54414 Studio: Animation Industry Project
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particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 12 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): (88212 Animation Studio: Animation Practice OR 54401 Studio: Animation Practice) AND (82025 Context: Design for 2D and Hybrid Animation OR 54410 Context: Design for 2D and Hybrid Animation OR 82027 Context: Design for 3D and Hybrid Animation OR 54411 Context: Design for 3D and Hybrid Animation)
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 82620 Animation Studio: Animation Industry Project
Description
In this subject, students demonstrate initiative crafting short original works and through direct engagement with an animation industry partner, develop ideas and characters for a range of animation formats and target audiences. Students gain valuable field experience relating to project development and presentation, creative negotiation, reiteration processes and idea viability.
This subject exposes students to the complex team working methods of the professional animation environment and emphasises the importance of collaboration, meeting deadlines, understanding milestones and responding to critical feedback with openness and drive.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| a. | Negotiate individual responsibility, leadership and contribution for effective participation in a team-based production |
|---|---|
| b. | Design and execute original and highly crafted outcomes for animation |
| c. | Engage in thorough and wide-ranging research, exploring and documenting alternative possibilities and designs through multiple iterations |
| d. | Apply an understanding of the professional tasks and subtasks required in the production pipeline |
| e. | Conceive creative and original written and visual story ideas for animation |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject engages with the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs), which are tailored to the Graduate Attributes set for all graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences:
- Demonstrate a high level of craft and production value across multiple methods, aesthetics and techniques of the animation process (1.2)
- Apply theoretically informed processes to production practice including managing complexity and collaboration, incorporating research into development, active iteration and critique, clarity in communication, delegation, and resource management. (1.3)
- Deploy literacy skills to undertake primary and secondary research, exploring a wide range of visual and textual materials, and connect research process to final outcomes (2.1)
- Contextualise work within current and historical animation practice and theory. (2.3)
- Employ professional skills responsibly and respectfully demonstrating sensitivity as a global citizen and being open to cultural exchange, inclusion and dialogue. (3.1)
- Act with transparency and exhibit personal and professional ethical integrity and broad social responsibility. (5.1)
Teaching and learning strategies
These studio projects are underpinned by a Problem Based Learning (PBL) strategy. Lectures and studio class sessions enable students to engage with assignment projects (the problem) in a structured manner that reflects industry practices, encouraging students to demonstrate initiative, take risks, and find their own solutions through discussion, ideas generation, research, and iteration. Students participate in individual studios, interactive lectures, group seminars and presentations throughout the session.
The studio model in Animation Production subjects reflects industry practices of collaborative and iterative work. When working in teams to produce an outcome, students must regularly present their individual contributions and reflections on the collaborative creative process to peers and their tutors. Tutors makes notes on and use these conversations, reflections, and presentations to assess individual contribution to the assessment, as submitted.
Students learn by interacting with their peers and by engaging in independent work to read and develop ideas and solutions between sessions in response to both group and individual feedback. Students should bring substantially developed work to each tutorial for discussion and to receive ongoing feedback on their progress. Feedback will be provided in multiple ways which echo industry practice and allow students and tutors to approach creative problem solving from a range of perspectives.
The first task is based upon the creation of new story content for animation television series, and students will present ideas directly to industry partners. These partners will provide feedback on student projects, and tutors and students will then work together to address the suggestions for development. In-class feedback will be conducted in the following ways:
One-to-one discussions with tutors. These are designed to facilitate discussion and analysis of the unique conceptual and aesthetic direction within each student idea. Students should nominate a note-taker to facilitate retention of complex and fast-moving discussions. Students are expected to bring notes from previous sessions to ensure clear agreement on iterative progress and targets.
Facilitated peer to peer discussions. These are designed to facilitate collaborative learning and recognize the value of student perspectives. Tutors will encourage peers to take the lead in highlighting issues and suggesting directions for concept and design development. Articulating different viewpoints and communicating ideas to peers is central to professional design practice.
