Documentary Filmmaking: AI & Ethics

Presentation Post - Film & Animation

Andrew Todd Marcus

THE PRESENTATION POST

This post's privacy is set to Everyone. This post showcases your final design by telling the comprehensive story of how your idea was born, developed, and manifested. The arc of the story should encompass the, How of your project in a compelling narrative. It showcases your design process including your brainstorming, each of your iterations, and your final prototype. It allows the viewer to delve deeply into your process.

  • Every Slide should have a Title and Caption.
    The body of this post is The Brief. You should include a version of the Brief for each collaborator in the project.
  • This post will be used in your review presentation at the end of the session.

You are encouraged to make your narrative as compelling as possible. All of the content below should be included, but if you would like to rearrange the material in order to tell your story differently, work with your coach.


INTRODUCTION PORTION

Your presentation is a narrative, and the introduction sets up the scene for that story. Here you introduce the project, say why it is important, and summarize what you did.

TITLE WITH TAGLINE: This slides shows a crisp, clear final image and the title of your project. with a pithy blurb describing the project. The image, name, and tagline should draw a viewer in. 

Examples:

  • Night of NuVu - When Zombies Attack NuVu Prom, Horror Ensues
  • T is for Talent - A Day in the Life of an MBTA Busker
  • Seed to Soup - An Animated Fable of Food and Hope

EVOCATIVE  IMAGE: This is a single image that shows a clear image that evokes the soul of your project. This image helps set up the why in a compelling way, sets the stage for your narrative, and will help frame the entire presentation. The caption of this slide (set with the Edit Captions button when editing your post) should discuss the context of your project. No Text on the slide.

THESIS STATEMENT: This is a TEXT ONLY slide for which briefly describes the Soul and Bodyof your project. You can use the project description from your Brief or write something new. This statement ties together your narrative.

Examples:

  • The Cocoon:  A wearable sculpture that explores the concept of transformations and death. The Cocoon explores the spiritual journey beyond the human experience; what it means to be human, how wonder effects us, and the concept of what happens after death.
  • Body Accordion: A musical prosthetic that translates the wearer’s body movements into a dynamic multimedia performance. The Body Accordion converts flex sensor input to sound through Arduino, MaxMSP, and Ableton Live. 
  • Seed to Soup Animation: A whimsical animation about the slow food movement. Seed to Soup showcases a holistic method of cooking. From garden, to kitchen, to dinner table.
  • Antlers: A wearable sculpture inspired by antlers found in the deer and antelope family. "Antlers" explores the comparison between armor and attraction. 

PROCESS PORTION

The Process Portion of your presentation tells the story of how you conceived of and produced your film or animation. It should include:

NITIAL STORYBOARD (1 slide):  A scan of your original storyboard. If your original is illegible or hard to understand, you should create a cleaner version. Preferably in marker pen.Make sure the storyboard is in the right orientation. You can include 2 boards on 1 slide. No Text.

PRODUCTION DECISIONS (1 slide minimum, 2 slides maximum): These slides show the changes you made after your initial edits. These should NOT include screenshot of your editing software. You can choose stills, a sketch of camera angles, or other representations of decisions you made. The caption should clearly explain the decisions and their ramifications. No Text.

ANALYSIS: (2 slides minimum, 3 slides maximum): The next part of the process post retrospectively express and explain your idea and process. They should include:

  • Final Storyboard :  A storyboard of the final cut of the film. Work in a graphics software and maintain a high production value. ALL film and animation projects should have this analysis.
  • Technical Analysis: A diagram showing your technical workflow. This should not be a screenshot of your editing software. ALL film and animation projects should have this analysis.
  • Character/Scene Development: If appropriate, include asset development (such as character or scene) sketches (primarily for animation studios.)

FINAL PORTION

The Final Portion of your presentation is the resolution of your narrative in which you show your completed work. Final stills leave a visual impression as you discuss your work with critics.

SHOW FILM OR ANIMATION - Pause in your presentation to do this. Video/Book/Etc is a separate post.

FINAL IMAGE: (1-3 slides) The last slide should have representative still images or GIFS of the final project. 

The Script - Instructions for the Post

Andrew Todd Marcus

The primary purpose of your Presentations  at NuVu is to describe the creative and technical journey you undertook in developing your project. In this post you will write what you are going to say, slide by slide, for your Final Post.   During your presentation you will not read from this script. It is here to help you frame your presentation and give insight to website visitors. 

Remember, you are encouraged to make your narrative as compelling as possible. All of the content below should be included, but if you would like to rearrange the material in order to tell your story differently, work with your coach.

Feel free to organize the post by slides in the presentation. The example below if for a build studio but the concept holds for a film/animation studio.

Slide 1: Write out your title and tagline.
Slide 2: Describe why your project exists, who it is for, and how that relates to the evocative image.
Slide 3: Write out your thesis.
Slides 4-15: Walk through each iteration, from initial concept to penultimate design

  • Discuss how each precedent inspired/informed your design.
  • Discuss your  sketches - how they arose from your brainstorming and how they informed the start of your design process, and how they changed and your design changed
  • Discuss each prototype - Briefly describe major design changes and how they effected the overall project arc and design.

