Schedule

Week 1: February 1 - introduction - Setting the Stage

  • introduction, syllabus, etc
  • tour of the Flash authoring environment, vector graphics
  • using text - static, broken, dynamic
  • the Stage - movie properties
  • frame-by-frame animation

look:

Week 2: February 8 - T E X T

  • drawing tools, shapes, strokes, fills, grouping
  • shape tweens and shape hints

look:

DUE today: "t e x t" - choose a word and illustrate either its mood or tone or meaning in a frame-by-frame animation. You may only use the one word - no other words are allowed. You may use other shapes. Your animation should be sized to 550x400, 12 frames per second and EXACTLY 60 frames in duration.

Week 3: February 15 - drawing a Tween - remix culture

  • The Timeline - layers, framerate, keyframes
  • Motion Tweens - shape, motion (position, scale, color, alpha)
  • Using Symbols

DUE today: "morph-olution" - Create an animation that explores the notion of evolution in at least 5 stages. The project should incorporate at least 2 shape tweens that utilize shape hints. The final result should be a "perfect loop" - it should end exactly where it began. Your animation should be sized to 550x400, 24 frames per second and 10 seconds in duration.

Week 4: February 22 - creating a Mask - Thinking about Time

  • importing artwork from illustrator/photoshop
  • creating masks
  • using motion paths and guides

DUE today: "crowded" - Create an animation of a walking crowd of people. Your animation should use MovieClips and MotionTweens.

Week 5: March 1 - incorporating Sound

DUE today: "Banner Ad Jam" Think about the ad banners on websites as public spaces similar to billboards, posters, signs & other advertisements. Plan & design a 468x60 (24 fps) Ad Banner in flash that utilizes images and text and incorporates a corporate logo. The banner can advertise your love for something or someone, can express a political message, can be humorous - keep in mind that this is meant to be presented in a public places. You should be able to make the argument that your piece is an example of Culture jamming.
http://www.logotypes.ru/default_e.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_jamming

Week 6: March 8 - animation Tricks

  • Animation techniques: easing, blur, gravity
  • Working with MovieClips - nesting and animated loops

DUE today: "My Life" - Animate your life story in 30 seconds or less (bunnies optional). Your flash movie should be 640x480 at 24 fps. - 1st draft should include your soundtrack/voice over and approximately 10 seconds of completed animation (This will be graded)
http://www.angryalien.com
http://www.oddtodd.com

Week 7: March 15 - the Loop - Generation Flash

  • Creating buttons
  • Using Behaviors
  • Using ActionScript

DUE today: "My Life" - final draft of My Life.

Week 8: March 22 - make it Interactive

  • ActionScript - data types and variables
  • Functions and events
  • Input/dynamic text

DUE today: How-To script/storyboard Have a sitemap and at least 2 of the 5 scenes.

Week 9: April 5 - make it even more Interactive

  • Approaches to navigation
  • ActionScript - reusable functions

look:

DUE today: How-To first draft

No Class April 12 - Advising Day

Week 10: April 19 - incorporating video

  • encoding flash video files
  • controlling video with behaviors.
  • Introduce final project

look:

DUE today: "How To": With a partner, develop an interactive Flash movie that illustrates/teaches your audience how to do something. This could be anything from how to make a PB&J sandwich to how to knit to how to make a Flash movie. It must have at least 5 different scenes; at least 1 voiceover and it must utilize buttons for your audience to interact with.

Week 11: April 26 - Individual Meetings

  • ActionScript lesson
  • Work on final project

DUE today: Final project proposal:

  • project description (include any relevant background info)
  • discuss your intended audience
  • discuss your visual/aesthetic strategy
  • discuss at least 3 URLs of other projects/websites relevant to your project
  • Sitemap or Storyboard as appropriate

Week 12: May 3 - Individual Meetings

  • ActionScript lesson
  • Work on final project

Week 13: May 10 - Open Lab

  • Work on Final Projects

Week 14: May 17 - Final Class

  • In class critique of final projects and wrap-up