GRAP 2028

Animation Design

Study period 2, 2025

Assessment  (70%)

This project contributes to addressing the following Course Objectives:

CO1. Demonstrate understanding  of animation principles, production methods and how they are utilised to inform. the development of contemporary works of animation

CO2. Produce animation through design processes and experimentation with animation principles

CO3. Apply the skills to operate studio equipment and software required to create animation

CO4. Demonstrate understanding of animation production for professional practice

Project 2: Lip sync (Part A) and Self-Directed Project (Part B)

(70% of total course)

Aim

Part A is to visually generate and express convincing mouth movements synchronised with sound

Part B is to create a new looped animation that seamlessly repeats and runs for at least 5 seconds.

Objective

Part A: As a result of this project students will generate and express convincing mouth movements synchronised with sound (speech). Using the Character, you developed in Project 1 demonstrate animation fluidity of speech, by synchronising their characters mouth movement with sound. In addition, they will develop an understanding of how to translate the style. of their original character design into appropriate mouth movement and design.

Part B As a result of this project students will be able to polish their previous character and generate a background scene and narrative concept by applying learning outcomes from Project 1, whilst developing an animated loop.

Method/Approach

Part A - Lip Sync project involves the following:

1.    Source a dialogue between 2 to 3 seconds long. This dialogue can be found from a live action source or self-recorded, it should not belong to animated properties (movies, series, shorts, etc) or comedy shows with laugher in the background (stand-up comedy, comedy tv series, etc). Consider the character design developed during project 1, their personality, age, gender and cultural   background. Choose a dialogue that could be delivered by your character facing the camera in general.

2.    Act out the chosen dialogue according to your character’s personality. Record yourself (at least 2 takes) performing the action, mostly facing the camera.

Deliver the lines in a believable way, using gestures and body language to enhance the emotion behind them.  Note that the animation must last at least 5 seconds, meaning that the character should be actively animated during this time, even if the dialogue lasts 2 to 3 seconds.

3.    Create a rough version of your character’s mouth shapes considering various phonemes and the Toon Boom naming protocol. Draw these on a front view, initially. Using a mirror is recommended, as well as human face-gestures references. (You may want to sketch some of your character’s face gestures in order to understand their bone structure, skin elasticity and limitations).

4.    Create a rough animation of your character’s performance using as a reference one of the takes recorded of yourself acting out the dialogue. Use animation principles like timing, staging, exaggeration, silhouette and shape language to enhance the emotion and emphasize particular sounds or specific words. Think of the rhythm created between stillness and movement as well.

5.    Connect mouth movement to character animation. Adapt mouth shapes to head movement (angles and rotations). Modify timing and poses if necessary. Remember to develop convincing mouth movements to create the effect that    your character is making sounds and speech.

6.    Polish the entire animation focusing on timing. Clean up the line-work. Colour your character modifying the palette according to the mood transmitted by the  dialogue.

Part B - Self Directed Project involves the following:

1.    Using your character’s face, practice a simple animated “take” (reaction), applying the smear effect. Line only. This practice will help you to use the effect on your animated loop.

2.    Brainstorm the concept for the 5 seconds animated loop with addition to the sound that may be required in the scene. Generate a rough storyboard for clarity, considering the project’s aspect ratio. Remember that in a loop the end of the narrative cycles back to its beginning in a seamless connection of events. Make sure your character is performing in a particular environment and include 2 to 3 shots on your storyboard.

3.    Review your character’s design if needed.

4.    Devise new SIMPLE concepts for the backgrounds, considering your storyboard and composition for effective visual storytelling. Plan the colour, lighting and use of shape-language according to the mood intended. Follow the process explained in class (thumbnails, mood-board, sketches considering shape language and tones, size relationship variations, colour palette tests).

5.    Begin the animation process (Keyframes, Breakdowns and In-betweens).

Incorporate evidence and consideration of the 12 animation principles. Present an Animatic with a rough animation before working on the polished version.

6.    Incorporate the sound effects / music needed.

7.    Polish your animation focusing on timing. Clean up the line-work and colour your character and background according to the mood.

Technical Specifications

You will need to submit:

Part A:

•     Animation:

-    Length: at least 5 seconds (potentially 120 frames), including 2-3 seconds of dialogue.

-    Frame. rate: 24 frames per second

-    Screen ratio: HD (1920 x 1080)

-    File type: .mp4 OR .mov

•     Toom Boom Work FOLDER (including your Lip sync animation)

•     The sound files used as .MP3 files

•     Your video reference (recording of yourself) as .MP4

Part B:

•     Animation:

-    Should incorporate most of the animation principles

-    Length: at least 5 seconds (potentially 120 frames)

-    Should be Looped twice for presentation in submission file

-    Frame. rate: 24 frames per second

-    Screen ratio: HD (1920 x 1080)

-    File type: .mp4 OR .mov

•     Toom Boom Work FOLDER (including your animated loop)

•     Animatic: .mp4, 24 fps, looped twice.

•     The sound files used as .MP3 files

•     An organized PDF containing:

-    Storyboard (considering aspect ratio, clear)

-    Background Mood-board

-    2 rough thumbnail Background designs per shot, derived from the same story concept (line)

-    1 rough colour sketch of the most descriptive shot.

-    1 rough concept art of your character in the most descriptive shot.

-    Final background paintings for each shot.

-    A page for referenced images (Mood-board)

File Naming Protocol:

Part A

•     Surname_LipSync_Animation_GRAP2028_SP2_2025.mp4 (or .mov)

•     Surname_LipSync_ToonBoomFolder_GRAP2028_SP2_2025

•     Surname_LipSync_Sound_GRAP2028_SP2_2025.mp3

•     Surname_LipSync_ReferenceVideo_GRAP2028_SP2_2025.mp4

Part B:

•     Surname_Take_Animation_GRAP2028_SP2_2025.mp4

•     Surname_Loop_Animation_GRAP2028_SP2_2025.mp4 (or .mov)

•     Surname_Loop_ToonBoomFolder_GRAP2028_SP2_2025

•     Surname_Loop_Animatic_GRAP2028_SP2_2025.mp4

•     Surname_Loop_Sound_GRAP2028_SP2_2025.mp3

•     Surname_Loop_WorkFile_GRAP2028_SP2_2025.pdf