Welcome to Create and Animate: Producing the Animated Short Film. This two week program will introduce students to the basics of storytelling and how to realize that story using the computer. We will use digital cameras, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro to produce a completed short film on DVD and YouTube.

During the two weeks I will demonstrate various techniques from Frame-by-Frame to Inverse Kinematics. There will be writing and lab assignments each night and reviews of those assignments each morning. The first week will focus on technique and how the software works. The second week will be devoted to making the final project.

Check out the schedule for a breakdown of the entire program.

There will also be several film screenings throughout the program to introduce students to a variety of animated films and films that include innovative animation techniques. Check the screenings page for a list of films and links to online animated films.

Finally, there is lots of information about animation techniques an theory on the Web. Click on the resources page for links to online tutorials and animation portals.

Students can contact me via email at sjablons@ramapo.edu.

Course Topics

Story Development
Storyboarding
Frame by Frame Animation
Motion Tweening
Background Building
Character Development
Scene Development
Video Editing
Special Effects
Sound Editing
DVD Production