SEMINAR
SLIDE 2
“If you know exactly what you are going to do, what is the point of doing it?” – Picasso
This quote sums up the attitude I have developed during my time at university towards work. It is my working method and my excuse.
“If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.” – Katherine Hepburn
I am also a big believer in this quote by Katherine Hepburn. Unfortunately I apply it to all the rules it shouldn’t be applied to such as: start your assignment early to avoid trouble later on.
SLIDE 3
I am now going to discuss the pros and cons of my current working method (if you can call it one).
Pros
- Allows me to excuse myself from conventional working practices.
- Relies on intuition rather than planning.
As a working procedure it is both fantastic and flawed. I enjoy it because it allows me to excuse myself from conventional working practices (in my case preproduction and pipelining). As a result I can concentrate on making works using intuition rather than pre-planning. In my experience this way of working appears to be favoured by those who are more creative than technical.
Cons
- Does not respect preproduction and the purpose it serves.
- Can result in hours being put into a project that amounts to nothing.
- The nature of the marking process can involve regular presentation of works in progress.
However, this way of working is flawed because of its lack of respect for preproduction and the purpose it serves. Skipping the preproduction stage can result in misguided hours being put into projects that amount to nothing, which can be very frustrating for everyone involved. As a working method for university it is particularly inefficient because the nature of the marking process can involve regular presentations of works in progress.
It is difficult for a lecturer to gauge the potential success or failure of a work if they do not have continued access to it over the period before it is due. This does not necessarily pose a problem to someone using the working method being discussed as it is possible to present what work has been done (as opposed to presenting a storyboard or script of what work will be done). The marker can then achieve some idea of what the end product is going to be, even if the subject of the work is not yet finite.
However, in my case this working method does cause a problem. I do not bother with preproduction because I wait for an idea to present itself to me that I can run with. This would not be a problem were I to find inspiration early on. However, I am flighty with my choices, each idea stimulates me for a short period of time before it becomes a chore to complete, at which point I tend to abandon it in favour of another.
I get frustrated because due dates draw close and I have no work to show for my work in progress and no ideas for a story. Yet I refuse to attempt to write up a script, block it and complete it because I don’t like knowing what I am going to end up with.
SLIDE 4
I must find a working strategy that includes or can be manipulated to include the essence of Picasso’s quote (which is essentially a summary of my current working method) while offering a way to introduce more structure into what I am doing so that I am always creating and expanding ideas rather than suffocating them.
SLIDE 5
SLIDE 6
When I first receive a project I should consider all of my constraints. Constraints are unavoidable commitments that will directly affect the outcome of the assignment.
Constraints affect the outcome of a project by restricting certain aspects of the production process.Examples of constraints are:Due dateTime limitPrograms requiredNumber of people workingThey must be kept in mind while working on the project.
Ignoring or not identifying a constraint can cause many problems with the assignment. For example: you decide to make your animation assignment have a large battle scene that requires multiple programs and lots of time. Your assignment is due in three weeks and you do not have access to all of the programs you need, and it is a condition of the assignment that you cannot collaborate. As a result you hand in your assignment uncompleted.
SLIDE 7
Proactive Time Management Review
- Know what has happened so far
I sometimes have trouble knowing what I have and have not done as I do not keep documentation of what I need to do (from which I could gather what I have already done). As a result I am usually confused about where I am up to in my assignment and how I should go about continuing.
Plan
- Identify what needs to be done
This would involve keeping a list of some sort describing what needs to be done.
Organise
- Organise the upcoming tasks so that you can handle them effectively
Prioritising the list I mentioned into most important to least important is a good start. Planning a schedule can help with time management and increase efficiency. I will discuss this in more depth later.
SLIDE 8
Tools of Time Management The Tools of Time Management are designed to further develop the ideas presented in plan, review and organise.
- Know your goals
Most people cannot recall every commitment off the top of their head. Late changes to timetables, planned dates of activities, busy schedules – all of these things make it difficult for people to remember what they can take on board and what they cannot.
Knowing your goals means writing a list, whether hard copy or soft copy, and keeping a version with you at all times. This takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders; you can spend all your extra mental space thinking about your assignments rather than about whether or not you were supposed to be somewhere 10 minutes ago.
