Car Story

This is a project using what you know from video and flash. You may work with a partner to create a flash video which has a story line. 
It will include a conversation. And it will have a resolution.  Your theme is centered around the automobile and two or three people in the auto.
Opening Shot
Contains a vehicle progressing left to right or right to left with background moving. Wheels will rotate to give impression of movement. Background will move with foreground images moving faster than background images.
Middle Shot
Car moving away from us or moving toward us: It is  facing away (shot from back) or moving directly at the camera. If you have it coming at us you will need to put faces on the speakers. Movement will be background coming straight at us. People are having a conversation (from the back you don't have to synch mouth movements..
Story must have a resolution.
Resolution should be a logical outcome based on what has happened during the middle portion of the project.
Project has a unifying theme. Choose one of the following:
1. Don't text and drive.
2. Going to the prom.
3. Last day of school.
4. Share the road.
5. Demonstrate a traffic law.
6. Come up with your own transportation theme and get Mr. R to approve it.
Building the opening Scene
The secret to this animation is that it plays on multiple layers. There is a background which is fixed (Layer 1) Then there is a layer of buildings that move. (Layer 2) We can draw the buildings or bring in a photo. The trick here is that this moves completely across the screen (there is a copy of the original that is joined to it to create a continuous loop. This might take 200 frames. There might be something close like a street scene. This loops in around 100 frames. (Layer 3). Then we have the car which is either drawn or a png cutout of a real car from the side. (Layer 4) Then there are the Wheels on the Wheel layer (layer 5) These use a nested symbol to make them turn endlessly. Season to taste and you have a perfect opening. 
Building the expository or conversation Scene

Here the car is seen from behind driving away. Except if we do that the car will get infinitely small. So, instead we keep the car at a large size and have the background move toward us. It could be traveling through the night, through a worm hole, through asteroids, you create the background. The trick is that you want them to be constantly expanding. We can do that with a symbol that is repeating and nested. Now if you want the car coming at us, that would be pretty neat but then you would have to synch the lips and face to the conversation.

The sound goes on its own layer. I thought we would keep it fairly short.
Story Resolution.  

All stories come to an end. You have an introduction with your opening scene. You have a brief story that develops the conflict in your conversation scene which illustrates the development of your theme idea. And you have a climax....something happens and the story comes to an end.

To unify all of these themes you might want to give it a sound track. Now, ultimately you could turn it into a video or be happy with an swf file. That is all up to you.
Sample project:  Theme is "Click it or Ticket"
Opening scene is a convertible with two people in it driving down highway.
Middle scenes have car driving with trees flying by on one side. Shot is from back. Passenger says, "Why don't you use your seatbelt?"
Driver says, "I feel constricted, besides I've got the steering wheel to keep me safe."
Resolution could be a siren and a cop car coming up from behind.
Or it could be an accident with the driver ejected or pinned by the wheel.

Story doesn't have to be complicated. Keep it simple, get it done.