Evaluation: Reflection on trip to ireland

An unexpected and brilliant opportunity arose during my easter break, the chance to travel to Ireland and work on a TV production: AMC's into the badlands. Due to the show still being in production, I have to keep some of the work and photographs in a separate folder .

So what did I get up to:

-Concept art:

My first task was to create a concept for an environment pitched to me. This was a real challenge, being an illustrator that to this point has worked mainly with flat characters, and a lacking skill in making environments (especially without sketch up to my disposal), I was admittedly lost, feeling a overwhelming sense of imposter syndrome.

But when tasked to do a job, you've got to have a good crack at it, I did what I could and created an outcome. This was met with an unsure response, being that "the image was too illustrative" And needed to be more photorealistic, so that the other departments could match the image in reality when building the set.

Following this I was tasked with yet another environment concept, and again got the same response from my first outcome. This caused me to do some research on the creation of concept art, and found out about the art of "photobashing". When photography is used within digital painting to quickly and effectively convey the idea. This worked a treat and finally achieved a positive response. I also got the chance to make a little poster to be used on a set, speaking of which..

-Set preparation:

I got the chance to work on a set, doing some odds and ends to bring the environment together, sticking up vinyls, spray painting. Quite a lot of fun, and really satisfying to see the group that I met in the art department bring their vision to life.

-Storyboarding:

This one was right up my alley, simple sketches to convey position of actors and set pieces. I felt like I was in control the instant I started working. This reflected in my feedback from the story boarder, saying I worked quick and would be well suited to the position.

-Prop and model making:

Probably the most fun I'd had within the whole experience, i'm not a sculptor, so it was really interesting to start this new medium and learn the basics, making a moldfor a cleft lip and nose prosthetic. Im really interested to learn more, both digitally and physically. I even had the chance to collaborate with their digital sculptor, who sculpted a robot design from my japan zine, and 3D printed it. 

Im under no illusions that I could work in the area as of now, still an amateur after all, but certainly have an interest, being invited by the head of department to check out his studio at a later date.

What an excellent opportunity, getting to see literally every aspect of the production. It gave me a lot to reflect upon, now having this experience on my CV could result in a future career in film.