Whole group pin-up sessions. Regular pin-ups and in class presentations of work will be conducted. This is a dynamic, participatory process in which students are invited to contribute feedback for each other’s concepts. This process allows tutors to share insights gained from individual examples with the whole group. It is also beneficial for prompting and sharing ideas between students. Viewing works in progress together raises awareness of patterns of best practice, and helps clarify issues around standard, expectation and delivery.
Individual presentations. Students will evolve their communication skills by presenting to industry partners in front of class at key assessment points. These presentations will be conducted within a clear framework, with set content requirements and timing. In these sessions, industry will lead the feedback, providing high-level, professional critique. A note-taker is required for this process.
Content sharing. Students will also share screen and print-based materials which demonstrate their wider research and practice interests. The multiplicity of constantly evolving content and platforms means that everyone has an important role to play in disseminating new ideas and forms of design.
Animation is a labour intensive discipline that carries a requirement of between 10-15 hrs additional, individual or peer based, work every week to achieve the subject objectives.
Grades, marks and feedback on submitted tasks will be provided through Review.
Content (topics)
This subject exposes students to professional practice in the Animation Industry.
Projects are designed to cover areas such as:
- Concept development for animated series.
- Practical and professional skills through research, narrative, and design iteration.
- Advanced animation skills development in pre, production, and postproduction specialised areas.
- Critical thinking through analysis, discussion, and reflection
- Successful collaboration and teamwork in animation production.
- Development of production schedules
- Concept pitching and presentation
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Pitch Bible – Concept, writing, design, and presentation to Industry partners.
| Objective(s): | a, c and e | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 30% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | Pecha Kucha presentation of 10 – 12 slides in timed PowerPoint format. 10 – 12 slides (of above) submitted as a PDF. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 2: Pitch Bible – Finished Production Bible
| Objective(s): | b, c, d and e | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 30% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 12 –15-page PDF full colour presented to class and then for assessment | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 3: Professional Practice Project (PPP)
| Objective(s): | b, c, d and e | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 40% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | Outcomes are determined by the student's choice of specialist skills area. Examples of outcomes include some of the following: 12 –16 slide PDF 200 word written synopsis 12 -20 second piece of animation, on a timeline with sound. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Minimum requirements
Attendance at classes is essential in this subject as essential skills development can only be supported through active participation in studio workshops. Classes are based on a collaborative approach that involve essential interchange of ideas between student, peers, and tutor to meet the subject learning objectives. Attendance will be taken at each class (whether on campus or online). Students who have more than two absences from class will be refused marking of their final assessment (see Rule 3.8)
Recommended texts
Amidi, A. (2006). Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation. Chronicle Books.
Bacher, H. (2012). Dream Worlds: Production Design for Animation. Taylor & Francis.
Bacher, H. P., Suryavanshi, S. (2018). Vision: Color and Composition for Film. Laurence King Publishing.
Bishko, L. (2014). Animation principles and Laban movement analysis: movement frameworks for creating empathic character performances. In Nonverbal communication in virtual worlds: Understanding and designing expressive characters. ETC Press
Bishko, L. (2014). Our empathic experience of believable characters. In Nonverbal communication in virtual worlds: Understanding and designing expressive characters, 47-59. ETC Press
Hooks, E. (2017). Acting for animators. Routledge.
Blazer, L. (2019). Animated Storytelling. Pearson Education.
Glebas, F. (2012). Directing the Story: Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques for Live Action and Animation. CRC Press.
Hu, T. G. (2010). Frames of Anime: Culture and Image-building. Hong Kong University Press.
Pellitteri, M. and Wong, H (2021). Japanese Animation in Asia: Transnational Industry, Audiences, and Success. Taylor & Francis.
Klein, N. M. (1993). Seven Minutes: The Life and Death of the American Animated Cartoon. Verso Books.
Marx, C. (2021). Writing for Animation, Comics, and Games. CRC Press.
Murch, W. (1995). In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing. Silman-James Press.
Buchan, S. (2013). Pervasive Animation. Taylor & Francis.
Polson, T. (2013). The Noble Approach: Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design. Chronicle Books LLC.
Torre, D. (2017). Animation - Process, Cognition and Actuality. Bloomsbury.
Torre, L., Torre, D. (2018). Australian Animation: An International History. Springer.