CP 470A & MCMA 552

Understanding : History, Theory & Technology

Mondays 9-11:50

COMM 1116

Instructor: Dr. Michele Torre email: [email protected] TA: Adam Davis ([email protected]) Ellen Charlise Rocha ([email protected]) Office: 1121L, Communications Bldg. Office hours: Dr. Torre – M 12-2pm, T 12-2pm Adam Davis – Ellen Rocha -

Required Texts: Understanding Animation by Paul Wells, New York: Routledge, 1998 Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics by Maureen Furniss, Eastleigh, UK: John Libbey Press, 2007

Course Description: This course will serve as an introduction to the , its practitioners and technological developments. Our studies will take us from pre-cinematic visual toys of the late nineteenth century to current digital animation technologies. Students will learn to pay attention to the aesthetic of the animated image and its relation to animation’s unique ability to communicate. Additionally, we will discuss some of the major theoretical constructs surrounding the study of animation. Finally, students will be encouraged to explore a variety of animation formats and techniques: , claymation, animation, CGI, and so forth .

Course Goals: This course will familiarize students with: * the theoretical approaches to the art of animation * the basic history of animation styles and technologies * the analysis of animated media and its impact on culture * rudimentary animation techniques Expectations: Students are expected to attend class sessions, participate in class discussions, and complete all assignments and projects on time. Active participation means prior reading of assigned materials and sharing of relevant thoughts and experiences both in class and on-line in your blogs. Students are encouraged to bring to class examples of visual material from a variety of sources to further class discussions. Everyone must log on to SIU Online at http://online.siu.edu (if you don’t have a SIUC network ID, you must register for one immediately.) Assignments are due as indicated on the course calendar. Late assignments will lose 10 points for each day they are late. ALL assignments MUST be turned in, regardless of how late they are. Failure to turn in an assignment will result in an F for the course. All cell phones MUST be turned off prior to entering class. Texting and IMing during class are NOT permitted. Please be considerate of your fellow classmates.

Class Assignments:

Blog Postings – Each student is required to start a blog for this class (word press or blogger.com are the easiest). Each week you will be expected to post a three-paragraph (or so) entry in your blog for that week. These entries must be posted before class each week. In addition you will be required each week to comment on two of your classmates blogs.

Animation Assignments – You will be given several assignments that will introduce you to some of basics of animation techniques. Don’t worry if you are not artistically inclined, these will be simple assignments that will provide you with some appreciation for the work involved in creating and analyzing animation.

Final Project – Each student will be required to complete a final project. You will have two options: you can either write a critical paper, 10-15 pages in length or complete a longer animation project (done individually and groups).

Class Presentations – you will each have to give a presentation on your final project. Presentations should be 10 minutes in length.

More detailed guidelines will be handed out in class. Grades:

Class Presentation 5% Blog Postings 25% Participation 10% Midterm Exam 15% Animation Assignments 15% Final Project 30% Total 100%

Attendance: ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY! Many of the shown in class come from my personal collection. The library does not own them and therefore they cannot be put on reserve. However, you are responsible adults, if you should happen to miss class; you are responsible to getting notes from fellow classmates. Missing class however, does not exempt you from completing work that was due.

Academic Misconduct: Southern Illinois University, the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts is committed to academic and professional ethics. Should any student be guilty of plagiarism, cheating, misrepresentation, or other forms of dishonesty in any assigned work, they will be subject to a failing grade, and to additional disciplinary action as may be recommended pursuant to University regulations. Academic misconduct includes the following:  Cheating, or the improper taking or giving of information, which includes copying graded homework assignments from another student, looking at another student's paper during an examination, giving your work to another student to be used or copied, giving answers to exam questions either when the exam is being given or after taking an exam, and providing a term paper or project to another student.  Plagiarism involves submitting the words, work or ideas of another and representing them as your own, without citation. SIU subscribes to the anti-plagiarism services of TurnItIn.com, where you can find out more about how to avoid missteps in your writing.  Misrepresentation includes lying or misrepresenting facts to affect your grade.

