Category Archives: X4 Professional Practices

Inspirational concept artist.

Professional Practices.

 I had the pleasure of meeting professional concept Don Carson through my digital drawing class recently. He sat down and showed us a demo of his work, revealed his workflow and planning process, then was kind enough to answer a ton of questions the class had. Don works on concepts for many things, but I think his most impressive accomplishments are creating concepts for Disney theme parks and rides.

The first thing I noticed about Don was his warm welcoming personality. He addressed every one in the room with kindness and respect. he was very honest, and humble when he spoke about his work, abilities and passion. I think everyone in the room felt like he was our cool old uncle.

As I stood behind two rows of people clustered tightly around Don, it was clear he had the room’s attention. Don flipped through his sketchbook, and scrolled through previous projects while I, and the surrounding students watched in awe. Don’s passion for what he does was unmistakable. I think the only time I looked away from his work was to confirm that everyone else shared the giddy expression I had on my face.

Don talked a lot about how he plans and works through his various projects. I found it extremely interesting to see the projects in their different stages. Dons sketch book is the start
of a lot of his ideas. he had page after page of beautiful sketches. A single page of his sketchbook would have anywhere from twenty to fifty small objects drawn on it. Each page seemed to have a different theme. One notable page was filled with architectural details from Paris, he had made  while traveling. He showed us other pages that he had sketched while watching movies for reference.

While explaining the multiple processes he goes through to complete a project, it was clear Don goes above and beyond when working or a client. He explained that our job as an artist and professional is to bring the client a project that when looked at leaves them with no questions. I thought that was a pretty important statement.Don mentioned that he hadn’t needed to show his portfolio to anyone in twenty years, proving that word of mouth advertising still works if you make your clients happy.

I found everything about Don’s presentation to be extremely motivational. From the basic planning and design, to finished project and client relation, Don Carson is a true professional.
I think everyone in the class came away with the same impression. Its amazing to have the opportunity to be around so many artists at school, but to be able to share ideas with someone with that sort of experience was a real treat.

I was lucky to be able to share some of my work with Don, and ask him a few questions. He gave me some good advice and things to think about while working. He was very kind when addressing my work. I was very proud and a little blown away when he said that he felt I could get work at any video game or movie studio, after looking at my concept art. I personally know I have a long way to go before i reach the level I want to be, but getting a pat on the back from someone like Don reminded me I’m headed in the right direction.

Check out Don’s website at Doncarsoncreative.com

Toontown_Roger

X4 Professional Practices – Portfolio Workshop

Brian Ross MUL 101 W15

maportfolio-poster2015-1

I was happy to attend the “Portfolio Workshop” hosted by the Lane Media Arts program. It took place in classroom connected to the chroma-key studio in building 17. I personally feel it was wonderfully organized and very interesting. The speakers were energetic and well prepared. The seminar itself was very informative to learn the intense importance of a proper online portfolio for future business ventures. Most of the speakers were either my current or past instructors, with the addition of a few future instructors. Meredith did an outstanding job as the main host, her emphasis on why having a very professional online portfolio was important. I immediately began refining my current online resume/portfolio based mainly off her advice that your clients do not want to be “bored” and have “little patience” when searching for the right freelancer.

Knowing that I am going into my second year in the program, this workshop and Meredith’s business practices class really sparked my effort in collecting every bit of my past work to present to potential employers, since I want to be a “jack of all trades” media arts freelancer, it’s important to refine some of my past work, and really showcase my current projects to my fullest potential. Jeff Gooslby spoke about how dire it is to enter into as many local art shows as possible since recognition really reflects great work ethic and ability. I did miss the deadline on the current student art show but I defiantly plan on entering the spring Media Arts showcase.

One speaker in particular (Jon Christopher Meyers) really intrigued me with is presentation and current work, I am excited to enroll in his class in the future and really refine my photography skills. I noticed he used Squarepace for his online portfolio, and since I use the same company for my own portfolio, I was able to really gain some great ideas on how to present my photography based off his examples. Jon’s work with the raptor center was fantastic and not only interesting to the viewers, but beautifully showcased with a well produced video and presentation. When I originally entered into the media arts program, I did not realize that not only am I decent at photography, but it’s a great skill to marker for clients who want a full re-branding or design work. My biggest take-away is that I want to refine my photography skills to the same level as my cinematography and concept development talents therefore a lot of photography and lighting classes are in my future as direct electives.

