Effortless
I swear there’s something in the universe out there trying to tell me to stop trying so hard… either that or I have this inate ability to turn anything I spend more than an hour on into pure gold… I assembled a portfolio for (of all things) Portfolio (actually called “Professional Procedures”) class tonight in the 2.5 hours prior to the start of class, and that included going to Walgreens and buying the materials for the binder and tabs. At the moment, with all the other stuff I have crowding my brain, I was just shooting for something that would be decent enough to skate by with maybe a low “A”. What ended up happening was this:
I spent 2.5 hours assembling a portfolio (buying the binder, divider tabs, typing all of the text (or copying it from existing documents) for class. I got to class late because I wanted to at least turn in something complete, rather than completely half-assed. Ms. Casarez (the instructor) not only thought I did a good job on the assignment, she said, and I quote from the grading rubric that was attached when I got it back, “the best I have seen!” She also asked me if she could use it as an example later on in the class, so I said fine. I was not, however, aware that it was the first time she’d *ever* shown off a student’s work as an example in any of the classes she’d ever taught. She also volunteered herself to be included on my list of references.
My brain hurts. See, it’s things like this that just break my concept of how things are supposed to work in the world… there were people in that class who no doubt spent a lot more than 2.5 hours on their portfolios, but for some reason mine was the one that apparently blew her away. I dunno, I guess this is a good thing when taking into account that she used to work in HR and she said that between the portfolio design and my resume cover letter, she not only felt like she wanted to meet me, but that she needed to hire me. Guess it’s really just a matter of visually standing out enough from the crowd to get noticed (I was the only person to use the binder style I picked up at Walgreens), and then being on equal footing with the guy who stuffed everything in a boring old black folio binder they’ve had for a few years. I personally see nothing exceptional about much of anything in my portfolio, and the print quality on the Sample Works pages is abysmal because my printer is running out of ink. However, my inability to notice the fact that I apparently do stunning work even on very short time scales might just be because I’m so used to my writing style and that making visually pleasing-looking designs for things has become so second nature to me that what I think of as a half-decent stab at a portfolio outline is in fact a stand-out entry in an application process.
I’ve got a ways to go before I consider this portfolio complete. First of all, I need larger, better quality images for my Sample Works with more detailed descriptions of the scenes. Secondly, I need to create and include a demo reel on DVD and VHS formats (odd as it may sound, most places still want your stuff on VHS). Finally, I need to make sure my references section is updated and complete, and that my closing statement is more than two sentences long (doesn’t need to be another full-page letter like the cover letter ended up being, but more than “thank you. Please call” would be nice ;)).
In other news, I’m contemplating turning all of my lights in Pahket to shadow mapped lights rather than ray-traced lights because this stuff is just taking way too damn long to render. We’ll see how Brian’s render farm tackles things first, though. Ultimately, I need to be compositing final images and animation into Flash by Friday, and audio needs to be acquired and edited to fit by Monday, so I’ll be busy as hell over the weekend.
And then Oscy shows up Tuesday. Gods, I’d better not be a jibbering idiot by then… I somehow get the feeling Hutchins won’t fail me even if the project isn’t 100% complete because he knows I’ve been busting my ass on it since day 1, but there’s still that lingering fear that I won’t make it down the aisle on the 4th that’s keeping me from sleeping well, if I sleep at all. That, and I’m getting restless waiting for Osc to get here.
And then I need to find a new job capable of paying for the massive amount of student loan debt I’ve accumulated while going to school. And here I thought things would get easier when I got older… hah!