Written by Rachel McDonagh
For this month’s Artist Portfolio I sat down with Owain Davies, current student at the University of Portsmouth. Owain is undertaking a placement year working as an Assistant Animator at Millstream Productions, a creative video production agency based in Hampshire. We spoke about joining Millstream when he was a second-year student, what this has meant for his artistic development, and what the arts and animation mean to him overall.
Owain Davies
What inspired you to pursue animation as a career?
I loved cartoons as a kid and I used to obsessively watch Spongebob and other shows on Nickelodeon, especially during the summer holidays. But animation didn’t really click for me as something to do until around Year 10, just before doing my GCSEs. There was a poster in my school’s Maths department and it said that one of the careers you could get into was animation. This surprised me, because it wasn’t in one of the arts buildings, and I knew I really did like animation. I didn’t do any artistic GCSEs, but I still decided to give it a go in my own time and found that I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the process.
Old Mother Hubbard
What has it been like working in the industry while still being in education?
To go in chronological order, I didn’t go to college. I stayed on at school and did my A-Levels in Art, Craft & Design, Media Studies and Religious Education. I did an EPQ in Animation alongside my studies, because I wanted to learn as many of the fundamentals as I could before university to better prepare myself. Then when I started university, the pandemic hit, so a lot of my learning had suddenly become self-imposed. I tried to use my time to try and get the most out of it and fill in any gaps by teaching myself.
And so when the opportunity to work at Millstream Productions came up at the start of my second year, I just collected as much of my best work that I had at the time, and called them about the opening! I think my mum would be really proud of me, doing that, because at the end of the day the worst thing they could’ve said was ‘no, sorry’. I said that I saw the listing, asked whether or not current students would be considered, and luckily they were. I was able to attend an interview, which my now-boss was really nice about. So I donned my finest cowboy boots and dinosaur jumper [laughs] - went for it - and I’ve been there ever since!
Portsmouth City Council Employment Office Portrait
My boss, Roma, has been responsible for training me since I started, which is coming up to around a year and a half? It’s all really helped me in terms of time management and working as a team, because at university you tend to work individually. There are group projects, of course, but there aren’t always a lot of deterrents from people not contributing. Your grade can act as one, but there is still the choice to retake modules or redo work. Whereas with a job the deterrent is not being fired, otherwise you’re not earning a living. I also think positivity is an important concept, I don’t mind rolling with the punches and I’m known for my optimism. One of my lecturers once asked why I’m always so calm - and I just don’t really see a point in being stressed. I know I’m always trying my best, also remembering that if I need to take a day off, I should? If I was letting the stress get to me every day, I wouldn’t create work I was proud of. It’s about finding that balance.
It’s the idea that your coworkers become your friends and your friends/coursemates become your coworkers. For instance, when I started I would envision something in my head but I wouldn’t necessarily be able to fully comprehend it, whereas now I feel very confident in examining media and seeing ways that I could recreate a style or technique.
Jolly Good- Scene 001
How is this different now you’re on a placement?
During second year I was working two days alongside doing everything else at uni. This changed each week but I’d usually work Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. So I had this element of separation between the two, which was really nice, especially as I was still able to go and work in the office. Being from the countryside did make public transport seem a bit scary, but I got used to it fairly quickly.
My job title is Animation Junior, so I would be working with my boss, Roma, with whatever projects she’d been assigned - but also learning at the same time. Then after work I would come back to Eldon, doing work, lectures or having a general catch up with everyone. Now that I’m on a placement I work three days a week, taking on bigger projects and being able to manage a lot of aspects of production myself. I still have a responsibility to my superiors, but I’m not sitting under anyone’s wing much anymore. I’ve been at Millstream for around a year and a half too, so I’ve gained the trust of those around me.
Jolly Good- Scene 002
I’ve worked on a couple of projects for the University, like a video on renewable energy engineering as well as environmental geology - I had the creative lead on both of those. Being on a placement means I also get to work on my own personal projects at the business. My most recent project was called ‘Jolly Good’, which was an animated advertisement in the style of those meal-prep kits for kids. I wanted to really push my creativity and diversify what I was doing at work. I’d work on it during the latter half of my week and slowly over the course of - around six months? I was able to create this high-quality 3D advert and I wouldn’t have been able to do that without all the knowledge I’d gotten at both university and at work. Roma is able to get more involved with technical aspects of her job because I’m trusted to take over a lot of project management type roles.
