This Online Guide Page

• Is organised into introductory Guidelines, then weekly Tasks, then Resources.
• You can use the Find shortcut (pc: CTRL-F, mac: CMD-F) to search the page for keywords, e.g. "Student Setup", or "Essential Deliverables" 
• Links to sections of this page will only work correctly when you are logged into ONE Google account or Chrome profile. 

• • Use a computer. Sign out of any personal Google accounts, and only use your SAE student Google account. 

    • • Links will only work correctly under one account. 

  • Create a Major Projects GDrive folder for your own material, and for any group project you're organizing. 

    • • Under your "My SAE Studies/Trimesters" folder, so permissions are inherited and files are shared automatically. Always save everything to this folder: all screenshots, media, gdocs, footage, images, audio, and files. Yes, everything. 
      • Check the folder SHARING, below. 

  • Edit the student GSite that contains all your previous SAE work. 

    • • Check the site SHARING, below.  

• In your student GSite, create your Journal page for this trimester-module. 

  • • Write/copy your class notes. Insert or embed WIP evidence of this activity: a screenshot and your GDrive folder.
    • Publish your site and view the published page. Copy the link, and submit it to Campus Online > Course > Assessments > Learning Journal  

Sharing 

• Share       (or options > Share)  > 

• Share with People and Groups  > 

• • • • •       austudent@student.sae.edu.au         (SAE Students) 

        •       moderation_au@sae.edu                      (SAE Academic Staff) 

        • Access type – Viewer 

        • 'Notify People' will result in notification being blocked, you can safely ignore this. 
        • Optionally, you may also wish to add individual email addresses. 

    • Alternatively, you can set Viewer permissions to 

      • •        Anyone with the Link                             (Easiest) 

Journal weekly routine

Every class / mentor meeting: 

• Sign in, open your Journal editor, and take notes. 

  • • Alternatively you may use Google Docs, Keep, an Audio recorder, or an app connected to your SAE GDrive. 
    • Sign out of any personal Google accounts beforehand, to prevent permission errors. Only use your SAE student Google account. 
    • Approximately 200 words is the usual minimum. This is about 2 - 3 paragraphs, 16 - 24 sentences, or 30 seconds to 1 minute of spoken word, recorded and saved to your GDrive. 

• Publish some content. 

  • • Pictures make your post look bigger. 

What to show:  

• • • Progress of any kind 

      • • WIPs - inserted or embedded media evidence, Gdrive folder, screenshots, 

• Highs, lows, achievements. Activity days/hours. 

• Constructive self-critique on at least one or two of the Learning Outcomes and Transferable Skills from the Module Guide. Select one or two that feel appropriate for your recent weekly activity. Focus mainly on your own responsibilities. For example: 

  • • I used a lot of communication and collaboration skills this week, and resolved a conflict. I improved my pre-production documentation, testing and visualization. 

• Your fellow colleagues' work: constructive feedback and critique. 

  • • Your student Google Site is accessible by college staff moderators and all students, because it is a team collaboration platform. Please kindly be self-responsible. 
    • We are asked to provide a high ratio of warm vs cool feedback, in a professional, civil tone. Be compassionate, curious, and presume good intent. 
    • Focus on the work, not the person, and offer specific suggestions. 
    • If you want a private journal, feel free to make another site, with private sharing permissions. 
    • Follow the SAE Code of Conduct. If you disagree with an idea, debate it in a civil and respectful manner, or seek a support meeting. Do not engage in frivolous outrage, personal attacks or defamation. Respect free speech, difference of opinion, and the presumption of innocence. 
    • If you are having a hard time and need support, you are strongly encouraged to speak with student counselors. 
    • See Safety & Health. 

• Peer/Team feedback, Mentor feedback, and learning discussions. Feedback response, and WIP versions. 

• Creative discussions, negotiations, resolutions and agreements. 

