Discovery Arts: Telling Stories with Animation
Discovery Arts: Telling Stories with Animation
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This course explored a variety of digital and analog, time-based media with an emphasis on narrative storytelling with animation.
This course explored a variety of digital and analog, time-based media with an emphasis on narrative storytelling with animation.
In this course students investigated digital and analog forms of media such as GIF animations and text-to-image generative AI. Class activities prioritized clear narrative communication, considering the audience, pre-planning, revision, giving and receiving constructive feedback. Classroom projects were bracketed with screenings of historically significant animations from the past century. The class also visited the origins of film animation by creating a hand-drawn animation using lightboxes and camera stands. The culminating project was a stop-motion short film dramatizing a memorable, personal story.
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
How do we communicate in time based, visual media?
How does our intended audience affect our attempts at communication?
How do we use revision and an iterative, developmental proces to refine our communication and expression?
How do we navigate ever-changing technological tools to produce creative, expressive results?
Unit 1: What is Narrative Art?
Students will learn about narrative art as a specific form of art. Students will create their own narrative artwork through telling a simple story in a three-panel comic strip. Students will gain experience in the clear communication of a narrative.
Unit 2: GIF Animation
Students will gain experience telling simple stories of their own development. Students will build on existing proficiencies with digital tools for art to produce simple animations. Students will learn about the history and contexts of animation for online platforms.
Unit 3: Storytelling with Generative AI
Students will develop foundational proficiencies in AI text-to-image tools. Students will experience translating a written story into visual images necessary for further work in time-based media. Students will begin to develop proficiency in thinking critically about their creative work, iteration, and revision.
Unit 4: Hand Drawn Animation
Students will explore the fundamentals of hand drawn, frame-by-frame animation and storytelling. They will develop their skills by creating original animations that showcase their understanding of key, portable skills such as timing and staging. Students will learn about the historic evolution of animation and its impact on the broader field of visual storytelling.
Unit 5: A Story from Life in Stop Motion Animation
Students will explore the art of stop motion animation by creating a personal narrative based on real-life experiences. They will learn to design, build, and animate with physical materials and objects, applying their skills to bring their individual stories to life. Students will develop skills in visualizing, pre-planning, and refining their communication in time-based media.
Outcomes
Outcomes
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