Open Curricula Projects 2D Animation 9-Day Class
Noteworthy videos with analysis, insights, and instructions on acting, animation, arcs, arts, audio, budgets, character, character design, cinematography, classical animation, clients, commentary, communicating, composition, computer animation, craft, credits and titles, culture, design, dialogue, documentaries, editing, entertainment industry, filmmaking, how-to, industry animation, layout and design, lighting, making-of, marketing, media, music, pacing, pencil tests, performance, political influence, previsualization, rigging, screenwriting, social analysis, social media, staging, stop-motion, storyboarding, storytelling, structure, substance, subtext, technical animation, techniques, textures, video distribution, web animation, etc.
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This Open Curricula Projects 2D Animation 9-Day Class presents an introductory crash course on the fundamentals of animation, traditional animation on paper (cels), traditional animation on computers, design-in-motion and design-over-time, compositing, editing, etc. A particular focus will be on pragmatically preparing students for production and the job placements that may follow the 9-day class. Therefore less emphasis will be on the theory, homework, and practice exercises necessary to build stronger skills.
Brief overview: Windsor Media Centre Animation Classes
Schedule
The Windsor Media Centre's first 2D animation classes start in September, 2023.
- 9 days over 3 weeks:
- Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays
- 4,5,6 | 11,12,13 | 18,19,20 of September, 2023.
- Class size of ONLY 10-15 students.
Hours
- 3.5 hours morning (9am - 12:30pm)
- 0.5 hour lunch (12:30pm - 1pm) ???
- 3.5 hours afternoon (1pm - 4:30pm)
- after class hours ???
- off-class days ???
Portfolio
Not a requirement, but it might be good if students could bring in examples of their illustration abilities and/or brief clips of video work. Not to worry if you have none to show or aren't prepared.
2D Animation - Day 1/9
Introduction to traditional 2D animation on paper, day 1 of 3.
1A/9 9:00-12:30 Morning
1A/9 09:00-10:00 Introductions.
- Brief teacher overview.
- Student introductions, portfolios, experience, ambitions, goals, objectives.
- Teacher gauges the general class levels.
- Run down the overview of what has been prepared for the class to be presented.
Flexibility of options.
- Student may get out of the class what they wish to get.
- Students may be as passive or as active as they wish.
- Students may absorb the fundamentals class as prepared and presented.
- Students may take a vote to set aside portions of little interest to focus on other elements.
- Students may generally ignore the lessons to work on their own personal project for their demo reel, and ask for assistance when the teacher has a moment.
- Students may prefer to work on a collaborative class production.
As a flexible creative teacher, I will not only be ready to spontaneously adapt to other scenarios, I have several great creative concepts worthy of being fleshed out by the class, should they wish to explore my options. With luck and time available I may even outline these options on the side - just in case.
For clarity and simplicity, the remainder of this 9-day class outline will be traditionally prepared to be presented, without tangential "options".
1A/9 10:00-11:00 General animation production
Like any other industry, animation is a business.
- Animation business
- Animation producers
- Animation resources
- Grant writing
- Publishing and distribution
- Screenwriting
- Wikipedia: Art pipeline
- Like any other production, a good pipeline is necessary.
- Wikipedia: Project management triangle, aka The law of two thirds: quality, speed, or price.
What is (the magic of) animation?
- Wikipedia: Persistence of vision
- Wikipedia: Filmmaking
- Wikipedia: Animation
- Wikipedia: Art pipeline
Just because you can do anything with the magic of video, it doesn't mean you should.
A professional animator and/or filmmaker's craft must be commercially viable.
P.I.C.T.U.R.E.
- Physics - must be obeyed, even cartoon physics, including audio, lighting, special effects, etc.
- Intention - and purpose must apply to everything, all scripts, words, actions, motives, characters, props, sets, focus, tones.
- Clarity - is paramount.
- Timing - is critical.
- Utilize limitations - embrace them to develop into your stylization.
- Respect the audience, their attention/focus, intelligence, time, etc.
- Emotions in all things, animate or not.
Worth mentioning: WP: Chekhov's gun
1A/9 11:00-12:00 Filmmaking
Like any other motion picture, animation follows the Fundamentals of filmmaking.
- Wikipedia: Filmmaking
- REFINE THIS SECTION
- Art department
- Wikipedia: Art pipeline
- Characters
- Character arcs
- Character dynamics
- Editing
- Genres
- Layout and design
- Originality
- Pacing
- Performance
- Plot arcs
- Production design
- Reference
- Screenwriting
- Staging
- Stereotypes
- Storytelling
- Subtext
- Themes
- Tones
- Visual language
1A/9 12:00-12:30 Drawing circles
Introduction to the desk, paper, pencils, etc.
