Art 363B - COURSE OUTLINE
Art 363B Animation IIB _Course Outline
Instructor: Robert St. Pierre
Fall 2015, M/We 11:00AM–1:45PM
Office Hours: MoWe 7:30AM-8AM, Sagebrush Hall 213
Classroom AC402 Anim. Lab
Office Phone: (818) 677-6524
Email: robert.stpierre@csun.edu
1.) Week 1:
a. Lecture:
i. Course objectives/Syllabus Review/Pre-Production Anim. Pipeline/The
History & Evolution of Storytelling
ii. Story Structure & Character Arcs Defined/Story Structure (Exposition/Climax/Resolution)/ Film Clips-Exposition
b. In Class: Story Seed Development – Blue Sky (1st pass) brainstorm story ideas minimum of 10 concepts
c. Assignment:
i. Complete Story Seed development
ii. Sketchbook: Quick Sketch/Gesture drawings – 2 Pages with 10 sketches per
page/per week. REQUIREMENTS: Sketches must be observed and drawn
on location, depicting character interaction with props or people, or action
poses. Classroom figure drawings, drawings from your imagination,
drawings from television, DVD’s, etc will not be accepted.
2.) Week 2:
a. Lecture:
i. Film Structure: Acts/Sequences/Scenes
ii. Cinematic Principals: Aspect Ratios/Screen Composition/Composing with
Grids/Staging/Path of Action/Screen Direction/180 Degree Rule
iii. Research/Reference Process: Character(s),Prop(s), Environment. Printouts
(Prefer 11”x17”, but 8.5”x11” is acceptable.)
b. In class:
i. Begin Character/Prop/Environment Breakdown: Selecting one of your
ideas generated from the Story Seeds assignment, break down the elements
into single descriptive words that best articulate the properties and
characteristics of the characters, props and the environment.
ii. Begin Story Paragraph
iii. Research/Reference
c. Assignment:
i. Complete Character/Prop/Environment Breakdown
ii. Complete the Story Paragraph
iii. Finish collecting reference: Bring printouts (preferably 11”x17”) to next
and all future classes.
iv. Sketchbook: Quick Sketch/Gesture drawings – 2 Pages with 10 sketches per
page/per week. (See Sketchbook “REQUIREMENTS” from week 1)
3.) Week 3:
a. Lecture:
i. Cinematic Principals cont: Shots: Establishing/Wide/Medium/Closeup/Extreme Close-up shots/Camera Angles: Upshot/Down Shot/Dutch
Tilts/Cuts and Transitions: Hard Cut/Match Cut/Jump Cuts: Effective &
Ineffective Jump Cuts/Continuum of Motion
ii. Anatomy of an Animation Script page
b. In class: Begin writing Script (1 page minimum)
c. Assignment:
i. Cinematic Assignment: A digital camera can be used to document the
following: Shots (Establishing/Wide/Medium/Close-Up/Extreme Close-Up),
Upshot, Downshot, Dutch Tilt. Please use a digital video camera for all
other examples. Please shoot only people within environments. No still life
objects as characters such as dolls, puppets, toys etc. Please see Moodle for
complete list of requirements.
ii. Continue working on Script page
iii. Sketchbook: Quick Sketch/Gesture drawings – 2 Pages with 10 sketches per
page/per week. (See Sketchbook “REQUIREMENTS” from week 1)
4.) Week 4:
a. Lecture:
i. Anatomy of an Animation Script Page
ii. Anatomy of a Traditional Storyboard page
iii. Principals in Character Design – Designing with a shape based approach
b. In Class:
i. Continue Script writing
ii. Begin thumbnailing Character Design (Minimum of 3 different versions of
your character)
c. Assignment:
i. Complete writing Script page
ii. Continue thumbnailing Character Design (Minimum of 3 different versions
of your character)
iii. Sketchbook: Quick Sketch/Gesture drawings – 2 Pages with 10 sketches per
page/per week. (See Sketchbook “REQUIREMENTS” from week 1)
5.) Week 5:
a. Lecture:
i. Perspective Fundamentals: 1, 2 and 3 Point Perspective
ii. Drawing Plan views
iii. Approaching Background/Environment design
b. In Class:
i. Begin rough Environment thumbnail sketches (Minimum of 3 different
versions of your environment)
ii. Rough Character Design – Select one of your previous designs and rework
a tighter rough version as you head toward final line
c. Assignment:
i. Continue with roughing your final selected version of your Character
ii. Continue rough Environment thumbnail sketches (Minimum of 3 different
versions of your environment)
iii. Sketchbook: Quick Sketch/Gesture drawings – 2 Pages with 10 sketches per
