Weblog:
Well, I survived my teaching adventure uninjured, intact, and had a really good time. It was really nice that the students from all three nights came up to me afterwards and thanked me–one class even applauded, which I wasn’t expecting at all. I probably scarred some of them for life by painting a depressing but realistic picture of what the industry is like, but I guess that’ll just filter out the ones that didn’t really have the will and the passionate desire in the first place. A lot of them had either no clue or unrealistic expectations of what’s going to happen when they graduate, with only a small minority that had a good idea of the real world out there. Essentially I went out of my way to burn down their fantasy rose garden and plant some seeds of realistic goals and expectations.
One of the things I stressed in class was to be a good artist in general, not just a button-pusher. The truth is, the kind of software stuff they are learning in school can all be learned from software help files, online tutorials, books, and DVD’s, but it’s a lot harder to build a strong foundation of art knowledge and skill–which is what these students lack severely and not getting enough from the school. It is also the difference between typical art schools and top tier art schools like Art Center. Some of the students even expressed a dislike for drawing and art foundation classes–they are what I affectionately refer to as the “CG geeks”–the kids that love cool special effects, video games, and animation, but never thought of themselves as artists or ever wanted to be an artist–they just want to be involved with CG in some way. These student will wake up one day and find that they have wasted tens of thousands of dollars in tuition, but unable to get a job in the industry because while they stubbornly tried to not be artists, their competitors are lightyears ahead of them in terms of artistic skill and knowledge, while still able to operate the same 3D softwares they can. It used to be that if you knew how to use 3D softwares, you could pretty much get a job. Those days are long gone–the bar has been raised so high now that having software knowledge is no longer enough–you have to demonstrate talent and skill as well. Unless the CG geeks change their mentality and start taking the foundation classes seriously and learn about composition, color theory, anatomy, perspective, values, lighting..etc, they will have a rude awakening waiting for them upon graduation. Of course, the exception would be if they applied for a highly technical position that needs no artistic sense whatsoever.
I was surprised at how little the school taught them of the stuff I find extremely important (or it could be they just haven’t gotten that far yet). The advanced texturing & lighting class wasn’t even taught the concept of form and cast shadows, what’s lighting the cast shadows, the most saturated area at the terminator, the fallible theory of warm light = cool shadows, standard kelvin degree temperature as the yardstick for lights, contrasting colors to bring out form, what to watch out for when mixing two different colored lights, why are some lights hard and why are some soft, how to use them effectively to convey mood and emotion..etc. Maybe my priorities are just different from the school’s, maybe I had misplaced expectations from a school that doesn’t have an illustration or painting major, or maybe like I said earlier, they just haven’t gotten that far into the course yet.
Some students expressed that they’d like me to return for more guest-speaking classes, so it looks like I’ll end up teaching more sessions there. Too bad I don’t have the required degree to teach, or I’d give teaching full-time a shot and see how I like it. Truth is, I have so much more to learn myself, and I still have much growing left to be done, so teaching once a while is probably enough for now.
Here are some photos from the three nights I was there. I had forgotten to take photos on the first night, by the time I remembered, most of the students already left. I did remember for the next two nights though:
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I lived in San Francisco for about five years from 1995 to 2000, and as much as I like San Francisco as a city, I really don’t care for certain things about big cities in general. For one, big cities never feel safe–you are constantly trying to dodge the mentally ill, the strung out junkies, the demanding pan-handlers, and just really shady looking people in general. The driving in the city is also a lot more aggressive and chaotic–which is something I can only tolerate for a short amount of time. Parking is always a big headache, and I’m not a fan of public transportation in general because there’s no freedom to make detours on a whim as you could while driving a car. There’s also the smell of urine in some parts of the city–not exactly pleasant. And what is up with the chilly weather in the middle of August? Are we really in California, or is San Francisco some kind of alternate universe? I had forgotten about all of these things during my years away from the States, but they all came rushing back for the past three days I taught at the AIC, which is located right on Market Street (and 7th), an area where a lot of the wackos congregate. Now I remember why I prefer suburbs.
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Although I’ve really missed watching movies in a good theater and told myself I’d do it when we move back to the states (movie theaters in China are a nightmare–complete lack of movie-watching etiquette from the crowd), I still haven’t watched any yet. The reason is because there are no Chinese subtitles for Elena to read, and it’d be impossible for me to try to watch and translate for her during the whole movie. Of course I could go without her, but I’d feel bad about it. No solution thus far.
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We finally broke down and bought a decent chair so that my back isn’t aching all the time (we didn’t bring the one I had in China since it’s so big and heavy). We chose the Raynor Maverick Multifunction Fabric Executive Chair (gray) from Office Depot, which costs $199–not too scary of a price tag, but not cheap either. Finding the right chair is such a pain in the ass, because you’d have to try so many to even find one that’s half-way decent in terms of comfort and functionality. What I picked isn’t perfect, but it’ll have to do for now.
