Wednesday - Yerevan, and Ararat appears!

Lunchtime, in between site visits to Brusov and YSAFA. The programme teams on the ground are fully engaged and making great progress towards the development of new programme documents. Very impressive! And this morning, the skies clear and Mount Ararat appears! A BIG mountain, aptly termed as 'Biblical'! Incredible!

Rainy Monday - Brusov

Monday face to face workshop - Brusov

YSAFA workshop - Tuesday

Mount Ararat appears! Biblical! Wednesday.

Library stacks - Brusov

Timetable - Brusov

My Research MA Symposium! Success!

Thanks to ALL the participants in yesterday's morning symposium for my research MA! Special thanks to John Parry MA RCA for delivering a probing and provocative keynote speech - your hard work was really appreciated John! 'animism' and 'confidence' were two central themes for me!

The discussion afterwards (on 'A Manifesto for Animated Filmmakers in the 21st Century') was extremely valuable and lucrative, clarifying and 'framing' many of my research findings and discoveries and posing questions and threads for future exploration. Some really considered, heart-felt contributions to the debate! We started the manifesto ideas with Laura's proposal of 'failure' and ended with Michael Algar's telling and decisive 'so what?' observation about 'disruptive change'.

DQ, Donald, John Parry and Elaine

Thanks again to Elaine Sisson, Donald Taylor Black, John Parry, Andrew Power, Marion Palmer, Mark Riordan, Brendan Rooney, Derek Laffan, Katy Goodhue, Michael Algar, Steve Woods, Laura Venables. Also DL832 Animation 3rd years Fiona, Eleanor, Ruth, Caoimhe, Fionn, Laura, Laura Jask, Morwenna, Kayleigh, Komila, Glen, Sean and Sophie. If I've forgotten anyone (or if I don't know your name) apologies and thanks!

Also thanks to Aidan Hickey, Edith Pieperhoff, Eimhin Macnamara, Michael Connerty, and Tara Ryan who couldn't make it on the day. And remembering the late Jimmy Murakami who did the first interview for my research - we miss him!

Next, finishing the dissertation and delivering the 30 minute rough-cut of the reflective documentary before the summer - thanks for all the kind comments and suggestions about the documentary slugs I screened yesterday.

I can see light at the end of the tunnel! Thanks to my learning network!

http://www.incite-online.net/jonasmekas.html

DIT Spring Academy

Thanks to DIT's Kevin O' Rourke for the invite to deliver a video workshop in the 2015 Spring Academy 'Video in Education'. Friday 20th of February was my all-day video production basics for lecturers - close-mike voice recording, basic video gathering and, in the afternoon, a demonstration of some video editing basics. The participants produced two videos on the day...

How NOT to make a video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RdISKn0JDE&list=UUuaH-MF0pp0ZJlAK66-06ng

WHY video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIvSb-p2GSo&list=UUuaH-MF0pp0ZJlAK66-06ng&index=2

Well done to all - I do hope you learned some basics and had some fun on the day! Remember that it takes time to learn your way into video-making. If you're interested, we may meet again at future events such as eLearning Summer Schools.

Mega thanks to IADT's Muiris O' Grady, as well as DIT's Kevin, Dolores, Pauline, Frances and Roy.

https://ditspringacademy.wordpress.com/

My takeaway from the day was the opportunity to see David Puttnam's Cisco videoconferencing system in action again - a good discussion between Schull, DIT and WIT. As Puttnam made clear on the day distance lecturing through videoconferencing and high-speed data links will form part of the future of education, but will require buy-in from institutions and faculties, as well as the 'education' of government decision-makers.

David Puttnam live from his garage-studio in Schull

http://www.btireland.com/pr_2012_06_08_lord.shtml

http://www.davidputtnam.com/masterclass-seminars

Tempus ALIGN WP1 Dublin Training is Done!

From the 8th of December to the 12th of December, IADT hosted 55 Tempus ALIGN participants from Armenia, Russia and Ukraina for a week of ALIGN WP (work package) 1 capacity building training. Thanks to Dr. Tara Ryan for her organisation of the WP1 Dublin training and the cultural events. Thanks also to our European experts Andre, Zbigniew, Inna, Durdica, Sergei and Almantas, Special thanks from me to IADT's Cliona Flood, Laura Venables, Therese Moylan, Marion Palmer, Kay Doyle and Mary Anne O Carroll, as well as to my 3rd Year students Caoimhe, Fiona, Fionn, Glen, and Sophie. Thanks also to our expert IADT guide David Doyle and to RCSI's Martina Crehan, QQI's Bryan Maguire and Laura Harmon (President USI), Kevin Donoghue and Conor from USI!

