Collaboration: Reflective Statement

This project has really been an eye opener into working in a studio environment. It was exciting working as a team because our team had our strengths but also weaknesses, it was gratifying to upload work that complemented other work in your team and it made me feel motivated as we started to bounce off of each other.

The biggest thing that I learned is that communication and compromise are key to thriving together as a group. It is important to talk to each team member together in person to bounce ideas off each other, negotiate ways around possible issues and to give positive feedback on the work that has been done to a good standard, Its easy for things to get lost in translation when typing out paragraphs to send to your team and its for that main reason that I preferred talking in person so that ideas and opinions were solid.

I found it hard when you have a vision for something and for that vision to not be met or to be scrapped. I came up with the Planet Cuckoo name for our Studio and I had a Brand design in mind for the whole look and feel of our studio but for those designs not to get finished or tested because of majority rules was difficult to let go, However I had to keep reminding myself of "What is best for the animation" and to learn to loosen my grasp of control and realise that its a group effort and we are a team and all voices need to be heard.

I've learned that I need to take a step back and to really think about what is the most productive way to tackle something and not jump into the deep end from the get go because I'm stressed of time constraints. With my car model I knew that I was doing it wrong from the start but I kept trying to make it work because I spent so long getting it to that point, whereas if I took a step back from the start and really thought "what is the best way to tackle this?" I think I would have saved more time. It wasn't until Alan showed me the best method for the model that I realise I need to adapt this into every project that I do and I enjoyed finishing off the car after that because I didn't have this nagging feeling that I'm not doing this correctly.

I thoroughly enjoyed using basecamp, It made me feel more productive with its clear interface and I felt encouraged to upload my work onto the site, it felt fulfilling to know that the to do list started to dwindle and that you were closer to a finished piece that you as a team can be proud of.

Even though we didn't get the animation completely finished and polished to our standards I am proud of Greta, Karolina and myself because I think all our hard work paid off from getting a few laughs from our fellow students and lecturers. I would definitely be interested to collaborate and use basecamp again because I feel like I have learned a lot about myself from this project and I feel like I have grown as a person and can use the lessons that I have learned from working together as a group on future projects.