• Example Journals: 

  • • Michelle Jasan, Journal (Film) 

    • Anita Hampson, Journal (Film) 

    • Bianca Sappey, Journal  (Film) 

    • Aidan Parkes, Journal (Film) 

    • Alexander Robinson, Journal (Film/Animation) 

    • Ginny Wu, Journal (Animation) 

Resources  

• Strong Foundations: Journal and GDrive Folder Setup, examples included, 20 mins  

GROUP FORUM (e.g. DISCORD)  

All Students: join this module's group forum.  

• See your email for a link to your current trimester-module forum. 

• If the invite is expired, email the module coordinators for a fresh one. 

• Make sure to update your nickname so it is clear who you are and what discipline you are in. 

• All students, please be active in the forum. 

  • • From Week 1, use the forum to introduce yourselves, your strengths and interests, and your project ideas. This is also important for students who don't attend Week 1. 

    • View other student's pitches in the forum. Be constructive. Comment on the pitches in your Journal with warm and cool feedback, and be prepared to offer feedback, when asked. Consider your proposed roles on multiple pitches, and record this in your Journal. 

      • • You must have pre-production, production, and post-production roles. You must have proposed roles for different greenlight outcomes. Search for "Workload" in this page for workload details. 

    • After greenlight, enroll in project groups to communicate with your teams. Please check in and communicate regularly with your teams, even if you can't attend something, and give notice of any lateness for anything.  

• Please remember that no matter how useful the forum is, when we look for evidence of your activity, WIPs and work history for grading, we want to find it in your GSite.  
• Be supportive and respectful to all people and recognize their contributions, no matter how small. Accept that some people have different opinions and tastes to you, including your mentors. Adhere to the SAE Code of Conduct and be respectful toward others. See Safety & Health. 

Team Leads: 

• During pitching and greenlight process, share the link to your Pitch Package Page with everyone in the cohort. 

• After greenlight, create a forum group for your project and ensure all team members enroll in it. Pin a welcome message, with a link to the director's / producer's Production Project Page. 

Proposed Directors / Team Leads: 

1. GDrive: create a folder named for the proposed project, and bundle all pitch materials together. 

2. Embed all pitch materials as tiles into a pitch page in your student GSite, 

3. Publish and share the page link with our module cohort via group forum (e.g. Discord) and in the class spreadsheet provided.  

Example student pitch packages/pages: 

• • • Michelle Jasan, At the End of the Day (Film) 

    • Aidan Parkes, The Crook The Brother and the Boss (Film) 

    • Nathan Marsh, My Beautiful Rector (Film)

    • Anita Hampson, Follow Suit (Film) 

    • Alexander Robinson, Kaiya (Film/Animation) 

    • Joseph McGuire, Cat Magic (Animation) (warning: contains permission errors) 

    • Ginny Wu, Water Cycle (Animation) Pitch, Bible, Animatic/Previz 

You need: 

1. A Title, and a Logline. 

2. A 1-minute "elevator pitch" synopsis, written and verbally presented. This is also a great way to keep yourself focused on the essence of the story. Make it interesting. 

   1. • This is the minimum requirement for the first round of informal pitching. 

3. A slide deck presentation of reference, for the characters, look, lighting, acting, style, and sound. 

   1. • Short A/V clips can be included. 
      • Please represent the proposed style fairly, and accurately. Do not mislead people or overdo the hype. Excessively expensive-looking or extravagant reference, even in inspirational mood-boards, requires honest explanation and proof of ability, as it would in industry. Ask yourself: "Are we going to do exactly this?" 

4. Beat Outline, Treatment, and Script. 

   1. • 10-minute films: Beat Outline: 1 page, Treatment: 2-3 pages, Script: 9 pages. 
      • 3-minute music video or animation: Script: 3 pages. 
      • All mediums and genres, including documentaries, animations, games and VR, require scripts. Search Resources: Scripts.  
      • Character profiles are useful and are typically required. 
      • All materials must match and integrate; do not mix inconsistent content. 

5. Genre, medium, duration. 

6. Proposed Team (names of people who are already attached), as well as Crew Needed. 

   1. • A Director and a Producer (Above The Line) are needed first. 

