Animation Principles: Introduction

Media Arts, Tech Lab

Animation Principles: Introduction

Learn about basic animation language, motion, and timing by experimenting with buttons and pennies.

Member

$17.00 (any noted materials fee included)

Guest

$20.00 (any noted materials fee included)

Tuition Assistance and Other Policies

Meeting Times
  1. Mon, 5/26/2025 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Mon, 5/26/2025

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Type:
Class, Getting Started, No Prerequisite

Location:
Tech Lab

Interests:
Drawing, Filmmaking, Videography

About

In this special orientation to our Animation Principles series, you'll learn about basic motion and timing by experimenting with buttons and pennies. You'll gain a library of animation knowledge of vocabulary, terminology, and practices to give you the foundations you need to start animating. You'll understand the process of digitizing hand-crafted animation and turning it into a moving picture. 

The course begins with a short lecture with examples followed by a guided workshop session. You should be prepared to have a lot of patience.

Through the Animation Principles series, you'll learn the 12 fundamental principles of animation. Whether your interests are 2D, 3D, stop motion, or VFX, understanding the principles at a basic level is key to becoming a successful animator in any setting.

Details

Project

You'll develop a 5- to 15-second stop-motion animation .mov or .mp4 file.

Materials

  • A materials fee of $5, included in the cost of the class, covers the use of BARN-provided drawing materials. 
  • You should bring whatever you want to animate with: 
    • If you want to draw your animations, bring whatever specialty drawing materials you want to work with.
    • If you want to work with stop-motion materials, bring whatever materials you want to work with (instructor will also have a collection of miscellaneous materials to use). This can include construction paper and scissors, clay or Play-Doh, Legos, blocks, and small figurines.

Class Policies

Ages 14 and up are welcome.

BARN Policies

Instructors or Guides

JP Powell

JP (they/them) is the program coordinator for the Media Arts Studio and aspires to grow the animation community on Bainbridge and greater Kitsap County.
JP earned a bachelor's degree in animation from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, with a focus in pre-production design, production management, and 2D animation production. The first official screening of their thesis, the animated short film Afternoon Snack, was at the Bainbridge Island Film Festival in November 2024. It continued its festival run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in February 2025.
JP is a multi-disabled, autistic, and openly queer artist dedicated to creating safe and accessible spaces within the art industry. Throughout their time in university, JP developed an accessibility branch and code of conduct as president of the Student Animation Organization, completed an in-depth study of autism representation in film and television, and was a contract research specialist to help an arts organization revise curriculum for autistic adults. In 2023, they worked as a teaching artist and intern for Fringe Benefits Theatre and taught workshops on art therapy strategies for college art students. They’ve also worked with a domestic violence shelter in Orange County, Calif., to help teens process dating and domestic violence through film-making projects and community talks from 2017-2019.
JP centers their teaching around fostering environments where artists feel safe to create with rich authenticity and challenge the status quo while developing their crafts and passions.

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