Graded Unit

Option B. -Narrative Short for festival submission

Working Title - Sands of Time

Brief can be found here

DUE DATES:

PLANNING: 25th February

DEVELOPMENT: 22nd April

EVALUATION: 6th May

Planning Stage

Requirements of the Unit [taken directly from brief]:

This assessment requires you to:

1. Interpret the brief. You must analyse the task and decide on a course of action to undertake
the project.
2. Plan and organise work and carry it through to completion. This will involve gathering
information in response to the brief and the selection and preparation of materials.
3. Reflect on what has been done and draw conclusions for the future.
4. Produce evidence that meets the aims of this Graded Unit and therefore the HND in
Computer Arts and Design.
5. Evaluate and present your project.

Ideas:

Idea 1: A young child (in ancient times - Babylonian/ ancient Egyptian) is dying of a plague, watched over by her grieving parents. The scene then switches to the child’s perspective, which shows what they are seeing - specifically, their journey to the afterlife. During this, they become lost and/or frightened, and receive help/guidance from Death. Death will be a friendly figure in this, and provide only minimal guidance and/or help.

Idea 2: A child is exploring some old ruins, possibly an archaeological dig or some sort of temple, and accidentally wanders off. They then become trapped or lost and must find some way out - possibly encountering a mythological beast or temple guardian in the process. The child needs to overcome some riddle/puzzle or outwit the guardian to escape.

Interpretation & Action Plan:

For this project I need to create an animation that is no longer than sixty seconds including credit and title sequences. The animation needs to include at least one character, one environment, audio, and prove I understand and can utilise advanced Animation Principles. The Project is due, completed and evaluated, on May 6th. 5 mentor meetings will be scheduled to ensure my project is progressing and to provide guidance. I must document every stage of the project, and publish these documentations on my blog. I need to meet deadlines to ensure I progress in this project. Material must be submitted by the given due dates in both paper and electronic forms and be clearly labelled. A sketchbook is also required for documentation.

Option Taken:

I have opted to take option B: Narrative Short for festival submission. For this, I plan to create an animated short aimed at a young audience (between the ages of eight and twelve) that has clear influences from fairy tales. I must also demonstrate I can integrate my research within the development stage of the project.

Aims:

I aim to create a short story that is visually pleasing and driven by appealing character interaction. The animation will be 2D, either hand-drawn or using Adobe AfterEffects. It will showcase my knowledge of advanced animation principles I have learned on my current college course, along with advanced technical knowledge of my chosen area of study. As the project is aiming to have clear influences from fairy tales, there needs to be some sort of moral contained within - but not too overtly obvious. The short must also appeal to a young audience and be appropriate for the age range indicated.

The allocated time for this project is fourteen weeks, and then two weeks afterward for feedback from my tutor. Planning and research will take three weeks, to be submitted on the 25th of February; Development will take seven to nine weeks (over the Easter holidays included) and is to be submitted and presented on the 22nd of April. Evaluation will take a further two weeks and is due for submission on the 6th of May.

Sources:

Journey (video game): visual style, feel, setting inspiration.

Prince of Egypt: setting inspiration.

Aladdin - setting inspiration. Mythology - story inspiration.

Fairy tales from across the globe: related to getting lost; straying from the path; death and the afterlife.

Books: Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable; Celtic Myths and Legends; collections of fairytales; books on story structure.

Resources:

College resources:

Computing Suites

Audio recording services

Lecturers for advice.

Non-College:

Time

Planning helpers such as Google Drive

HabitRPG

To-Do lists

Sketchbook for development drawings and research collation.

Books

Movies on DVD or VHS or BluRay (also internet streaming services)

Internet Sources such as webpages, online journals and/or podcasts

(Internet sources for information regarding certain sources of information will be carefully looked over to ensure the information provided is relevant and certified.)

Software:
Adobe Suite:

AfterEffects

Photoshop

Audition

Premier

Other:

PaintToolSAI

I’ll be using the dedicated computing suites for: word processing, software, accessing my time management sites, speaking to my mentor for guidance on the project and how I’m progressing, and working on my sketchbook. Contained within the sketchbook will be development drawings and conceptual drawings along with research I have gathered.

For time management I’ll be using both Google Drive (with its spreadsheet capabilities for a schedule, and documents for to-do lists and gathered information) and HabitRPG to help judge how I’m managing to stick to my schedule.

The Adobe software will be used in Production and Post-Production. Photoshop, PaintToolSAI (a non-adobe program) will be used for drawing and creating the characters and environments; AfterEffects will be used for its Puppet Tool for animation, and any effects needed such as smoke or dust; Audition will be used to compile the soundtrack; and Premier will be used to create the final animated short by compiling the Title Card, animated sequences, soundtrack and credits sequences.

Methodology:

At the start of the project, I will create a schedule for myself, allowing buffer areas in case work does not go as planned. Time management will be my utmost priority, as I have encountered problems in this area in the past and wish to avoid this happening in this project. Every day I will spend ten minutes writing up a to-do list and hour-by-hour schedule to help stay on task.

Influences and research will be gathered in the Planning Stage, which will then be collated along with an action plan (to be submitted on Tuesday 25th February). The plan will work as a working document for the entirety of the project. The research will include fairy tales and myth for the story inspiration; various animated films and video games for the setting inspiration (along with paintings and photographs gathered from the internet and books) and folklore, fairy tales and mythology for the character inspiration.

Once planning has been submitted, the development phase can begin. This begins on the 26th of February, and includes:

Moodboards for character, setting and props

Conceptual drawings and sketches - including some drawings from life (both figure drawing and environment drawing)

A script for the story

Thumbnails and Storyboards (minimum three sets of thumbnails)

Audio - music, sound effects and (possible) narration

A soundtrack

Character model sheets containing key poses and expressions

Layout sheets for each environment/scene

Title Cards and credits

An animatic created from the storyboards and soundtrack

Final backgrounds

Final character models

Animation tests (1 second max for each character)

The final animated sequences

Post-production

This methodology is identical to the way previous projects have been run on this course, and showcases my knowledge of running an animated project. Each stage of development has its own scheduled time in the plan I have created for myself, complete with buffer periods. Development is due on the 22nd of April.
After the development phase, the animation is submitted and screened to the class. Gathering feedback from my peers and mentor, I will then create an evaluation document which will give evidence of personal reflection on how the development and planning stages progressed; how well the final product met the original intention; the strengths and weaknesses of the project; and recommendations for any future projects. The document must be 1000 words minimum (or a ten minute presentation) and submitted no later than the 6th of May.