        • It is a conflict of interest to be both a Director and a Producer, especially on the same project. Do not even ask. 

      • Heads Of Departments (H.O.D.) are needed next. 

        • For live action, these should be separate people. Multiple H.O.D. roles are discouraged, even for strong students.  
        • For animation, an artist can do more than one H.O.D. / significant role, if it makes sense for the schedule/scope. 
      • It is strongly recommended to recruit an Audio Major Projects student specializing in post production. They are limited in number. Greenlight status may depend on this. 
      • Live action Documentaries require a strong Editor and an Assistant Editor, due to the large amounts of footage to be organized. 
      • FX-intensive projects require you to recruit SPFX and VFX artists, motion graphics artists, compositors, or 3D/2D Effects animators, who may be in short supply. Greenlight status may depend on this. 

      • Proposed teams already attached are a major selling point of the pitch. 

7. A 5-minute formal pitch, presented by the team lead(s) and proposed crew, with 5 minutes for discussion after each pitch.  

Requirements are strict. Material too far from requirements when the formal pitch is due will not be accepted for formal pitching or reviewed for feedback. We reserve the right to hear, read, and sponsor only sales pitches that meet our requirements, that we have time to review, and that we are interested in. 

Please have your pitch packages ready and rehearsed, for spoken/visual presentation in class, or pre-recorded video presentation if you prefer. 

We'd like all pitches to be complete by Week 3. Please address all feedback. We want greenlight status confirmed by Week 4, please.  

Rehearse and prepare to present your pitch 

• to the entire Major Projects cohort, 

• to your discipline/class,  and/or 

• as a guest, to another discipline's class, 

• multiple times, with revisions. 

• Please pitch as a team, as soon as it is possible to do so. 

REHEARSE 

Keep it simple, short and to the point! 

Relax, introduce yourself, breathe, speak loudly and clearly from your belly. 

Introduce your characters and tell the essence of the story. 

Show BRIEF reference/visuals/audio. End with an impact. 

Rehearse with a timer, 5 minutes per pitch. 

Search Resources: Pitching  

Pitch Evaluation and Roles 

As well as the Pitch Package requirements, above, there are many other factors which contribute to the assessment of a pitch, such as the story, the quality of the creative content, quality of the source / reference material, variety of content, inclusivity, workload distribution, popularity with students, potential for festivals/awards, and many other factors. Some pitches may be ready more quickly than others, have better quality material, be more popular, or have stronger teams attached, so they will be preferred. 

Handling Rejection of Pitches, getting/not getting Roles you Want, and understanding Free Association: 

• You must prepare yourself to handle rejection of any sales pitch. 

• With large numbers of pitches, not all will be accepted for a formal pitch presentation and review. It depends on time available. 

• All relationships are voluntary. Major Projects students network and organize themselves. 

• You must follow the Pre-Greenlight Workload instructions on securing roles. You must network, and advertise your strengths, interests, and portfolio in your Journal, on time, or they won't be considered. 

Content Rating

Research and learn the industry guidelines for the content rating of your project, for it's medium, it's target market and demographics. Examples: G, PG, TVPG, M. 

A simple content advice notice is required for coarse language / explicit lyrics, violence, animated fantasy violence, and mild sexual references. 

Market Viability 

Examine similar, competing works within your genre, and learn the needs of your proposed target audience. Your project must be viable within a market. 

Content Warnings and Trigger Warnings 

Let's be aware of each other's diverse needs. As creators in a university setting, we address a wide range of subjects, including challenging and sensitive subjects. 

• If you are going to present material that might be confronting, have extreme or mature content, please give a trigger warning. See suggestions from Oxford Student Union   

• For serious subjects related to mental health, please include mental health resource information, in your pitches, introductions and credits: 

  • • Lifeline 24/7 Crisis Support Tel. 13 11 14 

See also: Safety & Health 

Animation 

• Workplace Health and Safety: Ergonomics, taking appropriate breaks, avoidance of Repetitive Stress Injury, regular pacing of work sessions over time. This is also important for crunch times near deadlines. Long periods of holding a specific posture require stretch & movement breaks. See SAE Policies. 

