adverts, microraptors and nanotubes

What’s happening with this advert?
We’re getting nearer and nearer the deadline for this advert for Maltese TV and I’m still waiting for the information I need to proceed with making it. I’m really not sure how I’m going to fit it in for the deadline (the end of the month) and I know the person dealing with me has been away, but now it’s getting very tight.

I’m assuming they still want the ad done, but I don’t know.

Of course it’s possible that the end of the month deadline isn’t as firm as I thought it was. Perhaps the conversion of their shops (which is what the advert is about) has fallen behind schedule and they won’t want to start the advertising until everything else is in place.

Still, it’s the uncertainty…whether I’ve got a huge amount to do in the next two weeks, or whether I’ll be able to get on with my own projects…Which include finishing the space travel documentary and starting the new documentaries….


Being a creative freelancer
Being a creative freelancer is different from being (for example) a self employed builder or plumber. If you’re a plumber and nobody offers you any work, you can’t just start plumbing something in the hope someone will buy it when you’ve finished.

If you’re a writer, an animator a graphic designer or a filmmaker, and you’ve got no work, you can at least start working on the projects you want to work on and hope they turn into real paid work somewhere down the line.

However, that itself causes a problem. When you have got work, and deadlines, you have to decide how to get a balance between the work you’ve already been commissioned to do and your own projects.

If you concentrate solely on what you’ve been commissioned to do, the job will stretch out to fill the time you have to do it and you’ll never get any of the projects you want to do off the ground.

On the other hand, if you spend too much time on your own projects – well, they might not get anywhere anyway, and you’ll have lost out on the paid work you could have been doing in the meantime.

My solution is generally to start work on any commissions I get immediately – or as soon as I can. I get them say 75% done or at least to a stage where I can see how I’m going to make them work and there’s at least something there that looks or sounds good.

If it’s writing work, I try to get the right number of words – even if the piece still needs details to be tied down. If it’s graphics or animation, I try to get something that looks right.

I then leave the project if I can – depending on the deadline, I might leave it for a week or two. That way when I go back, I can see it with fresh eyes. I don’t waste time perfecting everything before that because the chances are it will all have to change anyway.

By doing that, I can be pretty efficient and most of the time I can do at least some of my pet projects even when I’m busy.

Socially aware investments
So today I got a good chunk of my new animation project done (this is a series of animations for someone who’s setting up a socially responsible investment fund and is looking for investors). This means I can render some of the animation overnight and tomorrow while I’m looking after George (two days off work looking after George this week).

I should have something to show the client by Wednesday (and I think she’ll be pleased with it).

Microraptors and nanotubes
Of my own projects, I finally managed to start on designing a ”microraptor” – it’s a rather strange four winged dinosaur that nobody can quite place between dinosaurs and birds. The creature will eventually make it into a documentary on bird evolution, but luckily I can also fit its design in with another project for Science Photo Library who want me to make some stock images for their library – so I’m able to call this both my own project and commissioned work….up to a point.

I also got an email from science photo library saying they’d been contacted by a documentary maker was urgently looking for some animations of carbon nano tubes…. Creating them was easy enough, so I did it in a spare moment – hopefully they’ll be willing to go for it once they see them… I thought I’d do this even though it’s only a speculative project right now because Science photo have only just started thinking about video stock and I want to encourage them as much as I can.


Over the weekend, I had a little time to think. And I think it’s about time I did some charity work…. Not sure what yet, but some ideas are emerging…..