 Welcome back to another FNA and today I want to talk about the differences between technical notes and creative notes. What to ignore, what to focus on, kind of tips and tricks not to advance in your animation career. And this is going to be a true FNA for new animators because this is something that students face all the time. They submit their shots and they get notes, it's a tip from me. And they can vary. They can be fix this part versus this is not as funny. But funny is kind of subjective and this is why I want to differentiate between technical notes and creative notes. But before I continue, if you're new to this channel, hi my name is JD and I do animation lectures like these, I do animation analysis clips, I do acting analysis clips, I do review reviews, product reviews, news, all kind of stuff. If you've been on my channel, you know this is the beginning pitch. If you like those things on my channel, subscribe and if you want to, if you don't just stick around and see if you like it and maybe you come back. But that's that for the pitch, let's get back to the topic at hand. We are now in a summer break in the States, that means I have finished all my spring semesters. I teach at the Academy of Art, I teach at Animation Mentor and I have my animation workshops which you can plug, you can check in the description, you can sign up whenever you want to. What I see a lot with the students because I've had a lot in the spring semester is that sometimes they have difficulties understanding what is a note they should really address, what is a note where it feels a bit like it's compromising their vision and should they ignore that. Sometimes they also get notes from friends and other teachers or other mentors and just it gets kind of convoluted. Maybe they're a bit overwhelmed in terms of, well, what should I focus on and what it's actually going to help. So right off the bat, technical notes you should always address. So if you show your shot and you get notes about the arc is, you know, it's not smooth enough, it has a pop there or something is funky about, you know, if you trace the tip of a sore or the nose or elbows, certain technical things you should address, right? It's like arcs and pops or even something in communicating a certain action, like an anticipation could be pushed or stuff like that. It's kind of in the realm of that needs to be addressed. There's not a lot of creative freedom within that. If there's a pop, you got to address the pop. So if you're getting those notes and they're technical in nature and if you're not quite sure, ask the teacher, always ask, is this something you need to really address or is this something we can discuss? But if it's technical, what I would highly recommend is to write it down. So when you get those notes, don't just write down, I got to do this, fix the shot and then submit and then get the next round of notes. If you do that, you're going to be constantly stuck in a loop of feedback where you won't progress because you are dependent on the notes. So if you do the shot on your own, you're not going to be able to fix those problems because you're always waiting for someone to tell you what to fix. So as you get those notes, write those down and then make your list arcs, pops, whatever it is, visibility, eyeliner and stuff like that. And if you start seeing a pattern where I've been getting those notes about pops, for instance, all the time, maybe I should really focus on that. As it comes to the point where you've gotten so much feedback that you should be able to have a list of, okay, I've been hearing this all the time. These are technical notes. I should go through this list first, fix all of that and then submit for review. So again, the big tip is that don't just rely on notes all the time. You need to be able to learn from those notes, understand that this is something you should always address, make that list for yourself and then go through that list before you submit for review or whatever you have in your school or even at work. Maybe you're just starting at work. Because there comes a point, and I see this a lot in my classes, in my workshops is that if I start week one, right, you see the shots, you learn about the teacher, the students, it's fine to get all those notes. But if it's mentor by week 11, 12, or if it's academy week 15, or my workshops by week 16, if I'm giving the same notes, technical notes on week 16, that's a bit of a problem because after a couple of weeks you should have realized, oh yeah, this is something I should always focus on. Here's my list. I'm going to go through this and fix it and then submit. But if I'm giving notes about pops by week, whatever, 12, 13, 14, by 16, then it's either I have failed as a teacher by not teaching you the right ways, you haven't quite ingested that idea and worked on fixing that on your own, or you have fallen to the trap of just relying on the notes from whoever's looking at your shots. So there comes a point where you have to be proactive and really look at those shots on your own, the own critical eye. And again, if you don't know what's going on, how to do this, ask questions. I can't repeat that more often. This is you have to ask questions when you're in class and you get notes. Don't just implement notes without understanding them. Ask why. Why am I doing this? Because if you make that connection, you understand it, then you won't make that mistake the next time. Again, these are not really negotiable. If there's a pop, you got to fix the pop. That is the technical side. But then what is the creative side? Well, maybe you have a shot and you want to make it very specific in terms of slapstick or humor. And whoever sees the shot might go, I don't know, maybe that's a bit too broad. Maybe do it more like this. And at the end of all the feedback, you end up with a shot that's more serious and maybe sad or melancholy or whatever. The dog again. Come here. This is the puppy. Always, always in there. No, you can't come into a frame. That's my little