Teaching Animation in China (Adventures of an Animation Geek in China)

The most exciting part of teaching animation is that every student must find the story in them that needs telling. We build up their skill set, teaching them how to transform their story into a script, how to breathe life into a character they have designed from scratch, how to get their character to speak and communicate with their movements as well as their mouths.

The beauty of being English and teaching animation in China is that I bring many western made films over that many of the students have never seen before and I have the privilege of watching them enjoy these films for the first time. An example of this is when we hosted our weekly film night for the students and we played “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”. That first time Jessica Rabbit steps from behind the curtain of the night club and she begins interacting with real people is a jaw dropping now as it was then.

Clip taken from the film, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?".

Also, the students have shared with me films that I previously was not aware of and many Chinese stories and folk law tales that inspire them, giving me a unique insight into Chinese culture.

Chinese students are very kind and respectful, and eager to learn. They are a pleasure to teach which makes my job much easier. I have felt very welcomed during my time here so far.

I shall be sharing through my blog a variety of techniques taught in class. We will be looking at the various stages of creating an animated film and how it is structured:

Pre-production - Narrative, script writing and storyboards, designing and building a character and their environment, recording audio etc.

Production - Animating their characters and the world around them

Post Production - Sound design, Special effects and editing to bring the whole piece together.

We shall also be looking at a variety of artists within various animation mediums such as stop motion, 3D CGI and 2D both digital and traditional. The students will have an opportunity to try out each of these principles in practice, not just theory.

Tomorrow will be my first day back teaching animation in China. We have a whole new year group coming up this time.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing the films our students produce this semester.

Please follow the blog for short animation tutorials, shared work and general animation geekery!

Thanks Steemit

Charlotte 😊