Though I did have a little bit more knowledge than some of the other attendees (since I am currently taking Meredith’s business practices class), I still gained a wealth of information on my current major and excitement in selling my skills in the media arts market.

I really did not find any shortcomings in the event other than the location appeared a bit cramped and there was a class directly behind us in session, my only recommendation would be having future events in the theater room located directly above the classroom.

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take a photo of the event, but I did speak with Teresa and various instructors during the event.

I appreciate the amount of effort our instructors put into helping us succeed in this field of work and in our own personal lives.

Audio Engineering

The main focus of my study right now is the creation of studio music recordings. This is a field that is well over one hundred years old, and with such maturity comes a variety professional practices and definitions of  success. In order to develop and cultivate skills in this field I sought the guidance of local professionals in the field. My search lead me to Sprout City Studios where I enrolled in a class thought by its owner Thaddeus Moore. This series of  five lectures and discussions, with a small group of extremely passionate music enthusiasts, developed my skills in both the technical and personal aspects of the industry.

The technical aspects of the class ranged from proper microphone placement and recording techniques to the intricacies of various types of electronic signal processors like compressors, limiters, equalizers, and pre-amps. The difference between op amp, tube, and FET processors was also introduced. Several examples of microphone recording anomalies were discussed and demonstrated. The most interesting of there was the mid/side set up which allows for increably flexible processing after recording. Additionally the effect of doubling the distance of the microphone from the source was proved to create drastic changes in timbre. When the focus of the class shifted to the signal after recording the computer roll in the class became much more prevalent. Thad first began with equalization. He demonstrated the flexibility of modern digital equalizers then he moved on the show how digital emulations of hardware signal processors color or distort the sound to achieve a more “traditional” analog results.

The next discussions was all about how data compressions affects recorded sound. The meat of this discussion was establishing the nuances the differntiate bit depth and sample rate. Once that concept had been established the mechanism of audio data compression was introduced with the .MP3 format being the focus of the lesson. In short .mp3 files are inappropriate for professional audio production because they have been arbitrarily truncated, in terms of musicality, and inserting them into a project and arbitrarily truncating them again at the end of said project produces uncontrollable and often unmusical results.

Attending this series of lectures increased my understanding of professional recording practices. Not only was Thad more than proficient and explaining the technical side of engineering recordings. He also offered several insights throughout the class as to was type of etiquette is expected in an environment where you are receiving compensations to technical assistance in the creation of  another’s artistic vision. Delicacy, charm, and confidence all must coexist to get the most out of working partnerships such as these. I found these classes to be extraordinarily worthwhile because they not only laid  solid foundation on which to continue to expand my abilities, but also because they brought together a group of like minded people from various age groups and backgrounds and got them to share their thoughts and opinions on concepts that actually interested everyone there.

X4 Professional Practices

This project started out as a simple idea of doing an interview with someone in my community, a store owner, Jack, of the Sweeties Yogurt Shop on 5th and Main, bu tit evolved into an interesting piece on my girlfriend, Melody Marshall, who served in the military for twenty years, who apparently didn’t have enough of the service, because after leaving the Navy, she decided to become a nurse technician for the Veterans Hospital for the next ten years.

This was taken with a Canon (the new model) EOS 70D, Settings: Tungston lighting, 1600 ISO 11/21/2014, 1/30 shutter at 5.6 fstop

This turned out to be fun project with my girl and we had a great time filming it.

X4 Professional Practices

This project started out as a simple idea of doing an interview with someone in my community, a store owner, Jack, of the Sweeties Yogurt Shop on 5th and Main, bu tit evolved into an interesting piece on my girlfriend, Melody Marshall, who served in the military for twenty years, who apparently didn’t have enough of the service, because after leaving the Navy, she decided to become a nurse technician for the Veterans Hospital for the next ten years.

This was taken with a Canon (the new model) EOS 70D, Settings: Tungston lighting, 1600 ISO 11/21/2014, 1/30 shutter at 5.6 fstop

This turned out to be fun project with my girl and we had a great time filming it.