Storytelling Through Computer Animation
Final Animation Project
Objectives- This Final Animation Project is intended primarily to be a place when students synthesize the knowledge they have gained in the course.
- The grading of the final project will have significant weight on both literary as well as technical components.
- It is a longer project, so has multiple deadlines which will demand more attention to planning.
Project Requirements
This project must be completed individually but we will be offering each other advice and support though structured critiques.
Deadlines
Here is a compilation of the final project due dates.
- Tuesday, November 22: Though nothing is due on November 22, most of the class will be dedicated to thinking about and working on your project. The TA and I will be present to give advice and assistance.
- PTP, Tuesday, November 28: The working story title and the initial rough plotline will be due at the beginning of class. These should be typed in a Word file and saved as yourusername-PTP. Detailed storyboards will also be due at the beginning of class. This submission of these storyboards will be graded as a component of the final project, though the final version of the story may continue to evolve and thus may vary from these initial storyboards somewhat. Here is a storyboard template, if you would like to use it. Note that these both may continue to evolve thoughout the development of this project.
- PS1, Thursday, December 1: A drafts of at least one Alice World scenes from your story will be due at the beginning of class. This will be critiqued by other students, but may be changed before the final submission.
- PS1, PS2, PS3 Tuesday, December 6: Drafts of multiple Alice World scenes from your story will be due at the beginning of class. Again, these will be critiqued by other students, but may be changed before the final submission.
- PSF, Thursday, December 8: The final versions of all project scenes will be due at the beginning of class. In addition, these must have been combined into a single movie, which is to be posted on youtube before class because the in-class presentations and critques will begin..
- LINK, Thursday, December 8: In class viewing of projects. Submit a link to the youtube video by 8 am--note the early deadline in order that we can get a page with links compiled before class.
- A-, Thursday, December 8: In class critiques of other projects.
- PFW, Thursday, December 15: The final project write-up will be due by 8 am.
Structural Requirements
- Files submitted for the Final Animation Project will be:
- A Final Animation Project MovieMaker file named yourusername-PM.MSWMM (if you are using MovieMaker 2.6) or yourusername-PM.wlmp (if you are using Live MovieMaker).
- A Final Animation Project Movie file named yourusername-PM.wmv which must be uploaded to youtube and a link submitted. (If you wish to create an interactive story, please talk to the instuctor about how you might make it widely accessible.)
- At least three Alice World files, with one file for each scene. The file name for scene 1 should be yourusername-PS1; the file name for scene 2 should be yourusername-PS2, etc.
- A final project write-up and artist's statement called yourusername-PFW.
- Each Final Animation Project Movie must have a meaningful title, a title sequence and closing credits.
- Each project must have three or more scenes each of which is stored in separate Alice World files. Note that you may optionally include scene titles before each scene.
- The total animation runtime of the Final Project Movie should be between 5 and 9 minutes. Projects which are too long or two short will receive reduced credit.
- Projects may use objects or even scenes which were created for in-class and/or homework assignments, though these, of course, must "fit" the project story....
Literary Requirements
- Each project must tell an engaging story with at least three scenes.
- The following literary elements of the project animations are required:
- appropriate settings for each scene,
- an understandable and engaging storyline with appropriate themes and subthemes,
- clear transitions and/or connections between scenes,
- clear plot development with identifiable plot components:
- purposes and goals,
- exposition,
- conflict,
- rising action,
- climax,
- falling action,
- resolution,
- solid characterizations with clearly understandable relationships between the characters,
- a sense of packaged "wholeness"-- i.e. the project does not feel like three different people created three separate scenes...
- Though the story may be interactive, interactivity is not required. If used, each alternate plotline must be fully developed. In addition, you should talk to the instructor about how to "release" your animation.
- Elements which do not somehow advance or enhance the literary elements may cause a reduction in project credit, especially if they takes up substantial animation time.
Technical Requirements
- Realism of the animation will figure in the grading. So, for example, having characters sliding around instead of creating an appropriate walking method will recieve reduced credit.
- Both world-level and class-level methods must be correctly used.
- You must add functionality to at least one object and the save it and import it into another scene.
- Stepwise refinement must have been used to decompose each scene animation into coherent methods, which are each small in size and scope. It is preferable to have a large number of coherent methods which each tackle a specific and describable task to having longer methods which each do more.
- Each method must have a comment line at the beginning to describe the purpose of the method.
- Each of the three types of looping (infinite, counted, and while) must be used in an appropriate way.A parameter must be correctly used in at least one place.
- Use of computation and functions will be preferred to the use of trial-and-error and will be graded accordingly, and a function must be correctly used in at least one place.
- Some type of conditional if/else must be used in an appropriate way, however the story need NOT be interactive.
- All methods, parameters, Billboards, imported sound files, imported Objects, and anything else given a name by the programmers must be given names which will be clearly meaningful to an external reader of the code.
- You are certainly welcome to animate a well-known story or use an image from the web for a billboard, but anything which is used which you did not create wholly yourself must be given credit in the final credit sequence.
Required Write-up
This Final Animation Prject Write-up must be typed in an editor such as Word and must contain the following:- Part I: Artist Statement
- Story Purposes and Goals: Compose 3-5 sentences describing the primary goals and purpose of your story.
- Theme: A one sentence description of your main theme.
- Setting: What symbols are used and why were they chosen? Are other tools are employed: labels? exaggeration? analogy? irony? If so, why are they used.
- Mood: Describe the mood(s) have you chosen to try to depict and what have you done to try to set the mood.
- Characterizations:
- Protagonist: Identify your protagonist and list at least 3 characteristic words which describe your protagonist. (You may use character development or select your own). Then describe how sucessful you feel you have been in conveying these characteristics.
- Antagonist(s): Identify your antagonist(s) and list at least 3 characteristic words which describe your antagonist(s). (Again, you may use character development or select your own). Then describe how sucessful you feel you have been in conveying these characteristics.
- Plot: Identify each of the following plolt components with 1-3 sentences each.
- Exposition: the beginning of the story, establishment of setting and characters
- Conflict: the problem(s) faced by the characters
- Rising Action: events in the story leading up to the climax
- Climax: the culmination of events in the story, point of highest reader interest
- Falling Action: events leading to the solving of the story’s problems
- Resolution: how events and problems of the story are solved
- Artistic Challenge: A brief description of the most significant artistic challenge you overcame as an artist during the course of this project.
- Comments: Comment on your reactions to this project as an artist. Are you pleased with how your project has succeeded in conveying the story you wanted to tell? Explain.
- Part II: Technical Animation Aspects
- World-level Methods: List the world-level methods you created in each scene.
- Object-level Methods: List the object-level methods you created and which you saved to export them into multiple scenes.
- Repetition: A very brief description of the most significant place where each of the three types of looping was used, and why it was needed there.
- Parameter A very brief description of the most significant place where a parameter was used, and why it was needed there.
- Conditional: A very brief description of the most significant place where a conditional was used, and why it was needed there.
- Technical Challenge: A brief description of the most significant technical challenge you overcame as an artist during the course of this project.
- Innovation: A description of any innovations you included that were not specifically required by the project requirements.
- Files: A list in bulleted form of the names of all files submitted, and a very brief description of what is contained in each.
- Link: A link to your posted youtube animation.