Prof. Michael O'Rourke
DDA 514, Storyboarding & Storytelling

Soundtrack design: Kerouac haiku

The focus of this exercise is soundtrack design. Divide into groups of three students per group. Spread yourselves out in the room so that each group assembles in one corner of the room. The task for each group is to design the soundtrack for a particular storyboard I will give you. The visual portion of the storyboard is already done, but it has no soundtrack design at all yet. Your job is to design an effective soundtrack. Sound might include sound effects, dialogue, music, all of those, or only some of those. Whatever sounds you design, remember that sounds do not necessarily have to be realistic. Keep in mind the distinction between diagetic and non-diagetic sound. And remember that silence can be one of the most important sounds you use. Finally, think in terms not merely of illustrating the storyboard with your sounds, but of enhancing it -- enhancing its emotional effect, suggesting psychology, etc.

The storyboard is based on a poem by the American poet, Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), who wrote the following poem in Haiku form:

Drunk as a hoot owl,
writing letters
by thunderstorm.

Here is a .zip file containing a storyboard for this poem. Download the .zip file, uncompress it, then look into the sub-folder /panels-Kerouac. In this folder are 12 jpg files, one for each panel. Using StoryboardPro, import each jpg into a StoryboardPro panel. Design a soundtrack for this storyboard by writing your soundtrack notes into the Action Notes section of StoryboardPro. Save your StoryboardPro file as you work.

When you are finished, export a PDF at 8.5" x 11", 2x4 panels. Make sure the filename includes the names of the people who worked on it -- for example: SoundExercise_BushObamaTrump.pdf. Finally, upload that PDF file to the blog page of each person who was in your team.