The Clay's the Thing

Using materials from Script Frenzy Young Writer's Program (a website dedicated to helping young writers create original scripts), students will learn the basics of dramatic structure: the hook, inciting incident, rising action, conflict, climax, falling action.

Using Script Frenzy materials and examples from actual animated series, students will also become familiar with the standard script formatting.

Working in teams, students will brainstorm possible stories for a ten-minute claymation film. These could be thematic (IE, the class could decide to produce educational videos) or purely entertaining (humor as a common element). Other options might be parodies of existing movies, commercials, or historical events. This can be determined by the class as a whole.

Using their understanding of these dramatic elements, students will work in teams to write a short script for a claymation video.

The class will receive nstruction in storyboarding, and each team will create a story board for its production, based on the script.

Once story boards are completed, production can begin with the Stop Motion Pro Action! program in our school's video lab. (We do not, however, have the program, so we'd have to win the contest to do this!)

After teams have produced and edited their videos, a screening would be scheduled either at a school-wide assembly or during lunch for smaller groups of students.