• Shooting video reference or mocap for action scenes: see Film Safety Standards. 

  • • All shoots require an on-set Safety Plan, managed by a Producer or 1st AD. 

      • • This must also include a COVID Safety Plan (see below). 

    • Children / minors on set require protection by an authorized person, and permits. Projects must comply with the Regulations of the NSW Office of the Children's Guardian. 

    • Any risky action, extreme sports, violence, combat, falls, or accidents require an experienced Stunt Coordinator for rehearsals and on-set. 

    • Weapons of any kind require constant supervision by an experienced professional Armourer (weapons safety officer). All weapons must be fake replicas. See Film: Safety Standards. 

COVID-Safe On-Set Film Shoot Protocols 

• SAE Film Dept COVID standards 

• See also Screen Australia COVID Guidelines 

Conduct 

• We must all follow the SAE Code of Conduct. 

• Do not engage in frivolous outrage, personal attacks, or defamation. If you disagree with an idea, inquire into it, or debate it in a civil and respectful manner. If you are having a hard time, seek a support meeting. 

• Exercise the presumption of innocence, be tolerant, be resilient, respect difference of opinion, liberty and individuality. 

Counseling, Morale, Mental Health, and Support

• We must support one another's well-being. 

• Stay in regular contact with teammates and mentors. 

• Book a confidential appointment with the Student Counselor Syeda Rahman s.rahman@sae.edu, or with SAE Counseling Services for support. 

Production Project Page 

• • • In your student GSite. Sharing Audience: Team/Students, SAE Mentors/Moderators 

    • A Student Project Page for the main projects you work on in Major Projects, next to the weekly Journal. 

      • • For most students: this is simply each project's Schedule that you're following and the Deliverables (embedded), with your role description(s). 

        • The weekly Journal is about you as a student, work history, W.I.P.s and reflections. The Project Page is a summary of the project itself, in its latest and greatest form, and your role(s). Update your Project Page only when an important milestone delivery occurs. You may wish to select only the deliverables you've contributed to. 

Team Leads and Supers: 

• • • Directors, Producers: 

      • • One or both of you maintains the main page for the project. This contains the Pitch, Schedule, Script, Storyboards, Bible, GDrive, Previz, EDIT, Production Docs and key Production  Management information, embedded with visual tiles and links to the actual assets, so everything important can be seen quickly by team members, and used. 

        • The function of this page is very similar to a Bible. 
        • If items can't be embedded, use a link (preferably with an optional image).  
        • Optionally, a project may use a single, separate site for Project Management, but it must be simple, easy to maintain for each department, and easy to navigate. Insert a link to this site, next to your Journal. 

    • H.O.D. Supervisors 

      • • Contains the main deliverables for your department so team members can quickly find and use them. 

    • Share this page's link with your team. Pin a link in your group forum. 

Quickly set up a Production Project Page after Pre-Production Greenlight  

• • • Directors: 

      • • Re-use (or duplicate) your pitch page. Rename the TITLE to Project Name Production or something similar. 

          • • Edit the page as necessary. Keep any useful content. 
            • Please save the old pitch as historical reference. 

        • Please share the link to (a) Production Project Page and (b) GDrive project folder, with your team. 

    • Producers: 

      • • Set up page sections for your schedules, task trackers, and all production management information for the team. Share with the team. 

    • Everyone Else: 

      • • Add a new page next to your Major Projects Journal. 

        • Embed  the link to the Director's Pitch as a large tile. 

        • Embed  the link to the Project GDrive Folder as a large tile. 

        • State your role(s). 

        • Do the same for multiple projects, with separate headings. 

