| Club members draw, rediscover magic of Bambi (11/07) | | Print | |
| Written by Angela M. Chen | |
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"I can't draw," sophomore Arthur Lei said after looking at the final version of his modified stick figure.
"Those words are forbidden in this club," sophomore Cartoon and Animation club president Robert Byrd replied. "By the end of next week, in your eyes you'll have a better drawing than that." At the Oct. 25 club meeting, Byrd continued to encourage members to improve upon their individual skills. The club strives to bring people interested in cartoons together to share ideas and learn from each other. "We're here to share a talent we already have and improve that talent," Byrd said. The club, however, is not only about learning to draw. It will also explore the many aspects of cartooning, such as story writing, voice acting, character development, sound effects and animation. With such a variety, Byrd hopes to offer something for everyone. Byrd explained that everybody grew up watching cartoons and can probably relate to them in some way. The whole process behind producing a cartoon has fascinated him since a young age. “I love watching the behind-the-scenes part of movies like in The Lion King,” Byrd said. He wanted to bring this behind-the-scenes aspect of cartooning to Lowell, since there were no clubs that made cartoons, only clubs that watched them. Byrd structures his meetings around example-based lectures to introduce members to new cartooning topics. At the Oct. 25 meeting, for example, Byrd taught members how to draw a simple cartoon character. He started by telling members to first sketch out a simple stick figure and then modify the stick figure into a “rubber-band person” by drawing shapes for the body to add dimension. Building off the same stick figure, members added facial features and clothing, transforming the primitive skeletal figure into a simple character. “After you build from the basics of a stick figure, you have to get all the action into it and fill it with life,” Byrd said. “Whatever you did in the last step, you have to put in and add to it. You’re suppose to see your original stick figure in your final drawing.” After having more practice with drawing basic cartoon characters, the club members plan to make a short animation piece at the end of the year. The club will work their way up to that goal step by step by starting with smaller projects first. “One of our first projects is a flip book,” sophomore vice president Juliana Yu said. “We’re going to get materials, draw a picture on each page and clip it together.” According to Yu, the minimum number of pages should be at least eight in order to make the flipping motion of the drawing look smooth to the eye. The more pages added to one particular movement, the smoother the motion will seem. The club will need a wide range of talents to contribute to the final piece, including voice actors to portray characters, writers to write short stories or poems and musicians to compose music or make sound effects. “Everyone can contribute at different levels,” Byrd said. The club also incorporates activities to help members bond and learn together in more inventive ways. “We play fun games that teach us about cartooning facts,” said Yu, who compiled cartoon trivia questions and turned it into a jeopardy game for the club to play. Questions ranged from “What is the Simpsons’ theme song?” to “How many frames are there per second?” Another opportunity for club bonding is a movie night that the club hosts on every last Thursday of the month. Byrd usually offers different genres of cartoons and asks the members to vote for which one they would like to see that month. Last month, the club watched Bambi. “Most of us haven’t seen it since we were little kids, and I forgot how great of a movie story-wise and art-wise it is,” Byrd said. He hopes that watching a wide range of animation styles will inspire members when they begin creating their own work. Lei and Byrd both emphasized the club’s focus on applying new shared knowledge to creative practice. “In the end we’ll all end up with more than we started with,” Byrd said. The club meets after school on Thursdays in Room 5. |
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to listen.
