In this project, you will design and animate an interactive story. You may:
- Create an original story, or
- Modernize an existing short story (e.g., from Project Gutenberg).
Your goal is to create an engaging interactive experience that demonstrates:
- Effective use of design and animation principles,
- Creation of original graphics,
- Well considered sse of perspectives (first, second, and/or third person), and
- Clear application of interactivity.
This project may expand from your looping narrative assignment or diverge into a new idea.
Process/Benchmarks
- Brainstorm narrative ideas.
- Outline your story using one of three interactive plot structures:
- Nodal
- Modulated
- Open
- Storyboard & Use-Case Scenario: Create storyboards and document a use-case scenario based on your chosen structure.
- Create Assets: Produce visual assets (Illustrator, Photoshop, or other software).
- Animate Scenes: Build animated scenes based on your storyboards and outline (tools may include Dreamweaver, Scratch, Keynote, etc.).
- Add Interactivity: Link scenes using tools of your choice (e.g., HTML, Python, Unity, Scratch, Keynote).
- Test, Troubleshoot, Refine your project.
Requirements:
- Documentation: Use-case scenario, storyboards, and sketches submitted as a single PDF.
- Weekly Progress Reports (emailed or posted to the class blog before class): Must include
- Time tracking,
- Notes on achievements (e.g., finished sketching, created x, y, z assets, animated scenes 1–3),
- Issues needing feedback.
- Final Interactive Project presented during critique.
Tips
- Choose a plot structure (nodal, modulated, open) that best supports your narrative goals.
- Use interactivity purposefully: each choice, click, or transition should serve the story.
- Build consistent assets that unify your project visually.
- Test thoroughly — both for technical functionality and narrative clarity.
- Keep documentation polished; it’s part of your grade.
Grading
| Criteria | Exemplary (Full Points) | Proficient | Developing | Beginning | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation (5–25 pts) | Comprehensive PDF with detailed use-case, storyboards, sketches; polished and professional (25) | Complete with minor gaps or lack of polish (15–20) | Some documentation present but incomplete (10–14) | Minimal documentation, poorly organized (5–9) | 5–25 |
| Progress Reports (5 pts each) | All reports submitted on time; detailed notes on progress, time, and issues | Reports mostly complete; occasional detail missing | Inconsistent or incomplete reports | Few or no reports submitted | 0–25 |
| Ideas (up to 20 pts) | 4+ strong, creative, well-developed ideas (5 pts each) | 3–4 solid ideas with some originality | 1–2 limited ideas | Few or no viable ideas | 0–20 |
| Narrative Outline (up to 45 pts) | Outline fully developed; chosen structure (nodal/modulated/open) applied with clarity; multiple iterations (15 pts each) | Mostly developed with some structural gaps | Outline incomplete; structure weakly applied | Missing or minimal outline | 0–45 |
| Storyboards (up to 45 pts) | Detailed, iterative, and clearly connected to outline (15 pts each) | Mostly clear, some missing detail | Partial or weak connection to outline | Storyboards missing or minimal | 0–45 |
| Asset Visual Quality (5–25 pts) | Highly polished, consistent, and creative assets (25) | Clear and functional with minor inconsistencies (15–20) | Functional but inconsistent or underdeveloped (10–14) | Low-quality or unfinished (5–9) | 5–25 |
| Narrative & Interactivity (5–25 pts) | Interactive design strongly enhances story; smooth, meaningful interactivity (25) | Narrative clear; interactivity functional with minor issues (15–20) | Story or interactivity uneven or confusing (10–14) | Little to no interactivity; narrative unclear (5–9) | 5–25 |
| Final Presentation (25 pts) | Final interactive project presented clearly and cohesively; strong narrative impact | Project complete and mostly cohesive | Uneven or partially clear presentation | Presentation missing/unclear | 0-25 |
80 points minimum to pass with a C, 145 possible points