Course# DM225: 2D Animation 1
Location: Mac Lab 4
Instructor: Michael Shaw
Time: Tuesday and Thursday 4:20 – 6:55
Office Hours: 1 Hour After
Classes, Tuesday – Thursday: 7:00 – 8:00; and/or by appointment: 3:30 – 4:00
Monday, 3:00 – 4:00 Tuesday-Thursday.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Welcome to DM 225! This class is an intermediate course
in animation production. Each week we will focus on a different part of the
production process and build towards creating a polished web portfolio and a
short animated film of exceptional quality. The class is geared to refine your
current animation abilities while enhancing the traditional drawing and
technical software skills you already have. This is done through emphasizing the
more nuanced parts of animation production: Design and Layout. We will spend time researching
different artists and jobs in the industry to have a firm understanding of best
practices in a professional animation studio setting.
Methods of Study – The Flow of Class is as Follows:
Class Readings:
Each topic we cover in class will have an
accompanied reading or video that provides more information and instructions on
the current study. These readings are
meant to give you means to practice in-class content on your own!
Interactive Demonstrations:
The best way to learn how to animate is to
practice hard, and see how others animate!
This semester will have many interactive demonstrations on making
quality animated works. Each
demonstration will be on an individual topic that you will be able to integrate
into your current animation skill-set! Some of these demonstrations will be on
individual concepts (like animating water) which will make it much easier to
navigate unseen hurdles during the film production process!
Projects:
Each week, you will be given an assignment to
accomplish that will investigate the possibilities of story and visual
development of an animated film. The purpose of these assignments is to prove
that the process of making a film is not magic, but a series of calculated
steps that help you hone in and further develop your creativity. You will be able to combine each assignment
into a professional portfolio by semester’s end, and have all the tools needed
to begin applying for internships, and exploring new content that piques your
interests!
I. Animation
Exercises and Practice: Flexibility, Weight Distribution,
Performances, Volumetric Animation Effects, and more!
II. Conceptual development and preproduction: Visual Storytelling Research, Layout,
Environment Design, Character Design, Story Design
III. Pitch Season: Pitching your short film in a
class jury to be green-lit to production.
IV. Production: Producing an animated film as a
team, gaining experience in the different job duties of an animation artist.
V. Post-Production/Compositing: Utilizing
school facilities and technologies to complete and refine your animated film.
VI. Career
research: (Interspersed throughout the semester
in every assignment.) This includes internship research, your value as an
animation artist, creating portfolio content, demo reels, submitting to film
festivals, and more!
DEPARTMENTAL OUTCOMES:
Students will demonstrate
the capability to organize and present concepts verbally.
Students will demonstrate
the capability to organize and present concepts audibly.
Students will produce
evidence of an understanding of the methods of audio production.
Students will be able to
coherently communicate the content their audio productions.
Students will demonstrate
the time management skills necessary to complete the entire sound creation
process.
Students will demonstrate
the capability to effectively publish their audio production via the web, and
integrate it into their current body of work.
PROFESSIONAL OUTCOMES:
Students will demonstrate
the ability to write an artist statement.
Students will demonstrate
the ability to document their work.
Students will demonstrate
basic computer/software literacy applicable to their field.
Students will demonstrate
the ability to give a public presentation about their work.
Students will demonstrate
the ability to research to stay current in their field.
Students will demonstrate
basic knowledge of communication etiquette in their field.
Students
will demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively.
-------Assignments
and Requirements ------
You are
required to attend class everyday, on time. We will start class @ 4:20
every day, unless otherwise noted. As with the Student Handbook, students
who misses 6 days of class will fail the course. This will be strictly
enforced. Prior to this event, any student that must miss a day needs to notify
me ahead of time, long before the start of class. Anyone who wonders into
class at least 30 minutes after class begins will be considered absent for the
rest of the day. 4 absences result in a loss of one letter grade. Three tardies
equate to one absence. If you miss, you must catch up on assignments via
consulting other students first, and myself via email. I reserve the right to
notify students ahead of time for any day that MUST NOT BE MISSED due to course
content be it finals, assessments, midterms, or other coursework.
----Turning in
Assignments -----
Each Assignment will be due on a scheduled date, given at the
beginning of the assignment. Often, this will be the day before the
class, to give students time to listen to, and review other students’
work. Part of your grade will be your review of the creations of your
peers. We will remain objective throughout, even when we are delving into
content that goes beyond our personal taste. When it comes to late
assignments, assignments will drop a letter grade each day they are late. After
3 days, I will not accept your assignment.
Supplies: (you will be required to keep a blog for this class!)
1)
1 ream of 10f Ingram Bond
Animation Paper and 1 plastic peg bar (for those of you who elect to work traditionally)
Additional paper can be purchased for $35.00
2)
Folder and Notebook for
taking notes. You are required to keep track of your notes. You will also be
required to turn in your sketches for review from time to time, so be sure to
keep your sketchbook on hand during class!
