A Modest Proposal: The Ball State Movie Alex Arnold, Jacob Clark, Kaylee Mautz, John McCormick, Matt Nuckols, Katie Wessel, Sarah Wiedemann 4/27/10

Proposal For an immersive learning project, we propose that students across the English Department, Department of Theatre and Dance, and Department of Art (specifically the Electronic Art and Animation major) all cooperate and produce a computer animated short film.

Rationale Department of Theatre and Dance – Provides actors for motion capture of characters, as well as voice actors Department of English – Provides the authors who write the script for the film Department of Art – Provides animators and modelers to create the film

Survey 92 respondents 43 males 49 females surveyed 61 people (66%) preferred a movie over video game 44 people (48%) preferred comedy Nearly half male and half female so answers were more even.

Credits Available in the English Department English Department-provides students with the knowledge of grammar, different formats, sentence structure, to develop the script. Students must achieve a variety of goals Grade requirements and requirements for English course Selected courses to be in our Immersive learning project

Credits Available in The Art Department Art Department-Electronic Art & Animation immerses students in projects to help them better understand the evolving relationship between art and technology Student goals and course requirements Credit Breakdown of Immersive Learning project for Art majors

Credits Available in the Theatre department Theatre Department-Supplies students with a vast knowledge of different styles and backgrounds in their section of discipline Student goals and course requirements Credit breakdown of Immersive Learning Project for Theatre majors

Faculty Advisors Dr. Michael M. O’Hara - Associate Dean, College of Fine Arts and Sursa Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts Would oversee students the script, directing, and actors “There is already a formal relationship between Telecommunications, English, and Theatre and Dance that produces a number of short films every year, and so this project would need to be vetted through the English project to make sure it didn’t compete with the already established one. Your project could be an option for them.” English 104 professor, like Bill Would overlook the script and come up with themes and ideas and correct grammar and sentence structure of the script

Faculty Advisors (cont.) Mr. Andy Bean - Assistant Professor of Art, teaches Advanced Animation classes Would oversee the animation process, software use, and deadline of the project “We offer an ART 299x which is a animation studio experience that pulls students from English, TCOM, Animation, graphic design and music,” said Mr. Beane. “I do think it is worth credit.” Steven Cohen Experienced media marketing executive, would help students market the film to the general public

Budget // Resources While the average motion capture (Mo-Cap) setup runs between $50,000 - $100,000, according to Dr. O’Hara, this technology already exists at Ball State University, thus making the project “free.” Nevertheless, the production of an animated film, even a short one, is a very labor intensive process. Note that Toy Story, though not mo-cap, took almost 2 years to produce.

Tangible Outcome Fun with a Purpose Bridging Art and Technology Children’s video game Bridging Art and Technology The Terri Dreams Our proposal Movie Fun with purpose: fall 2006, 12 students in the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry seminar Nature at Play took on the roles of video game designers. Bridging and technology: The Terri Dreams, a production that combines filmed and animated pieces with live theatre for a unique audience experience. Movie: students freedom in animated/not and genre Older projects were successful and ours is similar; our proposal would work