RB
PERSONAL STATEMENT
My name is Rebecca Barton and I am a Visualization major at Texas A&M University. I am, first and foremost, a child of God. I am a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a member of the fightin’ Texas Aggie class of 2017. It is not these labels that make me who I am, but rather the relationships that they represent. I am dearly beloved of the Creator of the Universe. I once was separated from God, but that relationship was reconciled through Christ’s finished work on the cross and I now live out of that assurance daily. I have been blessed with a wonderful family - two loving parents and a really cool younger brother who have guided me and helped shape me into who I am today. I am a friend to many people and a best friend to just a few. I am an Aggie, third generation, and thus part of a family network and an ideal that goes way beyond me as an individual.
Life is about people; it’s about the lives you touch. Sure, you can chase your dreams, get your dream job, afford your dream house, and build your dream life, but if you lose sight of people and the value of relationships - the value of helping your fellow man - all of your dreams come to nothing and leave you empty inside.
My goal is to be a light to other people. I want to bring glory to my God by being an accurate representation of Him to everyone I come into contact with. I’m not perfect and I have and will fail at this, but I have been loved and redeemed with an almighty love, therefore my response is to keep trying. In the past few years I’ve really begun to see the need for truth in the world and in my own life. I’ve believed lies that have wormed their way into my head and my heart and done a lot of damage. But that old adage, “the truth will set you free,” really hits home for me. I want to help free others from the same lies that enslaved me. I think this is why I picked my major. Sure, I like movies (I mean, who doesn’t?), but I am more interested in the media as a powerful tool in today’s society.
The Art Guys came and visited my studio class of Viz majors the other day and said something that stuck with me. They told us, “Our society is a visual culture and you are in control of what it sees.” Which in turn reminds me of that Spiderman quote, “With great power comes great responsibility.” I think that one of the problems with our society today is that too many have abused that power in the name of money and self-recognition. Advertisements always seek to send a message, and while some are harmless and even promote family values (like the Oreo commercial where the military dad and his son are sharing Oreos over a video chat), many sow lies in the minds of their viewers. There are ads that say “buy this perfume/cologne and you’ll no longer be single” or “buy these clothes and you’ll be attractive” or “buy this beverage and you’ll be the life of the party.” On the surface these suggestions seem harmless, but they have a habit of worming their way into our subconsciousness and mutating into the biggest lie of all: I’m worthless/not good enough if I’m not _________. Fill in the blank - “in a relationship”, “attractive”, “fun”, “smart”, “cool”; the list goes on and on.
I think that it comes down to that human need to be accepted. We crave a sense of belonging and fulfillment that we can only find in our Creator, but society tries to substitute its own standards of what is acceptable through the media. The media gives us a standard of beauty that can ruin a person’s self-image, a standard of sexual immorality that can ruin a marriage, and a standard of greed that can ruin a person’s relationships, happiness, and life, among other things.
So my goal within the entertainment industry is to influence mass media in order to spread truth and light rather than deception and negativity. This could mean working on uplifting and positive movies or running a new kind of ad campaign like the “Dove Campaign for True Beauty”. At the moment I’m not sure which area I would rather go into - the animation and movie world or the graphic design industry - but the Visualization program will help me be successful in either career.
The Visualization coursework at Texas A&M is unique because of the even split of art courses and math-and-science-based technology courses required. This split will make me a more well-rounded animator or designer. I will graduate knowing some of the computer programming technicalities as well as what makes a scene or layout aesthetically pleasing. My degree plan also ensures that I am well-versed in both traditional media studies such as drawing and painting, and new media studies such as digital photography and digital painting.
Each semester I am also required to take a studio class along with the rest of my Viz classmates. This studio class is set up in such a way that it breeds an atmosphere of collaboration and cooperation. This mimics our future work environments at animation studios or graphic design firms and encourages us to work as a team on a daily basis. Through our latest group project experience, I’ve found that I can step up and be a leader when under pressure, but I can work on actively pursuing others’ ideas and compromising for the good of the group. I really like the free-flowing and positive interaction of the studio environment and would really like to work in a similar setting. I’ve made some of my better friends through studio this year and found that networking will get you nearly as far as making the grade will. Talking with friends and professors and older students within my major has opened my eyes to new opportunities and possibilities that I’d have never considered on my own.
