Today's Class

1) Movie production documents - what they are and how they are used.

2) The Making of the Shining - 20 minute doco on making of the Stanley Kubrik movie "The Shining"

3) Within a Minute - short documentary on the making of a single scene from a Star Wars movie

4) Student's final storyboard/animatic presentations continued

Information on the Videogames Certificate at CCSF

http://www.ccsf.edu/Departments/Multimedia_Studies/conc_08.htm

Stan Lee 'How to Video' on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f33y6k_vk_Vg

Lecture - Stan Lee (creator of Spiderman) on "Drawing Comics the Marvel Way"

50 minute documentary show&tell with host Stan Lee on "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way"

Get your sketchbooks out for this one.

Followed by Begleiter summing up and student final presentations (continued)



DC

Today's class

Lecture on implications of portable touch-screens for delivery of storyboard content

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1) Blake Babcock, Rebop Rundgren, Phillip O'Conner will talk about their final project

2) Josquin Theirault will present his final project

3) Katie Lee will present her final project

4) Jace Mills will screen "The X-Men III" to talk about storyboarding in that film

Walter Murch links

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4994411

Excellent Walter Murch lecture part one.

and part two.

Murch on Sound Editing and Sound Design

Item 4 assignments due today

Please post a link to your final assignment on your blog. I will use this link to grade your final assignments - storyboard or animatic.

If your assignment is printed or drawn, please hand these in to me in person.

I will go through the blogs at 2.15 to check to confirm delivery of finished item 4 assignments.

Over the coming weeks we will take an in-depth look at these assignments in class and use them to discuss what we have covered during the course in terms of skills and ideas.

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SUMMARY OF ITEM 4 - MAIN ASSIGNMENT - FROM MMSP145 SYLLABUS:

Item 4

a) Finished Drawn Storyboard and/or Software based Animatic based on assignment 2 - 20%

DUE 4/28 – week 15

To show via numbered drawn storyboard OR animatic sequence of duration between 1 minute & 3 minutes – either whole story or sample sequence) worked on by individual student or in small groups (e.g. two or three students – no more than four – grade for item is shared among group)

b) 10% item 4 participation grade - assigned to individual by vote by group members if a group project, or by instructor if individual project.

Documentary "Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing"

As storyboard artists and animatics makers, we need to be aware of the cutting conventions of film in order to know how to depict shot-to-shot action.

This excellent documentary covers the art of film editing from the point of view of the editors themselves:

As you watch, do this quiz

Today's class

Today we will continue with an overview of the role of color in storytelling and storyboarding.

As examples we will look at my 1998 film OTHERZONE

For more information on Otherzone - see here.

We will do a review of student main assignments by means of the student blog list and
we will also revisit live figure drawing from projections of the drawing manniquin.

Summary of item 4 - final assignment

a) Finished Drawn Storyboard and/or Software based Animatic based on assignment 2 - 20%

DUE 4/28 – week 15

To show via numbered drawn storyboard OR animatic sequence of duration between 1 minute & 3 minutes – either whole story or sample sequence) worked on by individual student or in small groups (e.g. two or three students – no more than four – grade for item is shared among group)

b) 10% item 4 participation grade - assigned to individual by vote by group members if a group project, or by instructor if individual project.

a) + b) = 30% of total grade

NB – “ToonBoom Storyboard” is installed on only 10 machines, but “Frame Forge 3D Studio” on 25. Thus those students or groups of students wishing to use TOONBOOM software for main assignments need to negotiate access to the relevant machines in advance of commencing work.

Today's class

* Color and mood in movie art direction

* Case study - the use of color to reinforce mood on "Capote" (with reference to 'making of' bonus extras DVD)

* Begleiter's chapter on color in relation to "Visions of Light" Excerpts.

* Review of software for item 4 projects

* Alternative and experimental storytelling – e.g. Manovich idea of database cinema, collage-essay approaches etc

* In-class lab, with DCox visiting with each student for an update on development of item 4 projects.

Mail assignment now due on 28th April

Class,

The new deadline for item 4 projects is now 5pm on Wednesday the 28th April (four days later than originally scheduled)

DC

Documentary on Cinematography "Visions of Light"

Today we'll be watching the 1992 documentary "Visions of Light" about the work of the top cinematographers.

It covers many aspects of topics covered in the reading - particularly the use of contrast and color and composition in the structuring of the frame.

The film also discusses how technological innovations have impacted upon the work of the camera operator, and therefore how images for the screen have evolved since the earliest days of cinematography.

As you watch, please fill out first part 1 of a quiz about the film - and then come back to this blog and do part 2

Wikipedia entry on Visions of Light

Posemaniacs - online life drawing model poses

Click here to go to Posemaniacs - a useful site to draw from figures when you don't have access to a drawing manniquin.

Exam today - review of exam, then exam.

PART 1

a) MIDTERM EXAM REVIEW - brief overview of exam topics - all based on readings and exercises based on readings (Begleiter) since week 1.

b) Discuss reading Figure Notation and do exercise from this chapter using data projection of camera-pointing-at-mannequin.

