Week #4 - Rodolfo Lopez, Museum of History, Anthropology and Art of the University of Puerto Rico
Week #4 - Internship Journal Blog
Museum of History, Anthropology and Art of the University of Puerto Rico
by Rodolfo Enrique López-Gutiérrez/YAP 2022
This week was the most eventful week of my internship at the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras campus. It was the week of orientations for the freshman students. New students would receive an orientation through campus, then they would visit the main building where there were several information booths with staff members to help and orientate students about all the locations and resources of information. The Museum had a booth at the activity. About an hour before the activity started, we brought brochures, the Taíno tattoos stamps, books based on the museum’s collections, books about Puerto Rican artists, an iPad to present a slideshow of its programs and services, and photos of a miniature 3D version of “El Velorio”. We participated for three days; some days it was a bit slow, other days there were too many students to count.
As I handed brochures and informed the new students of the Museum, I crossed paths with about 12 old friends from Elementary School, Middle School and High School. I’ve met many students who wished to go to UPR and that is why I reencountered many of them. I also met with Mara Hales García, my partner in crime and a great artist from California who’s currently studying at Moorpark College. She was volunteering at the UPR gift shop while I worked at the Museum. Back at the booth, when it was not too busy, Beth and I covered our arms with Taino tattoos, Gabriela brought her vejigante mask and danced to the music of the nearby table from the UPR’s musicians group called “Tuna Los Bardos”. Since we were the only ones clapping, they dedicated a song just for us! This activity was a very fun time, it felt nice giving the students a welcome to their new chapter in life. By the end of August, I will be in their shoes soon.
Friday was an eventful day because it was my first time giving an art workshop all by myself. The workshop was going to be about Stop Motion, along with the topic of nature conservation. There was a lot to be done and prepared. Luckily, I was accompanied by Mara. She came to Puerto Rico for vacation and was excited to be a part of my workshop. I was also happy to see my dear friends Beth and Gabriela who took the day to help me along with the activity. The four of us gathered the materials and set the tables and chairs. While I was setting up the computer and plugging in the TV to show my presentation, the visitors slowly arrived at the Museum.
Stop Motion workshop promotion. (Art promo by Lisa Ortega Pol)
Stop Motion workshop participants. (Photo by Rodolfo E. Lopez)
I couldn’t take off my mask, so my boss (Lisa) handed me an awesome voice amplifier that helped me so I wouldn’t have to raise my voice for the next two hours. Once it was 10:30 a. m. Lisa was very kind and gave a brief introduction of me before I started. The workshop was divided into several parts: first, I would discuss some basic rules of any workshop, for example, sharing materials and teamwork –since in the animation and film industry you never work alone. Then I would share a brief definition on what is Stop Motion and Storytelling. Then share a few examples of modern Stop Motions films like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Wallace and Gromit and Kubo and the Two Magic Strings. I also gave examples of some older films such as King Kong, Jason and the Argonauts and Valley of the Gwuangi. One of the participants showed interest in classic creature films, which was cool to me. I do love fantasy and science fiction creature design. After that, I gave some final examples of Stop Motions inside commercials, Netflix series, and videogames.
Stop Motion workshop participants. (Photo by Gabriela Oquendo)
In the next part, I played two Stop Motions I had created in the past year when I was exploring the Stop Motion Studio App. The first one was a manatee called “Guaraca” who I had the chance to meet at The Puerto Rico Manatee Conservation Center. “Guaraca” lived peacefully in the waters of Florida until a boat struck the poor manatee when he was three years old and affected his capacity to swim; this caused him to sink, therefore he can’t live in the open waters. He was rescued and brought to Puerto Rico, where he spent the rest of his life in a pool. Impactful story, I had to bring it into an animation and share his story to spread awareness for these endangered animals. The other one was based on my experience with community groups like 7 Quillas, who are dedicated to the care and preservation of the leatherback turtle. The animation is of a mother leatherback just arriving to the shore of the beach at night to lay her eggs in the sand. Eventually, the baby turtles hatch from their eggs, scatter across the beach and return to the ocean. These animations were to give them an idea of how far and creative you can go on the Stop Motion App, but I clarified that we were going to be doing something simpler since the workshop is for beginners.
