Animation is simply the creation of sequential images that communicate the representation of physical actions or ideas revealed over time. These images can be hand drawn, photo collaged or computer generated, yet the fundamental basis for animated movement remains the development of traditional cell animation which matured over 60 years ago. It is through the analysis of motion and gesture that 2D animation laid the foundation for all animation techniques that followed.
This workshop leads participants through the process of creating an animation, from the initial concept development through to the final animation. The workshop begins with a discussion of approaches and goals and quickly moves towards planning, thumbnailing, storyboarding, character design, timing, staging and animating. The creation of character as an expression of the individual artist, be it a rabbit or mouse, robot or microbe, emphasizes the animator as author and actor. Students record simple audio tracks to accompany their projects, voicing their own characters to create that elusive illusion of life to which animators have aspired for generations. Using Toonboom software, this workshop also covers the animation camera, lip-synching, animation cycles, scene planning and painting, palette management and more. Participants end-up with a short finished animation in either Shockwave or QuickTime format.
Roger Scott began animating in high school where he produced several animated films with his trusted Bell and Howell 8mm movie camera and a 2x4 constructed animation stand. His sisters tell stories of their indentured servitude blowing bubbles for sound effects recording sessions. His professional life in animation began in 1974 painting on a Lifesaver commercial, and by the fall of that year he was employed as a staff animator. He worked with very early computer animation and has written software when commercially available products were lacking. In addition to animation, he has worked on special effects production for television, interactive media, and the web, computer graphics and archival printing, toy design, sculpture, mold making and casting, photography, videography, illustration, painting and design, computer programming, set design, musical composition, songwriting, script writing and directing. He has provided creative services to IBM, CBS, NBC, ABC, Columbia Pictures, Colgate Palmolive, Ementhaler Cheese, NJ Devils, Sears, RCA, Galoob, Fisher Price, Mattel, Matchbox, Hasbro, Olympus, Prentice Hall, FAO Schwartz, And Huffy Bicycles as well as many others.