The module has helped me become more confident in researching to come up with a question through primary and secondary research. I found coming up with my own question for the Critical Analysis challenging as I have diverse interests in the subject of Animation, and therefore exploring just one specific aspect of animation won’t do for me. I have only managed to found my question when we had the Animation Core Texts lecture which got me interested in the critical theory of popular culture by the Frankfurt School because of the scope is still within commercial entertainment, and are still applicable to the animation industry nowadays. I feel that the research that I did was more extensive and I was able to understand the theories and apply it into the practical context better than last year when I did an essay about The Culture Industry. I have learned many insightful knowledge which can be applied in the process of making the response for the studio briefs within the themes within the module rubric.
My Critical Analysis essay is about how to invite the audience to view the world as the world of possibilities. In simpler terms, it is how animation techniques can be used to show a different perspective of the world than just the world where people are working for the capitalist system. The idea is to see make the audience see the value of animation more than just a mere commercial entertainment. I am intrigued by synesthesia in the art of animation, which means the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body. The emotive nature of synesthesia can explain complexity of the world without simplifying it like animation made for commercial entertainment as explained by an entry on my blog. Due to my passion in this topic, I think I have read too much resources for my own good. I felt it as I have difficulties coming up with my own sentence for the sake of analysing the theories in depth. Instead, what I did was discussing a wide range of theories while having no clue of what to be explored to evidence the thesis that I was about to critically analyse. I reckon that the essay was heavy on the theory, while not discussing animation evidence in depth to make it strong enough to back the thesis. A learning point from this would be that the animation analysis has to be of stronger significance to provide backings for the main thesis. In the future I think I should learn to be more critical about animation and films to balance out my textual knowledge.
The Visual Investigation brief is the one that is most enjoyable to do mainly because I challenged myself to express my thought in the form of collage. The spontaneous process of collaging helped a lot when filling up the contextual research because it is much faster than drawing. Collage is the best way to express the thought because it is a conscious effort to take images out of context and putting it into another context in meaningful ways. The collage aesthetic also suits the pop culture context I am discussing in my essay.
Although I enjoyed the intellectually stimulating Context of Practice 2 (COP2) module, my journey throughout this module was a tough one. I faced several problems which I will mention below, some have been solved while some has affected the quality of my work which quality does not meet my expectation. My time management is really poor for COP2 because I failed to use the Christmas Break to work on the essay as I underestimated the commitment of a free-lance job, whereas I used up my Easter Break for a pre-booked holiday. So, there goes most of my time which I could have spent for COP. Therefore, everything else other than the essay have to be done in a rush. What disappoint me the most is my badly planned Creative Response. I feel that the concept for the creative response is very weak as I did not have time to present my idea to Richard and my peers in less than a week before the module deadline. The plan is to make an animation from the 5 best pieces of my study on shapes, textures and compositions that evoke emotions in my concertina. However, those three aspects are lacking in my study and it has lost its coherence to what I have investigated in my essay and the Visual Investigation. Despite feeling dissatisfied with the poorly done Studio Brief 2, I think I should give myself a pat in the back because I procrastinate less than last year and have resilience to relentlessly work on all the required submissions for the deadline. With such attitude, I will be able to make better quality works if I were to do similar things in the future, without any disruptions that is out of my control.
To sum up, COP2 has contributed to my personal development as a critical artist. I have a mixed feeling towards this module: whereas I feel confident of my research and synthesis on the subject matter, I still have doubts on how to creatively respond to a generic essay topic. In the future, I want to be more proactive in terms of asking questions around to clarify my doubts. I have liked COP2 throughout the year, and it is not just a module that I want to get done quickly, which is exactly what I did close to the submission deadline. I did not enjoyed it. A lesson to take for next time, is to be more careful when making personal decisions that will affect my time to do any modules. Although I don’t planned my way through the module, I enjoyed the spontaneity in making the Visual Investigation which gave me a reassurance not to lose momentum in the last sprint.
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