The Teachers' Animation Toolkit

5. Flexible media output:
Flash
Youtube
HD
MPEG-4
NTSC
PAL
Resources:
 
http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/

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Animation Styles
103
WORKSHEET: USING MOVIESTORM FOR MACHINIMA
Teachers’ note:
Moviestorm is an alternative, software-based system for making 
machinima-style fi lms, without the need to master Second Life 
and its related capture tools. Again, a step by step guide to using 
Moviestorm is outside the scope of this toolkit. We have included 
this description for the benefi t of more advanced students interested 
in learning the skills involved outside the classroom context.
The following is a direct quote from the publicity material produced 
by the software company:
Moviestorm is a software application that enables you to make 
animated videos on your computer. It’s a full suite of movie-making 
tools with which you can simply create and light your own sets, 
design and direct your own actors, then shoot, edit and publish your 
own movies.
Key features include:
Intuitive click and explore game-style interface
Pre-made customizable sets, characters and movies
Thousands of characters, costumes, sets, props and 
animations, suitable for most fi lm projects
Flexible personalization options for props, characters and 
much more
Import your own assets, including music, models and textures
A suite of tools that encourages teamwork and fun
No animation or artist skills required to be creative
Upload direct to YouTube, or your preferred social network
A highly supportive community of amateur and professional 
movie-makers at www.moviestorm.co.uk
Materials:
A PC or Mac that’s capable of playing recent games such as 
World of Warcraft
Speakers or headphones, to listen to your audio
A microphone, if you want your actors to talk

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104
The Teachers’ Animation Toolkit
Moviestorm can be tried for free before deciding upon a range of 
rental or purchase options. For the latest information on pricing, go 
to www.moviestorm.co.uk.

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Animation Styles
105
Colour versions of these images 
can be found on the companion website
Moviestorm

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Project brief:
Students storyboarded and fi lmed short stories inspired by 
traditional fairy tales or folk tales from a different culture. They 
learned how to present a narrative using 2D cut-out animation 
techniques.
The objectives were:
to create an animation using a pre-existing story as the 
stimulus
to begin to understand the dynamic relationship between the 
written word and animation
to work collaboratively in groups and to engage the entire 
class
to develop ideas and storyboards based on tales from 
different cultures
to develop characterization, a script and storyboard for an 
animation
to create artwork such as sets and props
to capture the animation using stop-motion software and use 
software to edit
to use ICT and software effectively and creatively