Caleb Holland
Animated film
St Patrick's College, Wellington
Year 11 Technology, three-term project
Teacher: John Davidson
In Year 10, Caleb had made a short section of animated film, combining computer animated backgrounds with clay animation, as part of a whole class stop motion animated film project. When making his course selections for Year 11, Caleb asked his teacher and the HOD if he could extend on this work in his Level 1 year. To convince his teacher that his project was viable, Caleb investigated key factors, constraints and resources and developed a brief before the project was given the go-ahead.
The project had three components: creating a wireframe 3D object; giving it a 'skin' to create a 'solid' image; and animating a sequence with that object, using computer software.
Caleb found the appropriate software and taught himself to use it, using the self-help tutorials provided. Caleb's initial planning involved negotiating some clear obtainable goals and milestones with his teacher and creating a timeline around these. He identified stakeholders who could help, including two of his fellow students working on similar projects, one of whom had experience in this area.
Caleb faced a number of challenges throughout the project. His stakeholders gave him frank and useful feedback, which helped improve the quality of the project's outcome.
He documented his progress in a visual diary, though he found it difficult to maintain a consistent written record at times.
Teacher comment
Caleb was able to meet his objectives well, which required a fair degree of self-motivation, as film animation is not in my field of expertise. The end result was successful and impressive considering Caleb's starting point at the beginning of the year."