Critiquing 3D Artists - The Power of "You"
How to critique in a way to get the most out of artists
When kicking off this article, I wracked my brain all the times I had my work critiqued for animated films. I was assigned over 1000 shots and had each one of those scrutinized on multiple occasions. So let’s just say that number is high.
Then I started thinking about all the times I've conducted critiques of other people's work. Both professionally and through my teaching at the Academy of Animated Art and SVA. Again, the number came out to well over a thousand. I have about 500 recorded critiques on the Academy of Animated Art YouTube channel if you need something to fall asleep to tonight :)
Do you know how often I've been coached or taught about the best practices for critiquing? Never. Not once. No one ever discussed the best ways to critique someone else's work. We have yet to discuss the best way to receive critiques and make the necessary adjustments.
So I will break that streak today. And don’t worry…I'm not going to give you a listicle of the “10 Secrets to Unleashing Your Inner Critique Superhero!!” Instead, I will give you one thing to focus on when talking to someone about their work.
The Power of You
When giving notes, don't use the word "you."
When complimenting, use the word "you" liberally.
Ok...maybe that's two things...I'm not sure. But hear me out!
For starters, critiquing can feel like a deeply personal experience when it's your work on the screen. You've invested time and energy into every pixel. You've crafted a shot to put it in front of your leads/supervisors/directors. You've basically said, "Hey people in a position of authority over me who are super intimidating and also control how much money I make...I think this looks good. What do you think?"
So when the critiquer starts with comments like "You didn't make this section bright enough" or “you need to emphasize the character more.” It is a natural reaction to take it personally. Again, you have crafted something and put it up on screen and the critiquer is literally saying that you didn’t do a good enough job.
Now, in the critiquers’ eyes, that’s not what they mean. They are simply looking at the image and telling you ways to improve it. If they are sitting in a large, dark screening room, they may not even be paying attention to the artist that created it. They state their thoughts on the images placed in front of them.
But by evoking the word “you,” they are no longer critiquing the work but critiquing the craftmanship of the artist creating the work. The word “you” changes the entire context from being about the object or artwork to being about the artist.
To take it a step further, the “you” can make it feel so personal that you might as well be tacking a “you idiot” at the end of every comment. “You didn’t make this bright enough…you idiot.” “You need to emphasize the character more…you idiot.”
Some of you may be thinking...who cares if the artist is upset. The director is in charge of a major Hollywood movie and doesn’t have time to worry about someone's feelings!! Maybe. Or maybe it's crucial on the project that the creatives feel comfortable to be bold and try unique passes at their work. But an artists that feel attacked can quickly get defensive. And defensive artists play it safe. Defensive artists create work to appease someone else. Defensive artists make safe art and safe art is boring. Boring art makes bad films.
So how do you make artists feel comfortable enough to be bold when giving notes?
Talk about the work as if it were a separate being. Something just manifested in front of you independent of any creator. And now it is both of the job of you, the critiquer, and the artist to tame it together. Then you phrase things accordingly.
“This section could be a little brighter.” Or better yet “We need to figure out a way to get the character to be emphasized a little bit more.”
Now it’s a collaborative process. Now you are working together to solve the issue instead of just telling someone to improve on something they have done.
Compliments = Lotsa “Yous”
When it comes to compliments, the inverse is true. That’s when you want it to be personal. "The way you got the character to separate from that bright background properly is brilliant." That's nice. That feels good. That's the type of comment where it's appropriate to trigger someone's inner feelings. Separating the work from the artist is no longer ideal so go ahead and reconnect the creator to the work.
So if you are a critiquer, try this in practice. It will feel strange at first, (and you will make mistakes) be patient with yourself as you adjust but you will notice a difference in your artists.
If you are an artist, and god-forbid your director doesn’t subscribe to this newsletter (blasphemy!), give them the benefit of the doubt when receiving critiques. If you find yourself getting frustrated, take a pause and try rephrasing what was said in a more collaborative tone. Replace the “you”s with “we”s. Does that make you feel better about the notes?
Because ultimately, in my experience, one always has an underlying respect for the artists on their films and wants to make the best product at the end of the day. Nothing they do is personal and they want the entire crew to output the best film possible.
So that’s my #1 bit of advice for someone conducting critiques. I have others but I would love to hear your thoughts on what makes a good critique!
Please reply to this email or leave your comments in the section below as I am constantly trying to do what I can to improve my critiquing and critique-receiving skills.
3D News of the Week
A roundup of interesting 3D-related news you may have missed this week.
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Puss in Boots The Last Wish's Animations - 80.lv
Autograph: a next-gen tool for motion design and VFX - cgchannel.com
WiFi Routers Used to Produce 3D Images of Humans - vpnoverview.com
Microsoft has laid off entire teams behind Virtual, Mixed Reality, and HoloLens - windowscentral.com
Mouthwatering Procedural Ice Cream Material Made in Blender - 80.lv
Why Fashion Is Taking Video Games Seriously - BusinessOfFashion.com
Apple Delays AR Glasses, Plans Cheaper Mixed-Reality Headset - bloomberg.com
3D Artist of the Week
Self-description on huleeb.com: Canadian digital artist, Huleeb has been creating artwork every day
for over two years. His creations often show moody scenery conveying emotions.
3D Tutorials
3D Job Spreadsheet
Link to Google Doc With A TON of Jobs in Animation (not operated by me)
Michael Tanzillo has been a Senior Artist on animated films at Blue Sky Studios/Disney with credits including three Ice Age movies, two Rios, Peanuts, Ferdinand, Spies in Disguise, and Epic. Currently, Michael is a Head of Technical Artists with the Substance 3D Growth team at Adobe.
In addition to his work as an artist, Michael is the Co-Author of the book Lighting for Animation: The Visual Art of Storytelling and the Co-Founder of The Academy of Animated Art, an online school that has helped hundreds of artists around the world begin careers in Animation, Visual Effects, and Digital Imaging.
www.michaeltanzillo.com
Free 3D Tutorials on the Michael Tanzillo YouTube Channel
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