Week Four: Monster's Inc.

We are moving the field trip to next week so we can discuss it in class first.

So for this week we'll move onto topic re: Acting in Animation. What is the importance of this aspect of the overall animation? So often we get stuck on only those areas of our art that we are directly driven to love and we don't appreciate everything that goes into the work itself. How important is the acting in the scheme of things for you as animators? How important is it to you as a watcher? How about some examples of "good" acting and how it affects you and some examples of "bad" acting? What if the story line is great and the acting is bad? What if the acting is great and the story line suck? How important are celebrity voices in feature animations?

What has this film made you thing about?

Week Three: Who Framed Roger Rabbit

A challenging mix of live action and animation. I think no one has done this as well, before, or, since. What do you think? What's your favorite line from this film? How hard or easy was this to do technologically? Why did the film noir/hard boiled detective story make such an interesting combo film like this work so well? Or does it?

Week Two: Heavy Metal

This week's theme traditional animation and music. Imagine for a moment animation without a soundtrack. What is so captivating about Heavy Metal? It's place in time, it's soundtrack, animation, combinations of all of these factors. What do you think? Why?

Week One: Tron

Made in 1982 this film is considered groundbreaking. Why?
What do you like about it? What do you dislike? What technical, social and emotional changes do we see in this film that were never seen previously? Today these themes are commonplace (and probably done much better), but what about in 1982? What fortuitous accident made an amazing and totally unexpected "special" effect?

Class Sylabus

Course Title	Graduate Theory and Criticism
Course Number	AHT 5030
Credit Hours	3 Credits
Course Length	15 weeks
Prerequisites	none
Contact Hours	3 hours per week (lecture)
Textbook	Animation and America, by Paul Wells Published by Rutgers University Press, September 2002 ISBN: 0813531608
Course Description	The course examines the diversity of processes and concepts in computer graphic art and 3D animation art in particular. Students are expected to recognize and critique artistic themes and ethical statements conveyed through computer animation works. Weekly group and individual critiques are mandatory. Through careful review and evaluation of a cutting edge, international award-winning animation collection, this course broadens students' horizons regarding the latest achievements and developments in the computer animation industry and in computer artistry itself. Case studies and company profiles of the most prominent firms guide students to a closer look at some of animation’s masterpieces, and the techniques and visions of their creators. Each student learns to analyze and evaluate an animated production for its aesthetic and technical merits. With deeper critical and empirical understanding of the important achievements undertaken thus far, students empower themselves to develop their own contributions to the animation field.
Course Objectives/ Outcomes	1. Develop professional critiquing skills 2. Gain an openness to new artistic themes and importance 3. Learn techniques from previous artists to incorporate into own animation pieces 4. Develop the students’ capacity to write clearly.
Course Topics	1. Animation Techniques 2. Animation affecting society 3. Animation Progress to the future 4. Special Effects in film
Attendance	Students should be present for every class of the semester, arriving before class begins and staying until class is dismissed. School policy states that a student who misses more than 3 classes will fail the course unless the instructor determines that there is an acceptable extenuating circumstance. In the case of absence, students are responsible for finding out what work they have missed, or in obtaining notes from a classmate. Extensions on work due are not granted for being absent for the class that they were assigned in or due in. If an absence is unavoidable, it is strongly recommended to contact the instructor before the absence and make any arrangements to turn in work early. Absenteeism can affect your grade from a participation standpoint as well as from the negative impact that it can have on your learning and work.
Tardiness	Being late to class will be recorded as a tardy, and can affect a student’s grade as it impacts participation. Tardy policy states that any student who is more than 15 minutes late will be considered absent for that class. A late student is expected to join the class with a minimum of disruption to the lesson.
Late Work	Assignments must be in on the date identified in the syllabus and at the beginning of class. Late projects will not be accepted. (Any deviation from this policy will be extremely rare and discretion of the instructor)
Statement on Academic Dishonesty	Plagiarism is the act of taking words, ideas, or artwork and the presentation of them as your own work. Plagiarism can include the assistance of another student in cheating. Plagiarism is extreme academic misconduct, which defeats your objectives in attending school. Plagiarism will not be tolerated, cheating students will fail the class and discovery may lead to immediate expulsion from the college.
Saving Work	Students are responsible for saving their work securely so that it may be turned in according to the teacher’s specifications. Students should not turn in the only copy of their work as student work becomes the property of DMAC and may not be returned to them. Computers are mechanical in nature and therefore data is always at risk for erasure, corruption, or other destructive force. The teacher or the College is in no way responsible for student work saved on the hard drives of the College. Adequate infrastructure has been provided for the students to create multiple backup disks of their work to guard against loss. Improperly saved work is not the responsibility of the teacher and extensions due to data loss should not be granted. The hard drives will be erased regularly with little or no notice to keep the machines in good working order; it is therefore critical for students to keep multiple backups of their work at all times and stages.
Explanation of Assignments	Critical Essays: Each student is required to write eight critical essays on whichever topic they choose as long as art and/or film is involved. Essays should be objective to get the student’s intelligent point across. These should be critical reviews of the topic they chose, describing the hidden themes, techniques, special effects, and/or messages in the animation/film. Appropriate essay length is a two page, single-spaced, 12pt, Times New Roman. Put your name in the header, and you must staple your paper. Students can complete these at their own pace as long as four are handed in by the midterm week and the remaining four are due by the final week of class. Final Presentation: Students are required to bring in an animation/film/video game, which inspired him or her to earn their masters degree and create their thesis. Student must describe why they chose the particular material and how it relates to their thesis. If a film, student is only required to show a specific portion so everyone has time to present. This will be added to your Class Participation grade.

			Course Outline
Week 01	Topic: Film:		Beginning of Computer Graphics and Animation Tron
Week 02	Topic: Film:		Traditional Animation, Musical Importance Fantasia 2000
Week 03	Topic: Film:		Live Action + Traditional Animation Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Week 04	Topic: Film:		Field Trip – Muvico TBA
Week 05	Topic: Film:		Acting in Animation Monsters Inc or Toy Story 2
Week 06	Topic: Film:		Visual Effects 300
Week 07	Topic: Film:		Live Action + Computer Animation Mirrormask
Week 08	Due: Topic: Film:		4 Critical Essays Motion Capture for Animation Monster House
Week 09	Topic: Film:		Anime Howl’s Moving Castle or Spirited Away
Week 10	Topic: Film:		Festivals The Animation Show Volume 1 and 2
Week 11	Topic: Film:		Special Effects to Assist Story Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Week 12	Topic: Film:		Canadian Animation Ryan, Leonard Maltin’s Animation Favorites from NFB of Canada
Week 13	Topic: Film:		Rotoscoping as Animation A Scanner Darkly
Week 14	Due: Topic:		Political Animation Jib Jab and Rejected
Week 15	Due: Topic:		Remaining 4 Critical Essays Animation Influences Presentations
Instructional Methods			Classes will consist of viewing an animation and/or film relevant to animation history and progress. Students will discuss elements of the film in depth, developing critiquing skills to understand material and to heighten their own animation pieces.
ADA			To meet the needs of our students with disabilities, Digital Media Arts College offers reasonable accommodations and access for qualified students with disabilities. Students or applicants who would like to request reasonable accommodations should contact the Office of the Dean of Academic Affairs. Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the Office of the Dean of Academic Affairs in advance of the semester of study when accommodations may be needed
Grading Legend		Critical Essays 60% Class Participation 30% Attendance 10%
Grading Scale		A=100-90%, B=89-80%, C=79-70%, D=69-60%, F=59-0%
Date of Last Review		February 2, 2007