Stop Motion Assignment

Due: December 3rd

Each student will make their own stop-motion animation.

Each student will be given an item to make their animation with.

Your animation must:

Have 200 pictures
be created in Premier Pro
be 10 seconds long (20 frames per second)
be exported as an .mp4

We will join all of these animations together to create one complete animation.

Presentations

October 28

Choose an artist that works with animation and talk about them. Here are the rules:

3 minute presentation
You must talk in English
You must choose an artist who does animation.
Use vocabulary that we have learned in class to talk about the artists' style

You may bring video of the artist's work to show us if you want, but the video cannot be longer than one minute. Please do not tell us about his or her personal life, focus on their animations and why they are important to you.

Storyboard Assignment

due: 10/1

Create a storyboard for this subject:

A fly lands on a table and is killed.

This story is very general, and can be approached many different ways. What angles will you use? What kind of table will it be? Where will the story take place? How will the fly be killed? How much attention is given to the fly, the table, the killing...

Consider what things do:

A fly moves around a space, lands, cleans itself, 

A table is stationary.

Many things can kill a fly. What do they do?

Rules

1. You may use any medium...watercolor, pencil, digital, pen, etc. 
2. You must do this in 25 panels or more.
3. Your work should be presented professionally
4. Storyboards are due at the beginning of class on 10/1. You may not work on them during class.

Inanimate Character Creation

Assignment Due: September 17th

Character creation is essential to animation. The majority of animation revolves around humans or animals. However, inanimate objects must be animated as well, and can be given human attributes. With Pixar's lamp as inspiration, your assignment is to create a character from an already existing object. You may hand draw this character or create it on the computer, it's up to you. Here is the criteria for creating your character:

1. The object should not have human characteristics (a teddy bear is a bad choice).
2. The object should fit in your hand.
3. The object should have some defining characteristics.
4. The object should be something you own, or can obtain. We will use this object throughout the semester.

Students will create a model sheet for their character. The completed model sheet should show a wide variety of angles and expressions. Some things to consider when drawing the model sheet:

--feelings (how can your character show emotion?)
--different angles/actions (how does your character look from above? sleeping? running?)
--exaggeration (remember, it doesn't need to be realistic, it needs to be interesting)
--accuracy (the character should be easy to recognize as what it is)
--name (what do you call it?)

This character you create will be used in various projects throughout the semester, so be sure to create something that you want to work with the whole time. The model sheet should look professional, as if you were giving it to a major company for their approval.

******You may NOT change your character after critique.********

Syllabus

Understanding Animation

Jess Hinshaw

Fall Semester

Tuesday

www.understanding-animation-hinshaw.blogspot.com

Course Objective:  This course will look at the separate components of animation, and what it takes to create a successful finished piece. The class will evaluate a variety of methods, but lean heavily on hand drawn animation. By the end of the class, students will have a firm grasp of vocabulary and tools that aids in explaining animation, as well as a diverse knowledge of animators and their works.

Class Plan: Each class will be different. We will have lecture, we will watch films, view examples of what to do and what not to do. We will do some tests to create animation in an attempt to better understand the difficulties a seemingly easy medium can present. I plan for this class to be fun and interesting, but this greatly depends on you giving your attention. The class will be conducted only in English—and that means that it might be more challenging for you to listen to lectures and instruction.

Evaluation:  Students will be evaluated by the following criteria:

1)   Attendance:                              25%

2)   Presentation                              25%

3)   Test                                           25%

4)   Projects                                     25%        

Here is a breakdown of the grades:

1.    PROJECTS – there will be a few small projects. The are as follows:
MODEL SHEET, STORYBOARDS, FLIP BOOK, STAGING, STOP MOTION

Late work will be penalized. 

1 week late - A=B, B=C, C=D

2 weeks late - A=C, B=D, C=F

3 weeks late - A=F

2.    PRESENTATION - Each student will give a 3 minute presentation for their midterm. You will choose an animation artist/piece and present it to the class.

3.    ATTENDANCE – You cannot learn if you are not in class. This semester has 16 classes.  You are allowed 1 excused absence that will not hurt your grade.  If you miss 4 classes you will fail the class.

4.    TEST - There will be one test at the end of the semester, reviewing vocabulary and films that we’ve watched throughout the semester.

CALENDAR

Week 1) Syllabus overview, film: Bill Plympton – Push Comes To Shove, William Kentridge – Pain and Sympathy

Week 2) Origins of animation, Functions of Animation, Brief History of…

            Film: Fantasia-------Homework: Inanimate character creation

Week 3) Character development/story/stopwatch - Critique of Character creation, revision.

Week 4) Storyboards, comic books, Psycho storyboard comparison: In class Storyboard creation for flipbooks

Week 5)Timing, FPS, spacing, film: Peter Chung – Aeon Flux: Leisure, War, Ben Hibbon - Code Hunters, Yoshiaki Kawajiri - The Running Man, Bob Clampet - "A Tale of Two Kitties" Storyboard critique/flip book creation

Week 6) Rotoscope, film: Steve Barron: A-Ha – “Take on Me,” Beastie Boys – “Shadrach,” Richard Linklater - Scanner Darkly, Staging: Hanna Barberra – “The Flinstones”, Ren & Stimpy – “Big House Blues,” Hayao Miyazaki - Spirited Away. In class Staging.

Week 7) Transitions, Gerald Scarfe – The Wall, Van Majerdiska – Stones,

Bill Plympton – The Tune. Note taking during films. 

Week 8) Line & Motive, Anticipation, film: Chuck Jones - Road Runner & Coyote, Don Hertzfeldt – “Billy’s Balloon,” William Kentridge - Stereoscope

Week 9) Presentations - flip book critique

Week 10) Squash & Stretch, film: Shinichiro Watanabe - “Kid’s Story,” Animatrix

Week 11) Stop-Motion, film: Brothers Quay, Van Majerdiska, Adam Jones (Tool), Luke Losey: Orbital – “The Box”, Michel Gondry – White Stripes – “Fell In Love With A Girl,” Bruce Bickford – Monster Road

Week 12) Stop Motion in class exercise, bring inanimate object to class. Film: Julia’s project

Week 13) Stop Motion work day, viewing, vocabulary review

Week 14) watch short films recommended by students.

Week 15) Avante Garde, GIF Party, film: Don Hertzfeldt – “Rejected”, Salvador Dali - Destino, Dan Osborne – “Roku 2,” “Untitled” Exam review

Week 16) Test