Production Project Page Examples  

• • • • • Michelle Jasan, At the End Of the Day (Film)   

        • Anita Hampson, Follow Suit  (Film) 

        • Marcus Kennedy, Song Boy (Film) 

        • Nathan Marsh, My Beautiful Rector (Film) 

        • Aidan Parkes, The Crook The Brother and The Boss (Film) 

        • Alexander Robinson, Kaiya (Film/Animation)

        • Joseph McGuire, Cat Magic (Animation) (warning: contains permission errors)

        • Ginny Wu, Water Cycle (Animation) 

        • Nhu anh thy Huynh (Trish), Scarlet Dance (Animation) 

Setup for online group forums, Discord, Slack, etc: 

• Name the forum after your greenlit project. 

• Producer, Directors, and 1st ADs should have admin privileges. 

• Be supportive and respectful to all team members and recognize their contributions, no matter how small. Adhere to the SAE Code of Conduct. Support your team leads. Accept that some people may have different opinions and tastes to you, including your mentors. 

• Invite your Mentors  

  • • Be inclusive and open. Demonstrate your transferable skills, communication and collaboration. We are typically only interested in an appropriate amount of monitoring. 
    • Want privacy? Configure a separate, private chat channel in your group. Mentors aren't interested in those.  

• Pin a welcome message, with a link to the Director's or Producer's Production Project Page, so crew can quickly see the Pitch, Schedule, Script, Storyboards, Bible, GDrive, Breakdowns, Production Docs, Previz, and Edits, at a glance. 

• Ensure all participants of any meeting you host are allowed to screen-share by default, so work, visuals, and audio can be shared and discussed. 

• Schedule weekly recurring Google Calendar meetings, using student email addresses, with automatic reminders, and a link to the forum. 

• You may publish the link to your group forum in the Projects & Crews sheet. 

• 21T2 - 21T3

  • https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FxMKKxrWgQkv8DrFtM5oAADfGgRasRZSOoya4-Kv7ro/edit#gid=1966260052 

• 21T2 - 21T3 

  • https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FxMKKxrWgQkv8DrFtM5oAADfGgRasRZSOoya4-Kv7ro/edit#gid=1650711984 

• 21T1 - 21T2

  • https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dwANiRb1jg1wvNT-4sDVApLugBhQeLQnvisEfivbhP4/edit#gid=1966260052

• 20T3 - 21T1

  • https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1OobPT7F_3pzQjvp4AqQ0dKH1iKjZ264kj4aF8GerOK0/edit#gid=0 

• • • Producers - overall project status, project health, scheduling, budgeting, negotiations, managing overall team performance and timeliness 

    • Directors - communicating vision, acting examples, style examples, coaxing and nurturing artistic and creative ideation, blocking out acting on stage/set, storyboards/art roughs, cameras, diagrams, lighting directions,  

    • Assistant Producer or 1st AD - detail tasks, standards/conventions, relations between director/producer and crew 

    • Editors - pacing, timing, style examples, consultation with director, titles and credits, pre-production audio 

    • Audio - pre-production temporary audio/music, production recording, post-production audio, works with editor/director 

    • Designers, Storyboarders, Pre-Production Edit Animatic / Previz Editor 

    • Layout/Camera 

    • Character Animators 

    • Set/Background Artists 

    • 3D Model/Surface/Rig 

    • FX Artists/Animators

    • Color, Light, Render, Compositr

A detailed Schedule and Task Tracker is due in Weeks 5 - 7. It is one of the earliest and most important tasks in the Production Tracker, and is also an Essential Deliverable. It is to be updated with every milestone delivery. It is to be prominently displayed and linked in all team materials. 

• Producers and Assistant Producers are responsible for creating and maintaining Detailed Schedules and Task Trackers, with assistance from 1st ADs. This includes dates, people, Pre, Production and Post. We suggest Producers work on the Schedule, while the Director and creative Crew work on version 1 of the Storyboards, Designs, Bible, Casting actors, workshopping Scripts and Rehearsals, and Previz/Animatics. If it is too difficult to work in parallel, do the Schedule first. 

• Please kindly use the Production Tracker sheet and Essential Deliverables list on this page, to schedule all requested tasks, and key milestones for the deliverables. 

