Introduction to Animation

Way back when I was taking animation at Sheridan College in 1978, it was actually my second choice. I originally wanted to take Comic Art but they had just phased the course out of existence and the next best option was animation. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to be in animation. I loved animation and did lots of experimenting when I was a kid. I just thought being a comic book artist would be more fun.

Anyway, The first class we had was an introduction to animation by our teacher, Bill Matthews. Bill began his career at the Disney Studio in 1955 and worked in the animation department for a number of years. He then became a one-man animation department at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena at the beginning of their Space Exploration Program. In 1968 he was invited to Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario where, along with Dick Friezen he co-founded the now famous animation training program.

Bill was our 1st year animation instructor.

Fast forward to the year 2000. I had been teaching at Sheridan College from 1988 to 2001 when they decided, for some reason to “clean out” the animation department and all it’s files which included old curriculum, letters, and lecture notes. I came in just as the garbage bins were being filled and managed to save a couple of boxes of these documents. Years later as I began to sift through them to see what I had, I came across a mimeographed copy of the introductory speech he gave us (which I recalled that he had given us that very first day of classes).

I read through the transcript and was amazed at how closely it matched the many times I had given a similar speech to my own students. The words obviously penetrated my mind and continue to resonate even today.

Here’s what he said:

“I’d like to welcome you all to the first year of the animation program. I want to introduce you today, to some of the “objectives and goals” of animation, which I’ve chosen to title, “The Here and Now”.

The absolute must "objective" of this first year is for you to master the knowledge, the facts and theories that will allow you to learn, practice and work the basic skills of animation.

It then follows that your goal should be to reach for this objective to the best of your ability.

Sounds simple enough. But is it?

For the moment, let’s forget the “Here and Now” and look into the future when you will be on your own, pounding the pavement, looking for your first job in the animation industry.

What will be your goals and objectives then? A good job? An interesting job? A nice salary? Any job you can get?

Now think again. What will the quality of your life be then? Will you be happy? Will you value your worth? Will you be bored? Will you be able to let yourself live? Will your roll in life be rewarding?

Now thinking of your answers, of the things you value, again ask yourself the question... “Will my future objectives and goals be different than my present objectives and goals?”

Think it out. Which will be different? Which will be the same? Discuss it in your head. What is your roll in life? What can I do for myself? For my teachers? Why am I here? Why are my teachers here?

Think this out well. And strangely enough, we think you will find the answer to this rather complex (and personal) matter, this problem of knowing who you are and where you’re going (and where your teachers are going) comes down to a simple concept and method of solution... which for the moment we can call, “The Facts of Life That Take More Than Talent in the Best and Good Use of the Here and Now”... or “The Forever Here and Now!”

Just a thought here, have you ever noticed how the present “here and now” can quickly become your future “here and now”. We are always in the “here and now”. Put off “here and now” and it will still be “here and now” when you get to it. “Here and now” is always “here and now”.

So, let us think about the best use of “here and now” right here and now.

Let’s talk about the education of the animation person, or “It takes more than talent”, or “The facts of life”.

Before getting into the specific “facts of life” objectives, we we want you to know that you the students are the very reason for the being of this school. And we, your teachers are here because you (and your community) desired us to be here to service your needs and ambitions in your desire to become animation people.

But also as your teachers, we want you to know that we are not here to tolerate irresponsibility to yourself or to others.

There is so much to study, to grasp, to practice, to make work in this art that even if you were to stay at it until you collapsed each and every day, you probably would not be able to completely master this difficult and complex art form in your three years here.

Naturally, we do not expect you to work that hard, but we do expect you to allow yourselves to get as much from this course as your capacities and your drive and energy will permit.

But if we discover any irresponsibility on your part, to yourselves or to others, in any form or manifestation, we will come down hard, fair but hard! Enough said?

Now let us consider some other facts of life.

No complete system of training has been developed to meet all your needs as aspiring animation people. Not here, and as far as we know, nowhere on this earth. And it is true that no one teacher can anticipate or answer all your needs in studying animation.

Teaching animation is difficult, especially considering the present day limitations of overcrowding, tight budgets, lack of requisite training, and so forth and so on.

And yet at the same time we have a fine record of training people who can get and hold down animation jobs. In fact, most of those who graduate.

How is this possible? Perhaps some observations on the scope and the limitations of our animation course may be helpful.

You are enrolled as students of animation.

