Welcome Back!

I hope you all had a good break and are ready to get down to business.

Here's the breakdown of what you need to know:
1) Attendance is stricter this semester.
2) The weekly group meeting is now scheduled for Mondays @ 4:30.
3) Animation test work has been assigned and chosen. If you were absent Monday, you *need* to talk to me ASAP.

There will be a lot of initial decision making this week, so please check the blog or your email regularly for updates, especially if you miss a class or meeting. Speaking of missing classes and meetings, attendance is an important factor this semester, so each and every unexcused absence will be forwarded to Tony and Mark the same day it occurs. DQ said that he will keep strict attendance this semester, and I'm sure the other teachers will, too, so please show up or notify me in advance if you know you will be absent. The first group schedule change we've made is moving the group meeting from the old Friday slot to the new Monday @ 4:30 slot. We are implementing a 10 minute grace period for meetings. If the majority of the group is not present on time, the absent member have 10 minutes to show up before the meeting starts. If the majority of the group is present on time, the meeting will start without the grace period.

In DQ's class on Monday, we were assigned the animation test work so we can figure out what designs are working, which aren't, and what needs to be changed. Since we only have 3 characters, we're doing tests for all three. Here is the breakdown of who is doing what:

Ban: Ted reaction, Monster jump
Anita: Ted profile walk
Harry: Ted dialogue, Judith action
Mike: Monster smashing and dying
Kyle: Ted jump/roll and backpack interaction
Daph: Judith reaction to orb
Vince: Monster dialogue and forming
Adric: Judith and Monster profile walks.

Kal, Hosung, and Martin, these are the options left: Ted 3/4 Walk, Judith 3/4 Walk, Monster 3/4 Walk, Judith Dialogue, and Judith Walk on Stairs. Pick one or two of these and let me know which ones you want. If the one(s) you want are taking, you will need to choose again.

We also discussed departmentalizing the group according to peoples' strengths and desires. We have not made any decisions yet, but would like to come to an agreement as soon as possible so we can begin organizing and implementing the new structure. There was an informal poll of people's preferences today, which is a good start, but we should have a meeting to discuss what everyone prefers and balance that against what our film will need.

I know that was a lot to read, so thanks to everyone who made it all the way through. There's a lot of info to wade through as we gear back up to start production, but once we've gotten that out of the way, we can get started on the real work. Thanks again, everyone, and good luck.

Adric