Naturally.
The jovial creative director of character design for Sesame Workshop — the non-profit organization behind the 45-year-old hit children's show "Sesame Street " — was here to talk art, passion and puppets with drama students from CMU, Pitt and Point Park University.
11 comments:
Louis Henry Mitchell was a wonderful speaker, and I really enjoyed listening to his stories. This was not some serious presentation with a precise beginning and end, it just felt like an awesome conversation with a really cool, regular person. It was interesting to me how diverse his actual job functions were, and how many different projects fell under his supervision. It was surprising to learn that the same person (him) doodles the Sesame Street doodle sketch, sets up the puppets for photo shoots and works on creating entirely new characters. I actually don’t know very much about Sesame Street and have basically never watched it, but his energy and enthusiasm for his work were so infectious that I was very engaged in the presentation. It was very inspiring to hear from someone who has achieved such prominence in his craft and is recognized for his work worldwide while still remaining a hard-working and grateful individual.
I am so glad I was able to attend this talk. What a wonderful thing to bring to the school. (Thanks John!) I took some notes as Louis was speaking, and wanted to share one point that particularly stood out to me as being not only important, but also essential to growing as an artist. Louis said that that success does not come as a result of confidence, but rather from commitment. Our confidence will go up and down. Some days will be really rough and we may doubt ourselves (aka the entirety of freshman year), but as long as you have the drive to stay committed and improve, you will always find success- and confidence! Usually we hear as artists that we should always display confidence in our work, but what Louis is saying is that it is ok to doubt yourself as long as you are committed to improving what feels unsatisfactory about your work.
Firstly, I would also like to thank John and everyone else involved in bringing Louis to CMU. He is more than just an artist, he is an inspiring motivational speaker that keep the fire burning for many students and like minded artists. I agree completely with point Anna mentioned, that confidence helps, but commitment is the most important factor within this industry. It is very easy to work yourself into a hole and stop, but those who continue to push through and challenge themselves will always come out on top in the end. When I'm stuck on something, all I can do is keep moving forward and eventually everything always works out. Louis's stories were inspiring and brought another wave of excitement to my day. There is so much out there in the world, something for everyone and I believe that we will one day find what we are sent out to achieve in life.
I was so excited when I heard that Louis Henry Mitchell was coming to speak with us and it turned out to be even better than I though. His stories were really entertaining to listen to, but he also made a lot of good points about things that I think we should talk about in the school of drama more often. He talked a lot about making people happy and reaching for your dreams no matter what they are, and those are things that i think we often forget about. I sometime feel like we are very pigeonholed into doing deep theatre work. I think a piece of entertainment that makes people happy is equally if not more important to a "deep" piece about society.
It is really amazing that Jon Ward was able to bring Louis Henry Mitchell here and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to listen to him speak. It was wonderful to listen to him and his perspective as someone so successful in the design industry, but also inspiring just as a person who is so passionate about his work. His description of going into work early everyday because he still loves his job as much as when he first started is incredible, anyone with that much enthusiasm for their work is so fortunate. I also really appreciate that he shared his sketches with us, that was so cool.
Going to see Louis Henry Mitchell speak was an incredible experience, and I'm so glad that Jon Ward was able to make it happen. He's such an amazing person, and it was great listening to him speak. It's always fantastic to hear someone who truly loves their job talk about what they do. He's so passionate about life and his craft, and I wish that one day I have a job where I can be having so much fun that a job doesn't feel like work because it's just so fun. I think it's also amazing that he knew what he wanted to do ever since he was a child, and now he's ding it. Something similar happened to Kevin Clash, who used to be the voice of Elmo. I highly recommend watching the documentary "Becoming Elmo: A Puppeteers' Journey", which follows Clash's journey from a young child making puppets to puppeteer behind Elmo. It's incredible how Sesame Works has a way of making dreams come true not just for the children who watch the show, but for the people who work at the company too.
Listening to Louis Henry talk was one of the most inspiring experiences that I've had here at Carnegie Mellon. While I don't necessarily want to study puppetry after school, I still found his passion for his craft uplifting and relevant to everyone who loves what they do. I think what his talk boiled down to was that everyone needs to take risks in their career, especially if you want to make a difference in a creative industry. While he is generally unknown to the public, his influence on Sesame St is felt all over the world. He also emphasized that all artists need to take time to hone their craft away from the corporate world. So often we get tied up in our work that we don't do projects for ourselves. I loved seeing his sketches because it made me realize that no matter how successful you are, we are all still those artists who sit in front of dinosaur bones at the local history museum.
I am so happy to have gotten to see louis and to hear what he had to say. Originally my friends and i just wanted to listen for a few minutes because we had work to do. I originally just thought it was going to be like an information session on sesame street and how he got there. But as we listened to louis and all of the great advice he gave we all didnt want to leave. He not only gave advice to students he gave advice to aspiring artists and in my opinion advice that would help everyday people. I know my friends and I and all those that attended the talk were happy to have louis here at CMU.
Thanks Jon indeed. Being able to attend this lecture was truly a delightful experience. Sesame Street was a huge part of my life growing up and it was such a privilege to hear someone speak about their experiences in contributing to the enrichment of Sesame Street. Hearing about the art, how certain issues get brought up and why, and how dedicated they are to providing students with an avenue to learn about social issues and social structures through means in which they are comfortable with and not intimidated by. These kooky little puppets really provide them with such a safe space to open their minds and absorb knowledge that comes from a 3rd person, and not just a parent or grown up who's age immediately creates a divide and distance between them.
Loius Henry Mitchell, now here is a man who pursued his goals and does what he loves for a living. Nowadays people take a job because it helps to pay the bills, and that’s about all they get out of it. You’re doing it wrong. Maintaining creativity in what you do allows you to explore and be spontaneous. Just Louis is passionate about puppetry, I’m here at this school doing what it is I want to do. It was a long journey to get to where I am today, but each step along the way has brought me closer and closer to my goal. It never ceases to amaze me how people start off with a small idea or goal and in time they end up accomplishing it, and then so much more. Unfortunately I was unable to attend his visit at CMU, I’m sure it would have been one heck of talk.
I think I was quite lucky to get a chance to attend this lecture. I thought he was one of a few real artists to get famous, makes money, and still able to follow his dreams without letting anything come into his way. I thought he was really talented and smart, and funny. Lots of humor. And I think he kinda has a good tips of how to become a real artists and how to follow your dreams
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