Significantly Exceeding Expectations
At my last job, during yearly review time, each employee’s performance would be graded. The scale was, (from worst to best) Did Not Meet Expectations, Met Some Expectations, Exceeded Expectations and Significantly Exceeded Expectations. Significantly exceeding expectations was the bronze ring. One person (with a higher pay grade than I had,) was known to say that “…only the senior vp significantly exceeds expectations, and did I think I was doing better work than her?” Way to motivate, right?
Anyways, I think back to why I made the decision to dedicate whatever free time I have to learning about visual effects. I needed something new in which I could lose myself. I needed something big and grand and difficult and rewarding. I don’t know what my expectations were when I started. I certainly didn’t think that I was going to be putting anything up on the big screen. However, despite how much less time I have (now with the new job, plus the fact that there are fewer daylight hours in the fall), I feel like whatever I expected of myself when I started has already been exceeded.
Not only have I had the opportunity to make some cool looking things, but I’ve gotten back into writing as well. Usually when I think up an effect that I want to attempt, it’s while I’m listening to music. That music helps me form a scene in my head where the effect plays out. So I’ve taken to writing that scene in script form, which wouldn’t be complete unless I wrote backstories for all the characters, and maybe a couple of episodes of their lives. Plus, this revitalized my interest in writing my novel, (3 chapters deep now!). I was never much of a writer before, but I feel like I missed out on another fantastic medium.
What I really like is that I’ve become more of an educated consumer. Before, I used to be a lot more forgiving in what I watched, or which games I played, and now I feel like I’ve raised my own standard of what I accept in visual mediums. Call me a snob, I can take it. I’m reaching somewhat of a plateau right now, but I’m excited to overcome it! It’s been great to have such great friends and family who have helped me and kept me inspired and cheered me on since I’ve started.
Stay tuned for some cool new effects, peeps!
Anyways, I think back to why I made the decision to dedicate whatever free time I have to learning about visual effects. I needed something new in which I could lose myself. I needed something big and grand and difficult and rewarding. I don’t know what my expectations were when I started. I certainly didn’t think that I was going to be putting anything up on the big screen. However, despite how much less time I have (now with the new job, plus the fact that there are fewer daylight hours in the fall), I feel like whatever I expected of myself when I started has already been exceeded.
Not only have I had the opportunity to make some cool looking things, but I’ve gotten back into writing as well. Usually when I think up an effect that I want to attempt, it’s while I’m listening to music. That music helps me form a scene in my head where the effect plays out. So I’ve taken to writing that scene in script form, which wouldn’t be complete unless I wrote backstories for all the characters, and maybe a couple of episodes of their lives. Plus, this revitalized my interest in writing my novel, (3 chapters deep now!). I was never much of a writer before, but I feel like I missed out on another fantastic medium.
Stay tuned for some cool new effects, peeps!