Home Infinite Campus Calendar Beginner's Guide to DaVinci Resolve






Video Production Assignments

Apr 28

How not to make a movie

Apr 28

Stop Motion Studies

Hello and welcome, soon-to-be-animators to Stop Motion Studies. Today we’re going to be animating objects. What I love about this technique is that it brings ordinary things to life in a magical way. You don’t need to be skilled at drawing or buy expensive equipment. All you need is:




First, download Stop Motion Studio on your phone or tablet. When you open it, you can select the ➕ button to start a new animation. I would encourage you to click the 💡 icon (or visit Stop Motion Studio's YouTube channel) at some point to access their video tutorial library. You can watch them all in less than 20 minutes—that’s how I learned.

When trying anything new, I like to think of my first attempts as experiments. It’s not about being good right away. It’s about seeing “what happens if…?” No matter the results, you will have learned something new. So with this spirit, let’s begin our first experiment.

Study 1: Eggs (Similar Objects)



On Saturday, we dyed Easter eggs. They reminded me of little planets, and I knew I wanted to animate them. A great way to begin animating is to start with a collection of similar objects. You could try postcards leaves, or magazines.




Study 2: Dishes (Varied Objects)



For the next experiment I wanted more movement. I used a stack of different-sized dishes to create the illusion that they were growing. You could try this with books, fruit, or seashells.




Study 3: Toys (Moving Objects)

Stop Motion Studio defaults to 5 frames per second—this can lead to choppy animation. It worked on the last animation where I wanted to clearly see each egg but for a smoother animation you’ll want to increase the frame rate. If you click on the ⚙️ icon in your project you can adjust the frame rate to something faster. In this case, I used 12fps, which is a standard animation speed. Luckily, you can do this at any time and I recommend playing around with different frame rates to get different results.



Okay! Now for the fun stuff. Time to gather all the little doodads in your house and make a movie.
💡Tip: In animation, fast things move more between each frame. Experiment by moving two objects at different rates. The horse moved about ¼ inch each frame and the car moved about 1⁄2 inch. You don’t need to be exact but try to stay consistent. The onion skin helps a lot with this.






Make 3 animations by Friday



Apr 14

Documentary

For this assignment, students will be producing a short documentary about a topic of their choosing. The subject can be something academic, about a hobby or passion of yours or a person. You will research the topic, shoot original footage and conduct interviews about the topic.



Time: 4:00-9:00 minutes

Individual Project

Suggestions for filming and editing:

Pick a topic that interests you.
Pick a topic that will allow you to shoot footage / interviews instead of relying on entirely found/stock footage.
Please take this seriously. Even if producing a Mockumentary, the subject matter should be treated with respect and importance.

This is due on Friday.



Mar 31

The Art Film

For this assignment you will be telling the story behind a work of visual art. You can choose any painting, sculpture, piece of architecture that inspires you. The piece of art must have been created prior to 1990.

Your process:
Research some classic artwork, and find something that inspires you.
Time: 2:00 - 6:00

Suggestions for filming and editing:

The painting/sculpture does not need to feature a person.
You are not adapting someone else’s story based on a painting, but creating your own original work.
An image of the piece of art must be seen either at the top or close of your project. Consider using it as a background image during credits.

You'll find examples of all kinds of art the Google Arts & Culture page.



This is due on Friday.

Mar 24

The Biography

For this assignment, students will be producing a biographical piece about another student. For this project, you will need to interview a student and get to know them. Learn about their life up to this point, and find a story to tell about them.
You will research the student, interview them and their family members, shoot original footage share their story with the class. Your subject may be a classmate in this class or a friend who is not a part of this class.
Time: 4:00-9:00 minutes
Individual Project, but you can work in pairs
Suggestions for filming and editing:
Pick a student that has a story worth sharing.
Interview their family members and friends.
Utilize family movies or photos from their childhood.



This is due on Friday.

Feb 28

The Campus Story

Students will select any aspect of campus life they would like to tell a story about and develop a well-thought out video piece. Students will create a treatment and a complete script or storyboard before shooting, then shoot and edit the video.

This is due on Friday.





Script Template



Storyboard blank



Feb 24

MOVIE REVIEW VIDEO

Directions: Create a video that reviews a movie in either a positive, negative, or a bit of both fashion.

Here are the requirements:
1. No time limit for the video but it should completely address the questions on the outline.
2. EVERY person needs to speak in the video. I suggest each person in the group takes a section of the outline to read (5 sections total)
3. Video may either be done with people on camera or entirely with b-roll and voice overs.
4. You need to use still photos from the movie or use a web-based YouTube ripper for scenes from the movie.
5. The photos and scenes you select should highlight what you are talking about.
6. You will be graded on your technical skills, the thoroughness of your review, and your use of specific evidence from the movie to support your review. A review without support or examples will not receive a high grade.

Work as a group. Your movie is due Mar 6.

Jan 22

In your group, you are going to create a silent movie on ONE of the following topics:
• Answer the phone
• She’s (He’s) the one
• You left this
• School problems

Your silent movie must have the following:
1. Your film must be black and white.
2. Your film must have an aged film effect applied.
3. Your film must have at least 3 caption cards (spelled correctly), but you may have more.
4. Your film must have a title at the beginning and credits at the end.
5. Your film must use instrumental music as a background. Use audioblocks.com to find your music.
6. Your film should be -2 minutes in length, not including credits.
7. Your film must have a clear story with a beginning, a conflict, and a resolution.
8. Everyone in your group must participate in the making of the film.

Your film is due Friday, January 31



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Jan 15



Jan 14

Next, we'll look at a tutorial for DaVinci Resolve, the software you will use to edit your movies. Here are some resources for you to play with.

I have created resources for you to practice with. They are on DaVinci Resources



Jan 13

I want you to look at the cameras that I have for us to shoot most of our video.



and





Click here for the course syllabus. Save it in your Documents folder.



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