Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Someone Needs to Educate the Educators:
I was all over Burbank yesterday. First at Woodbury Universay, then at the Smokehouse for a meeting of the Afternoon of Remembrance Committee then at the Archives and Finally at DreamWorks for the Screening of the Annie Shorts.
In my travels I got in a discussion with a fellow animation teacher. On the first day of class this teacher forces every student in his beginning animation class to do an action line with all of the extremes for a short animation, then he has them transfer their extremes to single sheets and finally he has them film the animation on 8s as a pose reel.
This is day one. Then on day two he makes them log in their animation on Layer 1 of an exposure sheet. He reviews all of they work. Any changes needed go on Layer 2 of the X-Sheet with an R in front of the frame number. The revised number goes on the new frame. Then inbetweens are worked out on layer 3 of the X-Sheet before they are drawn.
This is a brilliant lesson plan. But then this guy has 50 years in the business. He has an Emmy. Internet Movie Database is filled with page after page on screen credits. He is a member of the academy and serves on several Oscar committees. He is the highest student rated teacher at his school. And he is in danger of losing his job because he doesn`t have a Master`s degree. Damn it, he is a Master Animator, he doesn`t need no stinkin` piece of paper.
I teach in another school with a guy that has the piece of paper, the Master`s degree in animation. This other guy, with his piece of paper, has never worked in animation and does not animation and he can`t teach his way out of a wet paper bag. But he has the the damn piece of paper. I am all of the time teaching his students the simplest things about animation, the law of thirds and holds and smear cells and basic walk cycles.
Who would you want teaching you animation?
Not to worry about the Master Animator without a Master`s degree. If his small for profit school is dumb enough to ever let him go I can place him in any number of major Universities in a heartbeat. And I will. This is the type of teacher we need training the next generation. The majors don`t have to play the stupid accreditation games that are behind this bean counter nightmare. The majors have all the PhDs on staff that they need to meet their accreditation nut and are therefore free to hire real talent when they are lucky enough to find it. (/RANT)
Larry Loc (ASIFA Blog Guy) ¶ 7:04 AM
I was all over Burbank yesterday. First at Woodbury Universay, then at the Smokehouse for a meeting of the Afternoon of Remembrance Committee then at the Archives and Finally at DreamWorks for the Screening of the Annie Shorts.
In my travels I got in a discussion with a fellow animation teacher. On the first day of class this teacher forces every student in his beginning animation class to do an action line with all of the extremes for a short animation, then he has them transfer their extremes to single sheets and finally he has them film the animation on 8s as a pose reel.
This is day one. Then on day two he makes them log in their animation on Layer 1 of an exposure sheet. He reviews all of they work. Any changes needed go on Layer 2 of the X-Sheet with an R in front of the frame number. The revised number goes on the new frame. Then inbetweens are worked out on layer 3 of the X-Sheet before they are drawn.
This is a brilliant lesson plan. But then this guy has 50 years in the business. He has an Emmy. Internet Movie Database is filled with page after page on screen credits. He is a member of the academy and serves on several Oscar committees. He is the highest student rated teacher at his school. And he is in danger of losing his job because he doesn`t have a Master`s degree. Damn it, he is a Master Animator, he doesn`t need no stinkin` piece of paper.
I teach in another school with a guy that has the piece of paper, the Master`s degree in animation. This other guy, with his piece of paper, has never worked in animation and does not animation and he can`t teach his way out of a wet paper bag. But he has the the damn piece of paper. I am all of the time teaching his students the simplest things about animation, the law of thirds and holds and smear cells and basic walk cycles.
Who would you want teaching you animation?
Not to worry about the Master Animator without a Master`s degree. If his small for profit school is dumb enough to ever let him go I can place him in any number of major Universities in a heartbeat. And I will. This is the type of teacher we need training the next generation. The majors don`t have to play the stupid accreditation games that are behind this bean counter nightmare. The majors have all the PhDs on staff that they need to meet their accreditation nut and are therefore free to hire real talent when they are lucky enough to find it. (/RANT)
Larry Loc (ASIFA Blog Guy) ¶ 7:04 AM