• You may use any of these PROJECT MANAGEMENT resources: 

  • • Trello. Online (web-hosted) and free. Assign tasks and completion dates to users. Kanban-board style. No Gantt chart. You must share your Trello board for PUBLIC viewing.

      • • Example 1  
        • Example 2  
        • Use Elegantt plugin for Chrome to format a Trello board as a Gantt chart.  
        • Trello is a common student choice. 

    • Potential for investigation: ClickUp (online), Agantty (software/app), TomsPlanner (online), Asana, Notion. 

      • • Integrate a Trello board with a TomsPlanner Gantt chart - See video from SAE Melbourne. 
        • Use Elegantt plugin for Chrome to format a Trello board as a Gantt chart.  

    • SAE Animation Project Management Framework 

      • • Also contains examples and templates for Gantt charts in Google sheet format 

    • Shotgrid online project management, scheduling and tasking. 

      • • You must be trained for Shotgrid to be approved to use it. 

• Please embed/link schedules/taskers in your Production Project Page and Bible, and pin in the group forum, with a prominent heading, image and link. It should be shared for public viewing. If it can't be embedded, use a LARGE IMAGE + link for clarity. 

• All tasks must be assigned to individual user accounts (multiples are okay) with automated reminders of due dates for WIP milestones. Calculate tasks in hours, hours per week, or days. Track ETAs and completion status. 

  • • Trello supports automated notifications to users of their task due dates. Please use this feature. 
      • • Example 1  
        • Example 2  
    • Google Sheets supports cell comments and replies assigned to users, but no due dates, so it isn't recommended. 
    • Google Calendar  supports automatic reminders for events/appointments; it is best for scheduling events that are short, e.g. one hour up to a few days long (more detailed than a typical Gantt chart) and for recurring meetings.  
    • Use regular reminder rituals. Task Trackers must be rigorously maintained as dates and details change. Ask your 1st ADs or Assistant Producers to assist you with team tasker maintenance and reminders. 

• Task durations should be estimated in hours, hours per week, or days. 

• Producers, 1st ADs: Please use Google Calendar Events with automatic Reminders for all scheduled crew appointments. 

Your entire team must be assigned Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production tasks, to fill the designated workload and hours required by the Module Guides, for the entire two trimesters of Major Projects. 

ANIMATION: 

• Please note the main production window for Major Projects: Animation begins during the break between trimesters. We ask teams to finish pre-production art/models/rigs, and commence production layout/previz and animation of whole scenes/shots ASAP, similarly to the film students, who are shooting. This is necessary to provide adequate time, revision and quality for character animation. 

• Production character animation scheduling: Please agree on the average number of seconds of animation per artist, for each character or other moving element, per week. Plan for a pose-blocking pass, on all animation, prior to splining. Please plan for at least 3 feedback and revision cycles. 

• Use the Production Tracker to book all items, including Cast/Crew bookings for acting rehearsals, video reference shoots, studios, equipment, edit suites, render farms, etc. To assist negotiations between projects for equipment, please create a desired Resources and Equipment list and share it in your Project Page. 

Resources  

Studios, Edit Suites, Equipment, Wacom tablets, Bookable Rendering Equipment, Wonder Room for green screen shoots.  

• See SYD TECH STORE and BOOKING SYSTEM  

• All projects require a detailed Audio Plan, included in the Bible. 

• Audio Plans for FILM: 

  • • For typical live action, use mainly temporary audio in your pre-production edit. You are going to sync most of your final audio in post-production. 

    • For music videos, musicals, sound-driven scenes, or vfx-intensive scenes, you want a lot of synchronized, high-quality/final audio in your pre-production edit (animatic and/or previz). Request pre-production audio lock from collaborators. 

• Audio Plans for ANIMATION: 

  • • Higher-quality animation: you want synchronized, high-quality/final audio in your pre-production edit. This is the preferred method in feature animation and higher budgets. Request pre-production audio lock from collaborators. Animation looks better when it follows sound, and animators can sync to it. 

