Due to my focus being consumed by finding a cg industry job as well as a part time job, practicing arts and an admittedly current lack of interest in continuing this blog, I have decided to shut it down and most likely start a new one that will more be a journal for my thoughts, as well as possible video game and movie reviews and an occasional animated clip or short done by yours truly or just one that is inspirational.
I'd like to thank my followers and would encourage them to follow my next blog once I have it up and running. As for shutting down this blog, it will be done by the end of the month as I re-introduce myself to the finer points of optimizing my newest blog, using this blog as a sort of test dummy.
Thank you for checking this blog out while you did everyone, I hope to entertain you in the future.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Seating Arrangements in an Interview
In this post we will take a quick look at seating arrangements in interviews and how it can affect a potential employers feeling of you from the start.
What a lot of us may be used to when taking a seat at an interview is that of the diagram below, with your potential employer (A) seated directly across from yourself (B). However this poses a problem, at least in terms of body language. According to Allen and Barbara Pease, the writers of The Definitive Book of Body Language, this seating arrangement is that of a competitive / defensive disposition. The table acts like a barrier leading to both sides feeling defensive and competitive. In fact according to Pease, 56% of respondents saw this as a competitive position.
Now, let’s look at a different option that might increase your chances of landing a job or at the least improve the way you come across to them. As you see in the diagram below you may have to take a bold action. By re-arranging the seat beside the desk and facing your potential employer at a 45-degree angle. It allows for good eye contact and is often used by those engaged in friendly, casual conversation. By sitting this way you and your employer to be (hopefully) may more openly see one another’s gestures and body language far more readily and therefore more easily connect with one another.
Animation: For those animators out there this can again be used in any interview or meeting scene between characters. By knowing these 2 seating arrangements an animator adds another potential staging option for use in their animations. You can also push the associated emotions that each arrangement brings with them. If you want the person being interviewed to emote anxiety then stick with the face-to-face way of sitting and push that emotion. If, on the other hand, you want them to look confident or arrogant try out the 45-degree angled seating arrangement, it may help you push the connection between the 2 characters.
I hope this helps for those who try it. Thank you for your time and have a great day.
References:
The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allen and Barbara Pease
Pictures / Diagrams created in Photoshop by yours truly.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Seating Arrangements and Attention
In this post I will be talking about seating choices and how those choices could potentially increase or decrease the amount of information a person might retain from a lecture or possibly a meeting.
As we see in the photograph below taken from “The Definitive Book of Body Language”, those who sit front and center as compared to where the speaker is standing, tend to retain 68% of what the speaker says. Moving a few rows back, we then see those who sit in the middle behind those in the front row retain 55% of what was said. That is already a 13% difference in retention! If we look once more we see that those who sit the furthest back and in the outside corners retain the least information out of all in the diagram.
According to Allen and Barbara Pease, writers of “The Definitive Book of Body Language”, not only do people learn more or less depending on where they choose to sit in a room, these people also tend to act in certain ways depending on their seating preferences.
“People who sit in the front row are keener than others to learn and show more attention to the speaker in order to avoid being picked on,” said Peace. “Those in the middle sections are the next most attentive and ask the most questions, as the middle section is considered to be a safe area, surrounded by others. The side and back areas are the least responsive and attentive.”
Now the way that business people can use this is quite obvious. If you are in a meeting simply sit as far in front and center as is possible, compared to where the speaker is talking, to help retain as much as possible.
This diagram can also be useful to animators. In a class room or meeting scenario an animator now knows that if the class were to raise their hands in an animation, the middle would be some of the first to lift their hands, followed by the front and then the back and sides if at all. It also potentially clues us in as to potential behaviors of those people sitting.
The ones in the front row might be those more apt to quieting the rest of the class down to hear what the instructor is saying, after all, they are there to learn and focus. Those in the middle might be more likely to talk during class yet are likely to quickly quiet down when asked. Those in the back and the sides will probably be the most talkative and therefore their eyes will probably not be on the instructor most of the time.
I hope you learned something from this post and if anything I encourage you to pick up “The Definitive Book of Body Language.” It is very informative, useful and entertaining.
Until next time readers, have a great day.
References:
The Definitive Book of Body Language - by Allen and Barbara Pease
Link to where you can find the book: http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Book-Body-Language-Publisher/dp/B004N778YC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1310601683&sr=8-4
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Thoughts on Business Plans
In the last post we talked about the views of Donald Trump and Paul Grants on business plans. In this follow up post I will be talking about my thoughts on their opinions as well as what we can learn from them.
Based on what Donald Trump had said, we need business plans for direction and focus and Mr. Trump is correct. Through business plans we learn things that we may not have considered if we tried to start a business without any plan whatsoever.
You can’t just say, “We are going to start a clothing business,” and end it there. In a business you have to think about the necessary expenses that it will take to start that business. For example, you need to consider how much trademarks for your clothing line will cost, the cost of salary for yourself and your workers, marketing costs, how much you will charge and so many other things. Without planning ahead you will run into money issues that you didn’t expect and even possibly legal problems.
With this kind of information from Mr. Trump, I know that when I am working on my business plan to take it seriously and to try to be as accurate as possible. The more accurate you are the more prepared you can be to start a business plan.
Now we can find out what to take from Paul Grants words. We see that Mr. Grant values business plans a bit less than Trump did. However he emphasizes their need nonetheless but in a different light.
To Mr. Grant, business plans are a sort of trust builder between you and possible investors. He also states that the good news is that since he finds a fair deal of investors merely skim through the business plan; you don’t have to necessarily do a 100-page business plan.
