September reflection on tutor feedback

19.9.08 Reflective writing September 2008

Summary of activity:
Reflection on tutorial (18.8.08)
Complete review of PowerPoint presentation for PGD phase
Revision to way of working
Major shift in priorities for next phase of MA

This week has been a major turning point in the MA. I had tried to plan ahead with the PGD phase, bringing the presentation forward, discuss with the tutors and gain their feedback, in order to ease the workload pressure I knew I would face as a lecturer. In my haste, I had not managed to focus on the question I had set myself ‘what are the parallels between typography and oral language?’ Also another key part of the process had been put into the background. That was to be explicit about reflective practice. I had actually written this on my own feedback before I went through the work with them.

The following issues were highlighted and must be addressed in order to successfully complete the next phase:

1. Be explicit about your research methods, what are they, how have you achieved this. Where are you in terms of the MA in relation to the research phase?

2. Recognise that you have experimented and produced enough material; you must reflect on this in greater depth with more insight in order to produce more focussed outcomes.

3. Include hierarchy in your research, which artists are key, which are secondary, how have they fed into your work? Use diagrams to illustrate your points more clearly.

4. Create themes in the research, so it is clearly ordered to people who know nothing about it.

5. When I discussed Stan Douglas and Nootka and how that helped me think about audio layering, this was a key piece of reflection and needs more information for the assessors/audience. This is the kind of reflection the tutors are keen to hear about.
Remember this as a benchmark; reflect on how the work feeds into your work, why has it caught your attention?

6. Reflect on your work more regularly, once a week, preferably on a blog, which the tutors
can access.

7. Re read your reflective notes over the last year and summarise these findings on the blog.

8. Show a graph/diagram of your journey, how it was your aim to gain confidence in animation and where you are on your journey.

9. What hurdles have you faced?
10. What pre-conceived ideas did you have, i.e. first storyboard was detailed and ink drawn, `I expected it to be reproduced and resolved straight away. I soon recognised how long things took and that I had to have a more open and fluid approach.

11. Personal journey (Ken), confidence, family, work – how this has been managed or mis-managed! What are your personal aims with the MA (MA}NIFESTO)

12. The presentation is too general and needs to be more analytical, where is the analysis of Barnbrook’s work? Do you break down language as he does? Have you used colour coding as a device? What are his devices to interrupt the viewer? His was the first movie to include type as communication, where does your work fit into this?

13. Reference all dates and where you obtained images (next to the slide)

14. In the Teal Trigg’s book, reflect upon which category does your work belong to, or is it merged into a variety of disciplines and boundaries? Add this book to your bibliography.

15. As regards your influences (Kyle Cooper) and Robert Brownjohn, can you see parallels in all of the designers and artists you have chosen?

16. Edit down all of your slides, make sure you can go through the presentation in 15 minutes.
Work out whether to play movies first, during or last. Ensure you have stills and movies separate (it slows PowerPoint down).

17. Make the turning point of the work (after Ken issue) explicit and your involvement with ESOL and Lee Yong Hee.

18. Compare ESOLs’ s textbook with Barnbrook and your approach, how do you teach colloquialism versus the Queen’s English?

19. Berlin images – Avoid wallpaper, be specific about what was important (Richter/ Douglas/Sony Centre) and show a visual hierarchy of which ones were key. When showing images, put text next to the image, otherwise it is confusing for the viewer.

20. Type out the places you have visited in the bibliography, at the back of the presentation.

21. Discuss Sam Winston’s work, why it relates to language, what you hope to take from the work, what is your slant on this? The work relates to language, the dictionary was used because it contains all the words needed to create anything, poetry, declaration of war and peace, it’s simple but profound. The work relates to rhythm, deconstruction of language, and tone of voice.

22. Why are Thoughtful in your presentation, who are they, what do they stand for/ How have they affected your work?

23. Actual work, discuss preconceived ideas about choosing:
Speech from the CD Nixon/Lennon
Actual speakers
Storyboarding versus actually producing the work
Experiments
How to mesh the two worlds together
Wild and raw,
Referencing typography
REFLECT MORE ON WHAT WORKED and why
REFLECT MORE ON WHAT DIDN’T WORK and why

Typography is a form of delivering language, what did you find to be effective?
Delyse – sense of place/personality, show how I am tracking through my work,
shall I add subtitles and presently I am ignoring my own voice (confidence)

24. You need to reference stop frame influences (PES) more clearly in your presentation.
Stop frame has been the biggest surprise in this process.

25. A list of my preconceived ideas about the MA journey (the actual work, not too personal)
I would work in a clean crisp typographic contained way
The MA online would be heaving with other student’s work
Disruption to my family life would be minimal
I would be able to organise myself before deadline
I would not encounter technical difficulties
I would be able to access equipment as and when required
The MA proposal would be simple and quickly resolved
Being enthusiastic and hard working would be enough to get me through
I have a question to answer and a conclusion to find.
I will find a home for the work, before it is developed!

Truth
The MA would help my confidence as a practitioner
The MA would be challenging
At some points you want to leave it and walk away
The MA is time consuming, even when you aren’t doing it you are thinking about it constantly.
You need to be selective about which influences you are influenced by. (KEY point for me,
I am learning this the hard way)


21.9.08 Reflective writing September 2008

Summary of activity: Work flow plan for the next 11 weeks

Aims for next 11 weeks are to complete the following (not in order or prioritised, you can choose which area to look at on a weekly basis)
To start analyse ‘critical evaluation’ and your research strategies
1 Re-read PDG phase documentation
2 Re-read Visual Research book
3 Read notes photocopied on Discourse Analysis
4 Re-Read own reflective notes
5 Re-read lecture notes from NTU/Derby/D&AD/4 Designers/Transmediale
6 Jot down notes on your project phase and where you are on your journey, gauge it from the notes you have written
7 Draw visual research of each month you have written about.
8 Highlight the relevant path
9 Rewrite the PowerPoint and test it on RPT peers
10 Add your findings to your blog
11 Continue animation tests/amend work schedule
12 See ESOL students and tutor
13 If time/home doesn’t clash, book to see Kyle Cooper.
14 Read Nootka references, work intensively on Barnbrook and Douglas refs and how they fed into your work.

Dates: (blog the work you complete every Thursday throughout)
w/c week 1 Sept 22 Weds 4hrs Thurs 4hrs + 2 evenings at 1hr each
w/c week 2 Sept 29 Weds 4hrs Thurs 4hrs + 2 evenings at 1hr each
w/c week 3 Oct 6 Weds 4hrs Thurs 4hrs + 2 evenings at 1hr each
w/c week 4 Oct 13 Weds 4hrs Thurs 4hrs + 2 evenings at 1hr each
w/c week 5 Oct 20 Weds 4hrs Thurs 4hrs + 2 evenings at 1hr each
w/c week 6 Oct 27 Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs, Fri (2 hrs a night – half term)
w/c week 7 Nov 3 Weds 4hrs Thurs 4hrs + 2 evenings at 1hr each
w/c week 8 Nov 10 Weds 4hrs Thurs 4hrs + 2 evenings at 1hr each
w/c week 9 Nov 17 Weds 4hrs Thurs 4hrs + 2 evenings at 1hr each
w/c week 10 Nov 24 Weds 4hrs Thurs 4hrs + 2 evenings at 1hr each
w/c week 11 Dec 1 Weds 4hrs Thurs 4hrs + 2 evenings at 1hr each
week 12 Dec 8 PGD ASSESSMENT PHASE (presentation)