On completion of this subject students should be able to:
- collaborate successfully with a designated team to create animated elements for a short film production
- display a practical understanding of all the different aspects of animation production for a short film, from ‘generic’ film making skills such as directing, performing, cinematography, crew work, production managing etc. to animation specific tasks which may be technical (e.g. utilising specific software or constructing armatures) or creative (e.g. demonstrating an ability to ‘perform’ an animated character through the appropriate use of timing and deformation);
- adapt to meet the demands of timetables, schedules, scripts, and data management strategies that may or may not have originated with another team of filmmakers
- carry a short animated film project through the production phase of development and ready it for post-production, to a point where a separate crew could effectively and efficiently take over the post-production phase.
This subject provides an opportunity for project-based learning at a high level. In practical sessions students are given opportunity to implement skills and production strategies that have been developed in a number of subjects already completed. In addition to the practical application of existing skills students are expected to demonstrate their acquisition of new strategies and their ability to adapt processes developed in previous semesters to fit the specific requirements of this subject. These aspects of production management form an important part of the assessment criteria for the subject.
Students are required to collaborate in teams. The size and specific make up of the teams is determined in consultation with academic staff. There is no compulsion for students to produce an entirely animated film or to work exclusively with students from the animation stream of the course. A live action production with a significant animated visual effects component may be completed with a team comprised of students from both streams of the course. The specifics of the team are negotiated with teaching staff in accordance with the requirements of the script.
Teams are expected to utilise existing pre-production materials, including scripts, storyboards, model sheets, video blocks, animated pre visualisation, concept art etc. as the basis for the production of all animation and/or VFX elements required for the film project. These existing pre-production materials may or may not have been produced by some or all of the students themselves.
All pre-production materials are studied and amended (where necessary) then implemented and adhered to as much as possible in the production phase. Students are required to display a great deal of flexibility, collaboration and cooperation to bring each short film through a successful production period. Emphasis is placed on group collaboration and teamwork, as well as the successful implementation of a pre-conceived script. Assessment of the material is based both on the quality of the work in production and on student’s ability to collaborate successfully.
This production work consists of digital files required to assemble multi layered animated shots, including; source files such as 3D model and scene files, layered photoshop images, completed backgrounds and matte paintings; character renders; shading and lighting passes for various elements. In practical sessions students are shown how tracking documentation needs to be clear and demonstrate accurately where these elements are stored and at what phase of production they are currently in. The consequences of failing to present and store this information in a form that can be accessed, understood and implemented by an independent team in the post-production phase are identified. Using case study material students examine situations where the production material has been composited, edited and finished by a different group of students who were not involved in this production phase of development. As in a genuine production environment separate crews would almost certainly work on the material, the need to clearly mark out and make the work accessible for an independent team in post-production is stressed.
While a significant amount of attention is paid in this subject to the technical requirements of the project, importance is also placed on the aesthetic aspects. Throughout the range of activities, students are encouraged to produce work that achieves a level of excellence in design and performance. In evaluative sessions students explore how the quality of the work produced is judged not on technical merits alone but also on the implementation of creative, original, effective and affective interpretations of the source material. In tutorials students discuss how it is important to work within the specified constraints of the project while still providing significant creative input.
Lectures, tutorial and practical workshops are integrated to provide students with a practical, comprehensive knowledge and experience of the production phase of animation and in some cases more general film and video production, equipping them with the experience needed to take on similar roles within the media industry.
