VanArts is proud to present a Masterclass in Animation & Story Development with instructors Story Artist Matthew Luhn and Animator Andrew Gordon, both from Pixar Animation Studios!

This exceptional 2-day event takes place in Vancouver on September 24th/25th, and offers participants a rare and exciting opportunity to learn from the industry's top talent.

This class has toured the world, with this being one of only two North American stops in 2010 (Toronto and Vancouver). Check out the latest VanArts-hosted Toronto June 2010 session, and read a report on Canadian Animation Resources. It was also recently held in London (UK), and here's what participants said.

Geared toward experienced animators, students and animation enthusiasts alike, the skill sets covered are not software-specific. Lectures are organized with visuals, including live-action and animated clips, and supplemented by a printed handout. This masterclass provides you with the tools needed to create your own stories and feature-quality animation -- plus offers a great opportunity to meet and network with others in the industry.

   
CURRICULUM

DAY 1 
Animation
Instructor Andrew Gordon
9:00am - 5:00pm

• Principles of Animation
• Staging & Pose Design
• Locomotion
• Acting for Animation
• Gestures
• Planning
• Blocking
• Facial Animation
• Polish
• Q & A

DAY 2 
Story Development
Instructor Matthew Luhn
9:00am - 5:00pm

• Storyboarding & the Story Artist
• Preliminary Storyboards
• 3-Act Story Structure
• Sequence Boards & Character Development
• Gags
• Storyboarding from a Script
• Composing Your Storyboards
• Line & Value
• Q & A

VENUE

Fletcher Challenge Theater - Simon Fraser University at Harbourfront Centre. Located at 515 West Hastings St. in downtown Vancouver, BC. 

INSTRUCTORS

Matthew Luhn, Pixar Animation Studios

Matthew Luhn began his career at Pixar Animation Studios in 1992 as an Animator on the very first CG movie, Toy Story. Since that time, Matthew has worked as a Storyboard Artist generating new ideas and characters on Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, Cars, Ratatouille, UP, Toy Story 3, and current Pixar movies in development.

Prior to Pixar, Matthew attended the California Institute of the Arts, and would later be hired as an Animator on the award winning TV show The Simpsons.

Matthew grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area where his family has owned and operated Jeffrey’s Toys toy stores for three generations.
   

Andrew Gordon, Pixar Animation Studios

Andrew Gordon has been animating characters professionally for over 15 years. He joined Pixar Animation Studios in 1997 where he has been an Animator on A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Ratatouille. The characters he has worked on include Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc., Gill, from Finding Nemo and Edna Mode, the costume designer in The Incredibles, and Linguini from Ratatouille. He supervised animation on Pixar’s Academy Award nominated short film Presto, and just recently worked on Toy Story 3.

Mr. Gordon studied animation in Vancouver, New York and New Jersey, and prior to his work at Pixar, he worked in the Looney Tunes division of Warner Brothers. He was awarded "Outstanding Character Animation in an Animated Motion Picture" by the Visual Effects Society for his work in Finding Nemo.

He has been passionate about teaching animation for over 10 years. He began teaching at the Academy of Art, teaching all levels of the animation program there. He has taught animation intensives throughout the world. Andrew is also actively involved in The Pixar Animation Internship, helping lead it for for 2007, 2009 and the upcoming 2010 program. Andrew is a contributing lecturer at Animation Mentor. He is a frequent guest artist at CSU Summer Arts Program. He is one of the founders of Spline Doctors (www.splinedoctors.com), a blog/podcast dedicated to animation education. He is currently helping develop and teach at the new animation program at California College of Art in Oakland (CCA).

REGISTRATION

Cost of this 2-day class is CDN $499. Includes course workbook with notes (prepared by Andrew and Matthew), plus a commemorative class t-shirt and portfolio bag. Refreshments will be provided during the morning and afternoon breaks. Seating is limited and offered on a first-come basis.

Register Online (recommended), or call us at toll-free at 1-800-396-2787.

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NOTES
- recording devices are not permitted in the class
- character images above are copyright © 1986-2010 Pixar Animation Studios, all rights reserved