A Personal Reflection on BB's World

My personal blog has been a little neglected over the last couple of years.  This is because I took on the gigantic film project that was BB's World.  When I finally finished, I decided I wanted to write a personal reflection on my experience. Considering I finished the film in April this post is now a little overdue but I wanted to put it out all the same.  The project has been a big part of my life for the last year and half and I wanted to thank all those who were involved and to share my experience with others who might be thinking of taking on a similar project.  

Since graduation all I wanted to do was make another short animated film.  When the BB and his World project came to me it was something that I couldn't refuse, although I must say we were all fairly delusional when first receiving the brief.  We believed that 3 of us would be able to complete research, development and animation in 9 months on a part time basis.  This was my first lesson of many since November 2010.

I was already in full time work so all my work on BB's World was done in the evenings and weekends.  I spent a year and half as a hermit, working and battling with myself and others to pull the project together.  I neglected my family, friends and myself all in an effort to get the film finished.  I was determined to reach the goal and deliver the highest quality finish possible. 

This project has taught me more than anything I've ever done.  I've learnt about: managing time and people, the highs and lows of working with friends, how passion can drive you and how negativity can bring you down.  It has been a series of ups and downs and I have experienced extreme happiness, stress, excitement and sadness. The whole project was an emotional ride for me, particularly half way through the production period when my boyfriend's Mum passed away after a 7 year battle with cancer.  This was an extremely distressing time for me and all my family.  I was extremely lucky to have a great team on this project to support me.  Yes it's been a series of extremes but I'm happy to have made it through and reached my goals.

It has been a great experience and I am amazed of what we were able to achieve in such a short space of time, especially with the majority of the team working part time.  I want to say a big thank you to Rosalind Stoddart for giving me the opportunity to create this film.  The next mention is for my nearest and dearest, Ryan, Rachinta, Andy and Simon.  These guys were there with me through the best and worst of times and I can't thank them enough for their continued support and contributions to the project. On top of that I have the dozen lovely animators, artists, musicians and others who helped this project come together.  So thank you to: Ralston, Chloe, Mui, Alex, Filip, Vale, Nicole, Phil, Robin, Gregg and Nick.  Team work is everything and without all those wonderful people BB's World wouldn't be finished today.  I am proud of what we have achieved and I hope the film does as intended and promotes the spirit of BB.

A few of us from Team BB

To wrap this up I just wanted to write something for all you creatives out there who want to achieve just that bit more in your lives.  No matter what happens in your life I believe it is possible to do anything you want as long as you put your all into it and just keep going.  When pushing yourself to your limits to achieve your dreams it will be tough.  Unexpected things will always get in the way and even though it can bring you down at times its important to remain positive and surround yourself with positive people. You should do the things you want to do and not what others think you should do.  Throughout my time working on BB's World the majority of people have been extremely supportive.  However there were always one or two who every so often were critical of how I was choosing to spend my spare time.  I love my full time job and I need it to keep the money coming in, but there are other things I want to do that I just can't do at work.  People might not understand why I work so hard but I'm a workaholic and I love it! I get a buzz when I'm creating things off my own back.  If you get that buzz too, then don't let other people's negative attitudes affect your decisions.  So a big thank you to everyone who has supported and encouraged my choice to be a workaholic over the last couple of years. 

In the future I want to write a series of posts about everything that went into producing BB's World.  I hope I will be able to provide more insight into what running a project like this takes, from basic people management to the technicalities of putting the film together.  At my lowest points during the project I often scoured the internet late into the night looking for anything that could help me get my project finished.  So if I can help at least one aspiring producer/director then I will be happy.

I am taking it easy from now on but I am planning a refresh for this blog alongside my main website stefflee.co.uk hopefully before the end of the year.  See you soon guys!  :)