The Egypt Story

The movie above was created with Alice (and recorded with CamStudio by MediaSoft).
It is quite a large movie (2.5 MegaBytes), so be patient while it downloads.

This is just the prototype - a short, first try.  It needs to be longer.  Here are some ideas
for an expanded story-line.

• The cowboy goes away and is replaced by an archaeologist.
• The archeologist talks about what he is likely to find
  - pottery
  - mummies
  - hieroglyphics
• A picture of some hieroglyphics appears on the screen.
• The eskimo girl talks about when and how hieroglyphics were first deciphered.
• A picture of King Tut appears.
• The girl talks about some of the events that happened when the pyramids were first opened.

- Assignment -

Make an animated story about some historic event(s).  These MUST be events that happened
before 1915 - so before World-War I.  If you don't know anything about history, you may
choose an article from Wikipedia and take facts from there.

Your animation should be similar to the Egypt example - e.g. some things are moving (at least a bit),
words appear to tell the "facts", it progresses automatically, etc.  You may take "creative liberty" with the story - your presentation does not need to be exactly factual, but should be based on a real story.

We will spend this week and next week on this assignment - that gives you 6 class periods.
So you can't make the history of the western world, but you should be able to manage 10 or more
 commands per day, so 50-100 actions (commands) altogether.

Your "story" should include all the following:

• more than one actor
• several different types of commands -
  say , move , turn , do together , etc
• some scenery (buildings, trees, etc)
• "say" commands that show text on the screen
• some use of imported pictures (e.g. a picture of hieroglyphics.)
• actions and words that make sense
• humor and/or entertainment elements
• actual facts
• MAIN GOAL - the information is understandable and the actions
                             help the viewer remember the information easily

DON'T waste time on things like the following:

• complex movements of small body parts
• messing around with perfect colors or perfect sizes of objects
• events (e.g. keyboard controls) unless you find that easy

A few hints that might make things easier:

• make several different "sets" (groups of items), and turn the camera
  to look at a different set when you are ready for a different "scene"
• use set opacity to make objects appear or disappear
• keep extra actors "off stage" and move them in front of the camera when needed
• make pauses between words - have the computer do nothing for a couple seconds,
  e.g. move 0 meters, duration 2 seconds.
• use very short sentences in the talking bubbles - make the language suitable for
  a child to understand.
• stick to facts - do not try to explain complex ideas.

Here are the commands from the Egypt prototype - perhaps the ideas are useful:

Methods