21 Foundations of Animation (9:41)
01 Appeal
02 Strong Design
03 Staging
04 Acting & Pantomime
05 Keys & Breakdowns
06 Straight Ahead & Pose to Pose
07 Thumbnails
08 Timing, Spacing & Easing
09 Squash & Stretch
10 Arcs
11 Primary & Secondary Action
12 Silhouette
13 Line of Action & Reversals
14 Anticipation, Overshoot & Settle
15 Opposing Action
16 Counterpose
17 Leading Action
18 Breaking Joints
19 Overlap & Follow Through
20 Accents
21 Exaggeration
clearly presented by Angry ANIMATOR, 2019-01-15.
1B/9 1:00-4:30 Afternoon
1B/9 01:00-02:00 Fundamentals of classical animation
Twelve basic principles of animation were introduced by the Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their 1981 book Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life.
- 01 Squash and stretch
- 02 Anticipation
- 03 Staging
- 04 Straight ahead action and pose to pose
- Straight ahead animation
- Pose to pose animation
- Key frame
- Inbetweening
- + Pushing through or bounce back.
- 05 Follow through and overlapping action
- + Successive breaking of joints.
- + Whip.
- 06 Slow in and slow out
- 07 Arc
- 08 Secondary action
- 09 Timing
- 10 Exaggeration
- 11 Solid drawing
- + Physics.
- 12 Appeal.
Clearly presented and superior to the 12 principles, on YouTube: 21 Foundations of Animation (9:41) ~ Angry ANIMATOR, 2019-01-15.
- 01 Appeal
- 02 Strong Design
- 03 Staging
- 04 Acting & Pantomime
- 05 Keys & Breakdowns
- 06 Straight Ahead & Pose to Pose
- 07 Thumbnails
- 08 Timing, Spacing & Easing
- 09 Squash & Stretch
- 10 Arcs
- 11 Primary & Secondary Action
- 12 Silhouette
- 13 Line of Action & Reversals
- 14 Anticipation, Overshoot & Settle
- 15 Opposing Action
- 16 Counterpose
- 17 Leading Action
- 18 Breaking Joints
- 19 Overlap & Follow Through
- 20 Accents
- 21 Exaggeration
1B/9 02:00-03:00 Arcs, Keys, Tweens
1B/9 03:00-04:00 Bouncing balls
Homework assignment: animate bouncing balls ???
1B/9 04:00-04:30 [[]]
Review the 21 Foundations of Animation (9:41) ~ Angry ANIMATOR, 2019-01-15.
- Find examples of bad animations on YouTube.
Then play bad animations to quiz class on what's (obviously) wrong, according to the 21 foundations of animation.
2D Animation - Day 2/9
Introduction to traditional 2D animation on paper, day 2 of 3.
2A/9 9:00-12:30 Morning
2A/9 09:00-10:00
- Drawing grain-sack emotions
- Animating grain-sacks
- Pencil tests
2A/9 10:00-11:00
2A/9 11:00-12:00
2A/9 12:00-12:30
- Figure drawing
- Walk cycles
- Side
- Front
- Three-quarters
- Sneak
- Storyboarding
- Baseball pitch
- Baseball swing
- Animatic / boardomatic
- Whip
- WP: Phonemes and visemes
- WP: Viseme
- Facial expressions
- Meow
- Lip sync
- Click tracks
- Dope sheets
- Layout and design
2B/9 1:00-4:30 Afternoon
- 01:00-02:00
- 02:00-03:00
- 03:00-04:00
- 04:00-04:30
2D Animation - Day 3/9
Introduction to traditional 2D animation on paper, day 3 of 3.
3A/9 9:00-12:30 Morning
- 09:00-10:00
- 10:00-11:00
- 11:00-12:00
- 12:00-12:30
3B/9 1:00-4:30 Afternoon
- 01:00-02:00
- 02:00-03:00
- 03:00-04:00
- 04:00-04:30
- Character design
- Illustration
- Storyboards
- Layout
- Backgrounds
- Animatics
- Key animation
- Inbetweening
- Pencil tests
- Scanning
- Inking
- Painting
Long Weekend 1
4 days.
2D Animation - Day 4/9
Introduction to 2D animation on computers, day 1 of 3.
4A/9 - 9:00-12:30 Morning
09:00-10:00 Brief overview of Animation research - history, techniques, and styles
10:00-11:00 Brief overview on Visual language for animation
11:00-12:00 Brief overview on Computer basics
- Fundamentals
- GUI
- Interface
- File management
- File formats
Introduction to
- Photoshop
- GIMP
12:00-12:30
Brief overview on how to
- Layers
- Onionskin
- GIF animation
4B/9 1:00-4:30 Afternoon
01:00-02:00
02:00-03:00
03:00-04:00
04:00-04:30
2D Animation - Day 5/9
Introduction to 2D animation on computers, day 2 of 3.