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PART 2 MIDTERM EXAM - 1 hour -no cellphones, books, computers, talking!

Starting at 1pm

Continue figure drawing from data projection of camera-pointing-at-mannequin.

SHOW & TELL of some of the finished Assignments due today - (written & drawn)

Homework Spring Break:

Read Chapter 9 of Begleiter, Figure Notation

Discussion on Chapter 10 "Getting a Gig"

Strategies for finding employment in the storyboarding & storytelling area

write a 1 paragraph summary, post this on your blog

Read Chapter 10 Getting a Gig

Scott McCloud on Comics

figure drawing demo

To use scanner in room 474

1) Go to Scanning machine - next to scanner
2) Log in
3) Go to applications menu and choose the program "Image Capture"
4) Place you artwork on the flatbed
5) Click on the "overview" button
6) When you see your artwork in the window, drag a bounding box around the area you want to scan
7) Press 'Scan'
8) The image is now in photoshop. Do a 'save as' to where you want to save your new image
(e.g. desktop)
9) Remove from machine with a memory stick or email to yourself as an attachment

Wiki entries on Perspective drawing

Wikipedia entry on Perspective Drawing

How to draw perspective on WikiHow

What we will do in this week's class

1) Perspective Exercise from the reading - using rulers & paper to draw perspective drawings of buildings etc.


2)Read Chapter 8 of Begleiter – Perspective and write a 1 paragraph summary, post this on your blog

3) Use FrameForge 3D to develop pair-based activity - "The Argument"

DC

Excellent Sketchbook drawings by Mark McDonnel

Script-to-Image translation exercises

PART 1.

Due in 1 week (3/10)

Homework - take one of your favorite movies in your DVD collection, identify your most favorite scene and then see if the screenplay is on Drew's Script-o-Rama. If not, find one that is.

If it is, watch the movie with the screenplay on your computer screen and compare the written word to the onscreen image.

Prepare one page of screenplay with one scene on the DVD/Video to show & compare in class. Use the scene to consider aspects of composition as per the exercise in today's class (3/3).

PART 2

Due in 2 weeks (3/14)

Next, find a screenplay for a film you have NOT seen. Find one scene from the film, draw an overhead view of the scene as you imagine it, then quickly make a few thumbnails of how the boards for the scene might look. Then, rent the movie or watch on pay-per-view look at the scene and compare your interpretation to the one that was actually shot. How different were they? How similar?

Pre Production Forms Free Download

Use these forms to prepare for a film schoot.

Download free forms for pre-production here. Most are self-explanatory in use.

March 3rd - today's class

Composition within the Frame - Beglieter's idea in relation to scenes from
movies.

Documentation that goes into film production.

Shot conventions - the 'line'

Anatomy of a scene.

How do you create dramatic tension-from the macro to the micro?
The monologue and 1st person narrative. Writing from personal experience
Exercise from last week's reading THE EXTENDED FRAME

Previsualization (or “previz”) and how it is affecting the role of the audiovisual storyteller. How storytelling is affected by the process of ‘seeing a film before it is made’. Case study of mainstream movie use of animatics

Introduction “Toonboom Storyboard” software to create storyboards and animatics – EXERCISE – THE ARGUMENT

Essays due today

Email essays as attachments to:

dcoxstoryboarding@gmail.com

or submit as printed copies

If you are not done with the essay you may use class time
to complete the essay in the classroom or library.

Thanks

DC

Frameforge 3D animatic for bar fight scene in "Delivered"

Good example of animatic

Today's Class

ANIMATICS - STAR WARS & CGI ANIMATICS (ANIMATED STORYBOARDS)

Present in-class Item 1 Assignments (second group of students)

Develop your main character

Genre identification and hybrid forms-overview

What are storyboards, floor-plans and other diagrams to assist in conceptualizing events on the screen in advance? A look at various ways to reconcile visual material with the dramatic requirements of the story.

Use of sound with animatics

EXERCISE - USE FRAMEFORGE 3D

SHOT 1 - A man kissed a girl




SHOT 2 - another man looked on shocked

Wed 10th Feb class

Class,

Today we'll have another look at chapter 3 of Beglieter as well as chapter 4.

We'll briefly re-visit "Jaws" from the point of view of its structure

We'll hear from student's 1 paragraph stories.

We will also look at some examples of the exercise involving at least 10 shots from
a movie with floor plan showing camera positions.

Overview of different software tools for making 'animatics' - e.g. Frameforge 3D,
Toonboom storyboard

Collaborative Storytelling links

http://www.kolabora.com/news/2007/03/01/collaborative_writing_tools_and_technology.htm

Email Address for Assignments to Teacher

Class - when emailing me your assignments - use this email address:

dcoxstoryboarding@gmail.com

Thanks

2006 ASIFA show of storyboards (Ren & Stimpy etc)

A museum exhibit of Krisfalusi boards hosted by the ASIFA (Animation association)

Marcie Begleiter discusses her book

This is an earlier edition of the book but its useful to hear Marcie Begleiter talk about her book