    • Lower-budget animation: use mainly temporary audio in your pre-production edit, and sync most of your final audio in post-production, e.g. with ADR. This is the less-preferred method. 

• For regular live action and lower-budget animation plans, you are encouraged to synchronize your pre-production edit to the rhythm and emotion of your pre-production temporary audio. Your Audio collaborators will also benefit from following the guide soundtrack. 

• For high-quality animation and music-video plans, you are required to use rich synchronized audio. It's urgent to get high-quality sound into your edit, and fully synchronize it. Schedule your spotting sessions with Audio students before Week 8, and prepare for high-quality recording sessions during pre-production this trimester. See your Production Tracker and Schedule. 

• Pre-Production Audio is essential, regardless of plan type. The minimum requirement is reference / temporary quality, for all EDITs (previz, animatics), with at least 3 Audio Tracks, 

• • 1. • • Music (Score) 

           • • For temporary music, you may use any source. 

             • For high-quality / final, you must use royalty-free suppliers such as a Production Music supplier, or a Composer.   

         • Sound FX (Sound Design) 

           • • For temporary sound effects, you may use any source. 

             • For high-quality / final, you must use royalty-free suppliers such as sound effects libraries, or record Foley.  

         • Voice 

           • For temporary verbal dialog, you may use the audio from shooting video reference previz. Another fast/easy method, popular for animatics, is to use simple headsets to record directly into Premiere: Voice Over, or into sound software. For temporary non-verbal voice, such as sighs, grunts, hmms, laughter, and walla, you may also use royalty-free suppliers. Please do not use voice synthesizers, they sound generic, and lack passion. 

           • High-quality / verbal dialog acting must be performed by a trained actor, and recorded by an audio specialist, in pre-production Studio/ADR recording for animation, in production shooting for live action, or in post-production ADR. 

           • If live action dialog is dull or unclear for any reason (e.g. a muffled lapel mic), it is typically replaced in post-production ADR. 

  • Plan, schedule and task all pre-production, production, and post-production sound.  

  • Recordings: Which pre-production recordings can be temp quality? Which ones must be final? Why? What post-production ADR and Foley will be required? 

  • Schedule and Task all collaborative Audio Sessions, including Spotting, Recording and Editing. 

  • Spotting sessions (Director's Audio Brief) must be completely documented.  Create detailed notes and list all Voice, Music, and Sound FX (including Atmos) for each scene 

    1. • Get pre-production audio (reference, temp, or final) for your pre-production edit 

       • Document the source supplier of all audio clips to protect against copyright issues. Royalty-free audio suppliers are okay.   

  • Document any unique audio equipment or software, with tests, requirements and expenses.   

Resources (royalty-free or low cost suppliers): 

• • Example: https://freesound.org/home

  • Example: http://soundbible.com/free-sound-effects-1.html 

  • Example: http://bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/ 

  • Example: https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/royalty-free-music/ 

  • Example: https://www.proudmusiclibrary.com/en/tag/cartoon 

  • Example: https://www.zapsplat.com/ 

  • Example: Search for “royalty-free music” or “production music” and then search within the site for mood/style/keyword required. 

Formats 

• High quality: WAV or AIFF, Sample Rate 48KHz, Bit depth 24 or 16  

• Low - Medium quality: MP3, Sample Rate 48KHz or 44.1KHz, Bit depth 16, Bit Rate 128 - 320 Kbps 

A/V TECH RUN and TESTING 

• All A/V recording and workflows in your plan must be tested, quality checked, proven and approved by mentors. 

• Producers must schedule these tests. 

• See A/V Tech Run requirements. 

• A/V Tech Run must be scheduled including review and written audio mentor approval before Week 11. 

  • • This is a test run of the recording workflow and delivery handoff, using correct formats, from your department to the Audio department, using test audio recordings and/or your PRE-PRODUCTION EDIT with temp audio, via your team GDrive folder. Audio mentor supervision is strongly recommended. 