Slide 16: Explain your use diagram - how is your your project used or function in the world.
Slide 17: Explain your mechanical diagram. Walk through how your project is put together and functions mechanically.
Slides 18-20: Walk through each of the final images and describe the overall use/design of project. Discuss the final prototype, what was a success, and where your project might go from here.

Your Presentation will:

  • Introduce the general context of your project
  • Present the thesis or design problem and how you approached the solution
  • Using precedents, begin to tell the story of the genesis and development of your actual design.
  • Describe the overall design concept.
  • Delve deeply into the heart of the design process through a description of major design iterations.
  • Thoroughly describe the final design technically and functionally through the reference to your diagrams.
  • Walk through the final images, discussing how everything came together.
  • Discuss the conceptual and technical challenges you faced. These should be broad view issues, not hyper-specific technical issues.
  • Your vision for where your project can go.

The Brief Part 2 - Full Brief

Andrew Todd Marcus

The Brief is due Tuesday morning by 9:00AM. Please wait to complete the brief until you have received comments about your outline. Many outlines have already been commented upon, the rest should be completed shortly..

Remember, all documents related to the brief are found HERE. These include a note from the writing coach and the Composition Reminder Sheet.

Now that you have created an document that outlines all of the information you want to relate in the Brief, it is time to weave that information together into a strong narrative that ties together the Why, How and What and Who of your project through clear, cogent writing. Tell the story of how your idea was born, developed, and manifested.

Create 1 post titled “The Brief” in the Writing tab with text that includes the following 2 items, numbered:

  1. A 1-2 sentence project description for your transcript. This will serve as the basis of the Project Description that appears in your transcript. This description should not include the name of the project and should be written in the third person. This was Question 1 in your Outline.
    examples:
    Night Light Blankie: A child's sensory blanket that provides comfort and privacy in the high stress environment of the hospital using weight, textures, and light. The blanket transforms into a mini light up fort over a child’s head.
    Cocoon: a shroud that explores human spirituality and the concept of life after death through the use of repetitive religious iconography. Composed of over 300 pieces of laser cut balsa wood lined with space tape, the icons are arranged using a mathematical strange attractor.
  1. A 1-2 paragraph brief for your project based on the description below. This will be based off the information you put together in your Outline and should focus on style. The NuVu writing coach will give you feedback and you will have the opportunity to revise this text before the final presentation. The primary purpose of The Brief is to explain, entice, and convince the reader that your project is amazing and important. Imagine your project on display in the Museum of Modern Art. The Brief is hanging on the wall next to your work. In 1-2 paragraphs, a viewer should understand what your project is, why it exists, and how you made it, and who it is for. More importantly, the viewer should be interested and care. You will draw them into your project through a compelling narrative.

    Things to think about:
    • Use the information in your Outline. Do not simply put all of the answers together -- you must weave it together into a clear story.
    • The what is a clear statement of the thesis or problem+solution. Your project description for your transcript (#1 above) can be adapted for this purpose.
    • The why explains how your project changes the world. It is the reason your project exists – what social issue is it engaging, who is your project helping, how does the project change the world, and what important social, intellectual, or technical questions does it raise? The scope of the why can vary widely.
    • The how briefly explains what technical prowess, innovative methods, or cool materials you used in your solution.
    • The who explains who will use your design, why they will use it, and in what context.
    • Think of the reader - it is good to imagine that a college admissions officer AND a potential employer in the field of your design should both be able to understand and be excited by the project based on your writing.

Write in the Third person in an explanatory fashion. Resist using I, WE, OUR, or YOU and focus on describing the work.

Here is an example from Penelope the Pain-O-Monster:

Pediatricians and other doctors find it challenging to collect accurate self reported information from children about their level of pain due to lack of communication skills, fear, anxiety, and discomfort. Traditional 1-10 pain scales do not fully address these issues, often leading to uncomfortable children and inaccurate symptom information. Penelope the Pain-O-Monster is a cute plush toy that uses integrated pressure sensors to allow children to express their source and level of pain through play.

A previous project, The EmoOwl, helped children with autism to express themselves by translating motion into color. Penelope the Pain-O-Monster grew out of the desire to expand children’s health menagerie with a different stuffed animal, one that makes the pain charts patients use to express their pain more interactive and easier for a child to use. Because research has shown that playing with stuffed animals can take children’s mind off pain, an additional “Fun” mode was added to distract from pain and anxiety. The handcrafted stuffed animal uses force sensors in different body parts that light up from blue to red depending on how hard they are pushed to show the child’s pain level. The hope is that, as one of many future healthcare friends, Penelope can help sick children feel safer while providing more useful information to care providers.

Studio description

Ian MacLellan
1 / 1

Every day there are news stories about breakthroughs and pitfalls related to technological advances in machine learning and robotics. Nobody knows how these changes will positively or negatively impact our way of life, safety, and the economy.

In this studio, students will learn filmmaking skills then research, plan, film, and edit short documentaries about ethical issues related to the development of artificial intelligence. Students will share these movies to help educate the world about real problems and improvements that may arise from AI and robots.