Computer Games Arts - Dead line

Hand-In

1. A 30 to 60 second 3d animation with layered sound, full render and h246 comp
2. Narrative.
3. Character break down of your chosen object.
4. Story boards.
5. Anamatic with rough sound.
6. Concept boards and artwork.

All work to be posted to a blog and organized on a dvd

Deadline Planner

To Keep everyone on track

If you have this work I can dive in and we can make something amazing :O) good luck

1. - five object ideas- five Character break downs and narrative ideas (individual and group discussions)
2. - Chosen object built - Final narrative - Story boards (individual and group discussions)
3. - finished chosen object - style boards for environment.
4. - Anamatic with rough sound - Scenes built and textured (show and tell/group and individual feedback)
5. - Animation and rendering (individual support)
6. - Animation and rendering - editing (Individual support)
7. - Animation and rendering - editing (individual support)
8. - Edit and sound
9. - Final Edit and sound - rendered, burnt to disk and uploaded to blog

Could everyone post your work examples so far to your blogs so I can make sure we are all in tune, then upload as you progress into your project, thanks :)

Please call the blog we are all sharing "Computer Games Arts_Tone" then create two blogs within it called "sketch blog" and "Final ideas". The difference is simple, one contains all the research, ideas and developments and the other has the conclusions to those ideas, so one has for example all your storyboard sketches and ideas and the other the final storyboard.

For me this blog will be your hand-in, we are in the digital age after all, it also means I can see where everyone is and plan the lesson accordingly. keep in mind the time you spend uploading will be offset by the fact you won't have to professionally design your finial body of work for hand in. If you do this as you go along it will show your development as you progress and be already created by the time you Finnish!!.

Character break down

Character break down

1. Where does your character live? Michael Adams ("Anniversaries in the Blood"), the novelist and writing professor, believes that setting is the most important element of any story. It's definitely true that character, if not story, in many ways grows out of a sense of place. What country does your character live in? What region? Does he live alone or with a family? In a trailer park or an estate? How did he end up living there? How does he feel about it?

2. Where is your character from? In a similar vein, where did your character's life begin? Did she grow up running around the woods in a small Southern town, or learning to conjugate Latin verbs in a London boarding school? Obviously this influences things like the kinds of people your character knows, the words she uses to communicate with them, and the way she feels about a host of things in her external world.

3. How old is your character? Though this might seem like an obvious question, it's important to make a clear decision about this before you begin writing -- otherwise, it's impossible to get the details right. For instance, would your character have a cell phone, a land line, or both? Does your character drink martinis or cheap beer? Still get money from his parents, or worry about what will happen to his parents as they get old?

4. What is your character called? Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? According to novelist Elinor Lipman, absolutely not: "Names have subtext and identity. If your main characters are Kaplans, you've got yourself a Jewish novel, and if your hero is Smedley Winthrop III, you've given him a trust fund. Nomenclature done right contributes to characterization." Your character's name provides a lot of information -- not only about ethnicity -- but about your character's age, background, and social class.

5. What does your character look like? Is your character tall enough to see over the heads of a crowd at a bar or to notice the dust on the top of his girlfriend's refrigerator? Does she deal with weight issues and avoid looking at herself in the mirror? Though you need not have a crystal clear picture of your character in mind, physical details help your readers believe in the character, and help you imagine how your character moves through the world.

6. What kind of childhood did he or she have? As with real people, many things about your character's personality will be determined by his background. Did his parents have a good marriage? Was she raised by a single mom? How your character interacts with other people -- whether he's defensive or confident, stable or rootless -- may be influenced by his past.

7. What does your character do for a living? As with all of these questions, how much information you need depends in some part on the plot, but you'll need some idea of how your character makes money. A dancer will look at the world very differently from an accountant, for instance, and a construction worker will use very different language from either one. How they feel about a host of issues, from money to family, will be in some part dependent on their choice of careers.

8. How does your character deal with conflict and change? Most stories involve some element of conflict and change -- they're part of what makes a story a story. Is your character passive or active? If someone confronts her, does she change the subject, head for the minibar, stalk off, or do a deep-breathing exercise? When someone insults him, is he more likely to take it, come up with a retort, or excuse himself to find someone else to talk to?

9. Who else is in your character's life? Relationships -- how people interact with others -- reveal character. They're also excuses for dialogue, which break up exposition, offering another way of providing necessary information. Think about who will best help you convey this information, and what kinds of people would realistically be in your character's world in the first place.

10. What is your character's goal or motivation in this story or scene? In longer stories or novels, you will have to ask this question repeatedly. Many of your character's actions will result from the intersection of what she's trying to achieve and her personality, which is composed of everything you've invented in answering the above questions. When in doubt about how your character should behave, ask yourself what your character wants from the situation, and think about the answers you've given to all of the above.

