Professional Development

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PD) PROGRAM

We advise people who want to use The BOX! kit to budget in getting trained with our PD program. The training is not so much about how to use the software but about how to tell stories using animation as the magical medium. It’s about timing, movement and believe-ability using animation. We have seen a lot of success with The BOX! PD.

RESOURCE KIT – THE BOX! ANIMATION PRODUCTION STUDIO

The BOX! is not just an educational program but a resource kit you can purchase. It contains all the necessary animation tools and supplies (minus the hardware) to start your own 2D Classical Animation Studio.  The BOX! also comes with sound cues, and easy to use PC/MAC animation software, allowing you to capture, composite, color and output your animated films, turning any environment into an entirely self-sufficient animation studio!

All the supplies in The BOX! are the very best quality money can buy so that your students can produce cool animations! What could be made re-usable has been made re-usable so the only costs to maintain the program are the pens, colors, exposure sheets, storyboards and animation paper.
The BOX! can be set-up for 10, 20, 30 or 40 youth-participants.

THE GOAL

The main goal of the training is to prepare teachers with enough knowledge and skill-set to use The BOX! and teach animation to youth in their community or school setting.  Of course, like any new skill there is a learning curve to climb and comfort level to reach.  This course has been designed to simplify the animation process enabling “newcomers” to this field to produce at a very basic level.  However, the tools provided leave room for improvement and a certain amount of progress can be achieved depending on the amount of time the program is put into use and practiced.  There is definitely room for growth both for the adults and the youth who ultimately engage the program.  This growth relates to developing more sophisticated aesthetic artwork and story content.  In effect, the production quality will improve over time.  In addition, as teachers and youth involved in the program build confidence they become partners.

CURRICULUM INTEGRATION

A certain amount of time will be devoted toward approaches on how to integrate The BOX! with various curriculum.  Trainees will not only leave with a basic foundation in 2D animation, but they will learn how they can design projects and engage their students in the classroom.  AnimAction’s program is not a replacement curriculum but a supplemental program that has the ability to reach youth in a lot of ways traditional curricula fail.

YOUTH WORKSHOPS

With this kind of media arts program, if possible, it is smart to put the lessons learned into practice immediately.   It is suggested to plan to start work with youth at each site conducting workshops very soon after the PD workshop.   This provides an opportunity for the teachers to overcome any insecurity issues they may have about the process as they might discover issues from an early time that require support.  AnimAction offers free technical support with the software.  This way, we get to protect our investment and ensure that the teachers receive the initial support they might require to feel comfortable, thereby setting them up to succeed in the future and beyond!

PRICING & SCHEDULING

AnimAction will assemble a budget plan that best suits your school or institution.  We are also very flexible with our schedule. Please call: (818) 222-4690

NECESSARY SKILLS

All we ask is that you come with an open mind.  While The BOX! might seem that it’s all about technology, it’s not! It’s all about storytelling and creativity. It would help to be able to kick around a mouse and be familiar with opening, closing and saving files but that’s all really.

AnimAction prides itself on developing simple teaching tools and after 28 years of development we have no excuses!