- Decide on how you can achieve your goals
Consider what needs to be done to complete each task. If you need to travel for one task, see if there are any other tasks you can make a start on, too. For example, I might need to travel to
Canberra to take some photos for a photography assignment. I could also visit the National Library for another assignment to gather a variety of resources I may not find in Wagga. Little things like this can save a lot of time and worry in the long run.
- Prioritise
Once you’ve developed a list of what you need to do you should prioritise it. Some tasks may be more important than others, but may need to be pushed back a little because something else is due before it. The list should include all of your tasks, not just assignments.
- Keep control of new tasks
Sometimes you will be given additional tasks to complete. Some of these will be unavoidable, such as university assignments, some you may be able to avoid, such as spending an afternoon at the netball associations working bee. When considering taking on additional tasks, make sure you look at what you already have to do and make your decision based on your workload rather than your conscience.
- Schedule your time wisely
People tend to work better at different times of the day. I prefer to work at night, but I also prefer to have fun at night, too, so I have recently taken to working during the day with good results. Sometimes you need to do your own trial and error to decide on what time is best for you. Of course, you need to consider your other commitments, too. There is no point saying you will work every morning from Monday to Friday if you have class or work during that time.
SLIDE 9
In one of my resources they recommend you keep a calendar, a tasks/project list, an action list and a daily planner, or a variation of this at least. Because I have so many commitments this semester I have started using a daily planner. I also use a wall calendar.
My wall calendar has my major commitments on it such as when assignments are due and when I have rehearsals. Each type of commitment is highlighted in a different colour; orange for an assignment due date, purple for rehearsals and yellow for my other rehearsals. Keeping my calendars content to the most important tasks only avoids the problem of it looking too busy. I know from experience that if my schedule looks too full I tend to avoid looking at it at all.
My daily planner looks like the picture on this slide. It is small enough that I can carry it anywhere and I put all of my daily tasks in it. The major commitments are highlighted like my wall calendar, so that I can quickly look through and know what my priorities for each day are. I write in new commitments as they come, which is helpful because I often say yes to something only to have to say no once I get out my diary and see what my schedule is like. I also have a space in the top left of each week where I can write a to do list. The tasks I put here usually don’t have a due date, such as ‘buy photograph paper’. I also use this space to let myself know if I have any assignments coming up in the next few weeks. There is nothing worse than turning your diary to a new week and realising you have an assignment due.
SLIDE 10
Ways to Save Time
- Acquaint yourself with library
I have learned the importance of acquainting yourself with your library and the services it provides. It seems very simple however, I have to admit that I didn’t attempt to use the uni library until second year, all because I decided to skip the library tour in O-week and was too scared to go in and ask the librarians for their help. So I spent first year commuting to and from the National Library in
Canberra every so often to do my research for my assignments. Was the uni library as hard as I thought it would be? Not at all. Those hours I spent driving to my resources could have been spent with my resources being productive. I have learned that every hour counts.
- Keep references organised
Something else I have learned since first year is the importance of keeping an organised and readily available copy of your bibliography. This saves hours of poring over pages of notes in an attempt to find a resource to add to your bibliography or to rehire. This also works for quotes. Keeping page numbers and titles with each quote can save a lot of time at the end. There is nothing more frustrating than finishing an assignment only to realise you have 5 unsourced quotes and 20 resources to go through to find them.
- Set deadlines for each stage of production
Deadlines are important because they help keep your work moving. I usually don’t work with a deadline but I recognise their uses and am going to try and use one when I test out my new working strategy.
- Keep a timeline of events handy
This is similar to keeping a calendar and personal diary, only what is being presented is relevant only to the one assignment. This is to be used as a way to display deadlines. For example: You have an assignment due in 5 weeks. You decide that: week one is devoted to finding and idea and developing it into a script, as well as looking into your constraints,
week two is finishing off the script and designing sets and characters as well as beginning storyboards,
week three is completing storyboards and learning new software if you need to,
week four is animating to a schedule,
week five is animating and revising, and also when the assessment is due.