Course Calendar: Week 1 Jan 23 What is Animation? Read: Ch.1 “Thinking About Animated ” Understanding Animation by Paul Wells Ch.1 “Introduction to Animation Studies” Art in Motion by Maureen Furniss Screen: Various shorts – Thaumatrope, Praxiniscope, , Muybridge Photography Series, Norman McClaren, Brick Films, Clips from Waking Life, Sleeping Beauty, Silly Symphonies Due: Set up Blog by the end of the week, your first post is due Friday by 2pm, email Blog address to Dr. Torre and Allie by Friday @2pm

Week 2 Jan 30 Theories of Animation and Animation Aesthetics Read: Ch. 2 “Notes Towards a Theory of Animation” Understanding Animation by Paul Wells Screen: Various clips, Duck Amuck, Alexander Alexeieff, Due: Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 3 Feb 6 In the Early Days Read: “From Comic Strip and Blackboard to Screen” by Donald Crafton on Blackboard “Some Critical Perspectives on Lotte Reiniger” By William Moritz on Blackboard Screen: Mélies, Windsor McKay and His Moving Comics, Popeye, Prince Achmed, Felix the Cat, Looney Tunes, Steamboat Willie, Cameraman’s Revenge, Raoul Barré Due: Animation Assingment #1, Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 4 Feb 13 Narrative Strategies Read: Ch. 3 “Once upon a Time: Narrative Strategies” Understanding Animation by Paul Wells Screen: Various clips, Betty Boop’s Snow White, Jiri Trnka, Due: Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 5 Feb 20 Experimental Read: Ch. 13 “Considering Form in Abstract Animation” Art in Motion by Maureen Furniss “Restoring the Aesthetics of Early Abstract ” by William Moritz, Screen: Various clips from Len Lye, Norman McClaren, Dziga Vertov, Brothers Quay, Jan Svankmejer Due: Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 6 Feb 27 Issues of Representation Read: Ch.5 “Issues in Representation” Understanding Animation by Paul Wells Ch.9 “Issues of Representation” Art in Motion by Maureen Furniss “Other(ed) Latinidades: Animated Representations of (Latino) Ethnicity” by C. Richard King, et al Screen: Three Caballeros, assorted Svankmajer Due: Animation Assignment #2, Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 7 Mar 5 The Disneyfication of Animation Read: Ch.6 “Classical Era Disney Studio” Art in Motion by Maureen Furniss “Disney Films 1989-2005: The Eisner Era” by Amy Davis Screen: Alice in Wonderland and clips from other Disney films Due: Midterm Exam, Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 8 Mar 12– SPRING BREAK

Week 9 Mar 19 Animating the Boob-Tube Read: Ch.7 “Full and ” Art in Motion by Maureen Furniss “ and the Early Days of Television” Blackboard “Animatophilia, cultural production and corporate interests: The Case of Ren & Stimpy” by Mark Langer on Blackboard Screen: Looney Tunes, Rocky & Bullwinkle, , Simpsons, Ren & Stimpy, The Family Guy Due: Animation Assignment #3, Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 10 Mar 26 Changes the Face of Animation Read: “Early Japanese Animation in the United States” by Brian Ruh on Blackboard “Disney, Warner Bros. and Japanese Animation” by Luca Raffaeli on Blackboard Screen: Ghost in the Shell or Akira, and various Anime Clips Due: Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 11 Apr 2 100 years of Puppet and Claymation Read: Ch.8 “ Animation” Art in Motion by Maureen Furniss TBA Screen: Clips from , The Making of The Fantastic Mr. Fox, , Ossuary & Other Tales, Coraline, Vladislav Starevich Due: Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 12 Apr 9 Animation for Adults Read: “The Cinema and the Spectator” Understanding Animation by Paul Wells TBA Screen: , South Park, Boondocks, Archer, Fritz the Cat Due: Animation Assignment #4, Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 13 Apr 16 The Computer Revolution and Pixar Read: Ch.9 “Animation and Digital Media” Art in Motion by Maureen Furniss “ ‘Reality’ Effects in ” by Lev Manovich on Blackboard Screen: Clips from various Pixar films, Shrek, Azur and Asmar: The Prince’s Quest, 9 Due: Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 14 Apr 23 Gaming Read: “Inventing Space: Toward and on and off screen taxonomy in video games” on Blackboard “Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons? Gender and Gender-Role Subversion in Computer Adventure Games” on Blackboard Screen: various gaming trailers, WOW Due: Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 15 April 30 The Future of Animation Due: Class Presentations Due: Blog post, comment on other blogs

Week 16 April 30 The Future of Animation Due: Class Presentations Due: Blog post, comment on other blogs

Final Projects Due May 7th at 2pm

Final Exam Wednesday May 12 12:50-2:50 We will use this time to finish presentations

University’s Emergency Procedure Clause: Southern Illinois University Carbondale is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for study and work. Because some health and safety circumstances are beyond our control, we ask that you become familiar with the SIUC Emergency Response Plan and Building Emergency Response Team (BERT) program. Emergency response information is available on posters in buildings on campus, available on BERT’s website at www.bert.siu.edu, Department of Public Safety’s website www.dps.siu.edu (disaster drop down) and in the Emergency Response Guideline pamphlet. Know how to respond to each type of emergency. Instructors will provide guidance and direction to students in the classroom in the event of an emergency affecting your location. It is important that you follow these instructions and stay with your instructor during an evacuation or sheltering emergency. The Building Emergency Response Team will provide assistance to your instructor in evacuating the building or sheltering within the facility.

