Wed. Feb. 12th

Periods 3 & 7: 
 Lots to do! 

• First, your Brainstorming teams will share out at least one story idea from Friday's activity.
• Then, it's time to choose teams.  You should team up with peers who share an interest in a similar IDEA for the project.
• Teams will complete a Story Development Worksheet and hand in by the end of class for 30 points. 

Need to look at examples to get ideas?  Check out my Vimeo "Likes":
https://vimeo.com/user4420607/likes

Period 5: 
First things first:  Time to clean out the Pd. 5 Props Cabinet!  Take home anything you donated.
Then....
Time to get out and play!
Today's "PLAY" has a purpose.  We'll explore the basic mechanical principle behind stop-motion animation:  A series of images, when played back in rapid succession, create the illusion of movement.  Here's how it works:

• Your team will get a Camera, Tripod and SD Card, and pick up your Storyboard.
• Working in an open area, you will designate 1 or 2 team members as "characters".
• Using the "Still Photo" mode on the Camera, you will take a series of photographs as your "characters" re-create a motion sequence from your Storyboard.
• You should take between 5 and 10 photographs for every SECOND of real-time movement.
• Pay careful attention to FRAMING (composition), keeping your camera still during shooting, and measuring out incremental movements for your "characters".

Your team will then download the photographs into iPhoto, and import into a new "StopMotion" Project in iMovie.  I'll lead you through a demo that shows you how to speed up a sequence of images to produce the "Persistence of Vision" effect.

Learn More:
How to Shoot Stop Motion

Monday, Feb. 11th

Good morning! Hope you had a restful weekend.
By the way, THANK YOU FOR BEING AWESOME while I was out for staff training on Friday.  YOU ROCK!

Today, we'll grade your analysis from Friday.  Then, we'll move forward as follows:

Period 3 & 7:  Short review of lighting techniques in the "Video" book; then, we'll view a few professional stop-motion videos and analyze (in writing) the following elements:

• Character
• Style/tone
• Story Structure (climax/denoument)
• Setting (sense of place)
• Genre

You'll turn that analysis in, and then we'll break up into small "brainstorming" groups to begin generating ideas.  Groups will share their ideas at the end of class and turn in their work.

Some of the examples we'll watch:
Fluffy McCloud  http://vimeo.com/12699638
Sorry I'm Late https://vimeo.com/4862670
A Short Love Story  https://vimeo.com/877053
10,000 Pictures of You https://vimeo.com/2554266

Period 5:   Start your Production Binder today!  It's the best way to keep track of your work.  We need to complete a MASTER shopping list today, so your Props and Supply lists MUST BE COMPLETED TODAY and turned in to me.  Make sure you include EVERYTHING you need.  Stuff like:

• Paint (to paint cardboard if necessary)---color and type
• Brushes
• Glue ?
• Fabric or special materials
• Hardware (screws, tape, etc.)
• Materials to make characters (if you're going that route)
• Anything else necessary to construct the features of your set and characters

This is going to require an ACTIVE discussion on your part, Period 5.  If you give me an incomplete list, you won't have what you need when it's time to film.  Your group WILL be graded on Production Values (the overall look and quality of what you've created), so this phase of your work is extremely important if you wish to do well.