ANIMATION PRODUCTION

Origin of animation, Definition of Animation. Cave Paintings, Initial Attempts, Story of Mickey Mouse. Disney Studios, Pixar Studios, Ghibli Studios introduction.

Animation Processes: Covers the entire process from script to screen in, process for an animation film (short or feature), Overview of the Process, Preproduction, Production, Post Production, comparison between live action film making & animation.

Preproduction: Story to Script, whether adapted or original, taking the story from a verbal or spatial medium like a book or graphic novel to a form suitable for making a film. What makes a good story?  Plot & Character: Action Plots & Mind Plots. Analysis of different types of plots, Why Animation? (Instead of live action), Animation as a story telling (narrative) medium, Animation as an artistic medium, Visual Concepts, Character Exploration & Storyboards, Animatics, Character Design & Model Sheets, Layouts & Scene Planning.

Production: Animation, Acting – Animation is not about moving, images but moving people, Traditional 2D anima. Line tests – Key frames & Timing (breakdowns & in-betweens) also brief introduction to thumb nailing (for quick exploration of alternative methods of animating a scene), Study comparisons between different rhythms of animation, Executing straight ahead and in-between planned animation, limited animation full animation, Drawing key frames, breakdowns,  in-betweens, animation cycles, Cleanups.

Post Production: Voice, Music & Effects, Understanding the dynamics of sound design and, use of sound as a key component of animation, Designing a sound track for animation including, music, dialogue, voice-over, lipsynch and FX, Recording and mixing multiple tracks, Post processing sound, Compositing & Editing, Work in Progress.

Development of a film from Animatics, edit with different scenes at different stages.

Final Mixing of Sound & Final Edit, Understanding the dynamics of camera, moves and magnifications, experimenting with camera techniques.

Visual Form: Exploring the look and feel for, animation through concept art, Planning character design, layout design, illustration, style, composition, staging, backgrounds, study of indigenous design and painting, both contemporary and traditional to understand and analyse a variety of styles and visual language.