Animation has applications in: Medicine Entertainment Fine Art Education Gaming industry advertising portable devices Data Visualization Technical training alone may result in immediate job placement but narrow job skills and less flexibility when technologies change Broader foundations in art provide long term knowledge applicable in many contexts

Concept Medium and Style This class provides a huge variety of animation styles, but regardless of the style, it all begins with a concept How do you get ideas? stories, fairy tales, Dreams, Fantasy, news reports, personal event, etc How do you keep them for later use? Idea box, Folder with images, Scrap books, blog links Do your research Google topics, read books, study artist, visit museums, watch films, photography What value does your work have? is it practice? Monetary? pleasure? Truly exceptional work is highly personal; It connects with the viewers in a way that many entertaining animations do not.

“What is the goal of a digital artist?” Communication, This class is about how to effectively communicate using motion and animation design. It is NOT a pre-occupation with software tools. Why not? Software tools change, new skills are always necessary. What doesn’t change are: fundamentals principles of animation motion mechanics traditional techniques.

What is the goal of our textbook (and course)? Help you discover your own unique style as an animator And how to apply those skills to games film web experimental advancement of the art form educational

What are the necessary innate skills and talents necessary to be an animator? Fascination with the way things move Keen observer of the world An actor Solving problems Patience Perseverance Pride Fascination with motion Cartoons Cameras Computers

Do you need to be able to draw to create animation? No! Why not? Because animation is communication, expression, and there is more than one way to create animation.

What is visual thinking? Its the process of working graphically Communicating with symbols Communicating with marks, Communicating with diagrams, Communicating with figures, Communicating with drawings How is that done? Strip ideas down to the key, elements, Think about what a cliché is and how to use them to communicate an idea quickly and efficiently: Example: stick figure old man with a cane vs. a stick figure blind person. Think about it. What Icons would you use. What key ingredients do you need to communicate the idea, what one thing could you add to change the meaning completely? You'd add dark Glasses.. This also applies to motion and how movement can bring forth responses.

Why are abstract drawings sometime more interesting than photorealistic illustrations? Power of the subjective mind, imagination, people can read into it, never seen it before

How is an animation different from a single image? Animation involves telling something across time. Time becomes an element to communicate something.

What other art forms use time to communicate? Music dance acting shadow puppets

What do you think it takes to be creative? Why are some more creative than others?

Screenings: These films show the wide variety of animation techniques we will explore in this class. It shows that animation can be used to communicate ideas in a diverse way. The Animation Show: by Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt Welcome to the show Mt. Head by Koji Yamamora Brother by Adam Elliot La Course a L’Abime by Georges Schwizgebel Billy’s Balloon by Don Hertzfeldt Early pencil tests and other Experiments by Mike judge Animando Animando by Marcos Magalhaes