Film: PIXAR Animation Studios

In Film class we will finish examining Disney Animation Studios and look at Warner Brothers/Hanna Barbera, South Park Studios and PIXAR Animation Studios this week with a look at their director John Lasseter and the inner workings of the studio.  We will also review what we learned about Aardman Animations/DreamWorks Animation and Studio Ghibli before taking a quiz on Animation on Friday.

Media Arts: Animation

In media arts class this week we looked at a few different animated works which use different techniques and have made an impact such as John Lasseter's work with Pixar and Matt Groening's work with the Simpsons and Futurama.  We also looked at more independent animation work such as Loren Bouchard's work on Bob's Burgers and Home Movies and Adam Reed's work on Archer series. Tomorrow we will have a short quiz on what we learned and next week after we complete our IVC with Pakistan look in detail at a great feature length animated film Pixar's Ratatouille which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. 

Below is a clip we watched with voice actor Hank Azaria and  Conan O'Brien who was a writer and producer on The Simpsons for 2 seasons until he became host of Late Night in 1993.

Media Arts: Pixilation storyboards

Today is the final class before our spring break so the colored 6 frame storyboards for you pixilations are due today.  Everyone should film their pixilation which should be at least one minute long over the break, check out the demo I did in class on Vine above talong with the student example below to get an idea of what the expectation is.  You are free to use any media such as: cell phones, SLR's, ect. to shoot it as well as apps such as: Vine, iTimeLapse, or any others or simply take photos then edit them when you return using Adobe Premiere, iMovie, or Windows Movie Maker. 



Remember creativity and clean shots are the key here! When we return we will begin our hand drawn animations so take a look at the video below from Pixar's John Lasseter on his advice for students!

Media: Filmmaking Basics

Today in media arts class we began going over the basic film making terminology and discussing how a film or television show is made.  We'll be using much the same process in class with all of our projects including our next one, the montage project, which will help you get introduced to the equipment.  Above is one of my favorite film montage segments from the Pixar film UP which shows the relationship between the main character Carl and his wife Ellie.

Media Art: Animation

In Media Arts class we have been looking at the history of Walt Disney animation studios and PIXAR in order to prepare for our short hand drawn animation.  Friday we'll have a short quiz on the material but check out the short clip above showing the PIXAR animators discussing their student films!