Another year...

I cannot believe that it is nearly the end of the academic year again. Three years sounds like a long time when you start a degree but you are so busy that it just flies by. I have nearly finished my second year now. Only one more year of university and I will then have to face the big bad world all by myself. This is something that will be wonderful if I find employment but not so much fun if I don’t and just wish my degree was one year longer.

My latest 3D cinema expedition was to see Rango. It is one of those films that you are not sure whether you like it or not because it is so different. As with most 3D animations you expect it to be a child friendly morality tale of some sort. In fact Rango is just a western but done in beautiful 3D animation with animals as characters. So if you like a western it is very much recommended but if you want something to take your young child to, not so much.

The line-up for v festival has been announced, which is very exciting. I have never been to a big music festival before. The only festival I have been to was the Hop Farm Festival last year which I was working at. Many people have told me discouraging facts about horrible toilets, large queues and bottles of urine. However I will be reassured that my parent’s house is within walking distance so I can have a shower and a sleep there if it all gets too much.

We had an Open Day at the university this Saturday just gone; I always know this means a busy day for me. At the Greenwich campus was the best turn out I have seen so far in my experience of the university open days. I had a very large tour group all to myself and got to speak to lots of different people about the best way to make their way around the open day. I hope everybody who came got the information they wanted and saw what they wanted to see!

Extra Curricular Activities

I hope you have had a nice week or two. I have been to see the band Lifehouse, most people I mention them to don’t seem to have heard of them. They have songs on the Shrek soundtrack and their song ‘You and Me’ was the most popular wedding song of 2008. So give them a go and you might be surprised. I had never been to The Roundhouse in Camden before, it is a very nice venue with a very similar layout to the Indigo O2 except slightly larger.

I started a course in Autodesk’s Maya last week. I study Autodesk 3DS Max in university, but although that gives us the concepts common to all 3D software Maya is much more commonly used for film and TV whereas 3DS Max more for games. They don’t have time to teach you everything at university, if you have the time management skills to fit it in, it can be good to do a short course alongside. It is just a way to add extra strings to your bow and make you more employable whilst still focussing on your area of interest.

I must have a little 3D geek out, I saw Gnomeo and Juliet, which had some very nice textures that almost made it look stop motion for a couple of short moments. I particularly liked the small Montague bunnies who clicked their ears together. It is a production that went through quite a lot being shut down twice before finally being made.

Time for a mini boast, I had a bit of a coursework breakdown at the end of last year and the beginning of this one. I also said that it was very important to keep ahead of yourself and try to be ready to hand in early. For the first time it is not just do as I say, it is also do as I do. I have nearly finished my coursework a week early (and I have backed it up as well).