DOWSWELL ON DOWSWELL PART 3 OF 6

So now I was doing a slightly unusual three year long degree...the title was Multimedia Design and Digital Animation and this was similar in some respects to the first qualification I did (it was a large number of subjects being thrown at you all at once)...except with the first qualification you didn’t touch a computer...this was pretty much all on a computer.

I use to talk to a friend on the degree, and we both agreed on multiple occasions that there really was nothing...NOTHING else, like what we were doing (that had such massive diverse varation) going on at the art college...it was a very experimental degree and I think it had only been on the go for six years...and because computers are in a state of constant change...so was our degree.

There was graphic design, web site design and web site building, CD ROM design and CD ROM building...that you understand has computer programming in it...3D animation, Video production and a LOT of complaining by the people who were on the degree. You see...

...there were ALL SORTS of different people who had reached different levels of difficulty with regards to using a computer and using 3D software...some had never used any before and some were going onto this degree knowing quite a lot about it...

...also, you see...3D animation consists of a whole bunch of things...Lighting, modelling, technical directing, directing, cinematography, texturing, character animation and story telling. It's really a lot to put on the old plate.

TIMES I WANTED TO LEAVE THE DEGREE BUT DIDN'T

There were moments of real despair with the computer programming because I find that sort of thing very difficult...there was a big focus on GROUP projects in year two and this had a mixture of feelings with me too...but, you have to understand they are putting you into a pressure cooker with that stuff on purpose to get you to learn what it’s like.

THE DECISION TO GO SOLO

Eventually I ended up doing a solo animation as my big finishing project for the degree. It went down very well and some people even started to treat me differently than they had done previously.

It is most odd for people to treat you like shit one minute and then treat you like a king the next...this was going to become a common occurrence for me in the coming years.