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Check out the Mass Comm Animation elective

     The Mass Comm. Department offers many interesting electives, and Fundamentals of Animation is one of the best.  It is taught by Professor Heather Weibell Tullio, and is offered only to juniors and seniors.  It is only offered in the spring semester (for now). The curriculum covers the basics of traditional animation and then moves into the newest form of animation-- computer generated images.  When she first started here as a professor of film, Professor Tullio showed some of the faculty her computer animation. The positive response to her work encouraged her to teach a course in animation. This subject is very new to colleges around the country. But student interest in the subject has encouraged the development at select schools.  Because very few schools offer this type of course, FPC is unique.  The course has a structure of 3 main units:

1. History of animation- students learn about the roots of their craft.

2. “How to” animate- students learn the basics of the computer program.

3. Actually animating- students utilize their creative skills to create a cool product.

     Tullio is excited about the opportunities that the class presents for FPC students.

     “Mass Comm. and Graphic Arts students can use their skills in a new way,” Tullio said of the class.  Additional, more advanced animation courses are in the works, but it may take a few years for them to really come into fruition.

     Computer animation began in the early to mid 1980s and was very rare, but now is a prominent art form.  The idea of 3-D computer animation is pretty new.  The class is taught with a computer program called “Lightwave,” which is a 3-D animation generator.  Students use the textbook/manual to go through and learn the various keyboard commands and how to get from a few lines to a moving, talking character.

     It is kept as a junior level course because, according to Tullio, it “requires a lot of time and patience.” Because of its complexity, only students with the proper back ground of prerequisites would be admitted to the class. If you have the motivation and the patience, Animation is the class for you.