With this information I know that I actually need to attempt to keep the business plan relatively short, while keeping the needed information in it. Staying accurate and including information that investors want, while keeping the business plan as short as possible, we can give investors all the information they need without overwhelming them with info that they don’t need.
Sources:
http://www.businessplaninfo.org/popularlinks.html
http://www.biography.com/articles/Donald-Trump-9511238
http://thefundinggame.co.uk/aboutus.aspx
http://www.sba.gov/content/business-plan-executive-summary
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/businessplans/a/bizplanfinanc.htm
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Donald Trump's & Paul Grant's views on Business Plans
In this post we will be focusing primarily on the business side of information. I will be talking about a few popular business people and their knowledge and feelings about business plans.
The 2 people I will be talking about are Donald Trump and Paul Grant. So without further ado, let’s get started.
Donald Trump –
Born in 1946, Donald Trump grew up in Queens, New York. After being sent to a military academy at the age of 13 and graduating at the age of 18 he went on to earn a degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from said college in 1968. After college Donald decided to join his father’s real estate company. After that, Trump went on to become the business mogul we all know, from building Trump Tower in 1983 to building his net worth to an estimated $2.7 billion dollars by March 2011.
Donald Trump on business plans – He tells us that with a business plan there is a direction and a focus and that without a business plan, you are bound to fail.
Paul Grant –
Paul founded and ran a London catering business for seven years, marketing towards corporate and retails customers primarily. He assists small businesses in the early stages and is also the associate director of BA Capital Ltd. and Bergstrom Capital. Paul is also the founder of The Funding Game; a seminar series that helps starting small businesses learn to get started on the correct financial path.
Paul Grant on business plans – Paul Grant has said that, “although huge amounts of time and cash are spent churning out detailed business plans for potential investors, I found that very few were getting read.” He goes on to ask, “So does that mean you don’t have to write a business plan when seeking investment for your business?” He then answers, saying, “Sorry – I wish I could say yes. Investors still want to see some reassuring figures and words that demonstrate you have thought through your market, the need you are trying to meet and how people will find and pay for your services. But here is the good news: your plan does not need to be the soul-searching, nine-month, 100-page ordeal it was for me – and for many entrepreneurs seeking funds for their new ventures.”
So we see from 2 different points of view that business plans are key components that investors are looking for. With Trump a business plan is key because, in his view, you will completely fail without one. With Grant however the business plan is a key component merely because it reassures investors that you in fact know what you are talking about.
I hope you have gotten some useful business information from this post. Until the next one, have an animated day.
Sources:
Paul Grant Info - http://thenextwomen.com/2010/08/26/why-business-plans-are-not-as-important-as-you-think
Paul Grant Bio - http://thefundinggame.co.uk/default.aspx
Donald Trump Info - http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1634723/ten_donald_trump_business_tips_for.html?cat=3
Donald Trump Bio -
Donald Trump Pic - http://www.chartingstocks.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/donald_trump.jpg
Friday, May 13, 2011
Anger Body Language
In this post I will be talking about what is probably the easiest category of body language to recognize, anger.
I say that it is the most easily recognizable because more often than not the mannerisms that show during anger are fairly blatant. While there are some gestures that may be unique to individuals there are a set of movements that are very common to most people.
Clenched Fists – Clenched fists are a signal that a person is angry and potentially ready to fight.
Furrowed Eyebrows – Furrowed eyebrows is also a useful indicator when attempting to tell if a person is angry. This is when the inner eyebrows, the ends closest to your nose, press downward and inward towards the nose.
Nostril Flare – The nostril flare can also mean that a person is in a state of fury. This can allow more oxygen into the lungs in time of anger and thus in times of increased heart rate.
Spatial Invasion – Spatial invasion in this case is when one person who is angry with another, leans toward the other invading their personal space.
Narrowed Eyes – A person who is in a state of rage may narrow their eyes. This gesture is often seen with the before mentioned furrowed eyebrows.
Tightening Lips – An angry person may also tighten their lips, rolling them slightly inward. Sometimes this can be seen in combination with a frown.
Lowered Stance – A person in rage may also lower and “strengthen” their stance. When in a fight or preparing for a fight (whether verbal or physical) this is a movement to help stabilize the body for fighting.
Yelling – A person may yell or even let out a sort of roar or grunt during serious fits of anger.
Now, again I must reiterate that body language is contextual. Meaning seeing only one of these signs doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is angry. Since everyone is different people may also showcase their anger in different ways; whether it be violent “loud” motions, stomping their foot, biting their lower lip or anything else.
Below I have included a clip from the famous animation studio Pixar’s movie, Toy Story. In this clip we see an animator’s view and rendition of anger. You will see some of the gestures mentioned above in the character Woody’s actions. Enjoy.
References:
Angry Face - Pic -http://www.ziinews.com/
Toy Story - Youtube link -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXu6lQqhieA&feature=related
Monday, May 9, 2011
Unshutitus
The word unshutitus was created to mean an apparent inability for a human being to shut up. For example, when a teacher is instructing in class, and the students begin talking and continue to talk after the instructor asks for silence, the students have unshutitus.
To battle against unshutitus a student must listen and shut up in order for the instructor to continue their lecture. A person, who continuously speaks without giving others the chance to talk or in an attempt to lengthen a conversation that has already ended, is also said to have unshutitus.
Unshutitus is considered to be either a mental disease or an addiction. It should be avoided at all costs, for the health of relationships.
To see a similar word, you may click this link. Loud
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