BFA, Rhode Island School of Design. MFA, Corcoran School of the Arts (George Washington University). Hartland is a New York City-based writer, director, and animator with a distinguished career in animated film. He is a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Film and winner of many international film awards. His latest film, New York City Sketchbook, is currently doing the festival circuit. While Hartland produces independent work, he has also worked as a storyboard artist on feature films and on numerous TV series—among them, MTV’s Beavis and Butthead and Daria. He continues to curate animation programs for The Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Hartland has taught animation at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Parsons School of Design, and The City University of New York. SLC, 2024
Undergraduate Courses 2024-2025
Filmmaking and Moving Image Arts
Experimental Animation: Finding Your Inner Vision
Open, Seminar—Spring
FILM 3492
Animation is a magical medium that is unique because it has the potential to combine all of the art forms: painting, drawing, sculpture, music, dance, acting, writing...the list is endless. This course, with a focus on experimentation, will begin with a series of workshops that are designed to help students tap into their inner vision as artists. Each of us, as diverse individuals, have something within our soul that makes us special and unique. The goal and challenge of this course is to help students discover who they are as artists/animators. What do they want to say? This will be accomplished through a variety of lessons and workshops, both abstract and representational, which will include: cut-out stop-motion, sequential drawing, metamorphosis, object animation, and working with and interpreting sound. These techniques will be coupled with some of the fundamental principles of animation, such as timing and spacing, staging, follow through, and acting for animation. In addition to lectures and demonstrations, animated short films from all over the world will be screened in class. This is vital to help students understand the infinite possibilities of what an animated film can be and how to translate their own ideas through this powerful time-based medium. By semester’s end, each student will have completed five short animated experiments, ranging in length from 30 seconds to one minute, that will demonstrate an understanding of many of the techniques and principles discussed in class. Students are required to provide their own external hard drives and some additional art materials. Software instruction will include Adobe AfterEffects, Adobe Premier, and Dragonframe.