3)
$100 Deposit to check out
audio equipment. (optional) Upon completion of the class, or the major, you will
receive this deposit back. This single deposit can count for multiple classes
within the department.
4)
External Hard Drive: Can purchase online and
use with other classes. If you already have it, great! If not, it’s an
investment that can last you long beyond your undergraduate career. The Computers primarily use USB 3.0
connections. The hard drives listed below are examples, compatible with mac and
PC, but require formatting to go cross-platform.
Western
Digital Brands:
6) TEXTBOOKS:
The Animator's Survival Kit,
Expanded Edition: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer,
Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators - Richard Williams ($25.00)
7)
Pencils, tablets, erasers, etc!
For those that draw traditionally, it may help to obtain a pack of
non-photo blue and blue pencils for sketching characters and drawings!
GRADING:
Each assignment will be awarded a grade based on the following
rubric. Plus(+) and minus(-) will denote more or less intricate mastery of
objectives. Students will be allowed to turn in higher-quality versions
of their projects midterm for a higher grade.
Group assignments will be graded on individual achievement, and
group achievement. Both grades count 50% of any group assignment.
A - Excellent. Assignment objectives are completed above and beyond the
course requirements to great effort and great success. Technical and
conceptual skills are on display in a masterfully coherent manner with clean
craftsmanship.
B - Proficient. The assignment completed
demonstrates most mastery of the skills presented, and objectives are completed
beyond course goals. Much effort, and a clear and concise direction shines
through the final result. There are still a few issues that can be pushed
further.
C - Competent. The assignment completed
demonstrates relative mastery of the skills presented, and objectives are
completed to average sufficiency. Assignments are successful, and
craftsmanship and technical skills are on display -- All are completed at an
average level.
D - Deficient. The assignments completed are missing demonstrations of the
skills presented, and/or required objectives have yet to be completed. There
are conceptual and technical flaws and hurdles that have not been overcome.
F - Failure. The majority of the project
is either not completed, and/or objectives for assignment are not met.
Final Grades will be based on a comprehensive average of all of
your projects, as well as midterm and final milestones for blog upkeep.
*Your blog upkeep factors into your grades for each major
assignment handled out of class.*
Assignments are due at 4:20 P.M. on their scheduled dates unless
otherwise noted. Loss of data, files, or other associated items needed for any
assignment or project will require that you recreate your work, with no
exceptions. I can not grade what does not exist! You are solely responsible for the security
of your files. Your files are not 100% secure on the server or computer. You
should have multiple copies on multiple sources at all times. No files are safe
unless backed up to 3 locations. (Example: Personal hard drive or flash drive,
school network, personal computer, or web service. Note: you can store
work on dropbox. We will discuss cloud storage.)
Copyright
LEARNING ACCOMMODATIONS:
In compliance with MCA policy and equal access laws, I
am available to discuss appropriate academic accommodations that you may
require as a student with a disability. Request for academic accommodations
need to be made during the first week of the semester, except for unusual
circumstances, so arrangements can be made.
HEALTH and SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
As more and more work, education and recreation involves
computers, everyone needs to be aware of the hazard of Repetitive Strain Injury
to the hands and arms resulting from the use of computer keyboards and
mice. This can be a serious and very painful condition that is far easier
to prevent that cure once contracted, and can occur even in young physically
fit individuals. Paul Marxhausen - visit his site below.
http://eeshop.unl.edu/rsi.html
http://www.mydailyyoga.com/yoga/rsi.html
DEPARTMENT AND LAB POLICIES:
Immediately submit an online
tech request to report any
problems with a lab computer or printer.
Main MCA computing info site = mca.edu/labs --
go here for answers to frequently asked questions and online tutorials for MCA
specific technologies.
No Food or Drinks in Lab.
Keep the Lab Clean. Dispose of all trash -- Paper scraps, old
media etc.
Leave your workstation in an orderly fashion. All materials left
on the desktop will be deleted. Organize files within the documents folder on
your account. Delete your trash from your desktop and trash bin.
Back up work to an external source. Remember files are only safe
if they exist in 3 separate locations. MCA servers are not to be considered
secure and used only for temporary storage.
Log Out of your workstation prior to your departure. Upon your
departure, the chair should be pushed in. Your monitor, keyboard and mouse
should be placed in their proper positions.
COPYRIGHT:
You must receive copyright permission for all non-public domain
media used in projects. (Music, film footage, etc.) Public domain
material can be found at http://www.publicdomain.org/ and
http://www.creativecommons.org. Visit American University's Center for
Social Media Website for detailed information regarding the difference between
rights infringement and fair use. We will discuss fair-use policies during
class.
EPA MANDATE:
Memphis College of Art students and faculty are required to follow
the standards detailed in the "EPA (Environmental
Protection Agency) Materials
Handling Protocols - September 2007"