- Concentrate on results, not on being busy
Sometimes it is easy to get caught up with the amount of work you have to do. I find I will have a spare day that I plan to allocate to doing university assignments, only to find that at the end of that day I have spent hours being busy and trying to work (and procrastinating, too) and have very little to show for what I have done. This last points stresses the importance of keeping a diary and a schedule so that you do not lose track of what you are working on. Sometimes it can be very overwhelming when you look at an assignment as a whole; this is why you should break it down into smaller pieces and complete each piece separately and comfortably.
Essentially, the key to time management is knowing what you need to do and breaking it down large tasks into smaller tasks.
SLIDE 11
General Research EncyclopaediaOnce you have your idea or have been given your research assignment question it is a good idea to research your topic. A good place to start is the encyclopaedia. An encyclopaedia will give you a general overview of what you are researching. Research should never end with the encyclopaedia! Once you have an understanding of the topic you can use the encyclopaedia to direct you to other resources. For example, in the topic of vampires the encyclopaedia might mention the names of some specific vampires or vampire countries that you may wish to research further.Internet
- SIGGRAPH
- CTheory
Additional research can be done in the library and on the internet, though it is important to be cautious when using the internet as some sites are not as trustworthy as others when it comes to the legitimacy of their information.
For the most part I use Google to search the web for sites. Google seems to be the most reliable engine for returning relevant and usable sites, but you still need to be careful. I also use SIGRAPH and CTHEORY to find information online. These sites provide entry to a good database of articles and writings on many different topics.
SLIDE 12
Specific
- Books
- Internet
Once you have completed your general research you can begin researching specific areas. Searching the library for relevant books as well as internet databases is an excellent way to start. I continue using the sites I mentioned previously as my search is now more refined. This means my search may return more articles than I received in my initial search.
- Original research
Original research is something I did not come across until I came to university. It is about conducting your own research into a topic. For example, I might contact the director of a film and interview him or her and include excerpts of the interview in my assignment. This is original research, as it was generated by me. If I used someone else’s interview with the same director it would not be original research.
Research comes naturally to most people as it is something that is learned throughout school and university. As a result I have not researched extensively on this topic.
SLIDE 13
Basic Research
- Driven by curiosity
Basic research refers to the type of research where there is no reason for the research to be done other than the persons own interest in a topic. It generally does not apply to assignments however, in the case of finding an idea for an assignment I think it can help. I will be discussing basic research later on.
Applied Research
- Driven by a set goal
Applied research is research that is being done for a goal other than curiosity. Assignments are examples of applied research. It is more relevant for assignments with set questions, such as written research assignments, than for assignments where you can choose your topic. The latter involves doing some basic research to decide on a topic followed by applied research once the subject has been chosen. I will note now that for creative assignments, such as animations, applied research may not be necessary at all, as sometimes animations are based on a persons own imaginings rather than on facts. In this case, only basic research would be necessary (if the person needed inspiration for their assignment).
SLIDE 14
Inspiration
- Cinema
- Fine art
- Photography
- Writings/poetry
I have a lot of trouble coming up with ideas for my creative assignments. Usually I have a vague image of a still from a scene in my head that is unattached to a story or an articulated event. Rather, it is a snapshot of something I find interesting (such as a fight scene or a stormy beach etc) asking me to design a story around it which more often than not is too difficult a challenge for me to meet. So essentially it is not finding the idea that is my problem. Rather, it is the development of an idea into a coherent story/script that is the biggest hurdle in my creative process.
So far I have found one way of combatting this mental block. I am yet to test it out, so it remains a theory for the time being. I have decided that going to the library and looking through creative books and videos (such as photography, fine art, cinema, and poetry) could assist me in finding ways to develop my ideas into finished works.
The visual stimulants (photography, fine art, cinema etc) could help me with visualising my thoughts. This means I would have a better idea of character and set concepts and for the composition of scenes for storyboarding. Obviously the idea is not to copy another artists work. It is about gaining an idea of what is acceptable aesthetically and what is original (and cliched, so you know what to avoid). It also helps to see other completed works to get an idea of how to tell a story both visually and structurally (does it have to be told in a linear fashion or could you tell the story from end to the beginning or from someone elses perspective etc). Of course, this would only be helpful if the student is willing to analyse and learn from the resources.
