THE ULTIMATE GOAL

Lower Merion SciVis 2013 - 1st Place Nationals - 3D Printing

 

Colorado’s 2014 Winner – Well done!

 

Look how Dnews brings life into the scientific documentary.   Think fun!
 

But check out Inner Planet Janet, its a different direction.   

MAIN EXPECTATIONS

• Write a script written in standard notation. 
• Create a storyboard aligned with the script.
• Create a two – three minute animatic (slideshow) fully narrated.

PDJ must include:

• Title of SciVis Animatic 
• Write a purpose / overview for this visualization (2-5 paragraphs)
• Hand-Sketched storyboard that documents the flow and progression of the visualization with written notes; special
  effects, audio cues, dialogue, transitions, and scene duration should be incorporated into the storyboard; pages
  as needed.
• Written description of what the visualization illustrates or demonstrates; one (1) page
• List of references that includes sources for materials, copyrighted and otherwise; pages as needed. The term “Fair Use” and similar terms are not acceptable citations when creating the list of references.
• Permission letters for copyrighted material; pages as needed
• List of software and hardware used in the development of the visualization; one (1) page

General Process Workflow   

 

EXPLORE: Before you do anything, you must fully understand what the task, the objective, and the rules are, so that you are heading in the right direction.  You don’t want to start creating a project and realize that it is not answering the task objectives.

EXPLORE: After reading the problem / prompt, take out a clean piece of paper and sketch and/or write-up your initial thoughts and ideas. This is an important step that is generally overlooked but is essential nurturing original ideas and concepts. Make sure look for topics and explore ideas that you are actually interested.

 

Pre-Writing (AFI's Lights, Camera, Education!)

 

RESEARCH: Collect /research reference & inspirational images, designs, blueprints etc. Basically find as many as you need, which is at least 20+. I call this phase, the “Virtual Cork Board”. I have found that the best way to do this is to create a Pinterest page with all your resources.  This is not only a dynamic collection of resources, but it also retains the source information for later documentation. If you do not have access to Pinterest, a collection of images works. My father was a designer and kept a cork-board next to his desk and added new designs and inspirations as he found them.  *Make sure there enough information on this topic and it can be represented in a visual way. 

ORGANIZE: Narrow down an area of interest to at least three directions and then create a mind map that will help guide you for the prompt / problem. Create a mind map that explores 3+ design options for the project. Each design branch should fully explore design characteristics and specifications.

WRITE: Create three detailed 'one paragraph proposal' for each of your possible SciVIZ films. The 'one paragraph proposal' is the essence of the story.  Describe in the space of two to four sentences, the topic, the audience, and the goal or intended purpose; basically briefly and simply answer, WHO, WHAT, WHERE, HOW and WHY. Explain what part about this topic do you hope to cover the question that you want to answer. *A proposal is kind of like a synopsis or a thesis statement.

• Keep your pitch between 50 and 150 words – In your pitch you need to identify what your film’s strong points are and essentially what it is about.
• Be concise with your introduction to the proposal: Summarize what the film will be within the first line – detail can be included once you have aroused the reader’s attention.
• Outline-What is your film’s subject (person, group, environment, social issue etc.)? What style of film will this be? Is it character driven? Who are the main characters in this film?
• Direction–What do you want to do with the film and what do you want the film to do?
• Style: Make sure your proposal allows your film to come to life –if you write a dry proposal you are asking a lot of the reader; if your proposal has a strong narrative or aesthetic and describes the depth of its characters your film will come to life.
• Where is it going? Making a documentary is an unpredictable journey. If you have some idea of where your story will go –possible narrative trajectory, conflict, likely outcomes and events that may occur along the way, then include them in your proposal. Again this information helps the reader to visualize your project as a completed film.

WRITE: Choose the strongest proposal and then create a more detailed film treatment.

Outline & Treatment (AFI's Lights, Camera, Education!)

 

RESEARCH: There is so much information out there from so many different sources—magazines, newspapers, news shows, podcasts, books, etc.  However, researching for a documentary includes something more — interviews.  Try to talk to people who know, first hand, about your topic.  Interviews that you shoot make your topic come alive and live in the present, rather than just in the past…which is where a lot of documentary content resides. Ask permission to video or record the interview and use the information you find.

*Create a folder with all your resources, photographs, interviews, papers, videos, websites. Then organize it.

 

WRITE: Create an outline of everything that need to be covered in your script.

WRITE: Write the script. Now that you have ordered all of your images to convey the story that you want to tell, it’s time to write a script. The script needs to be written to the time that you have allotted for each image. For example, if there is a five second panning shot of a statue, then the voice-over describing that statue needs to last five seconds.

 Script Writing (AFI's Lights, Camera, Education!)

 

CREATE: Create the storyboard.

 Storyboarding (AFI's Lights, Camera, Education!)

 

Here is a great resource:  Storyboarding the Simpsons Way.

 

CREATE: Record the script and then a secondary music (optional).

 

CREATE: Create animatic based on storyboard & script with audio track.

 

Photo Animatic Example

 
Drawn Slide Example.

 

Resources:

MITs DV Lab: 1. Introduction: Doing Science & Making Documentary Film

 

MITs DV Lab: 2. Documentary and Ways of Seeing

 

MITs DV Lab: 3. Science and Seeing