2021-2022 Spring CURRENT OFFERING

Introduction to Experimental Animation

(HART 1023)



1 Credit | Can be used to fulfill Common Core Requirement (Core Elective: Arts Area)
Teaching Medium: English

Course Description

 

This introductory course aims at guiding students to explore the art of animation through producing drawing, cut-ups, roto-scoping, photographic and object animation with both digital and traditional tools. By introducing non-mainstream techniques and mediums for creating time-based imagery, students will learn both practical skills and theories of animation as a visual art form for artistic expression and communication.

Through brief lecturing, students will acquaint themselves with the history and development of experimental animation and its influences to moving image arts in general. The hands-on activities will allow students to explore freely the principles of animation starting from pencil and paper to digital software and tools.


  1. Describe what graphic design is and its role in society
  2. Identify and describe how the use of design elements and principles contribute to the visual communication of ideas
  3. Apply the basic principles of graphic design to communicate a message visually to an audience
  4. Develop self-analytical judgment by exchanging critical and supporting ideas in a peer group setting

Session 1: Introduction of graphic design
Session 2: The Discovery of Animation
Session 3: Workshop: object animation
Session 4: Inventing Techniques: Cutouts
Session 5: Absolute Animation: Mystical visions
Session 6: Workshop – Group project_2: pixilation group project
Session 7: Stop-motion animation
Session 8: Drawing animation
Session 9: Presentation of 1st cut & Tutorial on individual final projects
Session 10: Animation pipeline, post production, compositing workshop
Session 11: Final Project Presentation (25%)

  1. Russett, et al. Experimental Animation : an Illustrated Anthology. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1976.
  2. Furniss, Maureen. Art in Motion : Animation Aesthetics. John Libbey, 1998.
  3. Furniss, Maureen. The Animation Bible : a Practical Guide to the Art of Animating, from Flipbooks to Flash. Abrams, 2008.

  1. Winder and Dowlatabadi, Producing Animation. Focal Press, 2001.
  2. Williams, Richard. The Animator's Survival Kit. Faber, 2001.

DVDs

  1. Caroline Leaf: Out on a limb: handcrafted [DVD]. Montreal: National Film Board of Canada, c2010.
  2. Norman McLaren, the master’s edition [DVD]. Montreal: National Film Board of Canada, c2006.
  3. Oskar Fischinger, ten films [DVD]. S.l.: Kinetica Video Library, 2000.
  4. The Animation of Alexeieff [DVD]. Paris: Cinédoc ; Chicago, Ill. : Distributed by Facets Video, c2009.
  5. Animation World of Paul Driessen [DVD]. Films du Paradoxe
  6. The Astonishing Work of Tezuka Osamu [DVD]. Brooklyn, NY : Kino International, c2009.
  7. The exquisite short films of Kihachiro Kawamoto [DVD]. Brooklyn, NY : KimStim, Inc. : distributed exclusively by Kino, [2008]
  8. Anthology of Surreal Cinema. Vol. 1 [DVD]. Risque Cinema, 2005
  9. The Anthology of Polish Experimental Animation [DVD]. Warsaw : Polskie Wydawnictwo Audiowizualne, [2008]
  10. The Naoyuki Tsuji Animation Collection [DVD]. Chicago, IL : Facets Video, c2006.

Enrolment Details

Course Registration : 26-27 Jan 2022
Add/Drop : 04-17 Feb 2022

Instructor

ZHANG Jake

Assessment

Mid-term project 30%
Final project (5% for Proposal & 10% for the first draft) 30%
Group project_1: object animation 15%
Group project_2: pixilation animation 15%
Attendance 10%

 

Class Schedule

Monday | 10:30 – 12:20 nn
Library, E-learning Classroom A

Previous Offerings