Finals Checklist!

ALL FINAL WORK MUST BE TURNED IN BY 12:00 NOON on MONDAY, DECEMBER 11!

1. Your ball bounce project (lastname_ballbounce)
2. Your shape emotion project (lastname_emotionproject)
3. Your research project (lastname_research)
4. Your walk cycle (lastname_walkcycle)
5. Your character performance animation (lastname_character performance
6. Your animatic sequence! (Character picks up rock) (lastname_animatic1)
7. Your week-long 6-7 second animation (lastname_performance2)
8. The animatic for your short film (lastname_finalanimatic)
9. And the animation for your final project! (lastname_finalanimation)

I will grade based on the following: 

• Storytelling (Can we accurately read the story taking place?)
• Craftsmanship (lineart quality?)
• Animation Timing 
• Animation Spacing
• Staging, composition, and cinematography  (Where does the action take place on screen?)

Homework for 10/2/2017!

A.
Post the current version of your walk cycle to the server. Name it "lastname_V2." If you were absent, turn in a copy of your current walk cycle by Thursday@5!  Everyone, no matter what, should have three versions of your walk cycle on the server by Monday!  (1: The pencil test from last week. 2: The pencil test from this week. 3: The second revised pencil test that you will turn in Monday.) If you have less than 3 versions on the server, be advised that I will make additional revisions!

B. 
Turn in an updated version of your walk cycle, with arms!
For full credit, add clothing onto your armature and turn it into a character! (eyes, nose, mouth as well!)  Turning in a character without clothing will only earn you a B for this project (if everything!

C.
Come up with an idea for your next project!  You will be creating a 6-8 second animation where a character does the following:

• Takes a couple steps forward.
• Interacts with an object (a prop of your choosing)
• Makes a decision based on their thinking
• Acts with respect to that decision, and gains new experience!

We will film reference for this animation on Monday, October Second!  Please pay attention to your clothing choices for this action, so you are able to get reference for your film! Come up with an idea, and draw some sketches for your character. We will make model sheets on Monday in class!

D. 
You MUST bring a prop to class!  Make sure, whatever you bring, represents the object in question! I will bring some stackable boxes so we can make makeshift sets, for those of you that may have tables, chairs, and the like.

Extra credit opportunity:
1) Use what we learned about breaking the limbs of your characters to add more personality and flexibility to the arm movements of your walk! Be advised this is optional. I would much rather you turn in an amazing walk cycle, than trying to add new techniques you will continue to learn on Monday!

As always, if you have questions, don't hesitate to contact me at mshaw@mca.edu!

Homework for Monday, Sept 11!

Congratulations! At this point you have begun developing the necessary drawing and observation skills to produce quality animated content! Up next is a short assignment we will engage in before taking our skills to the wonderful world of traditional animation!  From here on out, we will animate full-body characters. To work up the necessary practice, you will create the following!

1. Revise your shape emotion animation!
2. Produce a 6 second (144 frame) animation where you recreate the action in an animated sequence of your choice!
3. Select an animated sequence you like that displays clear, decisive character performance.  Animate this scene making note of KEY DRAWINGS ONLY!
4. Bring a copy of your video to class, and be ready to answer the following questions:

• What are the most important poses of the scene?
• Why are they the most important poses?

• Make sketches for me that shows your initial estimations of your character's timing.
• Animate ONE CHARACTER only! I'd rather see quality over quantity.
• When animating the character, do not REDRAW the copyrighted character itself. Produce an armature (skeleton), or your own character design over this character!
• Pay attention to these concepts:
• Arcs
• Line of action
• Weight and Balance
• Keeping characters ON MODEL!

IMPORTANT TIPS TO help you select your animated scene:

1. Pick a scene with one character and fantastic body language!
2. No flying animations, except for birds with flapping wings.
3. Keep your references! Pause them, cycle through them, and draw sketches of the timing and spacing of your characters!
4. Animate full-body characters! If you have an excellent character sequence and 3/4 of the character is visible on screen, this will be allowed.  However, the more of the character we see, the better your sequence will be!