Work Package 8 – Film Content

Experimental Development – Staff capacity: 13,46 PM, external labour: 176.184,95 EUR

Goal of the Work Package in Overall Project Context

The aim of this work package is to develop and produce film content for the game “Professor S.” This includes episodes of the “Professor S.” series, meaning task and reward videos, as well as documentary films for the major topics of fourth grad elementary school. Also, information and promotional films, teasers and trailers for “Professor S.” will be developed.

Result as Conclusion of the Work Package

The following film content will be developed and produced:

introductory episodes of the “Professor S.” series: Jeanette turns into a skeleton
concluding episodes of the “Professor S.” series: Jeanette becomes human again
cutaways
two episodes to consolidate Jeanette’s character
three additional episodes (estimated), based on the results of work package WP9
short documentary about bicycle exam and traffic safety
short documentary for the topic of Whales and Dolphins
short documentary for the topic of Fire and Firefighting
short documentary for the topic of Knights and Castles
short documentary for the topic of Music, Orchestra and Music Production
short documentary for the topic of History Research: Local History
short documentary for the topic of Media Competence – two episodes
short documentary for the topic of Social Science – two episodes
short documentary for the topic of Foreign Languages: German as Foreign Language
promotional film for “Professor S.” game
several teaser and trailer films for marketing campaigns

Technological Risk of the Work Package

The challenge of developing film content is both contentual and technological. On one hand, the story should be designed in the way that it can be used in a modular way and still makes the impression of a continuous and logical story. On the other hand, user-generated media content shall be projected and embedded into the preproduced serial and documentary films. In the case of the composing task for example, the music composed by the children will be mixed into the reward video as an audio track. In a different episode, the kids upload a class photo, which is then visible in a picture frame on the professor’s desk in a reward video. This will be achieved through HTML5 and Java Script.

Description of the Work Package

In this step, film content will be developed and produced, that can be used in class and at home.

External Labour

Flying Moon – Script development, shooting, postproduction: 167.984,95
Paul Karopka – Actor Professor S. (Documentaries and game): 8.200,00

There are several reasons to work with Flying Moon for the production of the audiovisual content. Roshanak Behesht Nedjad is both a partner of Flying Moon and LudInc. This means, that LudInc has no loss of knowledge. LudInc will also have priority before other projects. Far more important is the fact that Flying Moon has years of experience with high-quality low-budget and award winning productions. This guarantees both quality content and economic conduct. The planned strategic alliance with Flying Moon will be strenghened. To handle the production workload of the films internally would be not wise since it would require too big of a staff capacity. Furthermore, Flying Moon has a broad European network at its disposal, which can be of great use when it comes to the market introduction of LudInc in Europe. Paul Karopka has been established as Professor S. since the pilot phase and will occupy the role to the point of market introduction and beyond.

Work Package 8.1 – Script Development for Serial Content

In this step, treatments and scripts will be developed for the serial content. Here, not only learning content has to be considered and embedded but also the dialogues need to be designed in a way to appropriately address and entertain the target audience, elementary students. Important is to embed options for interactivity into the stories, without sacrificing the dramatic arc of suspense but in a way that makes the “interruptions” perceivable as natural elements of the story. An additional element is the embedding of general, recognizable objects that are allegedly exchanged between the real and the virtual world via the time portal.

Work Package 8.2 – Concept Development for the Documentary Films

The classical documentary film does not have the same attractiveness for children as serial storytelling. We want to create a concept that treats and deepens the topical content of fourth grade elementary school but at the same time keeps the playfulness that is at the core of “Professor S.” (also with Professor S. as commentator) and interactively continues following the principle of “Professor S.” We want to embed the technique of Second Screen into the documentary films. But also here, it is important to make the interludes feel natural within the arc of suspense.

Work Package 8.3 – Script Development for Promotional and Information Films

Both the promotional and the information film have the purpose of introducing and explaining “Professor S.” to the schools. While the promotional video has the purpose of raising awareness for “Professor S.”, the information film has to give a clear and simple instruction about how to use “Professor S.”. The scripts for these two films have to be developed with great care, since they have to represent simple use and explain the functions to teachers (and parents).

Work Package 8.4 – Promotional and Information Film Preproduction

This step includes the determination of shooting locations (indoor/outdoor), the obtaining of permits and declarations of consent (general shooting permit, specific permits, set design, costume, props and shooting plan).

Work Package 8.5 – Promotional and Information Film Production

The filming includes, among other things, interviews with teachers, an interview with CEO Jan von Meppen and a film version of the manual about the functionality of “Professor S.”

Work Package 8.6 – Promotional and Information Films Postproduction

In this step, the produced material from the production phase will be edited and digitally treated. This also includes editing of audio tracks as well as additional audio recordings (like ADR) and the creation of title and text layers; image editing, embedding and combining of other image and audio content or interactive elements, in the case of the documentary films possibly also the creation of animated sequences. The resulting films will then be transcoded and prepared for streaming via the platform.

Work Package 8.7 – Preproduction of Serial Content

After the hiring of director, head of production and technical team (camera, sound, set design, costume/make up), the other roles will be cast (under consideration of the target audience). The next phase includes the determination of shooting locations (indoor/outdoor), the obtaining of permits and declarations of consent (general shooting permit, specifical permits, the set design, costume, props and shooting plan).

Work Package 8.8 – Production of Serial Content

In this step, the shooting of the serial content will commence. The actual shooting happens digitally and with a resolution that is according to quality standards of digital media (HD 1K) and still allows for cinematic quality.

Work Package 8.9 – Postproduction of Serial Content (Milestone)

In this step, the produced material from the production phase will be edited and digitally treated. This also includes editing of audio tracks as well as additional audio recordings (like ADR) and the creation of title and text layers; image editing, embedding and combining of other image and audio content or interactive elements. The resulting films will then be transcoded and prepared for streaming via the platform.

Work Package 8.10 – Teaser and Trailer Production

Using the produced audiovisual material (series, documentary film), short versions will be cut, in order to have brief audiovisual content summaries of the individual episodes and documentary films.

Work Package 8.11 – Script Development for Documentary Film Content

In this step, treatments and scripts will be created for the documentary film content. This also includes research for the topics mentioned above, the creation of a documentary story/expose for the topic, the concept and structure of the documentary film, photography scouting and research of archival material as well as clearance of image rights. Using these results, the exposes will be turned into scripts.

Work Package 8.12 – Production of Documentary Films

In this step, the shooting of the serial content will commence. This includes director, camera, head of production, sound and possible cast (Professor S., who appears as a voice-over narrator of the documentaries, or children that act as reporters, asking questions or “the walking dictionary for learning the German language from kids for kids” or specific shooting permits. The actual shooting happens digitally and with a resolution that is according to quality standards of digital media (HD 1K) and still allows for cinematic quality.