Having to manage my time differently at work has also helped my development loads too. At the start, for example, I might’ve said I could get a piece of work done by three, but instead I’d finish it at the end of the day. I’ve really improved on that, but it’s only really something you learn by doing.
Jolly Good- Scene 003
Which project have you been most proud of, and what’s your favourite project you’ve worked on?
Yeah, there’s a couple of things I can talk about! In my second year, for our group project, there only ended up being two of us that were consistently working on it. We gave it a stupidly long name, ‘Centre of the Butterfly Storm’ - there weren't many reasons behind it, I just liked it having a longer name. But I really enjoyed working on it, especially pre-production, just because I like working a lot? Both me and my mum are always on our feet doing things, so I get that from her. I put a lot of work into learning Blender for the first time, doing studies each week and continuously showing up. Even though there were only two of us working on it, I really didn’t let it get me down, keeping the professionalism and positivity made me feel even prouder at the end of it. Our final product wasn’t necessarily what I wanted it to be, but I think any artist can say that if they had more time, they would’ve done things differently. I try to think that if I am learning and pushed in the right direction, this is what I can do.
Similarly, there’s another project I did in second year. We had to turn fairy tales or nursery rhymes into animated sequences. I chose ‘Old Mother Hubbard’ and used it as an excuse to learn Blender more intimately. I was able to create this really sweet scene of what a child’s drawing of what Old Mother Hubbard would look like, which was a lot more polished and rendered compared to the illustration, but there were also a few individual frames after she opened up the empty cupboard that I was really, really proud of. I’d just learnt how to do it and how to make something look good. It’s a really nice feeling of picturing something in your head and then being able to execute it how you envisioned it- super satisfying.
Going back a little bit, in my first year I worked on a project for Portsmouth County Council. They were looking for artists to create portraits or paintings for their employment office, to kind of spruce the place up and to inspire young people who would be coming into the offices. I don’t know how many applicants there were, but I know I was the first! I saw it come out and decided I wanted to do it. I went as big as I could because I love doing these massive portraits, with the idea behind it being a ‘jack of all trades’, or ‘your hands can take you anywhere’? So it was this figure with hands all over it, as well as eyes and mirrors, so you can see yourself in it. Overall it was a really nice exercise, both being something outside of just animation and making art for others. I remember I’d wrapped it all up to transport it to the office and the woman running the programme, Sarah, once she opened it she totally lit up. She was bringing people over to see it and everything. It’s still visible from outside, just about. Where the stairs are in the corner by the council building, near Lalys Pharmacy, if you peek through the window, you can see it hanging up!
I also think all the work I have done for Millstream since starting in second year, I’m incredibly proud of, because every opportunity has been an opportunity to grow. I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true. What I find fun is coming up against certain roadblocks or obstacles, because it’s like a challenge. I might not know how to execute something but I want to learn, so I’ll put in the time to be able to do so. It’s slightly different working compared to being at university too, in terms of feedback. We’ll finish some designs or an animatic and the client will want certain adjustments to be made. Having to make those adjustments to suit their needs and seeing things from that perspective has been enjoyable.
Jolly Good- Scene 004
I tried to take that into one of my aforementioned personal projects, Jolly Good. I made a fake client, with a company and logo and everything, and a brief similar to the ones we get from real clients. So while I still did all the preproduction over the summer I still had to follow these guidelines when it came time to production. At the end I’d made what I thought was a really professional looking advert, everything really paid off. If a five-year old me saw what I’d made, I’d probably do a Haribo-infused backflip or something!
Do you have any creative inspirations?
Definitely, there’s a movie I really love called Unicorn Store, directed by and starring Brie Larson. I don’t think it really won any awards or anything but it’s always stuck with me, being a very colourful film, even with the subject matter. In the film she’s always pictured an imaginary unicorn she wants, and Samuel L. Jackson plays a salesman who promises it to her, should she complete certain tasks.
In doing them she ends up repairing relations with her family- they’re not estranged, but it’s more healing than anything else. She feels a lot of conflict having dropped out of art school, and is now trying to be a corporate professional, but it just doesn’t come naturally to her. At the end, she is offered the unicorn and can’t believe it’s real - but she realises she doesn’t need it anymore, because everything she did to get there is really what she wanted. She speaks to another woman who asks her about the store, and she tells her to go in and get what she needs. I think overall, the film is just really sweet and concise. There’s the driving force of the unicorn, which helps with the narrative, but there’s never a point where it’s going to lead into something big or dark like a lot of movies nowadays.
