The project is about the fundamentals of storytelling.  The title of our story is “THE CONCEPT”.  In the beginning we are introduced to Jason, the frustrated MDC student who is frantically trying to come up with a creative Idea for his final art portfolio project. Jason is sitting at his drawing table in the late night hours. He is sleep deprived and mentally exhausted.  He is furiously putting his pencil to paper. We sense his desperation and inability to come up with that illusive great Idea. This is depicted with a series of dramatic shots of our frustrated MDC student drawing and tearing up paper while sitting at his drawing table. In the midst of this creative challenge the camera zooms into the student’s eye and into his mind. This marks a critical transition in our story where we switch from video to animation. As the camera zooms into Jason’s eye we are transported through an industrial tunnel into his mind. The inside of Jason’s head is an industrial factory made up of giant gears and metal structures. This factory is full of construction robots who are building an “Idea” or a structural concept. This of course symbolizes Jason’s brain trying to piece together an Idea for his final project. The camera ultimately makes its way through this metal labyrinth up to the top of the structure where it zooms back inside one of the robots eyes. This will bring the story full circle and back to our MDC student Jason who finally has that illusive Idea for his final art portfolio project.

1.   The process of storytelling began with a simple and creative concept that I provided to my students verbally. This Idea was then taken by my students and put on paper in the form of a one page rough script. This was a group effort where all of the students had input, contributing creative solutions to our story.
2.   The second step involved a lot of concept drawings. Detailed drawings depicting all of the major scenes, vehicles, characters, and supporting elements of our story.
3.       Once the drawings were completed we began modeling the 3D virtual scenes, vehicles, characters, and supporting elements of our story. This also involved texturing and lighting.
4.   The video sequence had to be shot on two separate occasions inside one of the painting studios in the 1000 building. The video shoot had to be done after dark to match the story. A corner of the classroom was transformed into Jason’s room. A team of very dedicated students made this possible.
5.     We also shot interviews of the students who worked on different elements of the creative storytelling process.
6.    The animations and digital sound of our story were created by a small team of students who volunteered their time and skills.
7.    The final step of the process included the integration of all of the above elements into a final presentation. This presentation is a compilation of everything from the rough script and concept drawings to the animated 3D models and scenes.

The project was evaluated by a portfolio and critique method.
Each phase of the project was presented and critiqued by the students who worked on the project. The final presentation was then evaluated as a semester portfolio of work. The portfolio was evaluated on criteria such as 1. Concept 2. Research 3. Execution 4. Design.  The quality of the work was not the focus instead I was more interested in conveying to my students an understanding of the process.

top>>