Digital Video

It is no coincidence that students are exposed to character development exercises creating their own comic book super hero with internal conflicts of good and evil prior to their third year video project. Creating storyboards with Adobe Illustrator to visually depict a character’s capabilities and flaws are important elements of a linear story line and an important stepping stone toward motion pictures. Adobe Flash animation introduces students to the time line, frames, scenes, audio and frame splicing before moving on to the industry standard video editing application Final Cut Pro.

The Narrative

Print mediums like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator can be approached from any angle to problem-solve the final visual. A narrative requires sequencing specific visuals and audio to build character development, create a logical plot, build conflict and its pending resolution and finalize the story. All these are important elements of literature. Students are challenged to carefully plan and script a story from beginning to end including what shots follow each other. They must evaluate production elements like location, actors, script, props and what action must take place in each shot completed before leaving that location.

Planning Scripting and Storyboarding

Students must manage technical elements like lighting and action while shooting video to take their story from concept to a product an audience can digest. Prior to shooting their first frame a script and storyboard must carefully planned and illustrated. Before calling actors or choosing a location each director must show their vision and write about how they will achieve all the elements that lead to their final production.