Animation Design .
Master - Milan
Start date : 01/2017
Language : english
As a result of the dissemination of the Internet and the digital media outlets, the creation and distribution of animated content have increased dramatically on an international scale and in every relevant sector: advertising, TV series and specials, feature films, the increasingly popular short films and docufiction films, not to mention the growing demand for animations in the fields of video games and cross- and trans-media projects for the Web, tablets, and mobile devices. Animation skills are also in increasing demand in terms of special effects for cinema and television productions.
Professional opportunities :
Participants can enter the professional field of Animation and Crossmedia/Transmedia production, which currently includes: independent production companies, research and design studios, service agencies, internal departments at broadcasting corporations, and specialised departments at Publishing Houses.
The Masters course prepares and qualifies the participants for the following positions: Concept artist, Character designer, Ambient designer, Story board (+ Layout) artist (Preproduction); 2D Character Animator; 3D Character animator; Production Assistant; Compositor (Production).
Description :
The Masters course is primarily aimed at consolidating and updating participants' skills in terms of animation concept design, with special attention being dedicated to the themes, content and styles that characterise modern animations.
It highlights certain points of the modern production workflow, which have been introduced by studios that are currently using new artistic solutions and techniques (Emerging Tools) to create series and feature films:
- 2D / 3D integration;
- Cut-outs (Puppet Animation);
- Frame-by-Frame Paperless Animation;
- Post-production, VFX.
These "nodes" also include the pursuit of style, which is taken to mean the synthesis of the concept's foundations - the expressive and aesthetic purposes - and the creative choices.The programme is divided into three main sections: Design, Technical/Instrumental Skills and Production/Marketing.
The programme initially focuses upon a number of modules dedicated to improving and fine-tuning the students' skills in terms of concept design, preproduction and animation, which are then flanked by other lessons that provide the necessary technical and instrumental expertise.
Once these topics have been covered, the teachers will monitor the design and creation of a number of projects:
- a project dossier, either individually or as part of a team, to be presented to the Pitch committees of the most important international Festivals (Appel à Projects in Annecy; Pitch Me! at Cartoons on the Bay);
- a communication project (with simulated client brief) on a social or educational topic;
- a thesis project: consisting of a short-film, a series pilot, or a cross-media project, either individually or as part of a team;
At the end of the Masters course the students are required to present a personal showreel (self-presentation) updated to include their latest projects.
Faculty :
LAURA FIORI: coordinator
She began her career as art director in the 1980s at ‘Lanterna Magica’ in Turin. From 1990 to 1991 she served as author and adviser for the RAI children's production L’Albero Azzurro. In 1994 she became director of pilot production for the ‘Zen Stories’ series financed by Cartoon Media; in 1998 she began making animated short films and projects for interactive media. From 2003 to 2004 she took part in the RAI Product Innovation Commission. From 1989 to 2002 she was Digital and Virtual Design scientific advisor and teaching coordinator at IED Milan. Since 2002 she has been the 3D Animation and Visual Effects teacher at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Animazione (Turin).
Fusako Yusaki
Fusako Yusaki frequented the Faculty of Interior Architecture at Tokyo's Bijutsu Joshi Daigaku, and went on to earn her degree in Creative Design in 1960. At the start of her career she dedicated herself to 3D sculpture and creating children's parks. She won the Special Prize for concrete sculptures at the Nika Kai competition in 1963, and the Silver Award in 1964. That same year she arrived in Italy, where she attended the Brera Academy to perfect her studies in 3D art and the metamorphosis of matter. Fusako Yusaki went on to collaborate with the Lithosphere Department at the National Research Council of Genoa and IED Milan, and also began creating and producing films independently, for which she has won several prizes and awards at various international festivals. She has also served as a jury member for a number of important animated film festivals.
Enrico Paganoni
Having begun his professional career in 1982, Enrico Paganoni began working as a traditional animator in 1987, and went on to gain extensive experience of every possible kind of 2D and 3D animation, including digital technologies. In 1992, he founded Locomotion Srl. He resumed his freelance work in 1998, providing 2D and 3D animation services for commercials, music videos, film and television, while at the same time developing his own projects. He has been a professor at the European Institute of Design in Milan since 1992.
Alfio Bastiancich
Alfio Bastiancich is currently a producer of animated television programmes and series. He was the founder and President of the Italian chapter of the Association Internationale du Film d’Animation (Asifa Italy) and served as director of Asifa’s international magazine “Animafilm” for many years. He has authored various articles, essays and books, including two monographs on Norman McLaren and Lotte Reiniger. He has served as a board member for the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin and for the Cartoon-Media Programme. He has also been a professor at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (Rome), for which he established the Animation Department (Turin, 2001). From 1995 to 2008 he served as an animation consultant for RAI, where he also created and directed “Cartoons on the Bay”, the International Television Animation Festival. In the special issue published to mark its 15th anniversary, Hollywood’s “Animation Magazine” ranked him among the European animation industry's fifteen most influential people.
Bruno Bozzetto
Bruno Bozzetto has produced three feature length animated films ("West&Soda", "Vip my brother superman", and "Allegro non troppo"), as well as many animated shorts. He has been awarded numerous prizes, including the Golden Bear for "Mister Tao" at the Berlin Film Festival in 1990, and an Oscar nomination for "Grasshoppers" in 1991. He has also received five Lifetime Achievement Awards and an Honorary Degree. Together with Piero Angela, he has directed over a hundred educational animated shorts on scientific topics. His best known animated character is Mister Rossi. Since 2000, Bruno Bozzetto has been devoting his time to Flash animations for the web, and has enjoyed enormous success. Today, with the full support of his new Milan-based production Studio (Studio Bozzetto&Co.), Bruno Bozzetto has been working on new 2D and 3D animated television series.
Enrico Paganoni
Having begun his professional career in 1982, Enrico Paganoni began working as a traditional animator in 1987, and went on to gain extensive experience of every possible kind of 2D and 3D animation, including digital technologies. In 1992, he founded Locomotion Srl. He resumed his freelance work in 1998, providing 2D and 3D animation services for commercials, music videos, film and television, while at the same time developing his own projects. He has been a professor at the European Institute of Design in Milan since 1992.
Subjetcs :
The Design Section
- Concept Design for animation
- Character Design
- Ambient Design
- Preproduction: from the subject to the storyboard (Bible)
- Previsualisation techniques
- ANIMATION: stylistic research, recitatives, innovation
- Direction
- Soundtrack
- Development of interactive digital content (Cross and Transmedia)
The Technical/Instrumental Section
- 3D Character Animation (Autodesk MAYA)
- Indepth study of Rigging, Shading, Lighting and Rendering (Autodesk MAYA)
- Previsualisation techniques (3D set construction, posing, camera movements)
- 2D Animation: ToonBoom Harmony, T.B. Storyboard
- Compositing (advanced techniques) and effects
- Workshop: Stop Motion - PerformanceCapture, etc.
Production and Marketing
- Production Management
- Business management: financing, international co-productions, licensing and distribution.
IED: an international network...
For almost fifty years, the Istituto Europeo di Design has been operating in the fields of education and research in the disciplines of design, fashion, visual communication and management. Today, the IED is a constantly expanding international network that issues first-level academic diplomas and organises three-year courses, Masters courses, continuous professional development and advanced training courses.