Thursday, February 19th

Class Hours: 10:05 – 2:40
Mr. Bohmann | wbohmann@ewsd.org

Notes

Skills Day!
English right after Lunch
Pay attention to deliverables set on the dayplan for Animation(GAWD2) and Game(GAWD1)
Visitor tomorrow – no worries – they will float about
Golden Ticket – Friday afternoon – get yours!

10:05 Attendance and move to GAWD1

10:10 Game / Animation Design and Competition

The Workout continued… Let’s Add the Polish!

Week 21/22 Deliverables – “The Workout”

Last week – I wanted to see your character sheet and Rough Animation of your characters. This week I want to see final versions in Polished Form.

You have most of the”heavy lifting” (the primary animation) done, during the next two days your goal is to perfect your work by introducing Secondary Action and Environmental Storytelling. This is what separates a “technical exercise” from a “professional animation.”

Read Yellow Box Deliverables Carefully

Goal: Demonstrate mastery of Weight, Timing, and Staging by animating a coordinated fitness scene. Each of you will animate your own character doing “Exercise” as outlined below…

Pick your poison (One per team member):

The Heavy Lift: (Bench Press, Squat, or Deadlift) – Focuses on Slow-In and Slow-Out.
The Bodyweight Rep: (Push-ups or Pull-ups) – Focuses on Arcs and Resistance.
The Cardio Blast: (Jumping Jacks or Burpees) – Focuses on Exaggeration and Squash & Stretch.

Secondary Motion Explained…
Primary animation is the arms lifting the weight. Secondary animation is everything else that happens because of that movement. For example:

If they are doing jumping jacks, does their shirt bounce?
Brows furrowing on the “up” phase of a push-up and relaxing on the “down” phase.
Animate the chest or torso expanding and contracting with the breath

Environmental Interaction Explained…
Make the characters feel like they are actually in the room, not just layered on top of it.
For example:

When a character drops a weight or lands a jump, make the camera “shake” slightly or have dust particles rise from the floor.
Ensure there is a “Contact Shadow” where the hands/feet touch the ground. It prevents the “floating” look.
If they are in a gym, add a mirror. 3D teams can use a reflective plane; 2D teams can create a desaturated, flipped version of the character.
add a simple “bird” flying by the beach or a “janitor” walking past in the gym.
maybe the gym lights flicker, or if they are on the beach, the sun sets slightly

Camera & Composition Explained…
A static camera is boring. If you have time “film” the scene like a cinematographer
For example:

Add a very slight, slow noise/wiggle to the camera movement to make it feel like a human is holding it.
Add more than one camera and shot type
Use a shallow depth of field so the background is slightly blurred, pushing the focus onto the athletes.
have the camera start focused on Character A, then shift focus to Character B in the background mid-animation.

Final Deliverables of “The Workout”

Final Character Sheet: A single landscape document showing all characters side-by-side in a neutral T-pose or A-pose and with a side and rear pose for each character (also called a turnaround sheet)
Filename: TurnAround.pdf

The “Hero” Render: An updated .mp4 of your animation that includes one secondary motion (facial acting / hair / cloth) and one environmental effect (camera shake/lighting change/secondary action)
Filename: TheWorkoutFinal_teamName.mp4

VFX/SFX: incorporated into your video render, you should include synced audio that fits your scene, this may include synced “grunts”, “clicks” and “thuds” to the exact frame that the action happens (if applicable).

Rubric: You will watch your final render and make adjustments as needed. When your team is done with the project, you will complete a rubric evaluating your work and hand to Mr. Bohmann with all team members signatures.

“A good animator shows me what the character is doing. A great animator shows me how the character feels about what they are doing. Show me the struggle!