Disabled Students: Instructors and students in the class will work together as a team to assist disabled students out of the building safely. Disabled students will stay with the instructor and communicate with the instructor what is the safest way to assist them.

Tornado: During the spring semester we have a Storm Drill. Pick up your belongings and your instructor will lead you to a safe area of the basement. No one will be allowed to stay upstairs. Stay away from windows. The drill should not last more than 10 minutes. You must stay with your instructor so he/she can take roll calls. Students need to be quiet in the basement as the BERT members are listening to emergency instructions on handheld radios and cannot hear well in the basement.

Fire: Pick up your belongings and your instructor will lead you to either the North or South parking lot depending on what part of the building your class is in. You must stay with your instructor so he/she can take roll calls. As soon as the building is all clear, you will be allowed to return to class. These drills are to train instructors and the Building Emergency Response Team to get everyone to a safe place during an emergency.

Bomb Threat: If someone calls in a bomb threat, class will be suspended and students will be asked to pick up their belongings, evacuate the building and leave the premises. Do not leave anything that is yours behind. We will not allow anyone back into the building until the police and bomb squad give us an all clear. DO NOT USE YOUR CELL PHONES. Some bombs are triggered by a cell phone signal.

Shooter in the Building: When it is safe to leave, move to a safe area far from the building where the shooter is located. If you have any information about the shooter, please contact the police after you return home. If you cannot leave, go into a room, lock the door, turn out the lights, and if possible, cover the glass on the door. Silence all cell phones after you call the police and inform them of your location. Be quiet and wait for the police to arrive. The police are looking for one or more shooters, and they have no way of knowing if the shooter is in the room with you. For that reason, when the police enter the room, no one should have anything in his/her hands and each person MUST raise his/her hands above his/her head.

Earthquake: In the event of an earthquake you are advised to take cover quickly under heavy furniture or near an interior wall, a corner, to avoid falling debris. Outside the building are trees and power lines and debris from the building itself that you will need to stay away from. In the building, large open areas like auditoriums are the most dangerous. Do not try to escape on a stairway or elevator. Do not hide under a stairway. We do not recommend that you stand in a doorway because the door could shut from the vibrations and crush your fingers trapping you there.

Women’s Self-Defense Class: For interested female students and female faculty and staff, the SIU Public Safety Department sets up free self-defense classes. They teach a free class in the fall and spring at the Rec Center. In the fall you would register at the Rec Center for the Women’s Self-Defense Class or RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) as it is sometimes called. If you have questions about registering for the class, you can send an email to [email protected]. LaVon is the contact in the Dean’s Office in the Communications building that will assist you to try to find the class you need.

Graduate Course Requirements

Class Assignments:

Blog Postings – Each student is required to start a blog for this class (word press or blogger.com are the easiest). Each week you will be expected to post a three-paragraph (or so) entry in your blog for that week. These entries must be posted before class each week. You will be required each week to comment on two of your classmates blogs. In addition you will be required to locate and read an additional article relating to each week’s topic.

Animation Assignments – You will be given several assignments that will introduce you to some of basics of animation techniques. Don’t worry if you are not artistically inclined, these will be simple assignments that will provide you with some appreciation for the work involved in creating and analyzing animation.

Final Project – Each student will be required to complete a final project. You will have two options: you can either write a critical paper, 15-20 pages in length or complete a longer animation project (done individually and groups, accompanied by an analytical essay on the theoretical, aesthetic underpinnings of your work).

Class Presentations – you will each have to give a presentation on your final project. Presentations should be 15 minutes in length. In addition to this you will each have to prepare a lecture for one of the assigned topics in class.

More detailed guidelines will be handed out in class. Grades:

Class Presentation 10% Blog Postings 25% Participation 5% Midterm Exam 15% Animation Assignments 15% Final Project 30% Total 100%