Beyond schooling and coursework though, I’d say being successful in my anticipated field is about observing and listening to people; knowing what they want and sometimes choosing to give them what they need instead. For some reason our society tends to focus on the negative in life. This worldview is enabled and encouraged by the media. I think, as a whole people, we need positivity. And not just fleeting pleasures, but truly inspiring stories and uplifting tales. I think people can be persuaded to look past the money, sex, and self-centeredness that oftentimes plagues the entertainment industry and yearn for something more long-lasting and soul-satisfying. I believe the media can be used to spark a switch in the American mindset, and I believe that we will be a better nation for it, full of more compassionate and neighborly individuals.
BRIDGE ESSAY - THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ANIMATION
The animation world is an industry of advancement. New developments and techniques take center stage while issues and problems are left behind in the wings and rarely mentioned. Controversy, though, has its fair share of the spotlight, for what would the entertainment industry be without drama? This “controversy” is not quite so concrete as in other fields - it is usually founded wholly and completely on the opinions of two sides rather than being supported by scientific facts and thoroughly-tested evidence. Take the controversy over the recent crowning of the eleventh Disney princess - over the “idealized” image presented by the entire populous of Disney’s female animated characters - for example.
In May of 2013, Merida joined the ranks of Disney princesses...with a new makeover. Gone are the bow and quiver of arrows, replaced by a low-slung belt complemented by an off-the-shoulder, more sparkly, rendition of her blue dress, some mascara, and an apparently thinner-looking waist. Opponents of this change, including Brave co-director Brenda Chapman and the petitioners behind “Keep Merida Brave!”, claim this undermines the original intent for Merida to be an empowering role model who waits for no prince and changes her own world, in favor of a prettier, sexier version dubbed by Chapman to be “a blatantly sexist marketing move based on money.” Even within the films themselves, there is special attention paid to character image. Lino DiSalvo, head of animation for Disney’s most recent full-length animated feature Frozen, commented that animating female characters is “really, really difficult because they have to go through this range of emotions, but you have to keep them pretty.”
There is, without doubt, an obsession with beauty that permeates our culture and is incessantly fueled by the media. This ideal of “true beauty” or “ultimate beauty” worms its way into our lives (personally, I blame Barbie for my early-on misconceptions concerning body image). But recently, there has been a rise in the idea of attainable, diverse, loving-yourself-as-you-are beauty, evidenced by such things as Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” (and by that very frightening photoshopped image of Barbie’s proportions applied to an actual person).
The team at any animation studio must be, first and foremost, attuned to their audience. Movies are created for the enjoyment of the viewers; to tell a story in such a way as to elicit emotion and a connection with the characters; to create an escape with the perfect balance of fantastic and realistic. As an aspiring animator, it is my job to learn what people want, and to learn how to make it come to life both artistically and technically. Little girls like pretty princesses, but I think that a pretty inside is even more important. Princesses are evolving - they’re becoming more relatable. Things don’t just happen to them anymore, they now choose to go on adventures for their own sake or for the good of others. And as they begin to make more choices, they begin to gain personality and a distinctiveness. The heroines of Brave and Frozen - as well as Tangled and The Princess and the Frog - are outwardly beautiful, but I think little girls, as well as the rest of the audience, like them so much because of their personality and spunk and spirit. This is made possible by advancements in the animation techniques and tools themselves. As the animation industry advances, the princesses are becoming more and more life-like. Subtle movements and micro-expressions bring a whole new light to the character and their personality, and the artistic and technical beauty behind them becomes multi-dimensional rather than simply eye-pleasing.
To be a successful animator, there’s a lot to learn concerning the technical side of things, but I also think it’s important that I simply experience life. Live it, be aware of every moment of it, and pay attention to what moves and genuinely affects people in order to learn that magic mixture of emulated reality and imagined fantasy where the unbelievable can be, even for just one magical moment, believed.
References
Bastoli, Mike. "Opinion: Princess Merida Makeover Controversy Is Ridiculous." Big Screen Animation. N.p., 13 May 2013. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.
Amidi, Amid. "“Frozen” Head of Animation Says Animating Women Is “Really, Really Difficult”." Cartoon Brew. N.p., 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.
Edwards, C. "Disney’s Princess Makeover of Merida Leads to Uproar and Petition." Cartoon Brew. N.p., 12 May 2013. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.
Disney Insider. "Making It Snow in Disney’s Frozen." Disney. N.p., Nov. 2013. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.