one. You can't come into a frame. Come on. Take the dog, you can get it out. You can close the door if you want. Second in a row, the dog. Anyway, going back. So you might start with a shot that's funny and you can end up with a shot that's sad. The problem with that is that the shot, the humor, kind of your sensibility of what's going on with the creativity, that is you. That is what's going to make your shot stand apart. And you should be careful that whoever is reviewing your shot and giving you notes is not steering you in a different direction. That being said, you might have something that's wildly inappropriate. And yes, that needs to be corrected. Especially, let's pretend you want to send it to a specific company and the teacher works at that company. They kind of know better what that company's looking for. So definitely listen to that. Well, my point is that there is a level where you work as an animator. Again, for new animators, you're working. It's all technical. And it comes upon where you reach a technical level where you're pretty good and now you can focus mostly on creativity. And then it will be very subjective. Acting choices will be very subjective. And then the discussion with your teacher method is going to be a bit different because you might think something's funny and the teacher would think it's not. Or whatever it is. And then it's okay to kind of push back. I think, in my opinion, it's okay to tell the teacher, listen, technical notes, these are great, but I really want this to be like that. Can you help me make this just better but not change the idea too much? Because you don't want to have someone that animates through you where your teacher or mentor gives you the notes and the end result is what they would have done, but it's not your shot anymore. Because if you look at the landscape for demo rules and everything, everybody's at a very high level of polish once they submit for demo rules and application and all that stuff. So this is your minimal level that the polish needs to be really high. But what's going to set you apart is the idea behind it, the creativity, the humor, the originality. And that's something that comes from you. So I would really hang on to that and not compromise that, if that makes sense. Comment if that doesn't make sense. So don't compromise your creativity, but fix the pops, basically if you could summarize the whole thing here. Maybe you have problems addressing those things or raising those questions because maybe you are intimidated by the teachers or you really want to work where the teacher's working at. And you feel like if I ask questions, I'm questioning the wisdom of the teacher. That is not the case. You are the student and the teacher is supposed to help. There shouldn't be any ego involved. So if you don't understand something, then you need to ask questions and there shouldn't be any type of repercussions. Now, if you disagree with the teacher, that's fine too. You can absolutely disagree. You can't disagree on a pop, technical things like I said, can't disagree, that's just something you gotta fix. But if it's a creative aspect where you feel very strongly about something, it's okay to discuss. And you can say, you know what, I don't know. Why would it be like this? And it's okay to discuss and maybe you will learn through that. Maybe you can stand your ground and say, no, I really want to do this. And then even then the teacher has to say, all right, listen, you're paying for the class, it's your shop. And then I feel like you're just gonna have to help the student get that way. Even if you made all the pros and cons arguments about why this wouldn't be a good idea. Again, I feel like personally, I don't want to animate through a student and I don't want to impose my ideas on a student. So don't be intimidated. Don't feel like you have to be a specific way and agreeable so that the teacher thinks like, oh, that's a nice student and they can work for me. I would prefer that you argue with me, not yelling at me, right? But we can hash out ideas, we can discuss things that ultimately your shop gets better or even better. And it's still true to your vision and something that you want to do. And that comes up in every semester. It's, I mean, it comes up, it came up this spring, but it comes up all the time. Over the years, it's always the same thing. So I would really focus on fix the technical notes, recognize the patterns so that you don't need to get those technical notes. So after a couple of weeks, you can fix those notes on your own. You know what to look out for. Make a list if that helps, it helps me. And then know that you will reach a point where it's not technically anymore, it's more creative. And then it's okay to ask more questions and have more of a discussion and like a brainstorm of ideas. You don't have to do everything the teacher tells you to do. It's not made so controversial, but again, through the lens of don't have someone animate through you. The end result should be something that is something that you like. It's something that is representative of you, your sensibility, your humor, your sense of drama, whatever it is, and not something that the teacher or mentor would have done in your place. Hope that makes sense. As always, comments are open. Any questions or discussions, feel free to let me know and we can continue with that or I can do a part two if you want to. And if you feel like all of that is reasonable and you want me to work with you and your shots and I will listen to you in your notes, I have workshops to pitch again towards the end. You know you can sign up at any time. Link in description with all the information and that is that. And speaking of time, as always, thank you for watching until the very end. If you're still watching, thank you. And subscribe if you don't miss any of those clips. If you feel like that was cool, and you don't want to miss the next one, subscribe and hit the bell button. And that is that. I will say thank you. I will see you in my next upload.