COBS- Environment Study
On the other hand, I’m also drawn to more melancholic media, such as The Last of Us. I’ve realised I end up listening to a lot of ‘sad’ music, but I don’t really find it all that sad? I think about sadness and happiness being things that coexist together and so there’s always something I can enjoy from it. Somewhat similarly, there’s always a lot of opinions on ‘modern art’. You’d go into a gallery and see these huge canvases, maybe only painted one or two colours, for example. People get really annoyed by it, usually because they don’t understand. Whether people think about the technical aspect or not doesn’t even matter because the art has still elicited a response from them, which is what art is meant to do. People will look at art like that, or a lot of art and say, ‘I could do that’ - but you didn’t! Someone else did it, and that’s why it’s there and you’re looking at it.
People don’t look beyond the surface sometimes, whether the art is really deep in meaning or not. I have tattoos that are both really sentimental and have a lot of meaning, and some that I just liked because they were cool? I have a tattoo from Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, with the theme of the movie being that individuality doesn’t make you a bad person, even if it’s really different to the people around you. Elvira’s a gothic television hostess that comes to a small Christian town to get some inheritance, and because of her appearance and demeanour, she gets judged by the townspeople. She shows a lot of skin, she wears what they think is suggestive clothing and is unapologetic in her personality, so she must be evil! She isn’t, of course, and she isn’t even like the assumptions made about her. She goes on a date and waits until the very end to kiss them- she makes some sexual innuendos, but nothing explicit. It’s just all about not judging a book by its cover and trying to actually get to know someone, and it’s been a huge inspiration to me too.
COBS- Character Study
Do you have any advice for other students?
Mostly just be kind to yourself, and don’t worry too much if all you get done in a day is something that you’ve kind of half-assed. Like if someone didn’t half-ass smooth peanut butter, you wouldn’t have chunky peanut butter! It’s better to make some progress even when you’re not totally happy with it, because you’re still learning.
Don’t worry about always trying to think outside the box, either. Ambition is great, but you don’t necessarily have to break new ground all the time. You can do something for the sake of enjoyment and nothing else. In the future you might get to create some mind-bending new show or piece, but definitely just have fun in the moment while you can.
And while I’m sure a lot of people have big dreams of working for big names or studios, don’t discount the smaller places. In my case, applying to a small company has really benefited me in so many ways. Also just apply to anything and everything anyway, because the worst thing you can be told is no? If you get horrible feedback from someone, then maybe you shouldn’t want to work for that place at all.
Have fun learning from things around you, but also keep a sense of enjoyment about things, so as not to get burnt out. Look for inspiration outside of your direct sphere of influence. As of recently I’m really loving stained glass - I love learning about the construction and seeing how so much narrative can be packed into what is essentially a still image. I’ve been taking some inspiration from ideas of grief and cultural death practices because of Caitlin Doughty. Doughty, a mortician and author, has a few great books on the subject. I’d highly recommend Smoke Gets in Your Eyes- or any of them, really. She has this way of writing about this subject that is incredibly enlightening and calm, almost fun. It’s just another perspective and another way to learn more about the world.
I know positivity isn’t always easy for everyone, but there’s no mistake that’s not already been made by someone before you, and that’s another learning opportunity too. Effort is effort regardless, and you’ll have much more fun in both being nicer to yourself and learning from your mistakes without beating yourself up too much.
Owain Davies- Animated Version
Do you have any idea what your final year will look like?
I think in third year I’m looking forward to both working where I am now, as we’re also looking to expand as well, but I also don’t quite know what I want to do for my final project? I’m just really looking forward to being able to flex my creativity and just enjoy it. I’m lucky I’m someone who doesn’t get stressed very easily, like during my GCSEs I’d walk into an exam smiling!
Instead of worrying about structure now, or what I’m definitely going to make, I’m honestly just looking forward to creating!
You can find some of Owain’s projects here:
About the Author: Rachel McDonagh
Rachel is a current student at the University of Portsmouth. She completed her BA in Animation in 2021 and is currently studying towards an MA in Illustration. She's incredible at getting started and not knowing when to stop. When she's not making something, she is usually thinking about what she'll make next!
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