You may be eager to learn, willing to work, curious to discover, inventive and talented.

Or, you may be a student whose abilities are lacking, who has no initiative and whose desires for enlightenment are practically nil.

Obviously not may of you will find yourselves at these extremes. Not many of you are so great that you will need little or no teaching. And if you are at the other end of the extreme you are probably in need of more enlightenment than we are equipped to give.

But fortunately, you are probably more typical. Somewhere inbetween, a mixture of these two extremes. For example, you may be talented and lack initiative, curious but not inventive, imaginative but incapable, and so forth.

This is where our job as teachers and students begins.

Our job as teachers then is to find these abilities in you, both good and bad.

Your job as students then is to demonstrate your abilities in an open and honest manner.

Our objective is to teach you as much as possible, allowing you to develop to the best of your ability.

Your objective should be to learn as much as you are capable of allowing yourself and us to teach you.

But obviously, to accomplish these noble and fine objectives, something has to happen along the way.

What are they?

As teachers we will try to anticipate your needs, give you sympathetic patient attention and most importantly, demonstrate to you the skills and self disciplines which will allow you to learn and create within your best capabilities.

As students you should reciprocate and demonstrate your willingness to study, to be attentive to detail, to question, to think and to work to the best of your abilities.

If we work at these objectives with enthusiasm we will be able to communicate. And if we are capable of communicating, we will be able to work together, to effectively and objectively identify your individual talents, needs, peculiararities and potentialities.

So don’t be afraid to communicate, no matter how afraid you are.

And above all - don’t be afraid to ask stupid* questions, or to think aloud.

* Stupid - lacking in understanding, benumbed or dazed state of mind, sometimes temporary.

We don’t expect you to be brilliant scholars, at least not in the beginning. You must start somewhere. And by definition, when you ask a question, or think aloud about something you know nothing or little about, it is bound to sound stupid. But do not fret.

We realize that you will not understand and be overwhelmed when confronting all of the new knowledge we will put to you. But also we won’t know how dazed or misunderstood we are if you don’t communicate.

We must learn to communicate effectively! The sooner, the better, “Here and Now”!

Also to this point, we would like you to see that there are ways of communicating other than by mouth. There are books to read, peers to observe (and talk with), paper to draw on (and write on)... many, many ways of communicating. But probably the greatest way of communicating ever devised by man is the one you will be studying.

So learning to communicate is very necessary if you expect to succeed in this course or in this art called animation.

The next “fact of life” we will take up is self-discipline.

Earlier, we discussed irresponsibility to yourself and others. This behavior is a part of self-discipline, but the self-discipline we are now discussing is more than just bad, overt social behavior. (Perhaps irresponsibility could be called “other-discipline” because it is so easily seen and corrected by others.)

The self-discipline we are now dealing with is difficult to describe. Even ‘Webster’s definition’ leaves much to be desired: “Self-discipline; correction or government of oneself for the sake of improvement.” No one word can really describe it. It has been called: resolve, will, purpose, perseverance, seriousness, so forth and so on. But not even all these words together describe it.

But we know it exists. It’s in each of our heads, struggling away. But each of our heads is just different enough to make a discussion about self-discipline damn difficult. (Bill liked to use the words “damn” and “hell” alot.)

Self-discipline is more than being on time, meeting dead-lines, and working when you are tired. Relentless endeavour is part of it, but it is even more than working until you drop. (In fact, if this happens, you are probably lacking in self-discipline.)

It is more than the intellect trained to cope with the lonely struggle of just you alone and a damn big pile of blank paper. But perhaps, it is in that time you discover that drawings don’t jump off the end of your pencil.

Whatever it is, it is perhaps the only discipline in animation that is meaningful. We may not know exactly what it is but we do know that it is the only discipline that is both constructive and productive.

And we know that the struggle to develop self-discipline never really goes away. In fact the more successful you become, the more difficult maintaining self-discipline becomes. You must constantly work at it and with it.

So we hope you will find this objective. You won’t be able to succeed in animation without it. But with it you’ll be surprised how easy it is to succeed.

Now, let’s deal with the “Art and Science of Animation” or “The Talent Objectives”.

Our experience has shown that to be successful, the student of animation must meet these requirements:

1. Good draftsmanship.
Animation requires a sound, solid drawing ability. A must!

2. The ability to be prolific.
Drawing must come easily.

3. The ability to intently observe.
The careful attention to detail. Visual memory.

4. A sense of caricature.
The ability to portray character, emotion and atmosphere by drawing. The art of acting on paper.

