ARTD 2812: BC Multimedia-Summer: Projects

PROJECT 1 / From Flipbooks to Software: DUE JUL 17
Make a physical flipbook and then make a related drawing or series of drawings in Sketchbook.
 

PROJECT 2 / Frame by Frame: DUE JULY 22
Make a frame by frame animation in Sketchbook. The animation should be 10-20 seconds long and show a development from simple to complex and then back again.

If you are short on ideas, here are a few exercises, good for any animator to try.

Level 1 Exercises

(Do not discount their simplicity! Here you have the principals of animation, which all other animation is built on. They are worth your time and effort.)

1. Ball Bouncing in place, no decay (loop)
2. Ball Bouncing across the screen
3. Brick falling from a shelf onto the ground
4. Simple character head turn
5. Character head turn with anticipation
6. Character blinking
7. Character thinking [tougher than it sounds!]
8. Flour Sack waving (loop)
9. Flour Sack jumping
10. Flour Sack falling (loop or hitting the ground)
11. Flour Sack kicking a ball

Level 2 Exercises

12. Change in Character emotion (happy to sad, sad to angry, etc.)
13. Character jumping over a gap
14. Standing up (from a chair)
15. Walk Cycle [oldie but goodie!]
16. Character on a pogo stick (loop)
17. Laughing
18. Sneezing
19. Reaching for an object on a shelf overhead
20. Quick motion smear/blur
21. Taking a deep breath [also tougher than it sounds!]
22. A tree falling
23. Character being hit by something simple (ball, brick, book)
24. Run Cycle

Level 3 Exercises

25. Close up of open hand closing into fist
26. Close up of hand picking up a small object
27. Character lifting a heavy object (with purpose!)
28. Overlapping action (puffy hair, floppy ears, tail)
29. Character painting
30. Hammering a nail
31. Stirring a soup pot and tasting from a spoon
32. Character blowing up a balloon
33. Character juggling (loop)
34. Scared character peering around a corner
35. Starting to say something but unsure of how
36. Zipping up a jacket
37. Licking and sealing an envelope
38. Standing up (from the ground)
39. Pressing an elevator button and waiting for it

Level 4 Exercises

40. Character eating a cupcake
41. Object falling into a body of water
42. Two characters playing tug-of-war
43. Character dealing a deck of cards out
44. The full process of brushing one’s teeth
45. A single piece of paper dropping through the air
46. Run across screen with change in direction
47. Opening a cupboard and removing something inside
48. Putting on a pair of pants
49. Opening the “world’s best gift” and reacting
50. Any of the above exercises using a very heavy character/object next to a very light character/object. Enhance the differences the weight change makes!

Extra Credit: Can you add a foreground, background, sound, or light source?

PROJECT 3 / Sound Collage: DUE JULY 24
*Note: This assignment will not be accepted late.
Combine the following elements in GarageBand to create a 20 second sound piece:
- the human voice (recorded with a microphone or sampled from a video source)
- an animal sound
- a special effect
- a drum beat
- any extra instrumentation

PROJECT 4 / Found Sound: DUE JUL 31
Using sound from the class collection, create a 20 second Sketchbook or Animate animation to illustrate it. You must design "characters" for the animals and human voices (but they don't have to look like the correct animal or human). You may not use your own sound.

Before you begin on your idea, you must show storyboards or animatic sketches on 7/29. 

PROJECT 5 / Stop Motion Character Study: DUE AUG 7
For this project, you will concentrate on developing a great character (person or animal). The character must talk or make sounds and must move. The character can be made from clay, cut paper, or any other physical materials. We will create the basic animation in DragonFrame. Be sure to explore aspects of the 12 Principles of Animation and be able to discuss which ones you tried. Can be a team project...
For the final piece:

1. the character must have a voice (sampled or recorded)
2. the animation must be 20 seconds minimum

PROJECT 6 / Synthetic Animated Landscape: DUE AUG 19
Using Photoshop and working from a set of images that you will create and/or find, make a landscape that transitions seamlessly between three different types of locations (e.g. ocean to forest to town, or city to ruin to desert). Then using Adobe After Effects, create an animated journey across this landscape, one that reveals additional visual narrative details. 

OR PROJECT 7 / Fine Art Adaptation DUE AUG 19
Choose a painting by a well known artist (make sure you have a good quality image of it). Then imagine it as an animated sequence (you may need to create additional backgrounds, redraw characters, introduce new ones etc). You may use any combination of techniques and software we have addressed in class including stop-motion animation, Flash/Animate, Premiere, Motion/AfterEffects, or Sketchbook. The animation should be 20-30 seconds in duration. It can be experimental or narrative.