I've been wondering about that for a while now, but I'm pretty sure that I can say with some level of security that I'm learning and creating my future. At first when I picked up this class, I only did so because I needed it for my major, I knew the professor was great, and I had the free time to do it. Now, after only two classes, I think I might be hooked...I knew I enjoyed doing animation, but this is way too cool to pass up.
In my Intro to Field Production class my first semester here at Ithaca, I made a five minute long stop motion animation music video for my final project. My professor warned me of the work it would mean putting in, but I really wasn't worried; I wanted to do this so badly. After several sleepless nights and a lot of caffeine, I came out with a finished product that I was moderately happy with, and submitted it for grading. Now, looking back on it, I find so many things that I'd like to fix and redo, but unfortunately all of the materials that I used to create each frame have long since been lost to Ithaca's recycling system, and I don't quite have the time to re-make everything. This was also before the point in time that I knew that Park had a lab for such work; I instead spent many grueling hours hovering over a piece of white posterboard with my roommate's camera and no tripod, occasionally offloading my camera into Final Cut 7, to get every single shot in the video.
Now that I'm in this class and have just been handed After Effects (which is a thrilling new program for me), doors have been flying open in my head with all sorts of ideas pouring out. Having this capability at my fingertips is mindblowing, and I plan to utilize it to the full extent. I've always looked at animation groups like Pixar and been awed by their creations, so it's fantastic to finally start working with similar technology and know that someday, I could be the creator or editor of something that a young girl looks up to just as I did.
