homework
Please note:
Homework is for fun and will not affect the outcome of the student’s participation. The homework is a suggested activity, which will be used to strengthen the student’s understanding of animation and to build upon the core skills essential for successful animation projects. None of the optional homework assignments should take longer than 15 minutes, and it is our wish that parents would also enjoy getting involved in the work.
Students are required to provide notebooks and/or sketchpads for the following activities.
It is recommended that students have some access to the Internet at home.
Week 1: Find at least three examples of animation at home, on television or in the theater. Animation can be found in children’s programming, in commercials or even in educational programs found on the Discovery or Science channels.
Write down the title (or product) of the animation and explain what form of animation it is.
Week 2: Online research - Research the following people; Willis O’Brien, George Pal and Ray Harryhausen. List two films for each animator, and then choose one creature from any one of the six films you have found. Draw that creature! The drawing can be very simple, and you may use color or black and white.
Week 3: Find an example of stop-motion animation on television or in the theater. Describe the characters in the show or film. How do you think the characters were built? What materials were used?
Week 4: Design a stop-motion character from the following requirements: The character is NOT a human - the character can be male or female, but must look very young. Bright colors are needed on this character, as well as large, expressive eyes.
Things to think about: How thick should the legs be (for support)? How easy will it be to animate my character?
Week 5: Create a simple storyboard (no more than 8 panels) to describe the following scene:
A character sees some money on the ground and tries to pick it up, but the wind blows the money away.
Week 7: Online research - Research the following people; Henry Selick, Nick Park and Phil Tippet. List three films, one from each animator. If you have seen any of the films, write a short (oneparagraph) critique of one of the films - what did you think of it? Why? If you have not seen any of the films, find an image from one of the films and write a short paragraph describing the scene or character.
Week 8: Using a grid (ten by ten squares), design three ‘pixel’ images that show a character changing from sad to happy.
Week 9: Look again (online or in print) at the style of Nick Park and his creations for the Wallace and Gromit films. Now, design a puppet of yourself! Design it in the style of Nick Park - look carefully at body shape, eyes and mouth. Use color.
Week 10: Self-assessment and reflection. Two paragraphs. Write one brief paragraph about what you have learned during this animation course. Then, if you wish to continue making animated films, write a short description of the film you would like to make - feel free to include illustrations!
Please note: This last homework will be submitted for review and will be returned along with acompletion certificate and DVD.
*For written assignments, hand-written or typed paragraphs are acceptable.
Homework may be duplicated and used as reference for future use by Pixel Art Studio.
