Clara-Johnson considers several platforms for sharing her animated video work, including YouTube, Twitch, and Vimeo. While YouTube offers a large audience, her work could get lost among many other videos. Vimeo targets a more creative audience who may provide useful feedback. Film festivals and conferences could also connect her with industry professionals to review her work. In conclusion, she decides to post her video to YouTube and Vimeo initially, while developing her website portfolio to seek feedback from professionals at events.

1. Presentation
Clara-Johnson

2. How to get your work out there. My FMP is a video product so if I was going to share it I would need to be on a platform that
accepts and permits the use of video. The most obvious and well-known platform to display this would be YouTube because of
the large range of audiences and the high exposure of the videos on YouTube. The freedom on this site means it will give my
video the opportunity to be seen by anyone and everyone which would be ideal to spread my work around. YouTube is a video
sharing website that is accessed by all ages and is a common platform for streaming all sorts of videos from TV shows, music
videos, sporting events, DIY videos, gaming videos, there are even breaking news videos that are viewed by millions of people so
the scope for exposure is huge. However, because YouTube is the most popular site to share and stream videos there is a
possibility of my work being lost amongst all the other videos. There is a section topic for animated cartoon that I could load my
work up into which would narrow down the number of videos competing with mine and it would also mean a more directed
audience would be able to find it. This would possibly also make the comments and feedback more helpful to take on board.
Viewers can comment on videos and share them with friends making it an easy way to get a wide-ranging exposure. There are no
conventions with You Tube as such because all sorts of people use and upload videos onto it, it doesn’t really fit into a particular
subject matter. Therefore, on balance YouTube is a very generalised platform where almost anything goes and so I am not sure it
is the best platform for me to use to share my work and get useful targeted publicity and feedback.
Twitch is a live streaming video website which is mainly aimed at gaming videos and so not best
suited to my video product which I would present as a finalized piece of work. Because it is
primarily gaming videos, something such as concept for a game might be better suited to go on
there.

3. Vimeo is also a video sharing website which unlike YouTube is ad-free. They have described themselves as a supporting
community of creators and it allows users to host, distribute and monetize videos. I think it is a nice way to share work with
people and is more directed at the creative area of videos rather than the wide range that YouTube has. This might be a more
appropriate website to use to present my animation and I am more likely to get useful feedback from this website as it will be
accessed by a more targeted audience with an interest in creative videos like mine. Similar to YouTube you have an option to like,
follow or share each video with others and people will share with like-minded people who may also like my work.
The access to Vimeo is graded so you can have a free membership which gives you a limited amount of viewing but you can pay a
monthly fee to join which varies in price depending upon what level of access you want and how much you want to view. People
who are willing to pay are probably more interested in finding good artists and so you are more likely to get more specific, more
professional feedback from these viewers which I would value more. This is also another indicator that the audience for Vimeo in
general would be more specific to people interested in media. If I get to the point of having a portfolio of work and a range of
followers, I can also set up a page to get subscribers pay to watch my videos. I don’t want to do that yet because it will lower the
views on my videos and I would prefer the quantity to enjoy and get my work spread faster out there.
This website has some really useful features that would enable someone to develop and learn from the viewings of their work.
They give advice on how to customize your work to build a brand or style, you can create an app to show your work also the site
has analytical output so you can see who is watching your videos and how they are accessing it so you can then start to build up
an idea of the types of audience you are attracting and how to either maximize this and also reach out to others to get your work
seen by more people. This would definitely be useful information to have. Also, if you are working collectively on a project you
can share the film and people can add timed notes to the video which is great for editing, designing advice and the feedback is
read at the exact point on the video that the comment relates to which I think is really helpful and would help me improve my
work.

4. Another good way I could get professional feedback for my work would be Film conferences. For example,
I was invited to join NUA Animation students for a two-day industry conference which is a chance to hear
from industry as they talk about their working process, career stories and behind the scene tips and tricks.
Not only would this be a good experience to go but I could also bring my own work along to show them
and ask for their feedback.
Leading on from this more physical approach there are also options such as film festivals which might also
be more professional and you would meet other video people and hear their ideas and feedback and the
overall experience of it would probably be very beneficial and you could possibly even get some
professional feedback. Aesthetica Short Film Festival – going to Aesthetica was the reason I really realized
the beauty of animation and how vast the possibilities are. In just one screening there were funny ones
about a dead cat, sweet ones about sunflowers, beautiful ones about soulmates but also deep verging on
traumatic ones talking about anorexia. So, entering my film into this would be a really cool experience
where I could learn a lot and hopefully inspire others like they inspired me. Unfortunately, I have missed
the deadline to enter this year by only a week. I don’t feel too bad however as I don’t feel this work is the
quality at what I would like to enter it anyway. This was the first animation I’ve made and doing this work
has been a massive learning curve and there is a lot more which I can improve on. I used this as an
opportunity to learn what I can and can’t do and I'd rather share the work I like which I need feedback for.
But this definitely an option next year if I have a piece of work I would like to share. What is different to
this from a virtual viewing is that you can see the audience’s immediate response to your work and
possibly talk to or ask for feedback as people are leaving the viewing. There are also animation festivals
across the country such as the London International Animation Festival (LIAF), and also in cities such as
Cardiff, Chester and Manchester. in seeing a range of my work.
Film Festivals:

5. At a local level I could get together with some friends off my course and display all our films in one evening. This would
be similar to the end of year show that we are doing to showcase the coursework from the College but it would be more
accessible to people from outside. I could do this as a local event, so I would need to find a venue with the facilities and I
could possibly make it a charity fundraiser just to get people interested in coming and hopefully also interested in what
we do. The York Festival of Ideas is a free festival that is run every year about education and research. There are social
themes within my work that could be discussed and also the power of animation and creative media in sharing a
narrative with audiences and getting them to think. As a separate project this year we did a project with the Yorkshire
Wildlife Trust which I could also include because there are ways in which animation can be used to connect with people
about serious issues by use of humour and character design. This would be an easy low risk or just ‘one’ way to get some
local feedback from people not necessarily into social media as these are generally the target for most media products.
Another way is to make a face book page or something similar. I could make a professional website full of all my work
and make this available from any social platforms my animation is on. This is useful for promotion of my skills and
abilities and range of things that I have done. The more work I post on social sites such as Vimeo or Facebook or
YouTube the more likely it is for people to link to my website and find all my other work. This is also a good thing to start
doing as it will build a portfolio of work that can be useful for job applications and presenting at interviews and showing
to potential employees if I attend any film conferences and animation festivals.
In conclusion I think posting on YouTube and Vimeo would be the bet options for now. I already have a YouTube account
that I have work on so there is no down side to adding this work too. I think as my work gets better Vimeo would be a
more targeted audience for feedback and possibly building networks with others to progress future ideas but at this
point in time I also think an important way to present my work is on my website as part of a portfolio of work, I can then
use to present to individuals at film conferences or festivals who may be interested