Jim Hayes Portfolio : Cheesy Movies
Introduction :
This fun site enabled the target audience (children 5 - 10 yrs old) to create their own flash based movies, with a customised character and a choice of "guest stars", sets, props and effects. Targeted for flash player 6, I used a php/mysql backend with an actionscript 1 client exchanging data via xml.
Additional features included a movie review facility, and a competition for the best movies made.
I provided the client with an admin site enabling them to view and score submitted movies and reviews in order to award the prizes.
It is worth noting that the underlying engine supports more functionality than was eventually exposed, effectively the interface was dumbed down for the target audience.
URLs :
Note : I no longer have the final source code, this links to an incomplete development snapshot that does contain some bugs, and lacks a generator server to generate custom characters. It does, however, give you a good idea of the final product.
For a quick overview of the movie making process, it's worth having a quick look at the help tutorial, it outlines the process in a simple fashion.
Main screen:
The entry point to the application containing links to all the sections.
Studio screen :
The screen linking to to the new movie / edit movie / watch your movie /add packaging codes functions.
"Star maker" screen :
This section allowed the user to create a personalised star for their movie. Choose from boy/girl, a choice of faces, hairstyles, trousers, tops and shoes, all in configurable colours. The save button sent all parameters to a generator server that saved a compiled swf file and a link to it in the database, enabling the "star" to be used in the users movies.
"Star maker" screen : save character :
The save button sends all parameters to a generator server that compiles and saves a swf file which is then linked to in the database, enabling the "star" to be used in the users movies.
"Movie Maker" screen : choose background :
The background button presents a selection of backgrounds, one of which can be used for each scene of the movie
"Movie Maker" screen : choose "star" animation:
The users star button presents a selection of animations of the users personalised character, any of which may be added to the movie scene
"Movie Maker" screen : choose guest star animation:
The guest star button presents a selection of animated guest star characters, any of which may be added to the movie scene
"Movie Maker" screen : Add effects:
The effects button presents a selection of animated affects, sounds and speech bubbles
"Movie Maker" screen : Add props:
The props button presents a selection of themed movie props to add to the scene
"View Movies" screen:
The user may select and watch their saved movies on this screen
"Cinema" screen : browse all movies:
The user may browse,select and watch all saved movies on on the site via this screen
"Cinema" screen : view movie:
The selected movie is viewed on this screen
"Awards" screen:
The promotion offered prizes for the best movies in each category, at the end of the promotion these were viewable on this screen.
This screenshot shows the under construction awards venue before the awards had been made :)