page/per week. (See Sketchbook “REQUIREMENTS” from week 1)
6.) Week 6:
a. Lecture:
i. Character Design: Final clean-up/line quality
ii. Prop Design
iii. Intro to the Storyboard Pro software
b. In Class:
i. Begin Final Character Line Drawing
ii. Rough Environment Design – Select one of your thumbnail drawings from
your previous thumbnails and begin roughing in more detail in preparation
for final line drawing
c. Assignment:
i. Complete final Character Line Drawing
ii. Continue your rough Environment drawing
iii. Watch Storyboard Pro tutorials on Lynda.com
iv. Sketchbook: Quick Sketch/Gesture drawings – 2 Pages with 10 sketches per
page/per week. (See Sketchbook “REQUIREMENTS” from week 1)
7.) Week 7:
a. Lecture: Mid-Term Review
b. In Class:
i. Mid-Term Review
ii. Begin rough Prop thumbnail drawings
iii. Continue finalizing Character line drawing
iv. Continue your rough Environment design
c. Assignment:
i. Watch Storyboard Pro tutorials on Lynda.com with an emphasis on
understanding the basic tool functions
ii. Continue rough Prop thumbnail drawings
iii. Finalize Character line drawing
iv. Begin final Environment drawing
v. Sketchbook: Quick Sketch/Gesture drawings – 2 Pages with 10 sketches per
page/per week. (See Sketchbook “REQUIREMENTS” from week 1)
8.) Week 8:
a. Mid term exams: Written & Drawing exam
b. Assignment:
i. Complete Prop drawings
ii. Complete Environment drawings
iii. Watch Storyboard Pro tutorials on Lynda.com with an emphasis on using
creating new scenes and adding camera moves
iv. Sketchbook: Quick Sketch/Gesture drawings – 2 Pages with 10 sketches per
page/per week. (See Sketchbook “REQUIREMENTS” from week 1)
9.) Week 9:
a. Campus Field Trip/Collaborative Project:
i. Visit Theater and Sound recording departments (Pending schedules)
ii. Meet with student actors/voice talent. Schedule record session.
iii. Collaborative voice recording demo.
b. Assignment:
i. Record voice talent
ii. Watch Storyboard Pro tutorials on Lynda.com with an emphasis on adding
voice tracks
iii. Sketchbook: Quick Sketch/Gesture drawings – 2 Pages with 10 sketches per
page/per week. (See Sketchbook “REQUIREMENTS” from week 1)
10.) Week 10:
a. Lecture:
i. Orthographic Drawings/Character Turn-Around drawings
ii. Animation Styles: Educational/Action/Feature/Comedy
b. In Class:
i. Handout Animation Preproduction Packet for Project #1: Script/Model
Packs/Environment
ii. Begin Character Orthographic/Turn-Around drawings
iii. Begin Storyboard Project #1
c. Assignment:
i. Complete Character Orthographic/Turn-Around drawings
ii. Continue Storyboard Project #1
11.) Week 11:
a. Guest Speaker: Storyboard Revisionist (Pending availability-TBA)
b. In Class:
i. Continue Storyboard Project #1
c. Assignment:
i. Continue Storyboard Project #1
12.) Week 12:
a. Lecture: No Scheduled Lecture
b. In Class:
i. Continue Storyboard Project #1
c. Assignment:
i. Complete Storyboard Project #1
13.) Week 13:
a. Lecture: Animation Studio Field Trip (TBA-Pending Studio availability)
b. In Class: Field Trip
c. Assignment:
i. Begin Storyboard Project #2 - Personal (Final) Project
14.) Week 14:
a. Lecture: No Scheduled Lecture
b. In Class:
i. Continue Storyboard Project #2 - Personal (Final) Project
c. Assignment:
i. Continue Storyboard Project #2 - Personal (Final) Project
15.) Week 15:
a. Lecture: No Scheduled Lecture
b. In Class:
i. Continue Storyboard Project #2 - Personal (Final) Project
c. Assignment:
i. Finalize Storyboard Project #2 - Personal (Final) Project
16.) Week 16:
a. Lecture: No Scheduled Lecture
b. In Class:
i. Finalize Storyboard Project #2 - Personal (Final) Project
c. Assignment:
i. Final Projects Due
ii. Provide a DVD with all images and files of your work from throughout the
semester. Submit only JPEGS or Movie Files only. Absolutely no Photoshop
or Storyboard Pro files will be accepted.
NOTE: The scheduled lectures, assignments, fieldtrips, guest speaker’s, etc. set forth in
this outline are subject to change due to scheduling issues or the professor’s prerogative.
This outline is intended to be a general guideline charting the overall direction of this
course. This is intended to be a rough guide and is therefore subject to change or
modification at the professor’s digression.