Working as an individual vs. team
Approximately ~50% of users work through our program as individuals.
So if you are working alone you can ignore this section.
However, we encourage teamwork to best reflect what it’s like working in the industry. This program requires drawing, writing and simple video editing so it can be helpful to divide and conquer those tasks with others. Teams of size 2-3 seem to work best, but you can have any sized team.
NOTE: If you are working on a team you only deliver one storyreel per team (and you work together on your weekly uploads).
Our records indicate that you will be participating solo. You are welcome to invite a collaborator (someone you know) to participate in the program with you. Once they register, you can invite them to join your team by adding their email on your My Team page. We offer 50% off if you are inviting a team member to assist you using this discount code: ATEAM22
Our records indicate you are already on a team, go to My Account to see the other members on your team.
Our records indicate that you will be participating solo. If you are supposed to be on a team, contact the person who registered you. You can find their email in My Account.
Our records indicate you have purchased multiple accounts. If you didn't already form teams on your first login you can either:
-
Head over to your Team Editor to modify your teams or add more people
-
Email us at info@storyxperiential.com and we can help you
Congratulations, you've completed your Orientation!
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Feedback and iteration is the engine of creativity, both at Pixar and in our program.
Each week, every participant will provide feedback to a few projects, and they will do the same for you.
We award users who give high quality feedback in the final Exhibition.
Giving feedback is required to unlock the weekly galleries and earn your completion certificate.
The more feedback you give, the more feedback you will receive.
Here's some feedback advice from both Pixar & Story Xperiential alumni:
Here's a hilarious video by Nova to help these ideas stick with you!
Your first job is to upload a short (10 sec) "Hello World" Storyreel. Please have everyone do this.
This will help us to confirm you have a video editing tool, understand how to upload your weekly assignments, and ensure others can view and provide feedback on your work. There is no deadline for this but it would be nice to do it before Oct 3rd to make sure there are no issues with your account.
Instructions
-
Include 3 simple stick figure drawings
-
Add a "Hello World, I am from ___" voiceover
-
Export your video 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio
-
Upload it using the form below
Here is an example:
Give it a try!
Before hitting the submit button below, be sure to check your file for the following:
1. Listen to the audio—is it easy to hear?
2. Look at the images—is anything out of frame?
3. Double-check—does the video get cut off at the beginning or end?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, make necessary adjustments and re-export the video.
Please submit this survey to complete Orientation
How useful was orientation?
Messages go here
We asked the last group of participants to share their advice for future participants:
LOGISTICS:
-
Contact the XP team anytime (help@storyxperiential.com or community board) - they are super responsive and helpful
-
Join discord to stay engaged with the community.
-
Plan ahead now! Make sure you block out a few hours each week for this program so that you don’t fall behind.
STORY
-
Keep your stories as short as possible. Try to keep the idea contained. The most effective story reels seem to be smaller in scope.
-
Focus on a strong foundation for your story, the rest will fall into place.
-
Try to bring aspects of your own life and passions into your story because then you’ll have fun and look forward to working on it.
DRAWING
-
Don’t worry about “drawing well”. It’s more important to get your ideas out and submitted. You can always revise later.
-
Keep your renderings to their simplest form to communicate your story clearly.
DEADLINES
-
Start your project as soon as you can every week and always get a draft down so that you can submit it for feedback. This will give you more time to iterate and revise.
-
Pace yourself. Only do what you know you can accomplish each week. It's better to submit partially completed work versus missing a deadline trying for perfection.
FEEDBACK
-
Give feedback daily! Even if it’s just one or two a day, that adds up slowly instead of sitting down and giving half-baked feedback at the last minute to fulfill the requirement.
-
Give thoughtful, helpful, and kind feedback as often as you can!
TEAMWORK
-
Put a team together if you can. It can be very enjoyable to collaborate together on your storyreel. Try to find people that work well with you.
-
Make sure you coordinate your schedules ahead of time.
-
Try to meet in person. If you can’t meet in person, make a plan for how you will communicate and collaborate remotely (zoom, email, google docs, discord, klaxoon etc.)
HAVE FUN
-
Be open to make mistakes! I think we might focus too much on having a perfect story rather than actually enjoying the process.
-
Don’t get discouraged!!! Don’t let the comparison trap steal your joy. Have fun and enjoy the process!
Welcome to Orientation
Preview your video below. Videos can take some time to render, please wait for video to load.
Messages go here
Your video has been uploaded successfully
The video will appear in the weekly gallery after it has been moderated.
You can view and edit your video here after it has rendered:
After you hit the submit button above, your submission will show up in the Orientation Gallery.
Sometimes there is a short delay as we moderate all submissions.
Preview your image below
The Story XP team requests that users adhere to a PG-13 rating when creating stories in this program.
In order to create your Storyreels, you will need to do some simple video editing.
No matter what tool you use, you'll need to understand these three key steps:
1- Adding still frames (drawings produced on paper or digitally)
2- Adjusting frame timing (how long each frame stays on screen)
3- Adding voiceover and music (use as necessary)
To do the above, you will need to use a simple video editor.
If you haven't done video editing before, here are a list of free tools you can use:
Browser: Adobe Creative Cloud Express (2min video tutorial)
Apple: iMovie (mobile or desktop)
Android: Filmorago
PC: Windows Photo Video Editor
We have many more options on our shared resource page.
What is a Storyreel?
A Storyreel is a rough draft of an animated film using simple drawings edited together in a sequence.
Watch this 1-minute video to hear why Storyreels are important at Pixar:
Have a look at some of the Storyreels from our last session!
Go to the exhibition page to see them all!
Keep in mind, great art does not make a great Storyreel.
Creating a great story is what's important!
Many fantastic entries in our program use only the simplest drawings:
What drawing software/tools do I need?
Many users use nothing but a pencil and paper to create their drawings.
If you'd like to try a free digital drawing software, we have a shared resource page here.
(many users recommend Krita or Sketchbook)
