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Storyboarding For Animation

Storyboarding For Animation

An 8-week course developing skills required for storyboarding and story development for animated features.
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Learn to draw a captivating story

Learn to draw a captivating story
This class will help you fall in love with the cinema, if you haven’t already. One of the main reasons we make art is to tell a story and/or to communicate an idea or emotion. However, the power of storytelling is often overlooked. This class will walk you through some of the fundamentals, such as framing and cutting your scenes, as well as ways to transition into the next one. How do we compose a simple dialogue between two characters without it being too boring? What about three? How can we make a fight scene more than just a series of cool moves? How do we overcome the fear of montages? Eventually we will also go over the process for boarding a sequence for a typical TV animated project. Even though the class has an emphasis on the application for animation storyboards, the core knowledge should be applicable to any other types of visual storytelling students may encounter in their future endeavors, such as live action projects, commercials, illustration books, comics, etc. By the end of class, students will be expected to learn how to think like a director of any storytelling project.

Special Discount on Storyboard Pro

As of Fall Term 2023, CGMA students can access educational licenses for Storyboard Pro at a discounted rate of $10.25/month! This rate may only be unlocked inside the virtual classroom, and licenses will remain active for the course duration. Should you have questions regarding this please reach out to registration@cgmasteracademy.com.



Registration Now Open
Only 3 seats left
Registration Period
Jul 17, 2024 - Oct 08, 2024
Course Start
Oct 03, 2024

Course Format

Standard

Skills Level

Intermediate

Duration

8 weeks

Q&A

Once a week

Feedback

Individual recordings

Lecture Type

Pre-recorded
Assignment
Due each week. Expect to spend 8-10 hrs/wk viewing lectures, Q&A, and time on assignments.
PREREQUISITES
Analytical Figure Drawing and Environment Sketching or Good Drawing Foundations with a stress on character and environment sketching
MATERIALS
Photoshop or Storyboard Pro, Wacom tablet (or equivalent), OR traditional mediums (pen & paper)

The more you know, the better.

We will start the class by learning the typical pipeline of a film / tv production. The importance of storyboarding, why we do it, and what it is expected to help achieve. Then we will get into some of the basic terminology, and showcase various shots (eg wide shots, medium shots, closeups, extreme closeups) with real examples on the type of drama each shot could provide.
We will dig into the various shots as discussed in the previous week, as well as ways to help frame our shots to make them more effective. We will go through the rule of thirds, ways to add more depth into their shots, and avoiding jump cuts (or when to do it on purpose in our favor). We will also identify different ways to deal with crowd shots without creating a chaos.
Now that we have a decent vocabulary in the most common shots and camera angles, we will be considering movements in our camera. We will go over some of the basic camera moves (zoom, tilt, dolly, truck in, pan, etc) with real examples of how they are used. Then we will introduce the 180 degrees rule: the importance of it, ways to break it if necessary, and tricks to avoid breaking it by accident.
We will look at various creative ways to open a sequence that can help establish the story. Then there will be some additional information and tricks in framing the subjects such as: things to avoid when framing your characters, using light and shadow, and creating balance in your shots.
We will go over various fighting sequences and try to analyze how they’re done. How to use the geometry in your advantage, as well as getting into the importance of telling a story through the action sequence, as well as boarding movement. We will also extend our use of framing from the previous weeks and introduce the concept of playing with subjects coming towards or away from the camera for more dynamic movements.
In the first half of the class, we’ll look at additional information in composing fight scenes, including analyzing some more complex scenes with more than just two characters. In the second half of the class, we’ll walk through the animation storyboard production pipeline, looking at real examples of what is usually expected at which stage, what the directors’ notes may look like, etc. From this point forward, assignments will try to emulate the professional working pipeline.
The lecture will focus on analyzing various songs and montage sequences. We will talk about ways to be more creative with transitions and how to add styles. More importantly, emphasizing the storytelling through it all.
We will look at how story artists present their work. There will be a variety of sampled portfolio from cartoony comedy projects to more realistic action boards. The students will get to see different ways they can choose to present their own work in the future. Every way has its own pros and cons too; we will be going over them as well.

Igniting your imagination

LECTURES BY Eugene Huang
Course Start: Oct 03, 2024
Austin Faber is a Story Artist, Director and Character Designer, most recently known for his work on "The Owl House," "The Cuphead Show," and "Jessica's Big Little World." After graduating from Sheridan College in 2019, he interned at Disney Television Animation, then moved to Netflix shortly after, with his last project being "The Witch Boy," where he was both a Story and Visual Development Artist.

In addition to mentoring rising talent and creating fun & unorthodox stories to make others smile, he is currently one of the directors of Black 'n Animated, and an active voice for LGBQT+ artists in the industry.

Instructor's Gallery

Concept Art
Concept Art
Concept Art

PRICING SCHEDULE

Even though our courses are the most affordable for the quality of education, these finance options allow you to focus on your goals instead of the barriers that keep you from reaching them.

3x Payments

$233

2x Payments

$349.50

Full payment

$699

Fall TERM REGISTRATION Now Open
Jul 17, 2024 - Oct 07, 2024
COURSE BEGINS on Oct 03, 2024
Storyboarding For Animation

What makes this learning experience unique?

PERSONALIZED FEEDBACK

Receive personalized feedback on all assignments from the industry’s top professionals.

LIFETIME ACCESS

Enjoy lifetime access to the spectrum of course content, including lectures, live Q&As, and feedback sessions.

CERTIFICATION

Show off your Certification of Completion when you turn in 80% of course assignments.

FLEXIBLE LEARNING

Learn anywhere, anytime, and at your own pace with flexible, online course scheduling.

Testimonials

It helping me break my bad habits that built up over the years.

Kevin

This class helped me apply so much more to my artistic knowledge and skills than I could have on my own, it offered very relative information and a new perspective that makes me look forward to learning about the subject even more than when I started.

Alana

Super helpful! I feel like a much more confident board artist now.

Morgan

It helped swiftly acquiring a good set of tools to handle storyboard! Looking at the beginning of the course, the progress is quite great.

Daniel

I got a lot better at thinking about action, emotion and acting in my work as well as sequential storytelling.

Britton

Made me a lot, lot faster. Got me thinking in a much better way and framing my shots a great deal better. Would recommend.

Lousie

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