A Day in the Life of...

Plan and Produce Your "A Day in the Life of ..." Project.

If you want to turn in work digitally, turn it into this dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/request/fqpf7tZibfkakD35Sm8v

1. Development:   Selecting the Story/Topic [Due Friday Jan 5]

• Title: A Day in the Life of             [Subject/Who]            .

• Locations:

• What makes this Subject so interesting that your audience will want to watch A Day in Their Life?

• What is their day like?Style you are aiming for: 
• (i.e. informative/awareness, sad, funny, scary, ironic, commercial, documentary, etc.)

• Medium: (i.e. Live-Action, Stop-Motion, Animation, Mix, Other)

***If you are working with one or more other student(s), your story should be complex/long enough to require all teammates.


1. Development:   Identify a theme/underlying message [Due end of Friday Jan 5]

• Who is your audience? (i.e. my classmates, my teacher, my school, my family, my state, , etc.

• What is the theme/underlying message? (i.e. "papers have busy lives", "clean after yourself", "support musicians by buying their music", "be kinder to your students", "people are not as they appear", "you never know who to trust", etc.)

1. Development:   Writing a Synopsis [Due Monday Jan 8]

• Sell your story/idea by briefly telling it in written form, a short description of what happens. 
• Tell it from beginning to end in order the events occur in the story, include characters, storyline, actions, reactions, and most important/interesting parts of the story. Tell the story to raise interest.
• Around 10 lines in length for short films.
• Example: (The misunderstood dog by Robert Biggins) "Fluffy is an unlucky dog. Neither of his owners – a couple who live in an old-fashioned house in the suburbs – seems to like or understand him. They’re always asking him to do things he doesn’t understand, and they don’t care about his needs.             "Two days before Christmas Fluffy decides to run away and find a place where he feels more comfortable. On his quest he faces many risky situations, which makes him homesick. He wishes he could be at home again.           "In the meantime, his owners are looking for him all around the house and fearing the worst. But on Christmas Eve, with snow falling heavily, Fluffy arrives at the house again. From here on Fluffy is treated much better by his owners, and finally becomes aware what they mean to him as well."
• 
  

1. Development:  Writing a Script
[Initial Draft Due Wednesday 1/10, Final Draft Due Friday 1/12]

• Describes everything about each scene. Including the place, time of day, props, lighting, how the protagonist(s) look, what they are wearing, what happens in the scene, and any dialogues between characters, including the text narrated through a voice-over, as well as hints about what kind of music will need to be added in post-production. 
• All scenes usually follow the same format in the script: Describing the background setting, then the characters, then dialogue.

***Example will be posted on separate page

2. Pre-Production: [Friday 1/12 ~ Wednesday 1/17]

• Director: Be able to articulate their vision verbally, visually, or in writing or drawing. Be able to be decisive and firm in their vision but also consider teammates creative inputs. Be able to communicate effectively. Work with all teammates to make sure everyone is on the same page.
• Storyboard Artist: In quick sketches, Storyboard and provide visual aids of what the director wants to communicate.
• Actor(s): Memorize lines, practice performance (self or puppet or train a pet)
• Cameraman: Scope around for best shooting places, test shots in the camera
• Production Designer: Gather needed props, get all the visual aspect of project ready (i.e. production sets, props, costumes, make-up, etc.) make sure they are ready on the day of shooting and cause least amount of delay.
• Everyone: Collaborate to be on the same page and see how each part plays together. (i.e. cameraman try the compositions storyboard artists have come up with and give feedback, actors act out your performance see if it fits in camera or if lighting works, etc.)
• Make needed adjustments and preparation

3. Production: [Saturday 1/13 ~ Monday 1/22]

• Director: Calls “picture is up!”, “quiet, everyone!”, “roll sound!”, “roll camera!”, “action background!”, “action!” “cut!” to que the team. Be able to articulate their vision. Be able to be decisive and recognize when a shot meets their vision, good enough, or be re-shot again. Be able to communicate effectively. Work with all teammates to make sure everyone is on the same page. 
• Clapper (Storyboard Artist): Calls “marker!” with “clapperboard”
• Actor(s): Performs and adjust their performance according to the director’s input
• Cameraman: Prepares equipments, holds the camera, answers the director “speed!” when camera is recording, records/shoots the film, adjust according to the director’s input.

4. Post-Production: [Wednesday 1/17 ~ Wednesday 1/24]

• Importing shots
• White Balance
• Editing
• Sound effects and Music
• Title and End Credits: End credits lists which role each person was responsible for if the video was produced by a group.

5. Distribution: [Friday 1/26]

• Turn in the finished video
• Watch it projected in class on Monday
• Post it on social media if desired

Grading Rubric:

Final Product

25 Points Total	Great (5)	Passing (3)	Low Performing (1)
Directing	The video shows strong directing, every part of the video is of highest quality possible within the limitations of the project, and everything is organized and works well together to show the theme and a day in the life of the subject.	The video shows some direction and has some low quality tolerance. The video doesn't show the entire day and the theme is vague.	Most aspects of the video contains low quality performance and production. The project shows no purpose or direction and did not strive for the best.
Production	The video benefits from all the planning and preparation. Nothing in the video seem out of place.	The video follows some planning, but are missing some props or has some unprepared aspects.	The video looks very unprepared and made on a whim.
Lighting/ White Balance	The video does not have any distracting lighting, flickering, distracting shadows, etc.	The video has some distracting lighting, flickering, distracting shadows, etc, but shows attempts to fix it.	The video does not have any attempts to fix any distracting lighting, flickering, distracting shadows, etc.
Editing	The video flows well one shot to the next. None of the shots feel too rushed or too long.	The video flows one shot to the next in comprehensible order. Some of the shots feel too rushed or too long.	There are hardly any cuts and editing, some shots may even be out of order. Most shots feel rushed or too long. Just hard to watch.
Text	There is Title and End credits that lists everyone and their respective responsibilities in the project. There is no spelling error.	There is Title and End credits that lists everyone and their respective responsibilities in the project. There is some spelling error.	The project is either missing a Title or missing the End credits, or some people or some responsibilities.