Educating the Next Generation

[Fxguy1]

Greetings!

I have been away from the forums for quite some time but this was the first place I thought of when I had an idea.

Background: I recently found myself unemployed as a substitute teacher partly due to stupidity and partly due to living in a rural area. I am also completing my final year of a Master's in Elementary Education which will allow me to get a full public educator license in my state.

Ever since I was 6 years old, I grew up fascinated by how movies were made. One of my earliest memories was seeing Cinefex #46 and the behind-the-scenes photographs of how Back to the Future was made. Back then it was next to impossible to find any information besides Cinefex on how to make movies. This was when 35mm and 8mm film was transferring to VHS and you could no longer use the same tricks.

As I got older I buried myself in makeup effects because that was accessible in the form of books for theater. My family wasn't too keen on the idea of a career as an artist, so I never got to pursue my passion other than as a hobby. I was fortunate enough to have a conversation with Dick Smith while in Pharmacy school and am thankful for Adam Savage now that I am an adult.

So my idea.

I would like to combine my entrepreneurial spirit with my passion for movie effects and a love of teaching to create an online course specifically targeted at elementary-aged students. I want to use what I have learned with Stan Winston Schools and translate that into educating the next generation of movie lovers. I can't help but think if I had a course or someone who could show me some of the basics and not so basics, life could be different for them.

In the interest of a bit of research here are a few questions I am wondering.

1) Of utmost importance is that I dont step on any toes or anything, so while I want it to be like Stan Winston for kids, I dont want to infringe on anything they have done. Instead, the course will be more focused on making things and the tools and techniques while showing how those same tools and techniques can be used in cinema.

2) If there was one thing you wish the up-and-coming artists had in their tool belt, what would it be?

3) What is the biggest misconception those new to the industry have about the techniques?

I'd like to steer clear of the obvious discussion of the cut-throat nature and how rough it is to make a living at this. I'm more focused on sharing that spark of wonder we all had when we were younger that made us say "I want to do that!"

I'm thinking of starting with an Animatronics Basics course and covering the history of Animatronics along with some very basics like using a servo to make a flying witch on a broomstick for Halloween.

Please comment below on ANYTHING you think would be helpful in getting something like this put together.

 

[drusselmeyer]

Wow, too much to cover! The problem is that you have to begin at the beginning. The respect for instruction and attention to detail are the first character traits that must be ingrained in students of anything. We have too many voices telling us "it doesn't have to be perfect" or "nothing is perfect" when the act of perfecting is the basis of art. Good enough almost never is good enough. Schools teach toward the middle of the students range of capability. They are literally teaching mediocrity rather than excellence. Mediocrity is where art goes to die.

Then you have the entire film industry. "The Industry is a business not art!" Yeah, people in "The Industry" say that. Sigh. The industry sells art and thinks as a body that art doesn't matter. Hence the bulk of the latest crop of films from the past 30 years.

Begin with spelling, reading, cursive, hand drawing illustration, model building (not with plastic blocks) and observing nature. Attention to detail and technique -CRAFTSMANSHIP.

Learning gymnastics and watching circuses can ruin your appreciation for superhero films with bad CGI choreographies. Learn how to move.

Learning art, science and philosophy are the good things that make life better.

 

[ZeroSum]

This is probably outside the scope of your question a bit, but something I would teach to any child is the ability to think for themselves. To bring that back to prop building - yes there's a lot of great reference and tutorials on the internet but don't become a slave to that! Don't expect the internet to tell you how to do something - figure it out for yourself. Experiment, make mistakes, do it again.

I'm reading Adam Savage's book at the moment and I'm at the part where he talks about making things out of cardboard when he was a kid. Corrugated cardboard and glue can open up a world of possibilities.

 

[drusselmeyer]

Yes, exactly! My first prop was a scratchbuild made of cardboard. There is a lot to be said for making items from recycled material.