Exploring Film Genres for Telling Hero Stories: Animated Shorts by Wendy Milette , The MY HERO Project (Laguna Beach, CA) Subject Area:    Art/Music, English/Language Arts, Social Science, Technology/Media Literacy, Other subject Grade Level:    5-8, 9-12, college Overview/Purpose: Bring historical, literary and fictional heroes to life using moving images, illustrations and sound to tell your animated hero story. Objectives: Students will learn how to produce an animated short film about their hero or their concept of heroism. Resources/Materials: Activities and Procedures: In preparation for making your animated short film keep these simple guidelines in mind: What fascinates you about your hero or your idea of heroism? Choose the style of animation: Stop Motion Single Cell (drawing) 2D & 3D animation (advanced) Flash animation Clay animation Other Begin with writing the SCRIPT - Keep it simple. Outline the simple story you want to tell that is feasible for you to accomplish with animation (usually needs to be SHORT!). Structure the beginning, middle, and end. Write, re-write, and re-write some more. STRUCTURE: In structuring an animation project, you need to keep it simple. Visit the Web sites below for details about animation shorts. Sound is a big part of animation, so write it into the script. Allow plenty of time to work on the sound design so your story can come to life. ANIMATION LINKS: http://www.animationarena.com/flash-animation-artist http://www.stopmotionanimation.com/ http://pharosproductions.com/aosma/smhome.html http://www.animateclay.com/ http://www.thinkquest.org/library/cat_show.html?cat_id=140 http://library.thinkquest.org/11039/homeframes.html http://library.thinkquest.org/J002472/ http://library.thinkquest.org/22316/home.html http://www.cartoon-factory.com/types.html FLASH ANIMATION: Even if you don't have a camera, you can make your movie using the animation software, Flash. With Flash you can create elaborate and dynamic animations that fly all over the screen using photos, drawings and simple animations. Download a fully functional 30-day trial version of Flash from Macromedia and start making your movie. PRODUCTION LINKS: Editing Software for Mac: Beginning - User-friendly: iMovie and Garage Band http://www.apple.com/software/ Advanced - Excellent Pro software: http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/ Editing Software for PC: Sony Products http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/products/default.asp Screenwriting Guide http://radified.com/Screenwriting/screenwriting.htm Film Study Guide for To Kill a Mockingbird http://www.frankwbaker.com/tkam1.htm Wendy's Recommended Books on Filmmaking http://usc.radified.com/filmmaking_books.htm PRODUCTION RESOURCES FOR STUDENT FILMMAKERS: How to Make a Short Film About Your Hero Cinematographic Techniques for the Digital Filmmaker Working With Images Creating and Recording Sound This is your short film so be creative and have fun! Assessment: