Note: Although the assigments are all due at midterm and during the last class of the session (see projects page), each student is expected to present work every class as part of the "progress reports" you see on the schedule below. These reports will be used to evaluate progress on projects, and solve both aesthetic and technical problems. Failure to continuously present work will result in a warning.

Wednesday 9/2- Class 1: Storytelling with pictures

•Introduction to the course structure:
- progress reports
- screenings
- studio work
- a few films from last semester

•How to make a storyboard
- discussion of basic cinematic language and continuity

• Working with digital cameras

READING: "Time Frames" from Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud |HTML format| |PDF format 18 megs|
SCREENING: La Jetee by Chris Marker, |link|

Wednesday 9/9 - Class 2: Sound and Image relationships

• Working in class with iPhoto, iMovie, Final Cut, any other editing software as needed for picture editing

• Sound
- Soundtrack and
- GarageBand :input/output, multiitracking , filters, editing techniques

READING: • Mary Ellen Bute, Synchromy No. 4: Escape
Oskar Fischinger

Wednesday 9/16 - Class 3: Field trip to the Whitney

945 Madison Avenue at 75th St.
Meet in the lobby at 11:00 sharp. This is the museum's opening time.

Artist Sadie Benning is known for her experimental video narratives, which she started making in the late 1980s. First shown here in the Whitney's 1993 Biennial, and again in the 2000 Biennial, Benning now presents her latest video installation Play Pause (2006) as part of the Whitney's Contemporary Series. The two-channel video departs from Benning’s earlier work, cutting together hundreds of the artist’s gouache drawings of urban landscapes, figures, and abstractions. With its fragmented split-screen perspective, durational takes of still drawings, and occasional use of color filters, Play Pause speaks to the heightening of perception that accompanies periods of loss. This is Benning’s first solo museum exhibition in New York.

Review: Animating the Everyday Sublime, The New York Times, May 1, 2009

THEN: TBA

Wednesday 9/23 - Class 4: From Storyboard to Motion

Progress Reports: show current versions of PROJECT ONE

- Introduction to Basic Animation Terminolgy
- Persistance of vision, range of animation techniques
- Inspiration: The Cafe Drawing
- Introduction to iStopMotion

- Screening: Examples of StopMotion and Pixellation

Examples:
· William Kentridge clips
· Gumby and Pokey television show
· Chicken Run
· Martha Colburn
· Quay
· White Stripes "Fell in Love with a Girl"
· Robert Breer

For Next Week: Work on character development for Project Two
Please bring in more materials for in class experimentation next week.

READING: 12 Principles of Animation / PDF

Storytelling Through Animation,Character Design,Chapter 11
http://www.animateclay.com/

 

Wednesday 9/30 - Class 5: Analyzing Motion

• Progress Reports: discuss ideas for paper or clay stopmotion

- In Class Experimentation with iStopMotion (form animation teams)
- Claymation and Cut Paper Animation

recap:

- Introduction to Basic Animation Terminolgy
- Persistance of vision, range of animation techniques
- Inspiration: The Cafe Drawing

1.Production Notes-· simple storyboards (written or illustrated), sketches of main character(s), sketches of set design, notes concerning props
2. Lighting
3. Rehearsal
4. Filming

SCREENING: Nathalie Djurberg, Karen Yasinsky, William Kentridge, Brent Green

READING: Principles of Animation

Wednesday 10/7- Class 6: Animation work session

• Progress Reports: show works in progress for StopMotion projects

- Cleaning up/ Editing work in Final Cut Pro/iMovie
- Adding sound
- Recording Voice Over
- Adding bacgkrounds/ChromaKey Feature
- Reference Movies
- Realtime recording

Screenings: Michel Gondry videos
READING: Storytelling Through Animation, Art Direction,Chapter 5

Wednesday 10/21- Class 7: From StopMotion to Digital Motion

• Progress Reports: MIDTERM CLASS.... please present two projects!

-Introduction to Motion 3
- Interface Overview
- Working with keyframes
-Vector based paints

- Historical antecedents:
Screening: Harry Smith animations (Harry Smith's early abstractions)
The World of Oskar Fischinger [videorecording] : pioneer of abstract and advertising animation
Len Lye
The Whitneys, Lapis, Yantra

READING: Motion Tutorial Files

Wednesday 10/28 - Class 8: More editing with Motion

• Progress Reports: show works in progress for Motion projects, anything else

-More work with Motion 3
- Behaviors in Motion 3
- Filters and effects

Screening: Vasulka's Art of Memory

Monday 11/4 Class 9: Mattes

• Progress Reports: show works in progress for Motion projects, anything else

-More work with Motion 3
- Creating Matte Effects, traveling mattes
- Syncing events to sound

Screening: Tin Kin Hung

 

Wednesday 11/11 - Class 10: Drawing with Flash// Working with Text in Flash

• Progress Reports: show works in progress for Motion projects, anything else

Beginning with Flash- Creating simple graphics

-Drawing a box
-Coloring fills and strokes
-Merging and stacking shapes
-Creating reusable graphics
-Customizing movie properties
- Aligning objects on the stage

-Text types
- Using fonts
- Loading and styling text
- Flashtype

Screening: Marina Zurkow, Y0UNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES
· White Stripes "Walking with A Ghost"

Wednesday 11/18 - Class 11: Class 10:First Animations in Flash

• Progress Reports: show works in progress for Flash projects, anything else

Layers and the timeline

- Classic Tweening, Shape Tweening, Motion Tweening
- Keyframes and tweening
- Staggering animation
-Alpha effects
- Motion effects

- Frame by Frame Animations

- Publishing a movie

Wednesday 11/25 - Class 12:Added Flash Features

- Inverse Kinematics

- Sound and Video

Wednesday 12/2 - Class 13: Flash Review

- Individual help with everything we've covered.

Wednesday 12/9 - Class 14: Last Class

- Final Projects Due