Barring the usual paperwork, signing-offs and graduation itself, my time at the NFTS is just about over. The cafetiere and coffee bean grinder have been taken home, the relevant exports have all been done - and copies made for me to be able to advise remotely on any unclear points. The animation is still going via Avid, as each shot is worked on seperately in the animator's After Effects and then exported in HD whenever we need to see the entire film or a sequence of shots, but I now have that on my own MacBook Pro and we can FTP new material whilst it's still being completed.

So now comes the fear. The freelance fear, of course. I'd like to think that by having a website, showreel of sorts, and profiles on the usual networking and jobseeking websites that I'm getting a good start on the background self-promotion, but as just about everyone says - it's the contacts that count. I'm certainly building them up - in no small part thanks to the NFTS, but they mostly seem to be the type which could be more useful in a few years' time once I've had a bit of experience. Agencies all want broadcast credits, and there's always the danger of getting stuck in a genre which isn't where I ultimately want to be.

The first step certainly seems to be the hardest right now. But by continuing to work on my online presence whilst keeping my eyes open and monitoring job-seeking and professional development websites, I'm keeping calm and not worrying too much..... yet.