Understanding the principles of story telling and design

Digital Storytelling

Learn how to use storytelling elements such as plot and character to make engaging films and games. Students will learn the steps of developing an idea to a point that it can be produced. These steps include development of logline, treatment, script, storyboard and animatic. Students will also discuss interactive digital storytelling and the opportunities different types of media can offer.

Creative Drawing

Learn the elements of all art creation such as line, form, colour, texture, value and shape as well as different creative drawing styles using various techniques. Students will also be challenged to venture out of their comfort zones and broaden their understandings of styles and mediums, as well as develop their knowledge of theory and research on successful creative drawing.

Shooting and Editing

The key focus of this subject is the fusing of three elements: photography, cinematography and editing. In engaging with best practice and widely used industry techniques, ‘Shooting & Editing’ challenges students to take a quick glimpse of screen production. A key learning outcome is that students produce their own material, photographs and videos, and edit them for multiple modern screen media platforms.

Animation

Learn the processes used in animation. Explore the basic concepts and crafts of character design such as character animation, timing, movement, composition and background art. These concepts will be drawn from traditional methodologies and will be applied using stop motion. Students will develop critical, conceptual and practical skills appropriate to creating animation.

Screen Language

Analyse and critique digital media using a theoretical framework of ‘Entertainment’. Learn how to differentiate genre and forms of narrative communicative meaning, and how to critique narrative structure and visual style in depth. Elements of storytelling (e.g. theme and motif, design elements, mise en scene) are incorporated into the studies as well visual coding within digital media.

Digital Images

Acquire a solid foundation of skills using industry standard graphic applications that include vector, pixel and image & text layout software applications such as Adobe CS products including Illustrator and Photoshop.

Game Design

Learn the principles of game design and how to apply these effectively to your own games. Review case studies of traditional and electronic games to modern games and contemporary industry standards. The outcome will be the ability for the student to design engaging and effective games and game mechanics.

2D Animation

You'll be introduced to a range of introductory skills for creating both basic and sophisticated animations. Learn how to develop and effectively use timeline based animation. You'll also learn the use of framebyframe animation, keyframing, importing and exporting images, drawing inside the development software, point based animation, tweening, animation on paths, effective walk cycles, nesting animations and the use of sound. Students will expand their range of drawing skills and also enhance their ability to create considered, well-designed animations.