Syllabus --------------------- Calendar/Schedule --------------------- Lecture Notes --------------------- Projects --------------------- Resources --------------------- Student Work				Art 344B Projects Final Project: Web-based Interactive Documentary You will create a Web-based interactive documentary using MM Flash for your final project. Each project must be educational in nature, based on a historical, social, or cultural subject. The theme of the presentation may be issue-based—informed political or activist viewpoints/positions are welcome. Pre-production will involve extensive research and should inform your presentation's overall design and navigation strategy. Text must be well-organized, interesting, thorough and ORIGINAL. Text must be proofed for typos, spelling, etc. You may use a previous paper for this assignment but the text MUST be modified to fit the parameters of this assignment. Text will be organized into three sections totaling at the minimum of 750-1000 words per section with a short introductory overview (150 word minimum). Each text section will be displayed in your presentation using an externally loading scrolling text box formatted with HTML. As an option, text sections may be broken down into sub-sections totaling the above word count. Design elements including typographic treatment, navigation and handling of visuals and other media should create a cohesive design statement. Your presentation will also include complex user interactivity with sound event prompts and possibly a background soundtrack. Game-like interactivity such as the use of draggables may be incorporated into this project for added complexity and interactivity. All projects will include an animated introduction, a static or animated timeline of historical events, an animated slide show and/or video presentation for each section, a resource page (links, etc.) and a credits page. Higher grades will be given to presentations that include more complex interactivity using pull-down menus, video, and/or interactive location map. You will be graded on fulfillment of the basic requirements, overall design & execution, complexity of interactivity, information architecture, user friendliness, originality and organization of content. Source content should be original but images and other media may be gathered from the Library of Congress and other sources such as archive.org. Voiceovers and video may be incorporated into the presentation as well. Required readings: Read the following articles at Terra Incognita Web site: A Walk Through an Online Exhibit Using New Narratives in Educational Web Sites Bringing Stories to Life Online Thinking Outside the Screen Coordinating the Multiple Roles of Online Exhibitions Sites for inspiration: Second Story Interactive Terra Incognita Productions The Tofte Project National Geographic interactive features Additional project requirements: The project theme must be approved by the instructor. You will need to write a short synopsis clearly defining your project's subject and concept. Research sources should not be entirely Web-based. USE THE LIBRARY! See above for text word count. Organize your subject into three informational sections: background, history, future, past, present, etc. These will be represented in your navigation system. Credits, intro, splash page, etc. are not to be included in these sections. Create a catchy, unique title and sub-title for your presentation. The title and sub-title must be incorporated into a branded graphic logo for visual impact. Create sketches suggesting navigation system, overall design and typographic look for the project. Translate initial sketches into a professional full-color comp (11" x 17" mounted on 16" x 20" black matboard) plus a graphic flowchart (mount on back of board). Your comp should have four screenshots, one of the intro screen with the other three of each section. Screen designs should be built in Illustrator or Photoshop (at this stage you shouold not be working in Flash). Your board should include a short discriptive paragraph of the project which also lists the target audience of your project and will include the branded graphic logo with title/sub-title. No hand drawn boards please! Boards will be discussed in a group critique. Please include your name, course, assiginment and date (i.e. Fall 2006) on the front of your board. Sound effects such as button interactivity and background audio must be included in your final movie. Copyrighted audio soundtracks are not acceptable. Final movie must load into a centering HTML table with your project's title as the title of the page. Save your published .swf file and HTML page with your last name as the file name. Provide a copy to the instructor for upload to student work site. See calendar for due dates.

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