Christopher Bates BA (Hons) Animation 2020

Ever since I was a child, I have always been intrigued by the medium of animation. The idea that you can take any image, any world, any thought and turn it into a moving image, bringing life to something which is still is truly beautiful and fascinating. Before my animation degree I studied Art at high school then advancing these skills with Graphics design and 3D Art in college. In addition, I studied Film Studies to get an overall idea of camera angles, storytelling and cinematography giving me a reel feel for the technical side of film making. Adding to these methods I took part in a Art foundation course. Giving me experience in most fields of Art including Photography, Textiles, Fine Art as well as advancing my already acquired skills. I took these challenges on because I wanted to have a basic understand of all Art styles to truly take on any challenges I may face in my professional career. I kept the same mindset when it came to my degree as I studied all three animation styles, Stop motion, 3D and 2D animation. I have a basic understanding of both stop motion and 3D design, creating 3D models and animations in both clay (DragonFrame) and on the computer (Maya). However, the design style I feel most comfortable and knowledgeable in is 2D animation. Over my university degree I have advanced both my frame by frame and rigged animation skills as well as inbetweening and colouring being able to adapt to a multitude of design styles. I also feel very comfortable when it comes to editing and compositing being trained in a multitude of software’s (Premier Pro, After Effects and NukeX). Overall, I feel very comfortable in all phases of animation from pre-production all the way to editing final shots, my main drive throughout my career has always been to create high grade work in rapid time and to be able to accomplish this in any environment or situation; from storyboarding to character design to keyframing to editing… I also make a lovely cuppa tea.