Production Agreement
The Program
The Digital Arts Production program is a dynamic and innovative program that demands various talents and skills from students. The two most important qualities that you must possess in order to succeed in this program are a POSITIVE ATTITUDE and the WILL TO IMPROVE! A positive attitude is having the ability to work well with teammates, take constructive criticism, and willing to spend long hard hours picking up the slack for the benefit of the production. The will to improve starts with documenting faculty and peer feedback and implementing them into your project. REFINEMENT, REFINEMENT AND MORE REFINEMENT is needed if your project is ever going to rise above the average and mediocrity that plagues the recycling bin of every studio and film festival. The goal of the DPA is to produce creative thinking computer artists that can create digital films that perform at the highest aesthetic and technical standards. DPA productions MUST strive for innovative and sincerity in content and execution. The 860 DPA course will introduce you to all levels and capacities of digital film production and with it comes many expectations and challenges. It can be unrealistic to expect one student to perform at all levels in all capacities in this endeavor, but it is expected to put your efforts and energies into building a team environment and to allocate talents and energies where they suffice. You must be willing to develop your ideas into many refinements and stages in order to achieve our stated goal.
The Project
Digital production in all aspects whether it may be feature film, television, DVD/Video, the internet, installation etc. is a very demanding and difficult endeavor. To be competent in such a discipline you must posses an understanding, if not a competency, in all aspects of digital production. This consists of visual, audio, timing, editing, design, asset management, communication, team building and leadership, marketing and networking. In order to successfully produce a digital film, you must respect the time line necessary to deliver a final film to the client. In this domain, the client will be the executive producers aka your professors. They will act as final arbitrator in all disputes and implementation of policy and deadlines. It is vital that you respect all deadlines given to you during this production cycle. Failure to do so will profoundly effect and jeopardize the completion of the specifications needed to complete the film and may lead to your dismissal of a project. This agreement will detail the exact specifications you will need to achieve in order to have a successful production semester.
Specs:
Design Package
Story Reel
Play Blast (Final Animation)
Temp score and Foley.
PLEASE REFER TO THE PRODUCTION CALENDAR FOR DATES!
DESIGN PACKAGE: This is the visual template that will define the look of your film. It must contain: Conceptual art that details lighting, color, and mood of your film. Character Design: sketches of poses and expressions of character in situations. Presentation boards: 4 to 6 panels that highlights the story plot.
STORY REEL: The story reel is the template for all production. Once finalized it CANNOT be compromised in any way without the expressed written permission of DPA faculty. The Story reel must possess the highest quality in screen direction, timing, and character and story development. It is subject to revision and editing according to the DPA faculty discretion. Failure to adhere to the finalized story reel will result in penalty of grade and reassignment to an alternative project.
FINAL ANIMATION (Play Blast): Animation will have several layers of development: Blocking/Layout, Rough Pose, and Final Animation. Once final animation is approved by DPA faculty it will proceed to final render. Through out the process, scenes will be implemented into the story reel to give the film a progression of completion. It is up to the story lead to make sure scenes and shots are continuously updated into the reel.
SCORE AND FOLEY: The story reel should have audio and dialog (if necessary) to enhance and aid in the timing of the film. Scratch recordings and CD samples are permitted.
At the beginning of the semester the Design packages will be presented for approval and green lighted for production.
At the end of the semester the story reel will be screened on campus to an audience of faculty, students, professionals, and public throughout the university and the outside world. This will offer critical feedback and a focus test to help guide the team in the next production semester.
TEAM WORK: In order to successfully produce a highly creative and professional film, you must act professionally. This means team members MUST RESPECT each other in regards to artistic opinion, work ethic and personality. The production cycle will take many twists and turns and it is critical that team members respect each other’s opinions and abilities. Each member must be flexible and be willing to compromise and agree to listen to peers when creative and technical problems arise. This is a group film, meaning no one artist owns or can monopolize the production. The leads are a peer position, meaning they must have the support of the team. If there are issues or dynamic problems, it will be up to the DPA professor to arbitrate the conflict and have the ultimate decision on a direction. If there are continued or irreconcilable differences, then it is up to the DPA professor to decide whether a production will go forward or which team members get reassigned. The main goal is for a production to develop interpersonal skills, team building and growth in problem solving in a creative environment. The final film will reflect this energy and will provide the team a body of work that will gain exposure and a portfolio to aid them in the commercial and artistic world of digital arts whether it maybe independent and commercial feature film, television, internet, DVD/Video or installation or public exhibition. The DPA grad will also act as an ambassador of Clemson and will be highly recommended in the professional world as a leader, team player, and highly skilled in all aspects of the digital world. This grad will also develop a stronger understanding of a certain discipline in digital production that will allow them to succeed in specific roles in the many needs of this industry.
RESUME: At the end of each production semester each team member must produce a resume detailing his or her achievements in this production. Therefore it is important that you keep a log of all your efforts and contributions in order that you have a detailed resume with specific dates and duties to such a production. This will not only hold you accountable to a group production, but also aid in your final resume for the professional world outside of Clemson.
