syllabus

Lead Facilitators:
Faculty Sponsor:
Course Contact Email:
Class Days & Hours:
Class Location:
​Unit Information:
​
Victoria Ngan and Angelica Leigh Quetua
Greg Niemeyer
afa@ucbugg.com
Mondays, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
TBD
Art 198, 2 units
​
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND STRUCTURE​
  • This course is intended for students who are passionate about visual storytelling and want to learn about the animation pre-production pipeline (i.e. storyboarding, concept art, character design, etc.). Students will also be introduced to basic frame animation through exercises and homework.
  • Because this course provides a lot of useful information for animation, students are encouraged to take this course before (or concurrently with) the UCBUGG: 3D Modeling and Animation DeCal or Center of New Media 190 (CNM 190)/Computer Science 194 (CS 194).
  • Classes are split into lectures with visual demonstrations of techniques or programs, and group critique time for student assignments. Both facilitators and students participate in the group critiques.
  • By the end of this course, students will have a concept art portfolio and original animatic.
  • Homework and project submissions will be graded on effort, level of understanding of weekly content as demonstrated by the student, and timely uploading of their assignments to their online portfolio.
  • Students will be submitting their assignments weekly via their online portfolio. Each student is required to create a single online portfolio via sites such as deviantART and Tumblr to hold and showcase their work. While the instructors will be checking these portfolios weekly for timestamped submissions, the online portfolios are also to encourage each student to build an online presence as an artist.
  • If a student already has an online portfolio or website, they are free to use their existing website to display and submit their homework for the course.
  • Art is time consuming, and students are expected to invest a good portion of time (3 to 6 hours each week) outside of class completing homework.
​
REQUIREMENTS AND PREREQUISITES​
  • All students are expected to use their own graphics tablet or art supplies (see suggested art supplies list, section below). This course is not limited to only digital or new media artists. Projects can also be completed with traditional media!
  • Students may use touchscreen tablets and styluses with approval from instructor(s).
  • Students should be able to demonstrate a basic understanding of the fundamentals of illustrative art:
    • Composition and perspective
    • Form, line, and shapes
    • Values, lighting, and color theory
  • Students may not use their own existing artwork towards this class. All art should be newly created for this course.
​
SUGGESTED ART SUPPLIES​
  • Graphics tablet (for digital art)
  • Drawing pencils
  • Inking pens
  • Watercolor
  • Art markers
  • Erasers
  • Bristol Board
  • T-­squares or rulers
  • For Animation: Flipbook (post-it notes) or animation paper and pegbar
​
GRADING AND ABSENCE POLICY ​
This course can only be taken pass/no pass (P/NP). Entry codes will be provided by the instructors by the second week.​
  • Failure to submit 3 homework assignments will result in a NP grade.
  • More than 2 unexcused absences will result in a NP grade.
  • All art submitted for this class should be original; any art generated from stolen  content (using another artist’s image as one’s own), tracing over existing art, or  heavy­ referencing from another artist’s work will result in a NP grade.
  • Clear lack of effort will result in point deductions.
  • Incomplete projects will result in point deductions.
​
GRADE BREAKDOWN​
*Note: Please read the above grading and absence policy CAREFULLY
Weekly Assignments -------------------------------------------- 50%
Final Animatic ----------------------------------------------------- 25%
Participation, Attendance, and Experimentation ----------- 25%
​
​COURSE OUTLINE
WEEK
TOPICS AND AGENDA
ASSIGNMENT(S)
1
Class Introduction/Infosession & Application Release
Create Online Portfolio and Turn in Application
​2
​
How to Tell a Story & Moodboards
4 Story Splines, 3 Moodboards,
​and 2 Story Pitches
3
Character Design Part I:
Basics of Character Construction
Character Designs and Turnarounds
​for your selected story
4
Character Design Part II:
​Posing and Acting
Character Model Sheets
​and Lineup
5
Environment Design:
​Planning and Staging the Set
Environment Sketches
​and Aerial Planning
6
Mood and Color:
Intro to Color Theory and Color Scripts
5 Color Scripts and Palettes
7
Storyboarding:
​Visualizing the Story
Rough Storyboards
​from start to finish
8
Animatics:
The Art of Timed Storyboards
Animatic
​(first pass)
9
Intro to Animation:
(Focus on story + pacing)
Animatic (second pass)
​Walk Cycle
10
Character Animation:
(Focus on clarity + staging)
Animatic (third pass)
Facial Animation
11
Animatic Critique Day
(Focus on all aspects)
Implement comments from class critique and begin to flesh out movements
12
Preparing for the Future/
​Art Gallery Potluck
Finalize Animatics
RRR Week
Final Showing with
​UCBUGG: 3D Modeling and Animation
Date subject to change based on room availability