    • Audio Mentor green light: For projects collaborating with an Audio Major Projects Student, the tech run & test delivery must be approved by Audio Mentors by email, shown to your Mentor, to obtain green light for production.   

    • Other projects may be using slightly different standards for their Audio, either using sound-capable artists within your visual crew, or collaborating with External Unit audio students. For example you might be using Premiere, Audition, or similar tools for your audio, rather than a full-scale DAW like Pro Tools. State this in your Audio Plan, please. Whatever you are doing, all projects require at least temporary pre-production audio, whether created by an audio collaborator, a reference source, or created yourselves, within the visual team. 

    • See Resources: Audio Department Requirements 

Directors, Producers, please: 

1. Update the Projects, Crews & Roles sheet.   

   • • Every project needs a SOUND person assigned THIS TRIMESTER and working on pre-production PreViz audio. This can be the Editor or Director if necessary. We need to know if you're using External Unit collaborators, and their contact information. 

2. Update your Project Page and Bible with your Audio Plan, including Pre, Pro, and Post. 

• Character's personality profiles are a typical part of a pre-production Bible - see examples and Resources. Here are some things to consider: 

  • • Description of attributes - e.g. background, super-objectives, innermost fears/desires, typical physical behaviors, leading body part, walk, gestures, poses and expressions, animal image (psychological image).  Seek examples or templates, and make your own. 

    • Design and/or Reference Images - Color, shape, costume, typical poses, gestures, and expressions.  

    • Video Reference of acting and actions. Use short clips, and be very specific, e.g. be true to the age, personality, and other attributes of the character. Select the specific key shots you'll want reference for. 

    • Audio - Voice characteristics 

• Schedule Rehearsals and/or do Acting/Improv Exercises to improve your acting language and communication skill.  

• Capture your own acting reference, for example by shooting video, to further develop reference. 

• Directors, please prepare these materials with help from your team, so that you can use them when you are casting/auditioning, and/or directing actors and/or character animators. 

See also Resources: Acting & Staging, below. 

A/V TECH RUN and TESTS 

• • • Required for all projects collaborating with Major Projects Audio. 

    • Scheduled before Week 11 by Producers.  

    • Test RECORDING of an A/V scene, 2-actor acting / action reference in an action set, and high-quality audio (voice, music, and/or foley)  recorded in a studio. All workflows in your Audio Plan are tested and proven, with sync. 

    • A/V EDIT setup, sync, and HANDOVER to Audio. 

      • • Editors must follow all steps in the Film/Audio Workflow standards (in Resources below) that are applicable. 

        • Editor/Director handover at least one selected scene of the Pre-Production EDIT with full temp guide audio (include temp music and temp sfx). 

    • Audio: do a DAW import, cleanup, simple mix, master and bounce. 

      • • Requird for high-quality animation and sound-driven action: include final-quality studio recordings in the mix.  
        • Recommended: include tests of ADR/Foley. 

    • Audio: Handover audio mix, back to Animation Editor/Director. 

    • Audio Dept: Review and written approval of the audio files and workflow by an Audio Mentor, sent to a Film Mentor. This is a requirement for Animation production greenlight. 

    • VFX / FX animation: all processes are tested/rendered. 

    • Color, Light & Comp: Test layers are rendered, color corrected, composited, returned to Editor/Director at high resolution. 

    • Animation A/V tests are mastered in the EDIT, exported to a high quality A/V standard, checked/approved by an Animation Mentor. 

• Tech Run for projects not collaborating with Major Projects Audio:   

  • • Unusual or small projects may not be collaborating with Major Projects Audio students, or not using a full-scale DAW like Pro Tools. These projects may be collaborating with audio students in lower modules, using sound artists within the visual crew, using audio features in Premiere, or using Audition or similar tools. State this in your Audio Plan. 

• Do the test shoot, audio recording and all steps as described above to suit the project's workflow, with mentor advice. Audio mentor advice may be useful, but Audio mentor approval is not required for these types of projects.