How to Become a Filmmaker - Part 5: Staying Motivated During the Animation Process

Okay so you have a completed animatic and it looks good. You’ve shown it to a few people and they understand what happens in the story. This means you’re ready to begin working on the actual animation in your project. This next step is going to be difficult so it’s really important to get yourself into the right mindset because finishing your film is actually a mental game. If you can get your thought process right, you’ll finish no problem.

Now some of you may not have any problems with staying motivated. If that’s the case consider yourself very lucky. If you’re someone who can just complete a large task without any trouble then this video probably won’t be necessary for you. Now for others competing a big task can be intimidating:

1. You may feel insecure about your abilities.
2. You might get stuck or become frustrated and decide to quit.
3. You might feel like there is too much work for one person to finish.

For some people their mind starts filling up insecure thoughts that ultimately cause them to stop working on their project. Unfortunately, this is very common with artists. They second guess their ability when they are in the middle of a task. This is not helpful. If you quit you don’t grow and learn. Your goal should be to finish no matter what. If you finish and you don’t like the final product, that’s okay. It’s just practice. In fact each mistake is an opportunity to learn something new. It’s important to understand this pattern of self doubt, recognize that it’s something that happens often, so that you can IGNORE THAT FEELING that tells you to quit.

Now if you get frustrated as you’re working it’s fine to take a break for an hour or a day. The trick is to make sure you come back to the project and try again after the break. At some point it might feel like there is no solution to the problem you’ve encountered. That’s just another insecurity. THERE IS ALWAYS A SOLUTION. Your mind is a problem solving machine. Give it time and you’ll come up with something new.

For those of you who get intimidated by large tasks just work on it a few hours at a time. Set a goal for the day and when you’re done give yourself a pat on the back. Don’t worry about the whole project, just work on one tiny section for the day. Working 1 hour each day is just as good as working 7 hours on a Saturday. Find a system that works for YOU. If you are persistent, if you refuse to give up, you can get your project done one small step at a time. You might get behind schedule. Projects always take longer than you think. Just keep going. Finish it even if it’s two months past the projected completion date.