Program Name & Code: BAAIM BP203 Semester & Year: Semester 1, 2012 Course Name & Code:

2D Animation 1 VART 2987 Lecturer: Simon Norton Email: simon.norton@rmit.edu.au

Assignment Name: Tirade/Monologue

Date Due: Week 12, (week starting 21st May 2012) Submission Mode: (Hard copy) School Cover Sheet (signed) to be attached at the front of assignment if hard copy submission Note: Please retain copies of all documents Percentage Weighting: This assignment contributes 70% to the final course result

Assignment Brief:
Aims: To complete a 2D animation which is ready for export to quicktime video, DV, DVD. To develop skills in preplanning and storyboarding animation, and working with animatics To develop skills in lip-syncing dialogue for animated characters Brief: The theme of the animation is TIRADE or MONOLOGUE Students are to create an animated character who talks a lot . Examples of a tirade situation, in which the speaker has another character as his audience - an angry customer in a shop - a guest on a television talk show Examples of a monologue situation, in which the speaker is alone - an elderly man remembers an event from his youth - an office worker talks to himself as he works late alone The animation is to be an original concept featuring original characters. The animation can tell a short story, or be a short character vignette. It must have a voice or voices on the soundtrack. The animation must also feature at least some lip-syncing of a voice. The frame rate is to be 25fps (PAL television) The working documents stage size should be widescreen square pixels (1050 x 576 pixels)

Process: Step 1. Write a script in which a character goes on a tirade or performs a monologue. Improvisation with fellow students may help. Step 2. Record the voice soundtrack for your animation. (The voice performance may be by yourself, a fellow student, an actor, a friend, etc) Step 3. Design a 2D character to fit the voice Step 4. Storyboard your animation. Storyboards must be approved before beginning to animate. (see Notes) Step 5. Create an animatic of your animation. Your animatic should have very basic artwork, basic movement and basic sound fx. Animatics must be approved before moving on to the final artwork on your animation. Step 6. Complete final animation. Put in finished artwork, complete movements, and mix finished soundtrack. Notes: At the storyboard stage you will need to work out the shots and staging, and how they will match your voice soundtrack. Try to be creative at this stage. Dont automatically have your talking character on screen all the time. This is a lot of lipsync work, and besides it probably isnt the best way of telling the story or using the voice soundtrack. For example, you can: periodically cut away from the talking character, perhaps to a listening character, or environmental details, as the voice track continues over the top periodically cut to closeups of the talking character, eyes for example, or closeups of other important environmental details periodically cut to an animated flashback sequence, turning the talking character into a narrator periodically cut to an animated fantasy sequence, turning the talking character into a narrator

Try to figure out when the camera should be on the character (necessitating lipsync) and when the camera can be focused elsewhere. This should be worked out at the STORYBOARD stage, NOT later. Another note: If you are planning to use a flashback/fantasy sequence, thus turning your talking character into a narrator, be wary of letting your animated drawings simply illustrate exactly what the character is saying. If viewers are getting exactly the same information from the animated drawings AND the narration, then one of them is superfluous. When using a narrator, aim to have the animated drawings complement the narration so that each of them builds on story information supplied by the other. Incidentally a classic comedy device is to have narration and moving images contradicting each other.

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Assignment Deliverables: Please submit - Completed .swf or quicktime movie or animation - Working Flash file .fla - Script (as .doc or .pdf no .celtx files please) - Any relevant development sketches - Character model sheet - Storyboard - Animatic as .swf or quicktime movie Assessment Criteria: You will be assessed individually on the basis of: - Concept, script, storyboard, character design (40%) - Development, animatic and working method (30%) - Lip sync accuracy (10%) - Overall quality of finished animation (20%)

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