1. UTILISE A BROAD RANGE OF DRAWING TECHNIQUES WITH ADVANCED COMPETENCE, CONTROL AND RELVANCE.
1 – KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING

2. EXPOLRE, UNDERSTAND AND USE DRAWING PROCESSES TO ARTICULATE SPECIFIC IDEAS RELATING TO IMAGINED FORMS AND ANIMATED PRACTISES AND MOVING IMAGE INDUSTRIES.
3 - ENQUIRY
7 - APPLICATION

3. DEMONSTRATE THE USE OF REFERENCE COLLECTION AND UTILISATION OF APPROPRIATE REFERENCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE CREATION OF MOTION AND DRAWING STUDIES TO CREATE IMAGINATIVE REALISM
5 – PROBLEM SOLVING

4. REFLECT AND UTILISE PRIOR SKILLS AND LEARNING APPROPRIATE TO TASKS
8 - REFLECTION

Students will be expected to attend all module sessions in order to benefit from the delivery and understanding of new material, gain understanding of module expectations / tasks and to engage in weekly peer-to-peer and tutor feedback.

Work-in-progress will be reviewed weekly for formative discussion and feedback.

By the end of the module all students will have produced a portfolio of drawn work and animated motion studies that demonstrate competence in visual communication including life drawing, observational studies, imagined creations and animated exercises which demonstrate advanced skills in observation and understanding of movement, anatomy, weight and dynamics of fantastic and imaginary creations.
Completed portfolios will be submitted as an on-line submission for assessment via a BLOG / Vimeo.

At the end of Semester 1 you will informally present your work-in progress portfolio. At this point you will receive formative feedback from Staff and Peers.

On submission of your completed Drawing Portfolio for final assessment you will receive summative feedback.

The Drawing for Animation: 3 submission is an online portfolio documenting your development of completed technical & creative exercises clearly demonstrating strong understanding and observation of a variety of Fantasy creations in both stillness and in motion.
Exercises will be created in traditional and digital methods of drawn and animation practises.
[Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

All students will be expected to submit Drawing Portfolios for assessment via a professional and appropriately formatted and organised on-line BLOG.
Please see module handbook for further details. It is expected that you will understand digital formats for submission of digital work.

Drawing for Animation: 3 is the final drawing module of the curriculum and is a culmination of all prior skills and learning from previous modules. This module will directly build upon the fundamental and intermediate level skills and knowledge acquired in Drawing for Animation: 1 (Human) and Drawing for Animation: 2 (Animal)
Your prior knowledge and understanding of human and animal motion and anatomy will further improve your designs, understanding of movement and imagined creations to an advanced level.

Our entertainment culture contains an increasing amount of fantastic creations and creatures. Imagined, surreal, Mythic and make-believe characters and creatures make up a large proportion of work for our Animation and VFX Industries.
But in order for audiences to ‘suspend their disbelief’ these creations must be convincing, based on observation, reality and truth, thus enhancing their believability. There is a need for an understanding and application of Imaginative Realism.
The ability to convincingly make the ‘make-believe’, ‘real’ is a key skill to demonstrate in your portfolio in readiness for employment within the animation industries.
Convincing drawing and creation of ‘The Fantastic’ and ‘Imaginative Realism’ is a specialised area of study – that is seen as a beneficial skill by many Industry employers.

In this module you will explore how to create realistic portrayals of something that does not exist. You will gain an advanced understanding of the importance of observation combined with artistic creation, mixing the actual and the imaginary – convincingly – in still and motion.

You will continue to practise observation-led drawing skills with a view to rendering images of ‘Fantastic’ forms and imaginative realism for use in animation – whatever your chosen specialism.

Through a series of weekly lectures and drawing sessions, both in and outside of the drawing studio we will examine in detail the wide variety of potential of ‘Fantastic’ design origination and movement.

You will demonstrate advanced skill and discipline in combining observation, analysis and expression, allowing you to apply your individual approach to drawing and animation with an advanced ability to articulate weight, volume and believability of motion.

You will explore the relevance of drawing and animating ‘The Fantastic’ within historical and contemporary context, with a focus on feature film and VFX production.
All exercises undertaken in the Drawing modules will relate to an output of animated movement studies and sequences of animated motion.

Sessions may include (but not exclusive to):
• Mythical
o Mermaid / Merman
o Centaur
o Minotaur
o Dragon
o Fairy / Pixie
o Werewolf
o Zombie

• Fairy Tale
o The uses of Genre
o Understanding Stereo-Type
o Magical Transformations


Drawing for Animation: 3 intends to prepare you with pre-requisite skills that will enable you to develop Drawing and Animation techniques to an advanced level of competency and confidence.

