As part of the professional portfolio, I decided to research different job roles and opportunities that I could do. As I have mentioned in a previous post I had some issues at work and this resulted in me wanting to change careers. Because of this, I have since looked at various jobs and what I would need to do them.
One area I looked at was art restoration work. This was an area that I considered before starting this MA and is something that I am still very interested in. Through my research, I found that I would need an MA to do this job, also depending on where I studied I would need to convert my degree, this was recommended to be a subject such as Archeology. This would mean taking a year's course in archaeology in order to convert my degree. They also required a science qualification, one place I looked at did recommend a course for this.
https://www.cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk/postgraduate-conservation/
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/study-at-northumbria/courses/preventive-conservation-dtdpcz6/#
https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/course/conhisma/
https://www.hki.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/courses/postgraduatediploma
These are some of the courses and information I found. I also looked at archiving jobs, and again I found that this is something that generally needs a qualification in or you need to do a work placement to gain experience. Both of these jobs would require an MA in that field as well as other experience, while not impossible it would be costly as I would need to self-fund these courses. After this I decided to look at different careers in the industry I was in and that I could use my existing degree and MA for.
The jobs I have looked at and considered are:
Stop motion
2D
Compositor
Digital matte painter (DMP)
Texture artist
Some of these areas I currently work in, these been stop-motion which was what I specialised in at university and have pursued since and 2D animation which I teach at work. Within stop-motion animation I already know all the different types of job roles as well as the skills needed for each. However there are areas that I could upskill in and develop these would be dependent on which role I wanted to try for. I used to want to be a puppet fabricator, but jobs in these areas are very limited, a lot of stop motion studios are also linked with this course in london - https://nfts.co.uk/model-making-animation which they higher students from, I would love to do this course however again, I could not fund it, especially as it would require moving, it is also full time which would mean I wouldn't be able to work alongside it. I have also become interested in building miniature sets, which this course includes.
Outside of stop motion, the other area that I work in is 2D animation, which is a subject I teach, while I teach this and can work in this, it is not an area I wish to go into as I find the repetition boring. I do enjoy the pre-production side of this work, but I know that this is one of the most challenging areas to get work in and I don't think my art skills are a high enough standard, because of my job and the MA I have had very little free time, which means I have been unable to develop this, but it is an area I need to work on.
Outside of this, I have looked at a few different areas. These are compositing (because I already use after effects so I know the basics to upskill in Nuke) Digital matte painting and texture artist. These are areas that I haven't worked in but that I have transferable skills in and jobs that I think I would enjoy.
Compositors use - Nuke - photoshop
DMP and Texture artists use - Photoshop - substance painter - substance designer - Mari
This would mean upskilling in new software, but it is software that I already had on my list to learn.
In all honesty, since the issues at work happened, I have become unsure of what area I want to work in, or even what area of animation I enjoy anymore. It is because of this that in my year out I am going to use Tuesdays as days to upskill and find what I like again, I am first going to experiment and play with software, not working on anything serious or even having a plan, just test them and see if I enjoy it, and once I have found what it is I actually enjoy then I can concentrate and focus in that area and work on an actual project. I am hoping that this method will help me find what I like to do and bring back my passion for animation. As I already have a job as a course leader, I don't need to be looking at available positions and this research was just a way for me to see the possibilities and different career paths available to me. It has also highlighted software that I need to learn and upskill on, which I have created a spreadsheet to record.
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