Formative Assessment Feedback

My formative assessment didn't go as bad as I thought/hoped it would. Well it was bad, but not awful. They pretty much told me everything I already knew; I work too slow, need to speed up. My problem is I waste too much time thinking about what I want to do and trying to organise how to get there in a particular order, but my assessors told me I need to loosen up and just go with it really. Stop thinking, start doing. I've been telling myself that for months, it's harder than it sounds.

Now I have until tuesday to get the layout pages for my Narrative comic drawn up. It's not impossible, but it's going to take a lot of time and effort. Unfortunately this weekend I had planned to work myself ill on the Mabinogion project, because that, to me, seems the most essential (it's a paid commission after all, and God knows I need the money and recognition).

So I've decided to dodge between both projects for the next three days, going from one to the other whenever I get bored of them, taking suitable time out for the necessities: food, sleep and video games.

At least they agreed with me when I told them I'm coping better than last year, when I was a mental wreck, but I still get panic attacks and an all-over-body rash just thinking about deadlines.

Still I got a B+ for my Journal Article on The Body, which is good, considering I lost interest in writing it near the end (which is perhaps why one of the comments about it was "the conclusion felt a bit lacking". Fair enough). I will need to find an exceptionally intriguing subject for my dissertation next year in order to keep myself interested.

I have two ideas already:

1. The comparison between traditional animation, compared to the era of CGI. This would be a re-writing and lengthening of an essay I wrote in college (that didn't do very well), because I am still so passionate about this subject and really want to do it justice. Also, since college we have had 3D films coming out, a lot more stop-motion animated films (Coraline, Fantastic Mr Fox) and also Disney's The Princess and the Frog is set to be released soon, in a gorgeous return to traditional hand-drawn animation.

2. My second idea is a cliched one that has probably been done over and over, but one that I could definitely get my claws into: the idea of Contemporary Art (also known as really bad, skill-less tripe) as a selling point. I'm not a huge fan of the post-modern idea of art, where people can take a rotting animal carcass and sell it as "an expression of life". It's intolerable. But I will also explore the idea that artists like myself, and many people working in comics, illustration, games design (etc.) today could also be considered post-modern artists. After all, we're all living in the same age. Some of us just have better ideas and more talent than some.

Those are my two current ideas anyway. We've been advised to start thinking about our dissertation in advance, so it plagues my mind daily, as do ideas for my final major project.

Next week I will be conducting "research" at Manchester's Odeon cinema, in the form of movie-going. Wednesday is Where The Wild Things Are day, and friday is reserved solely for the intense ride that is going to be Avatar in mind-imploding IMAX 3D. If I survive you will be able to catch some reviews on my other blog in the weeks to come.

Until next time!