Analysis of samples of other filmmakers' works and targeted exercises will give students deeper understanding of visual storytelling. Course goals include: proficiency in planning and executing incremental motion to give life to a story; refinement of drafting skills to depict acting, posing, gestures, staging, composition, framing, and the physics, choreography and psychology of motion.

Creation of digital art as needed for animation using Adobe Photoshop and Premiere through the medium of digital photography and its application to individual expression. Requirements include an approved laptop with Photoshop & Premiere and access to a digital camera.

Students explore webbased animation techniques using Toon-Boom and other webrelated software packages.

Course content focuses on selection, processing, editing, synchronizing, and mixing dialog, music, and sound effects for animated sequences. Students will explore checkerboard A-B-C Rolls and their application to non-linear editing environments, reconciling audio file formats, maintaining synch, scrubbing, locating and transcribing phonemes and syllables, using built-in spreadsheet utilities to recreate classic animation exposure chart functionality.

Observational skills and drawing techniques to enhance technical abilities and creative responses to materials and subject matter. In-depth investigation of line, perspective, space, atmosphere, erasure, and other key components of animation in a wide range of drawing media. Weekly group critiques and sketchbook assignments are integrated.

Concept and creation of two-dimensional imagery. Practice in basic principles of design, color and visual organization in traditional, digital and lens-based media. Explores the context of imagery in the larger culture and the future of art and design.

Prerequisites:ANIM 120

A study of 3D animation principles using Autodesk's Maya. Students are required to have an approved laptop with Autodesk's Maya software.

Prerequisites:ANIM 100, ANIM 103, ANIM 115

Study of the unique opportunities and challenges found in writing for animation in a variety of formats: the short subject, half-hour program, and feature length film, with an emphasis on integrating visual elements such as sketches and storyboards into the writing process from the very beginning in order to maximize creative discovery.

Students gain the skills required to rig and animate characters in Maya. A fully planned, animated, rendered, and edited 10-second animation is required. Students are required to have an approved laptop with Autodesk Maya software, Adobe Photoshop, Premiere and After Effects.

Prerequisites:ANIM 203

Explores in-depth techniques for creating quality 2-D animation. Students create their own characters, storyboards and final animation of a short piece utilizing Toon Boom Studio software.

Prerequisites:ANIM 112

Three-dimensional phenomena in fine art and design. Cultivates the ability to think, perceive, visualize, design and build in three dimensions using traditional methods and a broad skill set of fabrication techniques.

Prerequisites:ANIM 121

Study techniques to develop professional storyboards for animation and film. Addresses styles of storyboards and their specific target audiences for utility and value.

Prerequisites:ANIM 121

Explores the roles of the various people and positions involved in the production of animation. Pitching, budgeting, and business plans are studied. Each student submits a budget and business plan for a project. Students also present a pitch for their final project.

Prerequisites:ANIM 112, ANIM 203, ANIM 213, ANIM 218

A critical look at the development of animation styles, both American and international. Students view animation and analyze the social, technological, financial, and political factors that helped shape the development of this art form from its beginnings to 1950.

A critical look at the styles of animation, both the American and international and how television, computers and the internet have affected the art form.

Designed to help students build a compelling, well-rounded artistic portfolio to best represent their work to potential clients. Students evaluate and develop presentations of their own artistic work and address deficiencies in their portfolios. Both hard-copy and digital portfolios will be covered.

Students learn graphics needed for television news, sports, promotion, and advertising. The course examines the needs of each area, issues of typography, and how to design for the Chyron Duet and other systems currently used in postproduction and live production.

Prerequisites:ANIM 112, ANIM 115, ANIM 203

The process by which digital special effects are applied to film and video productions, using advanced 3D computer-generated techniques.

Prerequisites:ANIM 314 or Permission of Instructor.

Under the supervision of the instructor, students work independently to develop a 5-minute animation project, meeting weekly to discuss their progress. Permission of advisor and instructor.

Prerequisites:ANIM 310

Required for those who plan to check out equipment for media projects. In an intensive time frame video cameras, grip/electric, sound basics, set operations, laptop proficiency, and the film cameras are studied.

Study of the way meaning is structured and perceived in the screen image of both film and video; introduction to basic narrative and screenwriting techniques. Includes viewing and analysis of narrative examples. Class includes three lecture hours and one two-hour film screening each week.

Texture mapping, lighting, cameras, dynamics, rendering techniques, and MEL are addressed.

Prerequisites:ANIM 213

Students work on the crew of a cinema-television production, animation project, or advanced degree class project within the School of Communication and the Arts. Students may work on up to three productions, obtaining one credit per production with approval of the faculty executive producer overseeing each project.

Special topics courses offered at instructor's discretion.

The independent study affords the student an opportunity for specialized research or project in the field of animation. An independent study cannot be offered for a course that is already designated and listed. Students must submit a written proposal stating the reason for and parameters of the project, as well as a comprehensive schedule for its completion within the semester format.

Prerequisites:Senior standing and permission of advisor

Culminating experience in which the student applies learned skills, demonstrating competency under the guidance of a specialist in the field.

Prerequisites:Permission of advisor and instructor.