5. A sense of discernment.
The ability to tastefully choose. To use discrimination for purpose. Editing.

6. A sense of timing.
The ability to express mood and feeling with rhythm and time. Music sense. Dance sense. Action sense.

7. A sense of story.
The ability to logically express an idea through animation drawing.

8. The ability to think creatively.
Problem solving. The ability to originate.

Of all these objectives, none can be ignored.

But do not let this frighten you, they are not that difficult to master if you take them one at a time.

There is a logic to their order of numbering. For example, drawing is number one for a reason. An animator or layout artist is primarily a creative draftsman. They must be able to express ideas clearly, forcibly and quickly with a pencil. In order to do this they must thoroughly understand and practice the art of drawing.

It then follows that they must be prolific.

When you are prolific in drawing, you will then be able to instantly observe and record your observations and with a sense of action, emotion and rhythm.

You will then be able to intelligently and creatively relate a story and action by drawing, and so on.

So it should be seen that the ability to draw is the rock-hard-true foundation of animation.

If you master drawing all else will follow. There is nothing in our list of “talent objectives” more difficult to master.

In fact, learning to draw will help you master all the others.

And always remember that you can not learn to draw by good intentions, or wishing.

YOU LEARN TO DRAW BY DRAWING!

“Further thoughts” or “You’ll love it or you’ll hate it”

You are studying a medium which is difficult, complex and demanding. The skills techniques and analysis required by this profession are exacting.

There are going to be days when you will wonder if all the strain, struggle and just damn hard work are worth it.

But if you try taking one step at a time, you will learn the language of animation, the elements of it’s structure, the way it can be organized and used.

Then one quiet day, the clouds will part and behold, the sun will shine, and you will recognize the extraordinary potentialities and power of animation. You will see and truly understand the fullness and enjoyment and satisfaction to be found in the creation of animation. It will be glorious! You will feel great! Fantastic!

You will find that your desires can be reached through your skills and your initiative. The screen will be alive with your creation.

If this doesn’t happen... at least you tried.

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So, that's the speech we were given all those many years ago... more than 30 for me now. I've spent over 22 years teaching at the college level now and as I look back, it's amazing just how true they all turned out to be. There's nothing to contradict here. It's like he actually knew what he was talking about.

If you're reading this, you're probably right at the very start of your educational career in 1st year. Heed these words well.

The only thing I would add to this, which he really didn't get into at all, would be: Why am I teaching instead of doing?

I'm sure this has gone through every student's mind at some point... ususally when the student, not happy with the feedback they've received decides the instructor doesn't have what it actually takes to work in a studio, so they have to resort to teaching instead. It's a defence mechanism that students have built into their brains. I questioned my instructors abilities. In hindsight, (and to my own personal shame) I didn't give them enough credit for what they had done in their careers.

Being a teacher now, I get the same thing from the students. Some are polite enough to actually ask me face-to-face and I answer them with my reasons, which they accept and we move on.

For me, teaching was a choice. I wasn't forced into it, I was asked. It came at a very opportune time in my career. I was working for Nelvana, where I had been working since I got out of college. (Aside from a couple of short, 1 year stints at Hanna-Barbera and Atkinson's up in Ottawa.) Things were going very badly at Nelvana and I left the studio with a very sour taste in my mouth with regards to the industry and studio life in general. I made a silent vow that I would never work for Nelvana again (and possibly any other studio as far as I was concerned). I got a phone call from the coordinator at Sheridan College at the time, Wayne Gilbert. He asked if I was interested in teaching Layout & Character Design. There weren't actually any layout or character design courses at the time, so I had to write the curriculum.

I was in charge of reviewing portfolios at Nelvana and I can remember seeing a lot of Sheridan students who didn't know anything about layout. When I started teaching, I made sure that these students got everything they needed to get a job in a layout department within the first year. The course was pretty packed with information. The course materials that I used that first year eventually turned into my first book: Layout and Design Made Amazingly Simple. There wasn't any other material on layouts available at the time, so I had to write it myself.

My goal, right from the very beginning, that continues to this day is to help students understand how they can learn to make animated cartoons, whether it's character designs, layouts, storyboards, animation, or sculpting.

I hope this website and the course I'll be teaching you will help you grow as an artist.