We thoroughly enjoyed the teaching and learning discussions, and especially the debates around learning outcomes, student assessment and the infamous Driving Test exercise!

We hope the Dublin training will benefit all of the ALIGN HEIs, agencies and stakeholders! WP1 (capacity building) is officially done, though we envisage a continuation of capacity building training for the duration of the ALIGN project.

Onwards to 2015 and to the rest of the ALIGN work packages!

Tempus ALIGN - Day One of WP1 Dublin training

Tempus ALIGN - Day Two of WP1 Dublin training - Laura

Tempus ALIGN - WP1 Dublin training

Tempus ALIGN - The mock validation panel observers

Tempus ALIGN - Comhaltas in Monkstown

Tempus ALIGN - IADT President Dr. Annie Doona presents WP1 Dublin certificates

Tempus ALIGN - David Doyle guides around TCD (Trinity College Dublin)

Tempus ALIGN - TCD

Tempus ALIGN - David Doyle guides around TCD

Tempus ALIGN - Long Room TCD

Tempus ALIGN - Front Square TCD

Tempus ALIGN - Front Gate TCD

Tempus ALIGN - David Doyle guides around National Museum

Tempus ALIGN - National Museum, Dublin

Tempus ALIGN - National Museum, Dublin, Sergei and David Doyle

Tempus ALIGN - Jameson Distillery, Dublin, Svetlana and Natalia

Tempus ALIGN - Jameson Distillery, Dublin

Tempus ALIGN - Jameson Distillery, Dublin

Tempus ALIGN - Jameson Distillery, Dublin

IADT Technology Showcase Video

Excellent work  by DL832 Animation 3rd year (soon to be 4th year) student Viki Katona on this IADT promo video! Great job! Showcase on the morning of May 14th!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzeieWraP38&feature=youtu.be

3rd Year DONE - Alan Holly - Anim Table Quiz

IADT DL041/DL832 Animation Stage 3 is DONE for this year - most of the exit tutorials done yesterday, on my return from Dusseldorf - well done to all! Then the final excellent IADT AnimSoc lecture, with IADT Animation graduate Alan Holly.

Key learnings from Alan... Keep pitching those projects - projects may be shot down by one panel, but funded by another. Pitch projects only when you're completely happy with them - but pitch documents CAN be simple and concise (the Frameworks proposal document for Alan's CODA was 5 pages of (beautiful, moody) concept images, a script, a budget, a schedule and director's and producer's treatment notes)...

Try to work out exactly what will end up onscreen and try to schedule the production accordingly - don't leave tracts of your film, unplanned and 'not nailed down'.

Other Alan learning... When your film is finished - keep applying for film festivals. Just because your film is rejected by one festival, doesn't mean it won't be accepted for the next festival - it might even WIN the next festival.

Once again - excellent lecture from Alan and thanks to Emily, Ross and the AnimSoc for organising it!

Next, it was upstairs to the Animation studio for a small 3rd year 'exhibition', AnimSoc pizzas and bottles of fizz... After that, an Animation exhibition fundraising table quiz in Bakers. Jazis - a long day, but a great day!

2014 Stage 3 exhibition...

Baker's - the table quiz...

Baker's - the table quiz...

Baker's - the table quiz... Checking them pesky answers...

Tempus ALIGN Dusseldorf finishes...

Our Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday sessions on planning Training for Work Package 1 of the Tempus Align project finally come to a successful close. with a very useful Skype call with David Woodhouse! Training Session One takes place in Ghent on the week of the 29th of September...

Great work done in Dusseldorf...

TEMPUS Align - Dusseldorf

Fly out on Sunday 4th for Tempus Align meeting in Dusseldorf - designing Work Programme One (WP1) 4 day training packages for later in the year. Here we are, on a sunny Bank Holiday Monday, in the ASIIN offices...

Brown Bag Films - 20th Birthday Party

Jazis - is it 20 years since the Baggers began? Great night at The Gibson Hotel and great to see all the gang (including all the 'old gang' and the IADT grads! Thanks for the invite! Does Derek still bring 30 packets of biscuits into studio every week?

