write screen play and produce movie or animation of the transit
Identify the differences between storytelling and storyboarding
the Transit of Venus in terms of the setting as on a stage
and the movement across that stage.
the principles of flip animation to create a simple animated
Transit of Venus
Area or Standard:
Language Arts, Media
notebooks with blank pages that can be flipped (a 2-3 inch
square of sticky notes works well).
paper and art supplies
describing the Transit of Venus
Smithsonian Institution Libraries Online Exhibition, March
2004 to January 2005, http://www.sil.si.edu/exhibits/Chasing-Venus.htm
How to do it
Origins of American animation
Smithsonian Institution Libraries Exhibition, March 2004
to January 2005, Smithsonian Institution Libraries Gallery,
National Museum of American History, Washington, DC
to Pixar, a film goes through 4 stages: 1) development,
creating the storyline, 2) pre-production addressing technical
challenges, 3) production, making film; and 4) postproduction
"polishing" the final product. Upon completion,
ask students to describe how their development matched that
The process if just as important as the product. Students
can produce a very simple product and still learn the process.
research the Transit of Venus by visiting various sites
or looking at printed information.
down load the poster
come up with idea for an animated film about transit and
pitch their idea to class.
writes a "treatment"-- a short document that
summarizes the main idea.
may submit alternative treatments.
chooses or endorses one treatment or combination of treatments
to produce and assigns various tasks to individuals.
a. One will produce storyboards or blueprints of the various
b. One will start writing script
c. One will create models for each "actor".
d. One will design the background or setting.
decide on mood, lighting, look and feel for animation, e.g.,
scientific and studious or fun and imaginative.
simple animation using a circle placed at different positions
on ten or more slips within a small sticky notepad. Tell
students that increasing or decreasing the number of sheets
of paper and the difference of the circle's position can
affect the look of the animation. Then have students experiment
with their own images and animation.
final version of animation including number of frames used
frames and "in between" frames where needed and
match to a recording of the script.
class has access to cameras, scanning equipment and other
software and hardware, use in place of pencil and notepads.