Hello, I am applying for the MFA program of a design/art department of a university. Now I am holding a BFA degree in Animation. I am an international student and have trouble making my essay look professional and putting thoughts in nice phrases.
My essay is expected to include my background, thought, current activities and goal.
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Every child must have dreamt about being not themselves, but heroes or princess or anything unrealistic. This is more so in my case, as I had been a big devotee of fairy tales since young. Animations, especially the classics features from Disney, opened my world to vagarious thoughts. For some time I believed the painless fantasy world is my shelter from the imperfect reality. Later I found simply looking at them is not enough; I felt an urge to engage in the creation of such worlds ï that is, becoming the god of such beloved worlds, and cast magical spells on my audience.
In order to fulfill my wish, I left China and came to the United States, where animation and media arts are highly reputed. I completed my bachelor degree in Animation in XXX College of Art and Design, concentrating on 2D animation. Most of my works are light-hearted and child-oriented. I enjoy creating surrealist settings and stories about inanimate objects coming to life. I also partake in filmmaking and script-writing; but at the end, I still consider animation as the ultimate tool to reflect my thoughts because it is free from any physical restrictions.
Due that my motivation of creativity comes from my enchantment to the fantasy world, I am very in interested in philosophy and psychology. I am especially influenced by Sigmund Freud's argument on dreams and consciousness. And then the writer Murakami Haruki brought me a new prospective on his depiction of dream and reality. The surrealist worlds of his novel contain so much power and context which would always attract all my attention. I wish I could also create works like such and bring to my audience into worlds I created.
On my path of animating, I have always tried to pay back the society which has brought me up by following the footsteps of the animation predecessor, and strive to bring entertainment to my audience. However, I gradually think my path of creation has been obstructed by my traditional cartooning techniques and thinking. In my baccalaureate years, I learnt from traditional and on-the-job animators. Due to the intensity of animation courses, I lost a lot of chance to develop my artistic thoughts. My concern is especially strong after I gained my career. After my graduation, I start creating child-oriented animations, educational tutorials and concept arts for the local film firm XXX Studios. I soon become skeptical about what I am doing as I see my future as becoming a studio laborer who is bounded with limited thoughts rather than a free artist who creates unique worlds. I feel the need to obtain further development on critical thinking so as to move my creativity beyond the superficial daydreaming and the child-oriented motif. Despite of having knowledge in creating time-based work such as films and animation, I also feel a great need to engage in graphic design and to diverse my skill. I believe an expansion in form and technique would be very crucial for my breaking through of current style and target audience. A new way of thinking could bring me to a more advance stage of creation.
My academic goal in XXX UNIVERSITY would be to expand my artwork in both its form and context, and to produce art which is not only appealing to children, but to people at different levels. I would still continue on my path of exploring and creating fantasy worlds, with the aim to have my works ultimately become the virtual space which allows my audience to be able to live in. Gaining a graduate degree in XXX UNIVERSITY would also help me to become capable of producing individual films and animation. By doing so, I could spread my ideas on dreams and reality better than creating commercial works.
I chose XXX UNIVERSITY not only because of the reputation and the highly experienced faculty, but mainly because I want to switch from the traditional art school setting. XXX UNIVERSITY is, unlike traditional art schools, a university which concentrates more on academic and critical development. I believe your scholastic-based program would grant me a new prospective on art. Now I am equipped with technical skills and the enthusiasm to take challenges, I am ready to discover the new world which is always hiding behind my random daydreams.
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Thank you so much for reviewing! I have the following questions in mind:
-I am not sure if my essay looks too unprofessional? My view seems too childish but I really mean it...
-I know I use too many "I"s when starting sentences, how could I improve this problem?
-Which part do you think it is useless? Please help me to trim it down.
I appreciate any help or comments! Thank you!
Mustafa1991
Thank you very much for your advice. I will clean my essay up according to your points.
I wonder when you mentioned you have hard time following my essay, do you think the problem is on the general idea of the essay or my phrasing/ word used?
Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your help.
This is so interesting!
I felt an urge to engage in the creation of such worlds - that is, to become the god of such beloved worlds a nd cast magical spells on my audience.
Oh, I have a good idea for this part! below
Despite the fact that I have the necessary knowledge fo r creating time-based work such as films and animation, I also feel a great need to engage in graphic design and to diverse my skill.
Only use that idea if you like it!
I believe your scholastic-based program would grant me a new perspective on art.
