Syllabus
January 18 (January 20)
Discuss
Overview of class
Lo-res animation
Watch
Jim Campbell's LED animations
Blinkenlights' animated buildings
Star Wars ASCII animation by Simon Jansen
Michel Gondry video for White Stripes' Fell in Love with a Girl
Read
"Getting Ideas" through "Realm of the Impossible" in Stan Hayward's Scriptwriting for Animation
Learn
Lite Brite-style animations using Array
(Mina Kawatani's Array animation)
Create
Animate a scene using Array or Blinkenpaint
January 25
Discuss
Scriptwriting for Animation
Storyboarding (template)
Array scenes
Early animation techniques and tools
Watch
Animatics from Clerks: The Animated Series
Storyboarding process from Genndy Tartakovsky's Samurai Jack
Neighbors by Norman McLaren
Michel Gondry video for Rolling Stones' Like a Rolling Stone
Learn
Pixilation-style animation using iPhoto and iMovie
Read
Gil Alkabetz and Priit Parn about story, style and storyboards from Jayne Pilling's Animation: 2D and Beyond
"Basic Skills" from Kit Laybourne's The Animation Book
"The Vocabulary of Comics" from Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics
Create
Pixilation scene (using iPhoto and iMovie — or whatever gets the job done)
February 1 (February 3)
Discuss
Pixilation scenes
Stop motion (puppet) animation
Watch
Jiri Trnka's The Hand
Ladislas Starewicz' Cameraman's Revenge
Selection of George Pal's Puppetoons
Learn
Puppet animation using iStopMotion
Read
"Two Simple Techniques" from Creating 3D Animation: The Aardman Book of Filmmaking
Create
Puppet (stop motion) scene using iStopMotion or Anasazi for Windows (present week after next)
February 8 (February 10)
Discuss
Video compression
Other stop motion techniques
The Brothers Quay
Watch
Street of Crocodiles by the Brothers Quay
Stille Nacht IV by the Brothers Quay
Read
Brothers Quay interview from Film Quarterly
Create
Continue with stop motion scenes using iStopMotion
February 15 (February 17)
Discuss
Stop-motion scenes
Collage and animation of "found" art
Watch
Battle at Kerzhenets by Ivan Ivanov-Vano
Monty Python animations by Terry Gilliam
Opening titles from Desperate Housewives
Rather Good animations by Joel Veitch
Learn
Animation of existing artwork using Photoshop and After Effects
Read
Selection from Terry Gilliam's Animations of Mortality
Create
Get familiar with After Effects
February 22 (February 24)
Discuss
Collage and found art scenes
Sillhouette and cut paper animation
Watch
Yuri Norstein's Tale of Tales
Lotte Reiniger's silhouette animation from Price Achmed
Other selections from Lotte Reiniger
Michel Ocelot's Princes at Princesses
Opening titles from Carnivale
Angie Pickman's ITP thesis: Turtle's Escape
Learn
Cut paper-style animation using Photoshop and After Effects
3D layers in After Effects
Read
Michel Ocelot interview from Animation: 2D and Beyond
"Blue's Clues" case study from The Animation Book
Create
Cut paper and/or found art scenes using After Effects
March 8 (March 10)
Discuss
Cut paper scenes
Learn
Further After Effects techniques
Read
"Cameraless Animation" from The Animation Book
March 22 (March 24)
Discuss
Procedural (non-keyframe) animation
Watch
Pixelshox examples
Learn
Overview of PixelShox Studio
Procedural animation with Motion
Create
Abstract scenes using After Effects, Motion or PixelShox Studio
March 29 (March 31)
Discuss
Abstract scenes
Cartoon animation
Watch
Looney Tunes and Thomas Timberwolf by Chuck Jones
April 5 (April 7)
Discuss
Cartoon animation
Watch
Misc. early cartoons, including Max Fleischer and Zagreb
Misc. contemporary cartoons
Learn
Cartoon animation with Flash
Read
Selection from Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Kim and Simon Deitch
Create
Ideas and storyboards for final projects
April 12 (April 14)
Discuss
Present final project ideas and storyboards
Western vs. Eastern cartooning
Compositing and layering
Watch
Koji Morimotos Extra and Beyond from the Animatrix
Scene from FLCL
Scene from Ghost in the Shell
Gorillaz' videos
Learn
Basic compositing using Flash and After Effects
April 19 (April 21)
Discuss
Whatever you're working on
Music and sound design
Machinima
Watch
Superman: Billion Dollar Limited
Michel Gondry's Un Joyeux Noel
Tutorial
Basic sound design
Read
Simon Pummell and Lejf Marcussen about sound from Animation: 2D and Beyond
Create
Final projects
April 26 (April 28)
Present final projects