Year 0 Animation Specialism - semester 2
Mac Studio, Z Block 108B for 13 weeks

Recommended links
Flash MX, Imageready, Photoshop, iMovie, Final Cut, Sound Studio, iDVD, Toast, After Effects, iStopmotion and Director...) Animation and ancient mythology research links, Dreamweaver MX

Jed Gibbs – 07970 821 877 (orange mobile)
college e-mail: jed.gibbs@southampton-city.ac.uk
outside of college hours jednet@mac.com

Friday 10th Feb 2006 - week 1:

Introduction to semester.

View 2005 animatics to establish appropriate level, discuss strengths and weaknesses of examples.

Guide percentage breakdown for semester's practical work to help you plan your time and avoid missing something important. NB this practical work is 75% of whole mark, illustrated critical study essay is the other 25%. Your actual mark is dependent on you achieving the learning outcomes detailed on your project brief.

Working through hand-out to establish research and inspiration aims for the trip to London on Feb 27th.

Introduction to using iMovie to create an animatic from still images using PAL formatting. Using Google advanced image search for research and to obtain five or more pictures to import into iPhoto image database. These are then available in iMovie for the Ken Burns effects of zooming and panning.

Creating a short iMovie presentation adding effects, transitions and titles, dialogue, music track and sound effects.

Watch and discuss documentary on the making of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Option to watch this 74 minute pinnacle of stopmotion in the context room at the end of the session.

Friday 17th Feb 2006 - week 2:

City College half term, no session but the week is to be used to devise narrative, start script and character development.

Friday 24th Feb 2006 - week 3:

Script formatting aided by Final Draft. Storyboarding to be developed in Wednesday sessions. Continue iMovie animations concentrating on more advanced titling for credits or sub-titled narration and investigating sound using iTunes and Sound Studio to edit and convert sound formats. Ub Iwerk's and Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willy (1928), the first commercially successful synchronised-sound cartoon. Using animation and music together in Disney's Fantasia (1940) and the Gorillaz done by "Tank Girl" comic creator Jamie Hewlitt (who is also Murdoc, the chain smoking bassist of the videos).

Friday 03rd Mar 2006 - week 4:

Pixel-based animation using Adobe Imageready and Photoshop. Adobe After Effects can be employed when Imageready's limited tweening support becomes a problem.

Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature Film 2002, 'Spirited Away' is one of Hayao Miyazaki's many beautiful Studio Ghibli films. He is an absolute master of timing. Extracts also from Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro & Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind.

http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/films/

Character development in 2D drawing and 3D clay or plasticene to be developed in Wednesday sessions.

Saturday 04th March 2006 at 1.00pm - 2.40pm

Oscar nominated animation shorts including Badgered and Jasper Morello at the Harbour Lights

This is not an official trip, just a great opportunity to see some good films. £4.50 students, £6.20 if you have no proof of status!

Harbour Lights Picture House is situated in Ocean Village, Southampton.
If you are driving, follow the signs for Docks from the motorway and then the brown heritage signs indicating Waterfront and Ocean Village. They have a large FREE car park.

Note: Make sure you park next to the cinema. The area adjacent to it is NOT free and is wheel-clamped savagely.

Bus routes 8, 10, 10a, 11, 11a, 16, 17 and 17a; also Uni-Link Club Zone buses 104 and 105.

Friday 10th Mar 2006 - week 5:

British Animation Awards at BBC

2D vector-drawn line art - compresses well for internet delivery (see www.angryalien.com) using Flash. Rugrats uses the similar, more specialised ToonBoom Studio. http://www.toonboom.com

Shape tweening and Motion tweening tutorials at http://www.jednet.co.uk/flash

When Fox closed their 2D animation studios they declared that the future was 3D. Odd since they have such success with Matt Groening's Simpsons and Futurama and Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy & American Dad. Add in South Park, PowerPuff Girls and Dexter's Laboratory and a host of Japanese inspired anime and 2D is clearly far from dead.

Keyframes explained with extracts from Road Runner in a documentary about Chuck Jones. Warner Brothers, MGM and Hanna Barbera's characters could all be recreated in Flash. 'From Pencils to Pixels' - Alan Yentob's history of animation from 1920 to 2003 Oscar winner 'Spirited Away' by Miyazaki, featuring commentary from John Lasseter of Pixar, Joe Dante (director of Gremlins) and Steven Speilberg. Also extracts from South Park.

Friday 17th Mar 2006 - week 6:

Climate change is an overshadowing threat. The Eden Project, supported by BT, is running a multi-media competition. £6,000 in cash prizes to be won. Tell them about the people, ideas and technologies that cut greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, build more robust societies, and protect wildlife in the face of climate change.

QuickTime, RealPlayer, or Windows Media Player format on CD, maximum 5 minutes, deadline 15th June 2006. The makers of short-listed entries will be invited to an awards ceremony at Eden to meet their jury, and will have their work shown as part of Eden's exhibits and on-line.

http://www.edenproject.com/6215.htm

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Continuing in Flash looking at importing and using sound and interactive elements in the style of www.joecartoon.com's FrogBender 2000. Importing photographic or drawn elements to create animation in the style of Monty Python's Terry Gilliam, rathergood.com's Joel Veitch or Trey Parker & Matt Stone's South Park. Adobe After Effects may be a useful alternative to Flash.

Model making in preparation for next week's stop-motion sessions.

