Start Thinking About the Final
At this point in the semester, you should be fairly comfortable using After Effects. There’s still a lot of new ground to cover, but you should have a good grasp of the basics. If you’re still struggling, send me an email at dan014@bucknell.edu and we can schedule a review session. Everything from this point forward is going to be building on the previous lessons and moving towards the final project.
Your final project is going to be an animated short film, based on the theme “cause and effect.” You can interpret that theme in any way you like; it’s just meant to be a jumping-off point. This week, you’ll be designing the main character for your film. You can start working on your final now, if you like; we’ll touch base on the project again during class in mid-November.
Here are the project details:
- An animated short film based on the theme of “cause and effect.”
- It should utilize character animation, involving the character you design in class.
- It should showcase the skills and techniques you’ve been learning throughout the semester.
- Between 30 and 90 seconds in length.
- Any music used should be royalty-free or used with permission. Check out the “resources” section for some useful sites.
- The resolution and frame rate should be 1920 by 1080, 24 frames-per-second.
- It should be exported as a QuickTime movie using the H.264 codec.
That’s it! I’ve deliberately kept the parameters of the assignment pretty open-ended, so that you have room to interpret things creatively. For example, you could film a real background and place your animated character into it; or create everything in Photoshop and Illustrator; or draw things by hand, scan them, and import them into After Effects. Your project could have several characters or just one. It can be comedic, dramatic, abstract, or scary.
Take some time to think about what kind of project you’d like to take away from this class. This is a great chance to make something that you can submit to film festivals or share online – if your film turns out well, it can also play at the student showcase at the Campus Theatre! If you’ve never seen your work projected on the big screen, it’s an extremely cool experience.
Final Project Schedule
October 19 – Project details given, character design is assigned
November 16 – Project check-in, discuss progress in class
November 30 – In-class work time, troubleshooting
December 7 – Final project is due, in-class review and critiques
Grade Breakdown
30 pts. – Creativity and use of theme
30 pts. – Technical proficiency
20 pts. – Meeting project requirements
10 pts. – Formatted and exported correctly
10 pts. – Turned in on time
100 points total