Assignment 8: Animate a Title Sequence

Due at 8:00 am Monday April 12, 2010

Animate a title sequence (opening or closing) with 10 unique transitions. Don't just show me one shot of one title and another shot of another title. Show me how we proceed through the sequence. Animate this in Flash, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Celtx, or GoogleDocs. You will probably need to have about 25 or so frames (maybe more!) to make this work. The timing of the transitions isn't that important to me. I simply want to see your storyboard in moving format.

Here are the films you can use:

• The Lord of the Rings
  
• Star Wars: A New Hope
  
• You've Got Mail
• Hook
  
• Aladdin
• Citizen Kane
• Night at the Museum
• Runaway Bride

I would recommend checking out IMDB and looking at the film credits found there. That should help you out in creating your work.

Give me the file in a viewable format so we can all see it. A .flv, .mov, .pdf, or other playable media format is acceptable. Separate jpegs are not acceptable.

Grading criteria:

1. 10 unique transitions (show me the actual transition)
2. creativity
3. good design: font choice, color, balance, contrast, etc...
   
4. show me your understanding of camera moves
5. you will pitch the idea to the class on screen

Extra Credit!

Each of these are worth 10 points--the equivalent of one day of class participation points.

1. Draw 2 characters from any Mother Goose rhyme. Make their proportions and personalities as contrasting as possible. Tall, short, round, thin, etc... Scan them and email them to me.
2. Go to any art museum. Choose one image from the museum to discuss. Write a one-page review of the image. Talk about the framing, colors, and other aspects of the artwork you think are interesting.
   
3. Write a one-page review of any of the films up for an Oscar nomination. Films nominated in any category are fine.

This extra credit will be available to you until March 31.

Assignment 7: Comic Panel or Color Script

We will review your progress on Mon. March 22 at the beginning of class.
Due Date: Weds. March 24 at the end of class.

You have two options for your midterm assignment.

Option 1
Create a one-page overlapping comic of a story from your life. Make sure you use ORIGINAL images on this project. You may use photographs, vector images, stock images, your own drawings, etc. You may use any program to tell the story.

This comic can be done in any style, but unlike past board assignments, it must be in full color and it must be pro-mounted. You will be graded on the professionalism of your presentation and how well your story reads.

Here are some more specifications:

• Use only one page; 8x10 or larger

• Use at least 4 frames; can use more
  

• Must be full color

• Must be pro-mounted

• You will be graded on the story and on the artwork
  

• Text is ok

image courtesy of axecop.com

Option 2
Create a color script for one of the stories found on Six Word Stories. Your color script will show at least four panels that give us the mood of what happens in the story. Each panel should have interesting colors, should use a different color scheme from the one before, and should tell the story well at the same time. Remember that this is your midterm assignment, so plopping random colors over photos of yourself is not good enough. Try and create color schemes that are going to look really good--that will really tell the story of what happens in your film through color.

Follow these guidelines:

• Use only one page; 8x10 or larger

• Use at least 4 frames; can use more
  

• Must be full color

• Must be pro-mounted

• You will be graded on how well you tell the story and on how well you have thought through the color schemes in each frame.
  

Assignment 6: Character Sheet

Create a traditional character sheet of one of the personas below. Follow these guidelines:

Create your character sheet on an 8" x 10" or larger.
Character sheet must have the following positions:

• Front
• Side
• 3/4 view
• Back

3 additional facial expressions.
Completed character sheet must be in full color.

• Color pencil
• Watercolor paint
• Marker (professional only)
• Computer coloring (must provide original drawing)

Give your character a name and include it in the design.

You will be graded on the following:

• Your ability to communicate your character visually
• Creativity
• Portfolio Quality
• Completion by due date, Weds. March 17, 2010

Here are your options for character designs:

• An evil villain with a really big weapon
• An attractive female with a negative IQ
• A large character who is also graceful
• An animal character who wants to be human
• A half-human/half-animal who is also clumsy
• A superhero with an obvious weakness
• A mad scientist for whom everything always go wrong
• A robot made out of spare parts
• A disgruntled postal worker
• A ninja who only uses pool equipment as weapons
• A medieval warrior who always loses battles
• A princess who is never satisfied with what she has

Due on Weds. March 17, 2010

Assignment 5

Design from Cedric's Blog-O-Rama

Create 20 small silhouette sketches of either Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or Oliver Twist and Fagin from Oliver Twist. Here are the specifications:

• 20 silhouettes. Some should be of one character, some of another. In other words, don't make 20 Fagins if you choose to do the Oliver Twist characters. Do some of Oliver and some of Fagin.
  
• Don't do some characters from one story and some from another. If you choose the Dr. Jekyll story, you should not make characters from Oliver Twist.
• Do some research. If you don't know anything about either story, look up a summary of the story on Wikipedia.
  
• The sketches should be completely filled in with black. These are silhouettes, remember. How you decide to fill them in is up to you (i.e. with a pen, in Photoshop, etc.).
• Remember to use interesting shapes. Start with the basic shapes and go from there.
• Keep props in mind. Does Dr. Jekyll carry a weapon, a vial of potion, a cane? Does Mr. Hyde have a hat, a gun, a crowbar? Props can make your designs more interesting.
• Keep the silhouettes small. They don't need to be huge. They should all be able to fit on an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper.
• Be creative! Remember: you are inventing what these characters look like. Sure, you start from the basic story, but these characters are all up in the air. They're up to you!

Due: Mon. March 15 BEFORE CLASS BEGINS!!! Send the files to me as hi-res jpegs.

Glen Keane Story Thumbnails

This guy's awesome.

Assignment 4: Shot List, Diagram, and Storyboard

Option 1

For the following short scene, work out an overhead diagram, a shot list, and images for a 10-18 shot sequence. Mark the camera positions and character blocking on the overhead, and be sure to use the same aspect ratio for each of the frames. (You can use the template provided if you'd like. It's in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.)

1. Exterior, street. There is someone standing on a corner.
2. Across the street a door opens and a second person emerges.
3. The second person crosses the street to the first person.
4. They exchange something.
5. They leave, either together or apart.

Notice that the description lacks details. You need to add the story to this. Is it a Western? A film noir scene? A romantic comedy? Decide on the gender of the characters, the "something" that they exchange, and feel free to embellish the story's skeletal structure.

Have fun and don't worry too much about the drawing. I don't want stick figures, but I don't expect Rembrandt. Just use this assignment to become familiar with the process of working from a shot list and overhead in planning your imagery.

Your assignment must include:

• A shot list for all 10-18 of your shots
• An overhead diagram showing where the cameras will be placed
• The storyboards
• You must include at least 2 camera moves

An example follows.





Option 2

Work out an overhead diagram, a shot list, and images for a 10-18 shot sequence from your Grimm's Fairy Tale. Mark the camera positions and character blocking on the overhead, and be sure to use the same aspect ratio for each of the frames. (You can use the template provided if you'd like, or you can use your own. It's in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.)