Receiving feedback is one of those things that's always good for you, but you don't always want to accept it, kind of like Robitussin. My goals for eliciting and receiving feedback include learning things about my work that I hadn't considered or realized, as well as learning or recognizing the weaknesses of my work. I would also hope to learn about the strengths of my work from the feedback I receive. With feedback about the positive and negative aspects of my work, I could then emphasize and continue the things I do well while removing or improving the weaknesses. The reading brought up an aspect of receiving feedback that I found revelatory, but not immediately obvious—to me, at least. On the final page, the author discusses how eliciting feedback can give you a very real sense of how the work is perceived by the audience, as well as what sort of effect or impact the work has on people. This is probably only reliable if the person/people giving you feedback are reliable and trustworthy; he or she or they should probably also be important to you, otherwise you'll be less likely to allow them to proceed once they start in on the criticism. And after they finish you'll be tempted to cast off your relationship with that person unless your relationship is more solid than acquaintanceship. These suggestions from the reading were helpful because they clarified the number of ways that feedback can make your work stronger and more meaningful to the audience.
In class this semester—in all my film classes this semester, actually—I have come to understand how important constructive feedback can be; I have also seen how unhelpful offhanded criticism can be. When reviewers thoughtfully consider how a piece of work succeeds as well as how it could be improved, they give the creator a spectrum within his or her own work with which to measure his or her efforts. Knowing which parts of my scripts and short films worked well helps me understand which part of my creative process was succeeding at reaching the audience. Likewise, knowing which parts of my work were unclear or were faulty helps me understand which part of my creative process needs to be tweaked or revamped. Unless people tell me what worked and what didn't work with each of my projects, I will progress at a much slower rate than if I received guidance from my audience. By incorporating feedback into my work, I am able to create things that are more meaningful to my intended audience.
Sterling. you crack me up. I liked the views you took on feedback, because they are quite similar to mine. it is so easy to become very biased about your own work and you need a fresh pair of eyes at times to look at it. It is also very easy to get super defensive about your work, so I think it is very important to then remember that they are probably seeing things you can't.
ReplyDeleteThis year, in 185 specifically, has been really centered on feedback. And i agree that there are some people who give you criticism that you can honestly do nothing with since you have no idea what they even mean. They best kind of criticism is the kind that points out specifically what you are doing wrong with a clear adn easy way that could be fixed. you are perfect though, so it's not like you ever get negative feedback.
I hear you! In high school it was always hard for me to receive and accept feedback. I always thought what I did was fantastic and whether or not anyone liked it as much as I did didn't matter. I have come to learn however, that that is so dumb. I understand now that it is quite valuable to take into consideration feedback that I receive especially if I am to satisfy an audience as you spoke about.
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