Shane, DQ and Paul

Eamonn O Neill - IADT AnimSoc

Congratulations to Emily Lynch and Ross Ryder of the IADT Animation Society for following up their success with Louise Bagnall's recent fantastic talk with a one hundred and fifty minute epic talk and presentation by Eamonn O Neill! Entitled 'things I thought and things I think...'

Key Eamonn O Neill learnings from the evening...

99.9% of engineers do NOT make guitar pedals...
Be transparent (be open and honest with people)... (this actually comes from Eimhin)
It HAS to be human!
Make rules, set boundaries and start thinking about your work... Rules shouldn't be arbitrary, they should be based on the emotional intent of your film...
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should... Be economic.
Have BALLS - be scared - safe is boring.

Personal is universal! The more personal it is, the more universal it is.

Make work and show people. (get it out there, you don't know who's watching)

from eamonnoneill.ie

You get the work that you DO!
BAD experiences are STILL experiences.
There's politics and bullshit EVERYWHERE!
The grass is not always greener.
Reach out, ask questions, be a sponge.
You make your own luck (good luck follows hard work, work hard and get lucky)...
Learn always, because skills are brillz...
GO for stuff, you have nothing to lose!
It's okay NOT to know!
Don't plateau (just keep moving forward, keep trying to progress)
Say thanks - don't be a dick to people, there's enough dickheads EVERYWHERE!

Inspirational stuff! A joy to hear!

www.eamonnoneill.ie

All Good Things!

Hugely talented (but impoverished) award year animation students from IADT Dun Laoghaire are holding an off-campus screening and event in Dublin's Lighthouse Cinema and Block T, in June 2014. The students are funding the project through cakesales and through crowfunding site Fundit! Please donate and become part of some great animation stories!

We are all IADT students, but ALL GOOD THINGS is not an IADT event, it's completely independent and self-generated. However, hosting an exhibition and screening, printing artwork, creating a zine and serving food & refreshments doesn't come cheap, so we've set up a FUND IT campaign to help cover a portion of the costs. 

We'd appreciate any contribution you could make! In return we're offering a range of rewards, and you'd be investing in the night itself, our artwork, and our futures. 


Check out our FUND IT page here: http://fundit.ie/project/all-good-things

https://www.facebook.com/IADTAnimation14?notif_t=fbpage_fan_invite


https://twitter.com/IADTAnimation14

UWE Bristol - Animation

Thanks to John G. Parry for his invite to and guided tour around Bristol's University of The West of England Bower Ashton campus. John also did a very valuable video interview for my Research masters. In return, I did a one-hour presentation for his students about animation in Ireland - hope it was of some assistance to them!

John Parry

Some real potential for future student and Institute hookups...

http://courses.uwe.ac.uk/W615/2014

Internet Research Methods SPA

Today is the final evening of the 20 week IADT Internet Research Methods SPA (Special Purpose Award), run by Dr. Brendan Rooney. Excellent module which, whilst covering the specifics of internet research, should more properly be renamed 'postgraduate research methods'. Great class (around 20 students), most of them cyberpsychology undergraduates. Must get that final written submission into shape...

IRM - Rooney in Lecturing mode...

IRM - in class discussions

Maynooth, Cintiqs and Art of/and Psychology Seminar

Busy day yesterday! First, I presented the latest version of 'anatomy of an internet series' to Barry McCabe's final year Digital Media students in Kairos in Maynooth. Thanks to Barry for the invite again!

Returned to IADT around lunchtime to discover that Dee Mc was the first of our 4th year students to get a Cintiq working! Later in the day, Anita emails me to say...

'I've been using it for an hour or so and I've done more than I'd have done in a day on a tablet (And it looks infinitely better too!)'

Woohoo! Success!

In the afternoon, in the Drawing Project in Dun Laoghaire, Brendan Rooney and Nicola Fox Hamilton present 'Art of/and Psychology' seminar.

Psychology of engaging with Film, Art and other visuals.

Dr. Brendan Rooney and Nicola Fox Hamilton (IADT Lecturers), introduce and explore some ways in which psychologists can explore human engagement with film, art, graphic or other emotional information. What do we know about the way humans engage with this art and entertainment and how can we apply this knowledge?

The session discusses the aims of psychology of art, film and design. Explore areas such as persuasive, emotional or universal design. Using research on film, the session will explore the interaction between our automatic emotional responses towards film (or art) and our thinking about the film (or art). Followed by some collaborative discussion and Q&A.

Excellent presentations and a pointer to future interdisciplinary potentials for our institute.