Week One: Lynn's Lecture - 06/09/16

Today in the lecture we talked about breaking down the honours project:

How it's looked at conceptually, by looking at how to undertake creative research projects at an honours level.

How it's looked at logistically, by looking at the year and the project.

and then finally, we looked at good things to know about the honours project.

* * *

Important information I took from the lecture:

Undertaking Creative Research at Honours level
How the year is broken down into modules:

Term 1:

Honours Project Proposal (20 Credits)
- Associated tasks: Research Proposal

Honours Project Pre-Production (20 Credits)
-Associated Tasks: Pre-Production Portfolio

Additional Taught Module - Professional Contexts and Entrepreneurship (20 Credits)

Term 2:

Honours Project Dissertation (20 Credits)
- Associated Tasks: Dissertation

Honours Project (40 Credits)
- Associated Tasks: Honours Project portfolio, Learning Contract, Final Presentation

* * *

Overall, The Honours Project is  about:

1.  Undertaking a creative research project in my own specialist field of practice.
2. Asking a lot of questions and answering many of them.
3. Using a range of methods to address my questions.

The aim is to come out of the year as an expert in my field. I should:

1. Have an advanced understanding of my craft/area of interest
2. Contextual and critical expertise in my topic
3. ability to communicate my findings/outcomes to both professional and general audiences.
4. Self-direct my learning.
5. Define a research aim.
6. Define research methods to help address research aim. 

A research aim should be fuelled by curiosity about my subject. It could be a hypothesis, a question or broad statement of enquiry.The research aim may shift/change to suit my developing understanding and interests throughout the duration of the project. 

Note:

• A research aim should not be trivial or superficial.
• It will be broad to begin with, but will become more specific as  I learn more about my subject.
• The aim should help me develop knowledge that is new to me.
• The aim should address valid research questions in my domain.
• I should be able to say why it is a good aim/project to undertake.

The research aim cannot be solely based on a creative project. There needs to be a route of enquiry in the creative process.
It must answer some form of curiosity.
It cannot be: "I want to make: (Insert thing here)".

How to get started - ask yourself:

1. What subject am I passionate about?

Concept art, it's the area of industry I always wanted to go into. (Illustration/world design/character art more specifically.)

2. What do I already know about that subject?

I know quite a lot about concept design (strong silhouettes, painting skills, iteration, model sheets, thumbnails, referencing, fashion design ect.

3. Where are the gaps in my knowledge? 

My environment painting techniques could be stronger and I always want to look at better/faster/more effective ways to world build with art. Especially making the concept immediately obvious and visually effective. My compositional strength could be improved to really sell the narrative clearly in images.

4. Are there any practices/techniques/theories I want to develop a better understanding of?

Using animation/cinemagraphs with concept art to make the concepts more engaging and get the feel of the story they're concepting across better. 

5. How much do I know about current discussions about my topic?

Basically nothing - I should research this. 

6. How much do I know about the history of my topic?

Basically nothing - I should research this. 

7. What about this topic interests me?

Improving my digital painting skills and techniques, world building, narrative, adding movement to images, engaging viewers in the experience world or character rather than just a flat image of one.

8. Why would this topic be good to research?

From the little research I've done so far, animation/human senses have not really been combined with concept art. They have with illustration and installation pieces, but I feel viewer experience is something that would work really well in the concepting field. 

Potential Research Methods:

1. Creative Practice: Drawing, Prototyping, Jamming.
2. Media Case Study: Studying films/games/audio.
3. Literature Review: Analysing literature and considering my work in context.
4. Interviews: Identifying and interviewing practitioners and experts for their perspectives.
5. Reflective Writing: Connecting all you've found to what you're trying to achieve.

Note:

• Keep a blog/project diary to document process'.
• Honours handbook is on Blackboard and it answers all of your questions. It is very important.
• Library is filled with loads of resources/guides/journals - use them.