Actionscript
Quick Reference Card
Fundamentals reviewed
Chapter 5 Assignment due Thurs. Oct. 3:
Your Flash movies are starting to include some interactivity. From here on you'll build more and more functionality into your movies.
Start with your current animation
1. Add a scene and name it.
2. Add a bitmap to the new scene using the Import command
3. Trace the bitmap and change the thresholds to change the image
4. Add buttons to the new scene and old scene - taking you back an forth between scenes
using the actionscript described on pages 109-110
5. Organize your library into at least three folders with named symbols

1 Midterm Topics
I. Questions developed by student presentations on the history of animation (50%)
Questions for Midterm – COM 413 Fall 2007

Early days of animation
1. How did the zoetrope work – parts and action and who invented it?
2. How did theater optique work – parts and action and who invented it?
3. What was the motion picture model that Thomas Edison is credited with and how did it work?

Fred Moore (Brian Ackley)
1 What was Fred Moore’s greatest contribution to animation?
2 What led to his “downfall”
3 What are some of the pictures he worked on?

Ollie Johnston (Jonathan Batson)
1. What did the sign on Ollie’s desk read and how would you interpret it?
2. What award did Ollie win in 2005?
3. Which two of Ollie’s characters demonstrate the emotion and relationship that he was known for?

Frank Thomas (Stephanie Bugenis)
1. What does “nine old men” mean?
2. Who did Frank Thomas publish a book with and what was the name of the book?
3. Name three examples of Frank Thomas’ work.

Friz Freleng (Gregory Davis)
1. Why did Freleng and his partners start up their own company(DePatie-Freleng)?
2. Which Character did Freleng create that was his signature achievement? 3.What award did the Pink Panther receive in 1965? Academy Award for Best

Tex Avery (Nick Denato)
1. Name 3 characters that Tex Avery created.
2. What caused Tex to become blind?
3. Where did he come up with the catch phrase “What’s up doc?”

Leon Schlesinger (Mawuena Djamie)
1. In which two series did he and his animators introduce us to the cast of characters we know today?
2. Name two animators who worked for him
3. What two main events was he known for?

Jay Ward (Kala Dunning)

1. What was Jay Wards most significant contribution to the animation industry and why was it so successful?
2. What are three of Jay Wards most recognizable works?
3. What two animators did Jay Ward work closest with?


Bob Clampett (Steven Forte)

1. Name three of his most famous cartoons?
2. Which artist greatly influenced his style and what was that style?
3. He won emmys for what two shows that were produced by which studio?

Paul Dini (Shanon Hurst)

1. What was his main focus in animation?
2. Best known works?
3. Year hired to work at WB?

John Musker (Anthony Mara)
1. What Disney classics fascinated Musker?
2. Which animator did he work with since 1958?
3. Which of his movies won an Oscar?
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Ron Clements (Brandon Mitchell)
•
1. What studio did he work for when he began his career ?
2. What two films won Best Animation?
3. What training program was he accepted into?

Milt Kahl (Justin Shea)
1. Name 3 characters he animated
2. What legendary core group of animators was he a part of at Disney?
3. Which Disney short made him want to become an animator?
•
Andreas Deja (Chris Senez)
1. What group of animators was Deja part of?
2. What does CGI stand for and why was it important in animation?
3. Name any 2 films for which he was the supervising animator.

Wolfgang Reitherman (Christopher Wojtanowski)
1. What was Reithermans nickname?
2. What Short film did Mr. Reitherman win an Academy Award for in 1969?
3. What distinguishing medal did Reitherman get while fighting in WWII?


II. Flash techniques - in class exam - closed book
Chapters 1-5 – You will be asked to create a small project using a subset of the following techniques:
a. Behaviors
b. Motion tweens
c. Naming and using layers, library, and the timeline
d. Drawing tools, strokes, fills, rectangles, pencil, brush, polystar, guides and alignment
e. Motion Guides
f. Easing
g. Buttons
h. Library
i. Property Inspector
j. ActionScript
k.Staggering animation
l. Alpha effect
m. Tracing images to create vector art

2. History of Animation

1. Kinetic text animation created by Russ Kahn and Noel Benoit.
2. Handout - Advantages and Disadvantages of the Studio System
3. Examples from other semesters
4. Legends at Disney site
5. Voices of Animation - Podcast interviews with stars in animation

3Animation Tools and Resources

• "Now I Feel" Flash-based site by Sony.
• Early films by Edison using the Kinetoscope
  
• Principles of graphic design site done in Flash - Mundi Design Site.
  
• Interesting site that uses the Flash Video player showing use of speeding up the frame rate
  
• Resources
  • Flare processes an SWF and extracts all scripts from it. The output is written to a single text file. Only ActionScript is extracted, no text or images. Flare is freeware. Windows, Mac OS X and Linux versions are available.
  • Sound Libraries
    
  • Free sound effects
  • sound-effects-library.com
  • Font Library
  • dafont.com
  • Actionscript Library and Flash Tutorials
  • http://www.actionscript.org
    
  • Audio Software
    • http://audacity.sourceforge.net
  • • 
      
  • Source of examples, tutorials, and tools in Flash. It includes the mudbubble tutorial for add 3-D effects.
    • Keyframer
• Storyboarding
  • Five Stages of Plot - A Flash-based site showing the stages of plot