Jack Bosson, Department Chair
jack.bosson@woodbury.edu

A successful animator is an actor and, above all, a storyteller. Woodbury provides the foundation courses that will develop your talents enabling you to give the performance and make it compulsive viewing. Woodbury's Animation program will develop your fundamental visual art skills with courses in figure drawing and design. You will learn basic character design and storyboarding, along with acting techniques to teach you how to simulate realistic movement and train you in the art of transferring drama and emotions to your scenes.

The role of computer technology in today's world is dramatically changing how we communicate and how we acquire and interact with information. Woodbury covers the entire range of digital 3-D animation as well as traditional animation techniques. We look upon computer animation technology as merely another tool with which to tell a story, bring characters to life and give unique expression to your ideas.

Woodbury's Animation major is supported by an excellent General Education program designed to further dev elop the depth and enhance the imaginative possibilities of your talents. Our Storytelling course will help you understand how to create and develop convincing characters and give you a basic understanding of story structure. Our course in the History of Animation will give you insights into how it was all done before. Courses in literature, writing, psychology, communications, business and economics, to name a few, will help you further understand your chosen profession.

Woodbury University is located in Burbank, California, merely a few blocks away from several major animation production studios including Disney, Warner Brothers, Dreamworks SKG, Nicolodean, and several others. The teaching staff is made up of dedicated instructors, all of whom are industry professionals.

STUDENT COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS

Students are responsible for obtaining their own ISP and email accounts. Notebooks or Desktops used on campus should be equipped with a Network LAN Card. Please contact Professor Jack Bosson at jack.bosson@woodbury.edu for further information about specific hardware and software requirements.

PORTFOLIO REQUIREMENTS

All Animation students are required to maintain a portfolio of their work from each Foundation and Major studio course completed at Woodbury University. Each piece is to be carefully documented. All students in the Animation Major are required to submit a portfolio of work to be reviewed by a committee of Animation faculty at the end of each semester. This portfolio will consist of samples of work done in each studio class during the preceding semester.

Comprehensive portfolios are reviewed at the end of the sophmore and junior years. These reviews are to determine that the student has not only acquired the requisite skills and knowledge, but also integrated them into the work. The review committee will consist of Animation faculty and invited industry professionals. The portfolio must include samples of the student's work that demonstrate the student's overall competence and ability in animation. Passing these comprehensive portfolio reviews is a prerequisite for enrollment in the next level of classes in the major and continuing in the animation major.

Portfolios, demonstration reels and Senior projects are reviewed at the end of the Senior year in order to provide students with a comprehensive assessment of their abilities and accomplishments and to advise them on their prospects for employment in the Animation industry. The Senior Portfolio Review Committee consists of Animation faculty and invited industry professionals.

Detailed information on portfolio review requirements is available directly from the Department.