GRA409 2D Animation

[2–2, 3 cr.]

Animators breathe life into characters and make them come alive on screen. Regardless of the medium used, the animation principles required to make characters believable are the same. With a focus on traditional, hand-drawn character animation, students learn key industry terminology and practice production procedures including how keys, breakdowns, and in-betweens, all combine to make fluid action. In interactive lectures and hands-on exercises, instructors stress basic principles as students explore squash and stretch, anticipation and settle, the wave principle, and overlapping action. Students also have the opportunity to develop skills in clean-up, the technique of producing a polished drawing from a rough animation.

- Embedded Workshop: Color Theory. Color is often an overlooked, underestimated, and misunderstood basic element of visual design. This is usually due to a number of factors: limitless possibilities, seeing color as an afterthought, and over- simplification of color schemes. The aim of this course is to break down the complexities of color theory into basic elements within the greater context of design. Instructors build upon the importance of color in design and guide students through more sophisticated approaches to color mixing in lectures, examples, discussion, and – most importantly – practical application. Outcomes include a basic understanding of colour theory and corresponding terminology, which students can use to analyze, reference, and create their own color schemes. With continued exploration of these powerful tools, they begin to create personal color “signatures” that give their work confidence and power.