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World Festival of Animated Film /
short and feature edition 5 to 10 June 2017
World Festival of Animated Film / short and feature edition 5 to 10 June 2017
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Pooja_id

ANIMAFEST PRO | ANIMAFEST SCANNER IIII - Symposium for Contemporary Animation Studies | PANEL 3: ANIMATION IN THE MIND

People We Know - Pooja Pottenkulam - University of East London - United Kingdom

7/06 WED 12:10 - 12:40 Chilloutka, Ilica 15/1

‘I think you have to know these fellows definitely before you can draw them.’- Walt Disney

While observational drawing of people is an essential part of the animation filmmaking process, the accurate interpretation of personalities is a far more vital part of the process of creating believable characters and convincing narratives. People We Know is series of three animation projects that has been designed to embed this learning as part of the animator’s education at BA Honours level. An education in animation filmmaking requires students to maintain an ongoing practice of observation, recording and reflection, which is appropriately guided. The learning and teaching design in the People We Know project has been informed by constitutional, cognitive and developmental psychology, in order to provide appropriate tools for both the students and animation staff to accurately reflect on the observations and recordings. The first two projects introduce students to character design. Students are required to select friends and family as subjects.

Drawing from found and documented material, the outcomes of the first two projects include fictional and non-fictional narratives, as anecdotal comic strips, pieces of writing, as well as traditional character design outputs such as model sheets and expression sheets to illustrate aspects of the selected subject’s personalities. Feeding forward learning from the first two projects, the third project entails observation and recording members of the local community to edit and shape animated documentaries to illustrate specific aspects of the se­lected people’s personalities. By comparing examples of student work produced through the three projects, this paper proposes to examine the effectiveness of the design and delivery of learning materials, and tools for assessment, in enabling students to create believable characters and convincing narratives.

Pooja Pottenkulam is an animation lecturer at the University of East London. Her training in animation includes a first degree from the National Institute of Design in India and an MA in animation from the Royal College of Art, London. She is a practicing animation filmmaker, whose films have been screened in various animation festivals internationally. She also illustrates children’s books for Scholastic on a regular basis and has illustrated over 40 books. While she maintains a prac­tice as an independent animation filmmaker and illustrator, she also continues with research work with in animation pedagogy.