Friday 24th Mar 2006 - week 7:

Introduction to Stop-motion animation using Boinx iStopMotion. Other stop-mo animation software.

Used from the original King Kong through the work of Ray Harryhausen to Aardman's Oscar-winning Nick Park shorts Creature Comforts and Wallace & Gromit. Richard Goleszowski's Rex the Runt. 'Pixellation' techniques filming people frame by frame in Jan Swankmayer's Another Kind of Love and Darren Walsh's Angry Kid. Tim Burton and Henry Sellicks's Nightmare before Christmas, sections of James and the Giant Peach and Corpse Bride.

Friday 31st Mar 2006 - week 8:

3D Computer Generated Imagery - CGI. From the early Pixar shorts Luxo Junior , Tin Toy and my favourite short Knick Knack through to their success with the first full-length CGI feature Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Brad Bird's The Incredibles. Square took realistic computer characters to near perfection in Final Fantasy - Spirits Within and their contribution to The Animatrix.

Use the free Mac and Windows Daz Studio to manipulate and light characters and animate them. Blender3D free open-source software to create props and environments. Poser and Bryce are commercial alternatives.

Serious productions such as The Lord of The Rings use Maya to supplement their use of miniatures for sets or to create the entire world and the characters which inhabit it in films such as Dreamwork's Shrek. Games production often uses 3D Studio Max, SoftImage or Lightwave. I recommend the cross-platform Cinema 4D for it's excellent interface, clever workflow and high quality results. 3d links

Amateur 3D CGI animators occasionally do very well by promoting their work online. 3 examples are Captain 3D's Pump Action, Victor Navone's Blit in I Will Survive, and Brian Taylor's Rustboy.

See more animation, much of it in progress at Animwatch.com.

Animwatch.com is a great site featuring amateur and pro animations Atomfilms.com includes a range of animation including Angry Kid and Ninjai

Friday 07th Apr 2006 - Easter Year 0 students not in attendance

Friday 14th Apr 2006 - Easter Year 0 students not in attendance

Friday 21st Apr 2006 - Easter Year 0 students may use facilities, attendance optional

The Science Museum in London is now hosting the

Pixar: 20 Years of Animation exhibition

The exhibition examines the work of Pixar's world-class artist team, and includes 250 drawings and paintings, 50 sculptures, and computer-generated multimedia artworks. Apple CEO Steve Jobs is also the CEO of Pixar, which he recently sold to Disney.

The exhibition offers artistic and technological insight into the studio's hugely successful movies ranging from 'Toy Story', 'A Bug's Life', 'Toy Story 2', 'Monsters Inc.', Finding Nemo', 'The Incredibles', and the forthcoming Disney presentation of the Pixar film 'Cars'.

John Lasseter‚ executive vice president‚ creative‚ Pixar Animation Studios‚ said: "Our artists work in traditional media - hand drawings‚ painting‚ sculpture as well as the computer - to create our films. In our world the computer is a tool‚ the same as a pencil or a brush. Our artists create so much beautiful art for each film that most people never get to see‚ so we are grateful that they will now have an opportunity to experience this unique collection of work."

Jon Tucker‚ head of the Science Museum said: "This exhibition will give our visitors a unique glimpse into Pixar Animation Studios‚ one of the most creative film studios in the world.

The exhibition is also exploring the history of animation in film‚ using objects from the Science Museum's collection‚ including original Victorian magic lanterns‚ zoetropes‚ cameras, and early pieces of animated film.

Accompanying the exhibition‚ the Museum is running a series of events for a range of audiences‚ from workshops for 7-14 year olds to talks with animators‚ directors‚ producers‚ Oscar winners and nominees‚ revealing the details and secrets of their work.

The exhibition ends on 10th June 2006. Admission costs £9 for adults or £7 for children and students. Education and family tickets are also available. No photography. Open daily 10.00-18.00. Book tickets

Friday 28th Apr 2006 - week 9:

Working on animatics with individual assistance

Cel-Mates series on animation competition episode 1 plus other examples of animation

Friday 05th May 2006 - week 10:

Working on animatics with individual assistance

Cel-Mates series on animation competition episode 2 plus other examples of animation

Friday 12th May 2006 - week 11:

Working on animatics with individual assistance

Introduction to iDVD to create a DVD of the animation with a suitable customised menu screen.

Friday 19th May 2006 - week 12: Hand-in deadline

Working on animatics with individual assistance.

Using iDVD to create a DVD of the animation, or transferring animation in Quicktime .mov or Flash .swf format to an external hard-drive or Web site for assessment.

Watching some of the completed animations.

Submit illustrated critical study 1500-2000 words for assessment. NB bibliography in Harvard Reference format. (link to MS Word file)

Friday 26th May 2006 - week 13:

No session - during the early part of this week storyboards and supporting images need to be mounted ready for display

Cel-Mates series on animation competition plus other examples of animation

Monday 5th June 2006 - week 13:

Put up final major project exhibition on top floor of Z Block

Saturday 10th June 2006

Last day of Pixar exhibition at Science Museum, London

Thursday 15th June 2006 - week 14:

18:30hrs - 20:00hrs Private viewing evening for final major project exhibition on top floor of Z Block

Jed Gibbs – 07970 821 877 (orange mobile)
college e-mail: jed.gibbs@southampton-city.ac.uk
outside of college hours jednet@mac.com

    www.jednet.co.uk