3 Things I Learnt About Animation in New Zealand | Study With New Zealand
Animation student Diana Fernandes from India spent three weeks on an internship in New Zealand where she studied at Massey University, Wellington Institute of Technology and Media Design School. In this blog, she shares what she learnt about animation in New Zealand.
1. Time management – finished a movie in three days
On my internship at Massey University, I was asked to make a movie in five days. I was given two days to come up with the story and concept and the rest of the three days to work on the production. I was blown away by the thought of such limited time frame to complete movie. I have heard of a 48-hour movie challenge but could not imagine how people did it. It was challenging as I get at least a month or two to finish a film back in my college in India and there, I had just three days to produce it!
My movie was based on the 'traditional games story', how the hero tries to save the princess but with a slight twist towards the end. My team was very organised – we divided the work and tried to complete it as soon as possible. As a team, we made quick decisions and moved swiftly onto the next stage. While deciding the plot, we were briefed to make it as short as possible so that we were not only able to complete the movie in time but so that we could also make it look good. We had to finalise an idea quickly then work on the pre-production and on the look and feel of the movie. We also tried to think of ways where unnecessary animation could be avoided to save time.
After all our efforts and great teamwork, I was able to finish my movie just on time.
2. Using the green screen
Back in India we do have a green screen but I never got the opportunity to use it, even though I had a VFX (visual effects) class, I opted to do something different. While at Massey, I was supposed to make a movie using a green screen. Using it for the first time was an all-new experience. I learnt how to light up the green screen so as to get the footage out nice and clean. The faculty helped us all with understanding the software thoroughly so we were able to achieve a better output for the film.
3. Learning how to use a 3D printer
I’ve always been fascinated with 3D printers but have never had the chance to use one, but when we came to Weltec they told us that we could use a 3D printer for our project. I was thrilled to have a first hand experience and I wished that I’d had more time to come up with an amazing character that I could print.
We did a small print, first of all, to help us understand the settings of the printer and how to use it. Later, I started modelling our final character so that I could get a big print. Getting my 3D print model for the first time in my hands was an extraordinary feeling. It was then when I decided that I’ll start using 3D printers more often once I return to India.