Capstone Reflection

I always learn new things when I got to capstones. Sometimes I get a chance to network with other artists, see what they are doing, learn about new software or media, writing a story arch and showing it in different ways, etc...

I get to see what interested them enough to make them revolve their school life around it, and I get to see what is really hot in the industry and at school. I also get to see what I might one day be up against in the job market, and gauge my own expectations and skills to theirs.

That sounds a bit sly and sneaky, but I can't help having a competitive nature about me. And for many more, I want to follow their progress and give encouragement, since I could soon be in their shoes, struggling to get a foot hold. The winter capstones are always kind of subdued compared to the spring capstones, but I am still always able to learn much.

Capstone interview questions

At capstones this year I interviewed 3 people:  Nate Moody, Xian Guan, and Samantha Tarkington. It was a mix bag of people, some of which I knew fairly well and others strangers. Moody did a digital, animated comic, Xian modeled and textured 3D characters, and Samantha had a short comic. Here's what they had to say:

•    Question 1:Why did you choose this for your capstone project?

• Nate wanted to develop his story comp skills. He feels he was a success at this in his project. He had also been working on the over arching story for 3 years and his capstone was only one small part of it. 

• Xian wants to do character art and texturing for the industry and wanted to practice and show off her skills in it. 

• Samantha originally wanted to do animation, but wasn't confident enough in it, so decided to do a sequential narrative that would be close to it. 

• Question 2: What are some of the changes that you had to make between your original idea and what you are presenting today?

•  Nate didn't change but, but had to cut back on the story a bit. Also  decided to do black and white in favor of color to get things done faster.

• Xian wanted to do 3 characters but only got to 2. She also had a cool concept behind the characters from a different series, but decided to turn them into original characters so the audience wouldn't misunderstand who they might be. 

• Sam, as I said, wanted to do animation, then cut it back to a 21 page comic, and then again had to shorten it for 14 pages.

• Question 3:  What is your opinion of the timeline for your capstone? Was it helpful or a waste of time? Why?

• Nate used his timeline to figure out key points, but didn't really stick to it. He said, and I quote "myeh..."

• Xian knew she wouldn't get to all of her timeline, so she purposely made it to about 120% her standard, so she could ensure even with a 20% loss she'd still be in at her original goal.

• Sam quite loadly proclaimed she threw the whole timeline out the window! She used one for the semester before, but the semester of her capstone was too chaotic and it was changing her timeline.

• Question 4: If you could change anything about your capstone, what would that be?

• Nate wanted more physical material and a larger budget.
• Xian wanted to change the hair on one of her models, and to change the set up of her scene.
• Sam wanted to fix a few of her panels, with drawing issues.

• Question 5.     What advice would you give me in planning for my capstone?

• Nate says do something you're good and familiar with to really showcase your talents. Don't stretch the project too far and stay realistic to your deadline.

• Xian said watch out for scope creep!

• And Samantha said don't chose a story that is too dear to you, or you've been working on for a long time since there will be a good chance you wil have to change it at some point or cut it down. Newer stories don't have strings or expectations attached to them.