Animation for 16 to 18 Year Olds
This beginners course is aimed at 16 - 18 year olds with little or no animation experience. It will give you an introduction to the fundamentals of hand-drawn character animation. As the discipline moves further into the digital age, a solid foundation in the core techniques for character animation remain as important as ever.
It is never too early to start. Drawing is a sure-fire way of learning the skills that you'll need in order to succeed in this field. Learning and developing the fundamental principles will help to preserve the quality of good character animation through the technological evolution.
Through a series of short exercises you'll practice and refine your animation skills. Topics will include:
- an overview of animation principles, which are largely unchanged since they were established in the 1930's
- adapting your own character drawings into animation-friendly designs
- applying three-dimensional drawing methods to design model sheets
- creating strong poses and facial expressions
- learning the fundamental techniques of squash-and-stretch, drag and overlapping action, secondary action, arcs, weight and anticipation
- exploring the dynamics of walking and running, and an introduction to the principles of timing
- getting to grips with working on a light box, rolling and flipping animation paper
- shooting your animation on a line tester
- an overview of the animated film-making process
All topics will be backed up with hand-out sheets and the viewing and analysing of animated films.
A good level of English is necessary to attend the course. You must be at least 16 and under 19 years old.
Please note: This course is for students aged 16 to 18 years old only
Shaun McGlinchey is a professional animator who has worked for Disney and Warner Brothers to name but a few, and worked on animated features, adverts, TV series, independent films. He currently teaches at, University of Westminster, Ravensbourne College of Art, UCA Farnham. He is an inspirational teacher, with a huge knowledge of film in general and animation in particular. The course has helped many artists to move into animation or to use animation in their own work.
- Please bring a USB stick for saving your work at the end of the week