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TASK 4

Problem Solving

4th of May

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During today's group session we were discussing differences between theoretical and practical problems. Basically, all briefs come with a problem, which we have to find a solution for, and they can be either theoretical or practical. Theoretical problems are more abstract, for example mine is to create an entertaining animation; the sole purpose of my animation is to be fun and enjoyable, and I have to think of a way to make it happen through pre-production. On the other hand, practical problems will occur as soon as I enter the production stage, where instead of thinking how to solve things, I will have to make them happen. In addition, I might face technical difficulties, which are practical problems as well.

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I am not sure whether I interpret it correctly or not, however, theoretical problems are ideas, concepts and goals, while practical problems are obstacles.

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Also, after explaining my brief and my idea to the fellow students I was given some insightful feedback;

  • They liked the idea of rabbits having to buy their own carrots, meaning that my attempt to create a plot based on a silly premise worked. I find it very promising.

  • They asked me whether I am planning to involve another animals and suggested it might be a good idea to add them. Up to this point I did not consider such possibility; I simply wanted to focus on drawing one animal well. Now I start to think might be a good idea - it will make the world I create more lively and cheerful.

Obviously, I gave them some feedback as well. I looked for the best points in their projects and suggested how they can expand on them. For example, one of those students is designing building based on a game Bloodborne and I suggested that it might be more impressive if he tried to either add characters as well, to see how they interact with his design, or try to create an entire level. Hopefully, I was able to help them as much as they helped me.

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This task consists mostly of my reflections, which is why I decided not to use my usual 'reflection boxes'. They are meant to contrast to other evidence.

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Further examples of my problem solving can be found in other Task Pages in my reflections.

9th of May

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Today, I have received my interim feedback on what I have done and published on this website so far. It did not include anything I have not yet posted, like some pages of my sketchbook I did not yet scan, but that is entirely because of me wanting to do it today and forgetting about the interim feedback date.

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Overall, almost everything all I have uploaded is of 'good' quality, with some 'satisfactory' exceptions. However, there was no 'exceptional' grade, meaning what I have done so far is not enough to get a distinction grade. Thankfully, my tutor was very considerate and outlined everything I have to work on.

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Based on her feedback, I have created this list:

  • I need to pick up the pace. Even though last week I wrote I was happy with how fast I work, it looks it was not enough. After reading my entries and my gantt chart, I have concluded that I did, in fact, worked rather slowly. Not only I did not write anything outside of college (I used this time for concept art and designs) but spent too much time on some tasks. Things that should take me an hour or so took me entire sessions.

  • I need to write my reflections better. Just as my tutor said, some of my entries are lacking; they are rather short, some even laconic, while other do not have enough depth.

  • I need to analyse my brief once more and cover all the points I made so far more thoroughly. Currently, it is not specific enough and my action plan is lacking as well.

  • I need to expand my research with more sources, mostly primary sources. It is because at the moment all of my primary research are just my sketches and lectures from artists that visit the college.

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Then, I have created this list:

  • I need to finally work as fast as I should: I need to leave annotating and writing up things for when I am at home and use college time for getting help from others, writing reflections while they are still fresh and generally do things I could not do at home.

  • I need to start writing WHY I am doing things, alongside my usual WHEN and WHAT. Also, I need to explain how my activities are linked to the brief. Furthermore, I need to work on my previous entries as well. At home.

  • I need to expand my brief analysis and make my action plan more specific.

  • I need to start visiting places that I can find references from, like museums, parks, zoos.

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The first list shows all problems I need to face, while the other one shows how I am planning to solve them.

10th of May

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Today, I have managed to compile a list of questions to ask myself after each task, to make my reflections be actually more reflective. I told my tutor four main things I have to think whilst writing reflections:

  • How I do things;

  • Why I do things;

  • Where I do things;

  • When I do things;

To which she asked me 'WHY?'. She suggested I should question every aspect of my project and try to find informative and reflective answers.

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  • How did I do my research? Did it go well or not? Why?

  • Did I use my sketchbook or software? Which one? What for? Why?

  • Did I use a computer or another resource? Why?

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  • Is what I do the most suitable option or not? Would I use this again? What are the benefits and limitations?

  • Does it link to my brief? How?

  • Did it give me results I needed or expected?

  • Is it relevant to the audience and the client? How?

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  • Where did I do that? At home? At college? During class? At library? Why here?

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  • When did I do that?

  • Did I do that accordingly to my schedule?

  • How fast did I go?

  • How much progress did I make?

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I have created this list to finally make my reflections better and believe it will work as long as I stick to it.

18th of May

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Up until now my production consisted of creating .PNG frames in Illustrator, converting them to .GIF scenes using an online converter and finally putting those scenes together as .MP4 videos. However, after consulting it with my tutor I noticed how ineffective this method really is; each change of a file's format reduces that file's quality and after two conversions the quality drops drastically.

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I am planning to make a very smooth animation with a high frame-rate, which would not work with a low image quality. It would drastically lower the animation's overall quality.

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Because of that, I decided to abandon my current work pipeline and start on converting my .PNG files to .MP4 via image sequences. This way there is only one file format conversion,

Moreover, this way I should be able to save time I would otherwise spend on waiting for files to load during converting.

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I think that this change is very beneficial for this project as it makes my production easier and faster.

Created by Sebastian Kaczmarczyk. Contact me thorugh email: easysmak@gmail.com. Parts of this website's contents might be unavailable on mobile or some browsers.

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