Take a Class from Animation Legend Bob Kurtz

Sign-up begins this morning for classes at the American Animation Institute, the educational arm of The Animation Guild, Local 839. A special class posted about on the Animation Guild blog caught my attention: “Film Sense and Nonsense: The Bob Kurtz Master Class in Comedic Film Staging, Timing and Storytelling.” It runs for four Monday evenings from March 21 to April 11. The class is $100, and enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis. To sign up, call (818) 845-7000 between 8:30 am and 5 pm TODAY.

It’s hard to think of an animation director with more funny animation to his credit than Bob, who began his remarkably prolific career working on the original Alvin Show and Roger Ramjet. He’s done the bulk of work at his own animation studio Kurtz & Friends, which has been responsible for hundreds of commercials (like the one above) as well as many film titles and projects with the likes of Lily Tomlin and George Carlin.

Here’s a description of the class from the Animation Guild blog:

Kurtz has championed the composition, film story and design principles of T. Hee, Don Graham, Marc Davis and Bill Moore for more than thirty years and has successfully utilized those principles in his own career. As founder of Kurtz and Friends, Bob is the recipient of over two hundred and fifty international awards for animation including an Emmy, a Peabody and an Annie Award for lifetime achievement. His wealth of expertise and information will inspire students and professionals alike.

This is a must-do class for anyone who wants to learn or re-experience the fundamentals of the creative process and the basic principles of composition, staging, timing and storytelling for film, storyboarding and animation. By breaking down classic film clips and analyzing their staging, timing and structure, you’ll see what works, what doesn’t work and why. Through a series of assignments and follow-up critiques, you’ll learn how these principles can be applied to your own work and see results right away. Demonstrations, lectures and film analysis will inspire you to apply the principles to your work as soon as possible.