Week 9 Check-in

I had to submit an assignment which lists the things I still need to do to complete my thesis presentation. I thought I'd post it as a reminder for myself.

While studying illustration in college, I had an instructor who had a great way of critiquing. When it was my turn in the critique, she would look at it, appear to analyze it and would ask me, “So Randolf, what do you think?”. Its at that point, that I tear into myself, and list 15 things that I did wrong, and that I could improve. When I was done, she would agree with everything I’ve said and would say, “Yes, you are correct!” – that’s when I get depressed – “I suck”, I silently say to myself. She finishes off the critique by prioritizing the things I had mentioned that were wrong in my illustration. This technique really works well and is useful as it gives me a good place to start and improve.

Many years after the fact, I asked her about that and she said that we (the students), during a critique, will be much harder on ourselves than she could ever be. The trick however, is to train the student to be at that point where they are able to be critical of their work because they begin to see their work in the way their audience does, but doing so takes perseverance and patience from the instructor and takes years to accomplish. In this assignment, we are doing the same thing, and are beginning to view our thesis with a fine tooth-comb. I already know that I have to proof read my presentation more so than I’ve already done, but here are other things I need to work on regarding its content:

For the MFA Computer Animation thesis, we have to put together a final animation, one that supports our findings and that serves as an example of the high caliber work we are capable of. Last quarter, a recommendation came from an instructor, encouraging me to weave my animation examples together into a documentary style animation about emotion. At the time, they seemed disparate and by putting them together, my presentation will be stronger for viewers of my thesis. The new piece would serve as an example of what could be done by doing my exercises. This week, I’m realizing that I have not mentioned or included this newly integrated animation into my thesis presentation. Not only must it be included, but I should also use the piece to highlight certain points in presented in my curriculum.

Corresponding to Ed Hooks this week, made me realize that the topic of Laban Motion Analysis is too broad to cover in a single section of my thesis. I could however point out a single aspect of it that I had found useful. One aspect of Laban Motion Analysis I found helpful is its technique of identifying the intensity of a particular gesture. As a reviewer for my thesis, I would be interested in seeing how I would teach “intensity training” (for lack of a better term) in the curriculum. I have a couple ideas of exercises that I’m currently using with a class this quarter, and hoping to include it as a preplanning tool for one of the posing exercises mentioned in my curriculum.

The mention of posing exercises for the animator also brings to mind the topic of gesture. I’ld like to locate sources and references on the topic to make my point stronger. I plan to reference Glen Vilppu’s Drawing Manual, Bridgman’s Life Drawing Anatomy Manual, and John Vanderpoh’s Guide to Lifedrawing, all of these texts are standard texts in an animation studio. Referencing these books will make my topic on gesture stronger, now I just have to sit and sift through the pages of thse texts. I’m confident I will find what I’m looking for.

As we move into week 10 and 11, in addition to writing my thesis presentation, I need to come up with a working script for the animation I mentioned earlier. In order to meet my graduationdeadline, production will need to begin next quarter, which means that a script will have to be completed by the end of THIS quarter (Um, that’s in two weeks). Currently, I have an idea that my documentary styling will be following the look and feel of the news show “60 Minutes”. To begin, I found a great example on youtube.com that has the styling and formatting I want. You can watch it here.

Lots of stuff to do, and it doesn’t help that relatives come into town. They are a nice distraction, and I would separate themselves from them in order to complete the work, but these are “high ranking” relatives like my Mom, Dad and Brother and its not that often I spend time with them. Plus, I don’t want them getting angry, so I have to make sure they are okay (Filipino parents are sensitive you know, or at least mine are). I have found open windows in which to work and by this Tuesday, everyone will be on a flight back to the West Coast. I hope to press the gas and move quickly and efficiently this week to prepare for next quarter. For some reason, I don’t feel worried and it stems from the confidence I’m getting back from my leg healing. I’m on both feet, and am only using one crutch.

Woohoo!