I chose the "Intro to
animation" topic for my unit plan because, firstly, it was consistent with
the theme of the lesson plan I researched in the previous assignment. Secondly, I think animation can appeal to a
large amount of students and offers them an experience that they likely wouldn't
have until they entered college.
Creating a foundation of basic animation skills can spur the interest of
the more technologically inclined students while still allowing more
right-brained, artistic students the opportunity to utilize their
creativity. There are so many facets to
creating an animation that it lends itself to becoming a community reinforcing assignment. Certain children might enjoy conceptualizing
characters, others might enjoy the animation itself, and others still might
enjoy the post production aspects of animating.
So beyond learning practical animation, drawing, and script writing
skills, students are building teamwork experience that will greatly help them
in the future no matter what career path they pursue.
My essential questions and unit
goals are based on the aspects of animation I know are most important for a
beginning animator. I have many years of
experience as an animation student, and these particular aspects (the walk
cycle, keyframes, storyboarding, etc.) are taught repeatedly as they are the
cornerstones of even the most complex animations. I sought out resources from Richard Williams'
The Animator's Survival Kit as I consider it the single most important guide
for a beginning animator. It covers
everything a newbie animator could wonder about, and I was so happy to find a
free, complete pdf of the book to share with potential students.
