CS 294-7, Fall 2009: The Art of Animation CS 294-7, Fall 2009: The Art of Animation

Week 1

8/26/2009 - Introduction to course. Summary of 12 principles of animation.

Week 2

8/31/2009 - Distribution of lightboxes. Screening of Chuck Jones documentary. Screening of animated shorts illustrating the 12 principles, with lecture and discussion. Shorts screened:

9/2/2009 - Flipbook exercise assigned. Continuation of screening and lecture / discussion. Shorts screened:

Week 3

9/7/2009 - Labor day holiday. No class.

9/9/2009 - Visit to the camera stand; tutorial on QuickTime Pro and various image enhancement techniques.

Week 4

9/14/2009 - Studio time or optional visit to a colloquium on the UC budget crisis.

9/16/2009 - Bouncing ball exercise assigned. Screening of a clip of Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum from Disney's Alice in Wonderland. Lecture on the animation process.

Week 5

9/21/2009 - Screening of the class flipbook. Lecture on conventional story structure. Screening of Tom & Jerry: "Puppy Tale".

9/23/2009 - Colloquium on aesthetics: "From Kant to Computation". Falling lines exercise assigned. Continuation of lecture on the animation process.

Week 6

9/28/2009 - Continuation of lecture on story structure. Introduction to visual storytelling techniques.

9/30/2009 - Guest speaker Jim Peterson to cover storyboarding. Assignment of moving squares exercise. Screening of a clip of the cards from Disney's Alice in Wonderland.

Week 7

10/5/2009 - Conclusion of lecture on visual storytelling. Critique of bouncing ball exercises.

10/7/2009 - Guest speaker Randy Nelson to cover acting and story development. Assignment of character design exercise.

Week 8

10/12/2009 - Guest speaker Anthony Wong to cover timing.

10/14/2009 - Guest speaker Jan Wurm to cover basic drawing techniques. Assignment of storyboard exercise.

Week 9

10/19/2009 - Drawing lesson given by art students.

10/21/2009 - Assignment of walk cycle exercise; screening of Tom and Jerry: "Down Beat Bear"; critiques of student work. Pixar info-session at 5:30.

Week 10

10/26/2009 - Guest speaker Alex Seiden to cover editing and shot breakdown in short films.

10/28/2009 - Pitches of student story ideas for final projects.

Week 11

11/2/2009 - Guest speaker Jim Peterson to cover cinematography.

11/4/2009 - Guest speaker Mary Coleman from Pixar to cover the Pixar story process, and give a gesture workshop.

Week 12

11/9/2009 - Guest speaker Marilyn Fabe from the film department covers early film, editing, and cinematography.

11/11/2009 - Academic holiday.

Week 13

11/16/2009 - Guest speaker Derek Thompson covers cinematography and storyboarding.

11/18/2009 - Review of student storyboards; lecture on Eadweard Muybridge.

Week 14

11/23/2009 - Screening of sample clips illustrating principles in animation, cinematography, and editing. Clips shown include:

In-class in-betweening exercise.

11/25/2009 - Class cancelled.

Week 15

11/30/2009 - Screening of "Neighbors" by Norman McLaren and Beavis & Butthead by Mike Judge. Overview of compositing videos in QuickTime. Studio-time for final projects.

12/2/2009 - Screening of "The Big Snit" by Richard Condie and "Ah, L'Amour" by Don Hertzfeldt. Review of compositing videos in QuickTime. Last-minute critiques of student work. Studio-time for final projects.