program thoughts
I just learned very basic Mel Scripting today at the study group (Maya Embedded Language). Todd taught a few of us. We were all beginners in Mel, though the animators were all well versed in Maya itself as an animation and rendering program. I came out of the meeting with an understanding of how things worked and some new tools. I didn't feel like Mel was unmanageable without much "C" experience, a prior degree in programming, and so on, you get my drift. Thanks Todd.
What I do feel, because of this experience, is that this program is 'lacking' - to be more constructive, it needs to mature. It fosters disparity between its students, disregards individual strengths and talents, and values specific skills and specific mindsets only. I am tired of hearing the rhetoric that as a graduate student it is wholly my responsibility to seek out the education I need on my own time. Then why law school? Why medical school? Why filmmaking school? The information is 'out there' for all these disciplines....
The film school teaches you how to shoot a scene, teaches individuals interested in cinematography the technical details and the theory - it does not assume that everyone can go and find out how to use a specific piece of equipment and do something brilliant on their own. The scriptwriting program teaches someone how to break down a story X different ways, based on X different methodologies - it does not assume that a person knows this already, and it does assume a person is choosing to pay a lot of money to learn it in a group setting with peers and a few experts around.
The psychology of this program is not supportive. The first year was painful and I had hopes that things would improve - but I'm still stuck in this position of studying survey-like materials, which frankly, have started to seem like carrots dangled in front of my nose. The pressure is intense to conceive and implement an interesting and meaningful thesis (put this program on the map) from day one here, something we all desire to do I'm sure, yet the resources, scholarly guidance and support structure hardly exist.
I had to get this out; this is my rant.
The question is, where do I take it from here?