UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
DEPARTMENT OF DIGITAL MEDIA AND DESIGN
Digital Animation & Motion Graphics
Examining the Complexities of Today’s Multimedia Productions

Term: Summer 2024
Class Meeting: Mon – Fri 9AM – 12PM + Tues & Thurs, 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM 
Class Location: Bishop 005
Course Instructor: Heejoo Kim
Office Hours: by appointment (please email to schedule)
Email: heejoo.kim@uconn.edu
Office Location: The Bishop Center, Room 239 (2nd Floor)
One Bishop Circle, Unit 4056, Storrs CT 06269
Course website: https://damg.dmd.uconn.edu/

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Combining design, technology and the ever-expanding media, our Digital Animation and Motion Graphic course gives students the opportunity to dive into the complex world behind multimedia productions. This class aims to provide students with the conceptual and practical tools for understanding and creating the diverse range of time-based media that have come to be known as motion graphics and digital animation. Throughout the course, students will create visual effects and animated graphics for television, film, web, and other types of multimedia productions using:

• Adobe After Effects
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Premiere Pro

COURSE OBJECTIVE:
This course is designed to communicate and tell stories through motion, art, and design for games, films, and the web. Areas of concentration include games, motion graphics, concept art, animation, modeling, and visual effects. Students learn real-world skills from leading designers, artists, and entrepreneurs. The primary goal is to create problem solvers who strike a balance between traditional art and technology, and between individual vision and teamwork. With a fundamental understanding of digital tools and their creative applications, graduates meet the demands of a diverse and expanding job market in visual storytelling.

SPECIFIC COURSE GOALS:
By the end of this course, the student will:

• Have an understanding of commercial motion graphics and animation production and film process
• Strengthen current industry technique including Adobe softwares.
• Be able to create basic motion graphics and animations based on stories and infographics

COURSEWORK:
During this course students will:
• Participate in class discussions and critiques
• Apply techniques covered in class in the completion of technical exercises
• Develop and complete Assignments and final project
• Document creative planning, process, and completed work

COURSE MATERIALS:
Software: You will use Adobe Creative Cloud applications.
External Hard Drive: You will need an external hard drive with a minimum of 120–500GB where you can store your work. Whether you work on the lab computers or your own laptop, your own external hard drive will serve as a necessary place to hold and back-up your projects.
Data Back-up: Maintaining a back-up system is a responsible and necessary task in this digital age. Along with the benefit of owning your own hardware comes the responsibility of maintaining it so data is safe. Hardware problems are no excuse for late or missing work. Apple offers its software Time Machine. Another is an app called Super Duper. Online back-up systems like CrashPlan are also available. Whatever back-up system you select, maintain it regularly.
Sketchbook: You should maintain a physical or digital sketchbook. Throughout this course you will be developing numerous small projects, and two long-term projects, and your sketchbook will serve as a record of creative ideas and the evolution of project concepts. Being able to communicate your intentions and objectives through notes, thumbnail sketches, storyboards, and design concept sketches prior to the investment of hours in production is a central and essential skill for animators and motion graphics designers.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
You are responsible for ensuring that original work is correctly attributed. You must give clear and complete attributions for the work of others in your own productions as well as in any written work. Plagiarism (either digital or written) will not be tolerated and may result in failure of the course or expulsion. Please refer to the Student Handbook.

PARTICIPATION STATEMENT:
This course is experiential in nature, and failure to attend class means you are not fulfilling your obligation to participate in discussion and critiques and contribute to the overall learning experience of all. There is no practical way to recapture material covered in class if a class is missed. Students are expected to arrive on time and remain throughout the entire class period. Failure to participate in 15% or more of class time will result in the lowering of one or more letter grades at the discretion of the instructor. Failure to participate in 30% of class time will result in automatic failure for the course.
If you must be absent from class for any reason email me prior to the absence.
Providing adequate notice is professional etiquette and a demonstration of active participation. If you are unable to send notice prior to a lesson you must email me within 24 hours. I make a concerted effort to accommodate absences for religious observances, and absences due to extracurricular activities coordinated by a university official, such as scholarly presentation, performing arts, and intercollegiate sports. Please note, however, that being absent from class does not change a submission deadline for an assignment unless prior arrangements have been made.
If you are absent for a sustained period of time I need to know. If you have a serious, life-
threatening illness that will accrue absences, a handwritten and signed letter from your doctor, with a telephone number, is required. See me for class materials you may have missed and to discuss a plan for making up your missed class time and work. Failure to comply with this procedure will result in either an I, X, or N grade until the matter is resolved.

COMMUNICATION:
Good communication is essential to a successful class experience. Please come and talk to me if you anticipate any conflicts with any of the due dates or studio critique deadlines of the course, or if you need any special accommodation in order to successfully complete the requirements of the course. The sooner I know about any exceptional circumstances the better, and the more likely we are to come up with non-stressful alternatives.
If you encounter any questions or challenges with an assignment, please come talk to me or email me. I am here to help. However, please try to email me at least 24 hours before a deadline. Please try your best to compose emails with a salutation and closing, and using complete, grammatical sentences.

ETIQUETTE:
Please avoid digital distractions.
Your computers, tablets, and phones are essential to the digital media work that you do, but they are also a gateway to all kinds of distractions. This course depends on your full and active engagement, and as a result, I ask that you please refrain from making phone calls, texting, emailing, or checking social networks during class except as part of class participation or with agreement from me.
Please keep food and drink away from each other’s work and equipment.
Come prepared for class. Arrive with your work completed/exported/rendered and ready to present before the start of class. Make sure that you have planned your presentations and critique days so that you stay within the time restrictions. Complete any assigned readings and viewings in advance of class and be ready to discuss them.

ASSIGNMENTS: https://damg.dmd.uconn.edu/assignments/

1. Exercises

Students will be expected to demonstrate that they understand the techniques discussed in the previous week’s class. How you do this is up to you. You can design a very short and specific piece that focuses on demonstrating technique. Or, you can show a part of your final project in progress that incorporates the technique. All pieces should closely adhere to the principles of animation that we discuss in class, as well as display the assigned technique. You will submit your work by rendering to Quicktime/mp4 format. I want to make sure that you understand how to render a piece and prepare it for easy display.

2. Prototype Presentation

The midterm project is the first self-initiated project that you will propose and develop in this course. You will present a brief project proposal along with sketches, storyboards, style frames, and in the initial stages of project development.

3. Final Project

The final project for this class must demonstrate an understanding of the concepts discussed in the course. The guidelines are extremely flexible: you should show that you understand the techniques and software discussed, that you can incorporate principles of good filmmaking, and that you have the creativity and dedication to produce a sophisticated piece. You will have ample class time both to work on the project itself, as well as to use me and your fellow students as resources. You needn’t produce a catalog of every single concept we discussed in class. I am most concerned that you produce a thought-provoking and personal piece, one that you can really be proud of as an artist. The final result should be a piece that you would be proud to show at a film festival!

COURSE CALENDAR:
https://damg.dmd.uconn.edu/class-schedule/
Course calendar is subject to change with notification