Rodolfo Enrique helping the participants. (Photo by Gabriela Oquendo)
Then the creative part began. Before jumping to the puppets, I explained how to create a simple 2D puppet using paper, coloring pencils, markers, scissors, hole puncher and paper fasteners. After Mara helped me set up the timer, Beth and Gabriela had already helped pass by the puppet silhouettes for the participants before I even asked them. Each participant would choose a Puerto Rican animal like the parrot, the green turtle or the manatee. I was glad the activity was going great so far and we were keeping up with the time. The participants were very creative with their animal puppets, as they put details like feathers, skins, and scales. They also did some very interesting color variations on the turtles, somewhere green blended with a dark blue and other brown with orange. We had enough time to finish cutting, coloring, and assembling the puppet and I had time to walk around the tables and talk with each participant.
Stop Motion workshop rainforest environment. (Photo by Gabriela Oquendo)
After the timer ended, we jumped to the second part of the workshop. We used our smartphones as the main resource for the activity since we would need to install the Stop Motion Studio App. Then I explained to them a step-by-step tutorial on everything they needed to know on how to make a simple short Stop Motion animated film. I discussed things like the app’s interface, how to use the phone camera, how to use the timeline and how to edit and export your project. Many professional animators use this app for the tools and capabilities it features, but I was not going to overwhelm them, I’ll let them explore at home. After the tutorial, I told them to join in pairs with the person that has your same animal so you can work on the same table. Beth, Gabriela and Mara helped me place three habitats on each table. I had crafted three different habitats for the animals: there was a beach, a contaminated reef, and a rainforest (El Yunque). All three were made from recycled materials and objects like gift and Christmas wrapping paper, construction paper, wood, printing paper, pipe cleaners and more.
Rodolfo explaining the presentation. (Photo by Gabriela Oquendo)
It was funny to me; I didn’t realize how motivated they were until I noticed they were already creating their own Stop Motions… before I gave the instructions! We took the rest of the time for Stop Motions and as I walked around, I saw amazing progress. They were really understanding the app quickly and used it effectively. Most of the participants animated their characters on a walk cycle from one side of the habitat to the other. One of the projects stood out to me: it was a creative one of a group of turtles cleaning the beaches. It was 12:30 p. m. Now, the workshop was supposed to finish by then, but the guests decided on continuing their animations, some even did a second one. It feels great to know they enjoyed it and are entertained; they appreciate what I do. After everyone finished, I asked them to send their Stop Motions to my email so I can place them all together in a video. That was the final and biggest part of the project, to create a compilation of all the amazing short animations of the participants and share with the museum a Stop Motion workshop video spreading awareness about the conservation and protection of the animals we share our beautiful island with. Once I gave closing remarks for the conclusion, everyone started clapping! After a successful workshop, we started cleaning up.
Stop Motion workshop participants group. (Photo by Gabriela Oquendo)
After my lunch break, Mara was interested in exploring the rest of the museum, so I gave her a tour of the “El Cartel: Voz para la Resistencia” exhibition, which is exclusively of political poster art. These posters are about social, political issues, problems in Puerto Rico, cultural elements, and community leaders too. I explained to her the meaning and story behind the posters based on what I learned and heard from previous tours. And then we went to see the Taíno burial and Egyptian mummy. Before leaving to finally complete my internship, I had to do an important tradition at the museum: it’s a tradition passed from intern student to intern student. It’s to simply wear an ugly sweater (which was not ugly) with a happy face, then take a picture, and they add it to a wall of ugly sweater picture wall.
And with that, we close this chapter, four amazing weeks in the awesome Museum of History, Anthropology and Art. I gave a tour, I got cool temp tattoos, I helped organize the museum’s archives, I made amazing new friends and connections, I created dioramas, vejigante masks, 2D puppets, several monotypes and shared my knowledge of Stop Motion. This was the embodiment of the perfect summer for me! And I wouldn’t change a thing about it! Special thanks to the entire staff and support staff for giving me an unforgettable summer! And thank you to my bosses Lisa and Oneida for welcoming and helping me during my internship. Thank you all so much for your kindness and your support. I wish you the very best and a successful year. And I also wish many blessings to all the “YAPERS” out there –hope it’s an amazing year full of accomplishments. Until next time!
Lisa, Oneida and me (doing the ugly sweater tradition) for the YAPERS. (Photo by Mara S. Hales-Garcia)
Mara and I in front of “El Velorio” by Francisco Oller. (Photo by Lisa Ortega)
Rodolfo E. López Gutiérrez/YAP 2022
Museum of History, Anthropology and Art
University of Puerto Rico
Internship Week 4
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