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SHOWREEL
GET TO KNOW AKASHA
Can you describe the extent of any relevant work experience you might have?
I haven't had much work experience within the industry however to compensate I've been able to attend many industry talks (hosted within Escape Studios and outside), be in contact with leading professionals, as well as join remote workshops. This has given me a realistic outlook on what recruiters are searching for in graduates but also what the current state of the industry is like. It's given me honest feedback on my showreel and helped me improve as an animator but also an individual.
How would you describe your contribution to your group project?
For my most recent group project 'Set In Stone' I've had the role of Producer, Storyboard Artist and Animator. Producing was outside of my comfort zone as I had never volunteered for that type of role before, however I wanted to step up to the challenge and hopefully grow as an artist. Managing such a large project has been difficult and strenuous but very rewarding as I've been able to talk to many different people as well as work on my own personal soft skills. My goals have been to delegate tasks efficiently and effectively, be a bridge to the animation team, 3D VFX team and 2D VFX team, and to support the director as much as I can to fully realise his vision. I've had to navigate problems beyond my technical knowledge which has helped me broaden my understanding of the industry pipeline and overall proficiency in Maya.
My previous roles in other projects include Co Lead Animator for 'ONGO', Animator for 'Order Up' and '5 More Minutes', and Storyboard Artist for all 3. I have thoroughly enjoyed each of the projects I've worked on and I'm excited to focus on the role of animator in future projects.
What do you specialise in and what made you choose that specialism?
For my specialism unit I decided to focus on body mechanics and lipsyncs as I want to go into character animation for film, tv and cinematics. Body mechanics and overall movement is something that comes quite naturally to me so I find it fun to animate especially when exploring the relationship between dynamic movement and sound and how weight can really sell an action. Lipsyncs however, I find to be more challenging. I wanted to directly focus on this so that I could be well rounded in all aspects of character animation as I like to confront my weaknesses head on. This has put my skills as an artist to the test but also as an 'actor'. I've gained a lot of confidence in front of the camera and in person even if it was a bit awkward and funny in the beginning! This module has truly helped me come a long way and I'm excited to keep on perfecting my craft!
What would your ideal first role in the industry be?
A junior Animator/Intern
Which of your student projects are you most proud of, and why?
I think I'm proud of all the projects I have taken part in for different reasons. I was able to try out different roles and tasks in each project so I learnt a new skill every time which I am very proud of.
The most demanding project, in my opinion, has been 'Ongo' which was a short film rendered in Unreal Engine 5. I was Co lead animator for this project and took on ambitious shots varying between cyclical montages and acting pieces. Being a lead, I had to find a good balance in making progress with my shots but also prioritising and supporting my teammates with theirs. In the end I completed all my shots to a good standard, helped animate all walk cycles and did a polish pass on the shots.
I mastered walk cycles from this project as I was able to produce different cycles in a fraction of the time It would usually take me and received praise on them by ILM which also helped me grow my confidence as an animator. Another thing I am quite proud of was also learning and navigating Unreal Engine. It was a completely foreign software for me but I took on the task of importing the characters and setting up their geometry caches into the level, connecting the textures and keying the visibility of each shot. It was a pretty tedious task but by the end I felt I had gained familiarity with Unreal and felt proud that I could take the weight off my teammates shoulders for a bit.
What’s a piece of media (film, game, animation) that changed the way you think about your discipline?
Into The Spiderverse was the film that made me pursue 3D Animation however, I feel Arcane truly made me want to fully dissect my animation (from the process to the final product) as I was so immersed by the way they portrayed each character but also how organic their movement and mannerisms felt. Their realistic style of animation was something I felt drawn to as I loved the grittiness of it and it's something I want to learn from especially when capturing raw emotion. One of the other things I loved (which was also very prevalent in the Spiderverse films) was the relationship between animation and sound. I felt that their animation was married to the music which made me look at my own animation beats and understand the principles of timing and anticipation. It's something I am now actively applying to my work and I hope one day I can replicate and achieve the same feelings I got from watching that show.
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