SLIDE 15
Develop Idea A simple way to build an idea is to adapt it from something small, such as a poem, to a completed script. Written works (scripts, stories and poetry) are helpful with providing examples of how well written pieces should sound. This means the student can get an idea of what sounds good and what does not sound so good. They can also learn about grammar and different writing styles (such as prose, haiku and ballad). A brilliant piece of work could have started as a small idea that turned into a poem, then a story, then a script. Reading a wide variety of writings allows you to develop an idea with ease using the techniques you learn from those writings.All of the practical and written works mentioned could provide inspiration for the student, and a formula to work to if they are unsure of how to go about their work in the beginning.Decide what you want your work to say and develop it around that.
If you know what you want to say it can help give you purpose with your writing. For example: you want to make a love story where the lovers are star-crossed, like Romeo and Juliet. One of the images you have in your head that you are yet to develop involves a fight between two people. If you choose this image as your inspiration you may write a short poem that twines the idea in your head to the purpose you have created. From there you may choose to develop your script.
SLIDE 16
Outline
The outline is where your work starts to come together. It should be very basic to begin with and by the end of the preproduction process it should be more sophisticated. I will again stress the importance of considering constraints throughout your project from concept to creation. It would be frustrating to get this far and realise you cannot complete parts of your assignment. Concept ArtCharactersSets
The concept art should consist of a large amount of different styles of character and set designs. The more variety shown at this stage, the less likely you will be to make large changes later on. The concept art should eventually include copies of completed characters and sets. Because I work mainly in 2D, I also like to create very rough versions of my sets using 3D software. That way I can easily experiment with camera angles (and later on I can use it as a reference to draw my 2D shots in the storyboard).
Storyboard / Written draft / Drawn draft/s
I like to write out a rough draft of my story board so I can get all of my thoughts out of my head quickly before I forget. From there I draw it as many times as necessary before I am happy with it. I don’t believe in showing the exact time for the shots as I have found that I drastically underestimate timing in my animations anyway. However, I do give an indication of the length of the shot by writing short or long underneath each frame.
SLIDE 17
Decide on
Programs required Can I access them?If not, what programs can I use?
Learning software List what I need to learnHow can I learn it?(ie: ask, F1, tutorial, etc)
As I mentioned before, this should all be kept in mind throughout the production process. This step should be done at different stages, depending on your situation. In my case it is fine to leave it until this point in the process as I know what programs are available to me. My only problem is learning how to do a task I haven’t done before (such as creating the write-on effect for text in After Effects). If your situation is different, perhaps you don’t know what programs you have access to or you can only afford to purchase one or two licences, then this stage may be better considered early on to avoid problems.
SLIDE 18
The formula for my new working method is simple to use. I like it because there are no final copies (of characters, shots, etc) so I am left with the flexibility to change things at any time.
There is more work to be done on this formula.
- 1.Hunt, A., Your Research Project: How to manage it, Routledge, Abingdon, 2005, p12-13
- 2.Hunt, A., Your Research Project: How to manage it, p15-19
- 3.Inglish, J., Jackson, J., Research and Composition: A Guide for the Beginning Researcher, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1977, p14
- 4.Hunt, A., Your Research Project: How to manage it, p23-31
- 5.Time Management Skills, [http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_00.htm], Mind Tools, 2006
- 6.Inglish, J., Jackson, J., Research and Composition: A Guide for the Beginning Researcher, p16
- 7.Research, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research], Wikipedia, 2006
- 8.Hamlett, C., Could It Be A Movie? How to get ideas out of your head and up on the screen, Michael Wiese Productions, California, 2005, p11
BIBLIOGRAPHY
n Books
q Hamlett, C., Could It Be A Movie? How to get ideas out of your head and up on the screen, Michael Wiese Productions,
California, 2005
q Hunt, A., Your Research Project: How to manage it, Routledge, Abingdon, 2005
q Inglish, J., Jackson, J., Research and Composition: A Guide for the Beginning Researcher, Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, 1977
n Web sites
q Time Management Skills, [http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_00.htm], Mind Tools, 2006
q Research, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research], Wikipedia, 2006
n Quotes
q Pablo Picasso “If you know exactly what you are going to do, what is the point of doing it?”
q Katherine Hepburn “If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.”
n Resources
q [http://www.google.com.au/], Google
q [http://www.siggraph.org/], ACM SIGGRAPH
q [http://www.ctheory.net/], ctheory.net