5A/9 9:00-12:30 Morning
09:00-10:00
10:00-11:00
11:00-12:00
12:00-12:30
5B/9 - 1:00-4:30 Afternoon
01:00-02:00
02:00-03:00
03:00-04:00
04:00-04:30
2D Animation - Day 6/9
Introduction to 2D animation on computers, day 3 of 3.
6A/9 9:00-12:30 Morning
09:00-10:00
10:00-11:00
11:00-12:00
12:00-12:30
6B/9 - 1:00-4:30 Afternoon
01:00-02:00
02:00-03:00
03:00-04:00
04:00-04:30
Long Weekend 2
4 days.
2D Animation - Day 7/9
Introduction to 2D post production on computers, day 1 of 3.
7A/9 9:00-12:30 Morning
09:00-10:00 Brief overview of Audio production
- Audio engineering
- Audio performances
- Sound editing
- Sound effects
- Sound engineering
- Sound foley
- Sound recording
10:00-11:00 Brief overview of Computer animation production
- Brief Introduction to computer animation
- Fundamentals of computer animation
- 3D animation production is incrementally built in stages, often compartmentalized into CGI departments
- Storyboards
- Modelling
- Rigging
- Staging
- Previsualization
- Animation
- Dynamic simulations
- Textures
- Lighting
- Rendering
- Post production (see below)
- See also, Wikipedia: Art pipeline
11:00-12:00 Brief overview of Post production
- Colour timing
- Compositing
- Compositing 2D
- Compositing 3D
- Editing
- Graphic design
- Video editing
- Visual effects
12:00-12:30
7B/9 1:00-4:30 Afternoon
01:00-02:00
02:00-03:00
03:00-04:00
04:00-04:30
2D Animation - Day 8/9
Introduction to 2D post production on computers, day 2 of 3.
8A/9 9:00-12:30 Morning
09:00-10:00
10:00-11:00
11:00-12:00
12:00-12:30
8B/9 1:00-4:30 Afternoon
01:00-02:00
02:00-03:00
03:00-04:00
04:00-04:30
2D Animation - Day 9/9
Introduction to 2D post production on computers, day 3 of 3.
9A/9 9:00-12:30 Morning
09:00-10:00
10:00-11:00
11:00-12:00
12:00-12:30
9B/9 1:00-4:30 Afternoon
01:00-02:00
02:00-03:00
03:00-04:00
04:00-04:30
- Plan something for Saturday, October 28?
- Wikipedia: International Animation Day October 28, the International Animation Day (IAD) was an international observance proclaimed in 2002 by the ASIFA as the main global event to celebrate the art of animation.
2D Animation - End Of Crash Course
Fin.
2D Animation - Job Placement
Potential video production fields
- 2D production
- 3D production
- Character animation
- Commercials (and public service announcements)
- Documentaries
- Event videos (festivals, protests, weddings, etc.)
- Feature films
- Imagery
- Photography
- Industrial videos
- Memes
- Music videos
- Audio engineering
- Audio production
- Podcasts (audio/radio/video)
- Shorts
- Visual poetry (art films)
- Web ads
- Web design
- Web site clients
Potential placement places that may be interested
- Audio Den Studios, Windsor?
- --- Audio (WMC board member), Windsor
- Bad Boy D
- BeeVision, Toronto
- CBC
- CTV
- Digital Alchemy, Vancouver
- Free Flow With Coco
- Freedom For Journalists
- Gary White
- Gavin Michael Booth
- Giraffe Ideas
- Global
- Glossed And Profound
- Guru Animation Studio, Toronto
- PlugNPlay Productions
- Riggi Media International (Walter Riggi)
- Spin, Toronto
- The Trumpet Of Truth
- Topix, Toronto
- TVO
2D Animation - FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
2D Animation - Notes
Questions for Amanda
- Did Amanda look at my invoice?
- Did she understand it was based on the December numbers?
- Did it make sense to her?
- Class hours are 9:00am - 4:30pm.
- May teachers and students come early and stay later to use the equipment (ie. homework, projects, testing, practice, etc.), seek answers, and/or socialize?
- Is there a lunch break, and for how long?
- Classes take place Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays.
- May teachers assign homework evenings and/or over the two 4-day weekends?
- Job placements may follow the 9-day class.
- What are the criteria that must be met, and by when?
- May we start compiling lists of folks to cold call to see if they're interested?
- White board?
- How many video cameras will we have to record the classes?
- Will we have decent lighting and sound recording?
- Will someone be available to edit the footage under my supervision?
- We'd likely cut to minimize length and repetition.
- We'd likely also cut in example clips found online.
- Can we share the videos online?
- For free? (This is the best way to market the next class.)
- Plan something for Saturday, October 28?
- Wikipedia: International Animation Day October 28, the International Animation Day (IAD) was an international observance proclaimed in 2002 by the ASIFA as the main global event to celebrate the art of animation.