeing how they work at the Neighborhood I feel like this variation went down well, and is what they may look for, also made for an interesting talk.

Recently I have been in contact with Sarah and we have arranged for a 2 week work experience placement at the end of this month. Looking forward to it, and is just what I need to start understanding the industry for after I graduate.