Friday, October 23, 2009

First Chunk of Freshman Year

Hello blog followers, please read the "things I have learned about New York/ College" blog first. Its raining multicolored leaves. My school has a lot of trees and the north likes to loudly announce changes in season. Its a pretty atmosphere which I will hopefully post pictures of soon, (Im waiting for the memory card to arrive in the mail). Thank you again Jamie for the camera. I can either give a photographic or video tour of the school to all those who are interested in seeing my campus. Art will also likely be posted, but, be forewarned that the pieces are a lot of very specific assignments created to teach specific elements. This means some of it could be potentially weird and/or abstract. If anyone is interested, I also have video projects.
I have learned a lot. I am in the center of the world, but more isolated than a Buddhist monk. I am constantly drowning in paint, buried in a book, or locked in the dark corridors of an editing lab. I do occasionally escape to find the artistic and cultural hotspots for New York residents. I have not participated in any of the traditional tourist activities (ground zero, empire state, bus tour, statue of liberty, central park, etc.), but I probably will eventually. There are a lot of free concerts, interesting thrift/vintage/costume stores, and interesting hangouts.
(in this context) Hangout [Ha ng out] n.- A place of interesting cultural interaction. Young and artistic individuals collectively agree to congregate in a typically urban setting. The appeal lies in members wanting to observe and be around other members. For example, a man with dreadlocks comes to interact with the breakdancing asian, who is there to see the trendy art chick, who is there to see the cool writer dude, who wanted to meet a small galleries' curator, and so on. The location is usually adorned with music and either snacks or a bar.
Basically its a cliche, art school kid thing to do, but its fun while its not old. Unfortunately, I have been to busy to spend more than a few hours on things not required for school. The other thing I spend my time doing is watching a lot of movies. I have seen dozens of movies that are mainstream classics, as well as obscure movies that are defiantly worth at least one watch. I recommend Fargo, The Godfather 1 and 2, The Warriors, The Kill Bill series, The Shining, O Brother Where art tho, The Lord of the Rings series, Eraserhead, and a small list of more obscure movies, to those who haven't seen them. The film club is producing a short film, and me and two of my friends are writing the script. I am not sure how we convinced the rest of the club to delegate this task to three freshman, but I think we are doing a good job. We will likely also be involved in the production and post production. I am not sure when it will be completed, but I will be sure to let everyone know.
I camped out for SNL, got tickets (which means they let people in based on the number of non-reserved seats and the order of the tickets). They were letting people in, Hannah went in the elevator, and I was the next in line after her. A few minutes later we got the word that the last group had entered the elevator and they hoped we would try again. It was so sad, but crazy story right? Luckily, in a joking way, me and Hannah had planned for this event. It came in handy, when the unlikeliest of events actually happened.
I am seriously considering switching my major. I am currently Illustration and think I might like Animation. I love Illustration, but I could potentially be even happier with Animation. This would not affect any of my credits, as they have the same freshman classes. It would only affect the direction of my classes from this point on. My favorite foundation class is animation based. I think the major would combine my love of Illustration and Film. I would like feedback on whether or not I should switch.
There is probably a long list of other things I should write about, but I don't remember them at the moment. Thank you for reading this far, and I will post more soon as time allows.

1 comment:

  1. Cody -
    If you are leaning toward animation, definitely spend time with it. Are there any animation classes you can take next semester as an elective to get a better feel for it? Also, talk to some of the students who are majoring in animation and find out what their plans are. If it is possible, also talk to some former Pratt animation students who are now working in the business. I have found that most people (especially professionals) are glad to talk about themselves and eager to give advice. Hopefully, someone who makes a living at animation can give you some honest advice. Also, I am very happy to know that you are enjoying the college/NYC experience. I hope you appreciate how truly fortunate you are to be there. I think you do. Hope to talk to you soon. - Bob Bernet

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