Seven Basic narratives:

Overcoming the Monster

A terrifying, all-powerful, life-threatening monster whom the hero must confront in a fight to the death. An example of this plot is seen in Beowulf, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Dracula.

Rags to Riches

Someone who has seemed to the world quite commonplace is shown to have been hiding a second, more exceptional self within. Think the ugly duckling, Jane Eyre and Clark Kent.

The Quest

From the moment the hero learns of the priceless goal, he sets out on a hazardous journey to reach it. Examples are seen in The Odyssey, The Aeneid, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Voyage and Return

The hero or heroine and a few companions travel out of the familiar surroundings into another world completely cut off from the first. While it is at first marvellous, there is a sense of increasing peril. After a dramatic escape, they return to the familiar world where they began. Alice in Wonderland and The Time Machine are obvious examples; but Brideshead Revisited and Gone with the Wind also embody this basic plotline.

Comedy

Following a general chaos of misunderstanding, the characters tie themselves and each other into a knot that seems almost unbearable; however, to universal relief, everyone and everything gets sorted out, bringing about the happy ending. Shakespeare’s comedies come to mind, as do Jane Austen’s perfect novels.

Tragedy

A character through some flaw or lack of self-understanding is increasingly drawn into a fatal course of action which leads inexorably to disaster. King Lear, Madame Bovary, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Bonnie and Clyde—all flagrantly tragic.

Rebirth

There is a mounting sense of threat as a dark force approaches the hero until it emerges completely, holding the hero in its deadly grip. Only after a time, when it seems that the dark force has triumphed, does the reversal take place. The hero is redeemed, usually through the life-giving power of love. Many fairy tales take this shape; also, works like Silas Marner and It’s a Wonderful Life.

Storyboarding

Written by Dr. Gash
Sunday, 28 October 2007

Storyboarding is the beginning of the process. Time spent researching and developing your ideas at this point will be time well spent. Storyboarding allows you to begin to organise and explore visually the idea you are trying to convey. It will allow you to clarify your thoughts as well as provide a roadmap when you come to filming and editing.

Storyboarding the process of producing a series of sketches to represent your film. It is a way of graphically representing the idea/plot of your film. Not only will it allow you to clarify your thoughts on the film, it'll allow you to communicate ideas easily and quickly to others in your team and actors if you have any. Storyboarding often looks like a comic strip of what your film is to be. Originally used in the 1930s, storyboarding is still used today in film production and in development of interactive WebPages and software. It is also used in event management to illustrate visually the sequence the event should take.

It doesn't matter if you can't draw - some people use photographs of models instead of drawings. The storyboard is just a series of rough sketches, not fine art. Keeping the pictures small will help the process to be quicker and easier. The storyboard can contain more than just a series of still pictures. The storyboard can also be annotated. Arrows may be drawn on the pictures to illustrate the movement of the actors, or to plan where the camera focus will move when filming. The transition effects between shots should also be written on the storyboard, as can any effects that you may introduce at editing. Any relevant notes can be written in the margins e.g. music suggestions. The storyboard will not only allow you to develop your plot, it'll allow you to think of how you will film the shots required.

The initial storyboard does not have to be linear, there may be subplots that'll develop separately. It is good to number your sketches or display the sketches in an order consistent with how you see the film developing; this numbering or order will continually change.

When it gets to filming the storyboard isn't there to constrain you. It is to focus your creative efforts and as a backup. The film will develop as you start filming, but it is good practice to update the storyboard with any changes.



Other Sites to look at:

http://www.storyboards-east.com/starlog.htm
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2009/01/lessons-from-the-art-of-storyboarding.html

Animatic

Time spent getting your timing and camera angles right at this stage can save you days on the final project, it is easier to draw than create and render a 3d scene. You can use any means (given the time restraints) to get the flow of you animation right in your Animatic. Sketches, photography and film. It will help you also with your edit as you can replace scenes as you go along and also develop your sound.
Example:

Gorillaz - El Manana (Animatic) (HD)

Camera angles

Camera angles and movements combine to create a sequence of images, just as words, word order and punctuation combine to make the meaning of a sentence. You need a straightforward set of key terms to describe them.
Describing shots
When describing camera angles, or creating them yourself, you have to think about three important factors
— the framing or the length of shot
— the angle of the shot
— if there is any movement involved
When describing different cinematic shots, different terms are used to indicate the amount of subject matter contained within a frame, how far away the camera is from the subject, and the perspective of the viewer. Each different shot has a different purpose and effect. A change between two different shots is called a cut.
Framing or shot length