Since I'm not surrounded by kids often, this class has given me a front row seat to observe what kids love to watch and do. They LOVE animation! Sometimes I get discouraged in this field when you're surrounded by people who only watch the best, top quality animations... but seeing kids get excited about anything that moves or comes out of your pencil makes me happy to be doing what I'm doing. Even a one second demo that we make gets them rallied up. Later if I ever work on a kids' show or cartoon, I'll know I'm making some kid out there happy for at least a moment.
I've learned so much from my classmates and the way they interact with kids differently. Also their teaching styles coincide with their personalities which is cool. I love their choices in videos and their structured lectures.
My students have taught me to roll with my mistakes and don't give a damn. I guess watching them become frustrated with their work, being self-conscious and constantly crossing things out have made me more analytical about my own process. I am now more adamant about not being a perfectionist at the initial stage of things. Unpredictable things can be magical. I hope I can encourage these kids to not think so much and just do.
I don't have a different understanding about how animation could be used as artistic expression per say but it's beautiful to see how kids love to express themselves in whatever way they can. As adults, we are often repressing feelings, becoming desensitized and reacting less while kids just go with their gut feeling. As we get older... we intellectualize more than getting in touch with our emotions. I definitely do this... and in the end, when I get so lost in the reasoning, the initial spark of emotion has faded and becomes inaccessible. To truly weep is the hardest thing at this age, at least for me. Kids haven't learned how most things work yet, so "emotionally" is how they discover. When I watched them act - particularly when they were put in a situation where a dog was hurt on the street, it was hilarious but also touched my heart when they started to pick the dogs up and nurture it because they really felt the sorrow. As children, they are the masters of pretending and I admire that.
I was anxious about teaching acting because I didn't know how the children would take it. I thought they'd get bored and not participate fully but it was the opposite. They got up and did everything I asked of them - it even got a bit rowdy. Some girls were shy, as expected but for the most part, the lesson was successful. They should really be teaching ME how to act.
I should have extended the acting part because there was too much time afterwards... but at the same time, too little time to record the sound. Bah! Another thing was that the kids started planning a dance party and getting loud so the recording might be noisy. I guess next time, there should be more stations... maybe one could have been in the booth. I am ever grateful to Alexis who was a savior that day.
Composition class was a pleasure because Wyatt chose a great subject that both girls and boys love: Castles. I taught some kids how to draw skeletons for the scary castles - breaking it down to the simplest shapes. I was taught the same way when I was their age so I hope they remember!
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