Approaching an Academic Assignment

Pre Production For Animators
Film and Animation
Sofa 627 – 01

Week Seven: Final Story Boards

Assignment:

Taking what you’ve learned from the feedback on your thumbnails, create a finished set of storyboards for your concept.

Requirements:

Use the storyboard template posted in the week Seven My Courses Folder.

Frame Count: You will be using the minimum time frame of two-minutes and 30 seconds for this film, and nothing longer than 4:30. You need to create a minimum of 30-60 frames per minute of action. This will mean a minimum total of 75 frames, for a 2:30 length animation.

Storyboard Notation:

Following the structure of the Harvey Birdman board below (image also posted in week seven folder) include the following notations for each page:

• Title

• Page Number

And these notations for each panel:

• Scene Number (Usually determined by everything that happens in one place during the same time)

• Shot Number: (Dictated by new camera position)

• Panel Number

• Transition in (note how we are editing into this shot. Is it a fade-in, a cut or something else?)

• Action (Briefly describe the action)

• Dialogue (Note the dialogue if there is any)

• Transition out

• Notes / Camera (If needed, describe any camera moves or other shot details that someone else would need to know to complete it properly)

Grading Rubric

Your boards will be evaluated by the following criteria

Clarity and Neatness:

Storyboard is easy to read and all the elements are so clearly written or drawn that another could create the presentation if necessary.

Storytelling

The images used tell the story clearly and effectively, and help convey drama, emotion and character. For narratives, an understanding of the three-act story structure is shown.

Staging

The frames are designed to lead the eye to the important things in the frame. The frames designs are interesting and dynamic when that is helpful to the story.
Your use of camera positions, shapes, character poses and negative space helps convey
the emotion, meaning and atmosphere of your shots and scenes and are motivated by the story point.

Screen Direction / Screen Side

You scenes maintain a consistency for which direction characters and objects move and which side of the screen characters are on, particularly when there is more than one character in a scene.

Required Elements

You have produced the minimum number of frames, and all your pages include the proper notation for the page and the panels.

My assignment plan:

In this Animation 2D assignment, the most important aspect is How to use storyboard to exhibit the story which we should draw the main scenes on the paper or use PS (software) to complete the story we want to tell. This is the first step of creating an Animation. It is just like  before we are going to write an essay, we should reflect on what the story going to process, so we need to create a outline in order to make the story well organized. After this storyboard, we will use it to make a motional storyboard which we called it “animatic”which also is an important part we should pay attention to.Furthermore, there are many strategies for storyboard such as the format, labels, usage in Harvey Birdman board which the professor given me in the assignment document as a example. 

Specifically I am going to make a detailed plan to show that how to approach this assignment.

 

1, Questions for the professor :

A. How to grasp the time of one action accurately?

B. How to design the scenes to help the story exhibit clearly?

C, what is the due day of this assignment? (I think this assignment should be finished before the day when I observed to the class which he allowed me to attend, but I still should ask the professor to make sure what the due day is.)

2, The most difficult part:

Designing a scenes and make it fluency to tell the story; furthermore, drawing the picture clearly which can create a clear story to the audience.

3, Before I actually start the project, I should done:

A. Write a story first.

B. Draw the whole character designs in 3 angles which is front view, side view and the other  view. ( could be rough drafts)

c, Design the background scene we need to use in the Animation.(also drafts)

d, Searching for some appropriate music , dialogue , sounds and background music for the film; furthermore, if it’s possible I can make a music or sounds and dialogue through the software by myself or I can ask a musician student to help me about this part.

E, Referring to a typical storyboard which the professor given me to learn how to draw a storyboard and make the signs on it.(title, page number, shot number, panel number, transitions, action, dialogue, transition out)

4, The steps will be taken to complete this assignment:

a, choose a style which can decide what the method we should use in drawing the pictures for the film.

b, Think about the interest transitions between two scenes.

c, Make sure the timing is appropriate to the actions.

5, How much time will I need to complete this assignment:

If I would not in busy, I would take at least 1-2 weeks to finish this assignment. If I would be busy in other things together, maybe I would take more longer time to do it.

6, How much specificity and depth is necessary to be appropriate for this assignment:

a, Understanding how to draw the actions, postures and expressions for the characters in a right way.

b, Some  ingenious transitions will be created in order to make the scenes more professional and brilliant.

c, The story also should be interesting , have a lot of critical thinking and influential idea.

7, When I will finished the animatic, I am going to show it to my classmates, friends and professors to ask them give me a piece of advice and feedback to help me improve the assignment.