Alice Story Project

- Assignment -

Make an animated story about a REAL 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 Taj Mahal 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 approximately 2 weeks on this assignment - that gives you 7 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 , count loop, etc
• some scenery (buildings, trees, etc)
• several "locations" (scenes)
• use camera movements to move from scene to scene
  
• "say" commands that show text on the screen
• 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 (like fingers)
  
• 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 "scenes" (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 setVehicle if things need to move together
  
• 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.