RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT
WdKA, september 2020
Carlijn Peek (0989174)

First exploration of how I define research in general:
In my head I usually automatically categorize research into three groups(but I havent explored this way of categorizing enough to claim that it is useful). You can look at a phenomenon or subject in three different ways that are to an extent all accepted as truths: it has happened; it is happening; it is not happening but I can make the results happen/guess the consequences.

Start with a question about a subject.

Can the answer to this question be found in history?
How has a subject occured or been explored in the past?
Literary research; articles; research papers; documentaries; interviews?; museums; etc.
Analysis of a past phenomenon; visual analysis.
Historical empathy

Can the answer to this question be found by simulation?
Recreate the phenomenon/subject.
Experience and/or analyse what occurs.
Experimentation; what did you find out during recreation.
Not the real thing.

Can the answer to this question be found by experiencing.
Seek the subject/phenomenon out in real life (and try to live it rather than observe?).

(Is simulation a subcategory of experience? Or are they both subcategories of experimentation?)


Other way of categorizing:

Making and observing

Brainstorming sources and methods I have used to research in the past.

Books
Internet
newspapers
TV
Movies
Museums
Analysing screenplays
Analysing storyboards
Interview
Discussions
Debates
Lectures
Harvesting data in Processing of video and finding patterns in data; reapplying them
Animation production role exploration during fourth year graduation project

Making
Sketching
Storyboarding
Making animated short of poem
reproducing
Scientific experiments

What research have I been doing recently and to define them as what method?

Researching of a run cycle:
First visual analysis; questions asked: How many frames for one step; How do the legs move; how do the arms move relatively to the legs and the frame count.
Then experimentation (by simulation/reproduction?) by applying the outcome of the analysis to my own character.
Lastly reflection on experiment: what effect does the experiment have? Is it a favourable outcome? what works what does not?

Colour study of a landscape painting
Visual analysis and simulation.
Reproducing and defining the colours;
I have not actively reflected on the assignment yet.

I shot reference video of myself for the run cycle and jump animation:
This is visual analysis because I look back at it and see how the movement looks aesthetically. Also I am acting as my character and feeling how he moves. How does the movement affect me mentally and physically in that moment? Can I use the outcome of those questions for the dynamic, character and background? It is experiencing, but I dont know yet how I would define it as a more specific tool.
embodied research

Four categories defined in class:

Visual

Literary

Interview

Experiment

What are the questions that I am (usually) looking for?

How does the question I ask relate to the research tool/method that I use to answer it?

Katja mentions tools and methods are different.

Visual Research

Definition:
I am targetly searching for a certain visual that I want to use as inspiration or reference.

How do I do it?
I try to find this visual by looking at:
-Films and photos
-paintings and illustrations
-games
-sculptures
-theatre and other performance arts
-real life surroundings.
I find these things in books, on the internet, in museums, cinemas, theatres and in my daily life surroundings.

The next step would be the visual analysis:
I ask myself: what aspect of this visual is useful for me and why.
I might find this out by recreating the visual, disecting it, looking for the meaning behind it.
And then I would ask myself how can I apply the same principle to my work.

When do I use it?
When I need reference material for my work; when I need inspiration for my work; when I want to reference other works through visuals.

Literary research

Increase my understanding about a topic by looking at what other people written or said about it.

How do I do it?
I try to find mentions of the topic that I am researching in:
-books
-academic papers and studies
-articles, newspapers, magazines
-documentaries, interviews, lectures, TV, movies
-social media, YouTube
I find these media on the internet, in libraries, stores, museums; I might attend a lecture in real life.

The next step would be collecting all the information that is relevant for my topic.
I reflect while taking all the sourses into account and might form my own opinion on the topic.
My findings provide answers to the question I was researching or shape the question itself.
I would make art about those answers or about that question.

When do I use it?
When I am shaping the theme of an artwork; when I need to know more specifics about things that I am referencing in my artwork.

The interview

Increase my understanding about a topic by asking people questions about it.

How do I do it?
You have to find people that want to participate in your intervies.

Carefully consider your questions:
To what extent does the identity of the interviewee and their relationship to the research topic determine the questions? Would I ask someone else the same? It depends on the research goal.

Also interview format needs to be considered:
Face to face; email or other text correspondance; survey.

When do I use it?
Shaping the theme of an artwork; gaining more specific knowledge on the topic; I might use the media itself for art (for intance if i made a video or sound recording

Brainstorming about research definition, tools, methods and examples:

Movement:

Rotoscope of iconic jazz
performance, frames layed on top
of each other,
hands/body parts/instruments,
musicality/flow/rythm.

Room:

Homely, genrepieces, details, musicians,
body language; how i have been experiencing music
this past year.

Jan Steen, Willem Buytewech