Peer Workshops

Peer Workshops are a way for students in the course to discuss and provide feedback about eachother’s projects. Because of the online format, these workshops will happen over discussion boards in the weekdays after a project is turned in. The basic timeline will be - for projects due on Fridays, the Peer Workshops will be due by the following Wednesday.

Peer Workshop Questions

The Peer Workshops will be guided by very specific questions that students will answer about each of projects they are reviewing for that module. These questions will be different for each module, and will be posted in the description for each workshop. It is important to stick to these questions, as they will help direct the conversation in the online format, and keep the feedback centered around the core focus of each project.

The questions will mostly be looking for objective feedback, descriptions and perceptions instead of completely opinion-based observations.

Example
Question: Describe the animation's color palette - How does the color influence the overall tone?

• Objective Answer (what we're looking for): The colors are slightly muted oranges, browns and yellows. They contrast well and do not blend, but they appear related. These colors create a warm, even tone.

• Opinion Answer (try to avoid): The colors are slightly muted oranges and yellows. I don't love the orange and black combo because its too Halloween-ish, but I do like the tone of the animation because it seems warm and calm.

Understanding how different viewers perceive your animation project can be a great first step in further refining it. As artists, it is also important to learn how to describe things in visual, objective terms, as this can help shape your own personal style or intentions. If you see something you like, don’t stop there, and instead try to name what it is that you are drawn to. The more you are able to identify these things, the more you can intentionally apply them in your own work.

Response Guidelines + Workshop Rules

When responding to a project, address the project (v.s. the animator). We will try to remind people of this as well - it takes some practice for sure. Additionally, please do not assume anyone’s gender identity in these responses by using gender-specific pronouns. As long as the projects are being addressed, and not the creator, there shouldn’t be a need for gender pronouns at all. For any human subjects in the content, always use neutral identifiers such as “figure, person, people, etc” and avoid using gender specific terms such as “man, woman, boy, girl, lady, guy, etc”.

Example
Question: What do you notice about the project's pacing?

• Addressing the Animation (what we're looking for): The animation's pacing seems frantic, because of the relative speed of the jumps and the visual chaos that occurs when the fox lands and moves around on the ground.

• Addressing the Creator (try to avoid): I like that you made the foxes appear to jump so quickly, it makes the animation seem so exciting.

The other discussion board rules posted in the syllabus apply to the workshop boards as well. Absolutely no hate speech or bullying, and any concerns should be immediately emailed to myself and the TAs without further engagement. As you are responding, remember that everyone is coming into this course with different levels experience - please be kind and thoughtful.

Workshop Goals

These workshops are important to this course for several reasons. Discussing work is integral to the creative process, and I want everyone to have an opportunity to understand how others might be responding to their projects. This is an important part of the academic world, for sure, but it is also a crucial skill for any type of creative professional, whether an animator, film maker, photographer, game-designer, programmer etc.

As a professional designer of almost 20 years, I have NEVER turned in a project without going through multiple revisions, and those revisions are usually centered around client feedback. For those of you interested in going into animation or film, you will most likely be working on teams to complete a project at first. The drafting process (creating multiple versions, quickly, sometimes called rapid iteration) results from multiple rounds of team review, discussion, problem solving and re-works.

With all of this in mind, my main goal and hope for these workshops is that they give everyone more practice with this process, and also provide feedback that can be used to improve projects for the re-work assignment.

Grading and Due Dates

The grading expectations for these will be very similar to the lecture review questions - we are grading based on completion, effort and following each workshop’s specific questions. Workshops are worth 5 points total - 1 point for posting your project and 2 points for each project you respond to. Each response is meant to take about 20 - 30 minutes, and will usually be about 1 - 2 paragraphs.

Only respond to projects with fewer than 2 or 3 responses already. When we review these to grade, we see the timestamps for each of the posts. Try to scroll down to view projects posted later in the week, so everyone has a chance to receive feedback.

alternative posting options

For the most part, peer workshop participation is required for each project. We do understand, however, that some projects might need to be presented in a more controlled space, and also that some projects might involve highly personal or sensitive content or subject matter. If you are concerned about posting your animation on these class boards for any of these reasons, then please email your TA and I the initial author response with other post information by the Wednesday deadline, and then continue with the 2 responses to other projects on that’s week’s Peer Workshop Board.

If you did not complete a project, you can still participate in the Peer Workshops by responded to 2 projects for 4/5. If you do not feel comfortable posting your project for reasons other than the ones above, or, if you did not complete a project, you can earn full credit by responded to a 3rd project.