This module content is designed to progress in parallel with below course modules where content and wider-learning opportunities are highlighted and Dove-Tailed:
PRE-PRODUCTION PROJECT: Pitch & Present
PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO: 2

It is important to note – that the contribution that you make in this module is intended to form a vital part of your portfolio that you will be formally presenting to a panel of Industry professionals as part of ‘Portfolio Week’***. It is important that you make your contribution count and that you produce work you are proud of and willing to share in a professional forum.

A series of supporting Technical Instruction sessions (T.I.’s) will also be available to all students to further promote individual learning, knowledge and understanding of Technical software.

***Portfolio Week is the culmination of your three-year programme of study and a key focus throughout the course. It is proposed and designed as an opportunity for Graduating students to meet with invited members of the moving-image Industries to present their completed portfolio / showreel for discussion and direct industry feedback.
Whilst this does not guarantee immediate employment, it is intended to set our students up with face-to-face engagement with local and global recruiters.

Drawing continues to be heavily imbedded within the course curriculum into your Third year of study and beyond and will remain relevant to other areas of the course and your professional portfolio upon graduation.

Through weekly lectures and relating practical exercises you will be introduced to observation-led methods of traditional and digital drawing, motion studies and analysis of a range of ‘Fantastic’, Imagined – but convincing subjects.

The 3 ‘Drawing for Animation’ Modules work together with the intention of increasing your academic rigor and understanding of Drawn practises and their relevance to Industry.
‘Drawing for Animation’ modules are spread across Semesters 1 & 2 to encourage improved continuity of learning, engagement and application of traditional and digital drawing practises throughout the course.

Session structure will take the form of a 1-hour lecture, establishing the context of the principle(s) to be explored, followed by a 2-hour practical session.
We will rely upon online resources, reference material and video footage to analyse and capture animal motion studies.

All students are encouraged to compile and maintain a personal Reference Library, documenting their observations of nature and animals, human and other – in order to use for future reference.

The study period will be focused on the development of a series of drawn and animated exercises and motion analysis studies that will demonstrate your understanding of a variety of ‘The Fantastic’ and imagined, in both stillness and in motion.

Throughout the module you will be required to demonstrate your growing knowledge and understanding and application of the core concepts required to develop a range of drawing skills that you will require throughout the award and your professional career as an animator.

Traditional and digital tools will be available to use throughout the module and students should explore a range of drawn techniques appropriate to the given task.

Your work will be supported by online resources from a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) providing resources for study. As the majority of completed work is submitted digitally this is an integral part of learning on the course.

Students will also have access to a range of video tutorials from online learning resource providers.

Group critique and discussion will support your Drawing studio practice through weekly formative evaluation and will take place throughout the module as well as at critical points of the semester to review your working progress. Students are expected to engage in this process as part of the module feedback cycle.
Summative assessment takes place at the end of the module where digital / online portfolios will be presented for final assessment.

Where required, booking of equipment and facilities may be necessary by the student.

ON-LINE READING LISTS WILL BE UPDATED ANNUALLY.
THIS IS AN INDICATION OF REFERENCE TEXTS REQUIRED FOR 2019-20 ONLY.

del Toro, G (2016) ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth: Inside the Creation of a Modern Fairy Tale’, Harper Design

GURNEY J (2009) ‘Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist’, Andrews McMeel Publishing

LASSETER, J (2017) ‘The Art of Coco’, Chronicle Books

LASSETER, J (2002) ‘The Art of Monsters Inc.’ Chronicle Books

LEE, A (2005) ‘The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook: Portfolio’, Harper Collins Publishers

POWER, D (2016) ‘The Art of the Film: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ Harper Collins Publishers

Various Online resources, reference material, video footage. Please see module handbook for details.

Drawing studio
Library
Animation Studio facilities.
2D line testers and light-boxes.
A3 scanners.
Seminar / Lecture room with projector.
Stop Motion Animation studios – Dragon Frame. Canon SLR digital cameras. Lighting.
VLE: Blackboard / Digital Tutors / Lynda.com / other supporting Online resources
On-line Blog platform.
Vimeo.com – to be used for display and submission of completed work.

University Library resources: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/uniservices/infoservices/library/
Reference books / DVD collection / Journals and periodicals (physical & online)