MART 390 Animation

Instructor:                    Kurt Paulsen            Office HH 231    507-344-7732   kpaulsen@blc.edu

Texts:                                      None. Handouts and reference materials will be provided. Recommended: A membership at Lynda.com for at least one month. ($25 month)

Overview:               In MART390, students will study the various techniques of narrative animation. Learning will be focused on two areas, production and criticism. The production will take the form of various short animation projects. Criticism will occur through viewing significant works from the long history of animation and gauging their emotional and cognitive effectiveness.

Materials:            It will be helpful to have your own camera of some kind.

Learning Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this class, students will be able to…

a.     Employ the technology necessary to create moving images.

b.     Identify the different techniques of animation and their historic significance.

c.      Tell a short story without verbal language.

d.     Work in various media simultaneously to create a single, polished video.

e.     Articulate their own artistic goals within the scope of animation.

Course procedures

Class time will be divided between viewings, discussion, and production technique instruction. Readings will be assigned to support the viewings and technique processes.

Basis for Grades:

·      Papers/Process Books  (30%)

·      Studio projects, demonstrations, productions, and reports (70%)

·      Attendance and participation are grading factors

Assignment Overview:

·      Stop motion basics – Learn Dragon software (Learning objective “a”)

·      Digital Cutout/Collage animation (Learning objective “a”)

·      Midterm Research Paper (Learning objective “b”)

·      Create a :30-2:00 short . All projects must be polished in After Effects even if they were physical. (Learning objectives “c, and d”)

·      Final artist statement and oral presentation. (Learning objective “e”)