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My "Kids in Cars" project in the Sun-Sentinel |
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... Modeled after this summer's movie Cars, the project is aimed at spreading public awareness about kids left in hot cars....
FAU animators creating film to stop neglect
By Nancy L. Oth?n
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted July 8 2006
In the early stages, the crude sketches of two cars and a helpless baby are drawn using a 3-D computer-animation program. By the end of the long, arduous process, Florida Atlantic University animators will have fine-tuned the 30-second public service announcement into a short masterpiece resembling a film from the pros at Pixar.
Modeled after this summer's movie Cars, the project is aimed at spreading public awareness about kids left in hot cars. Nationwide, 151 children died last year after being left unattended in vehicles, according to the safety group Kids in Cars.
State Sen. Mandy Dawson, D-Fort Lauderdale, whose bill to toughen penalties for adults who leave children unattended in vehicles failed to pass in the Legislature again this year, enlisted help from FAU's Center for Electronic Studies in Fort Lauderdale.
"Until we can come to an agreement with legislation, this will serve as a stopgap measure," Dawson said.
In April, a 14-month-old girl died west of Lake Worth after her father forgot her in his car. Dawson said the incident intensified her efforts to try to keep it from happening again.
The decision to take on the project was easy, the center's interim director, Fran McAfee, said.
"It seemed like something that we could use animation to market to the general public," said McAfee, who also is an associate professor. "This one obviously is more of a heartfelt problem we have where we have kids dying because of neglect."
The cartoon depicts two cars, whose headlights act as expressive eyes, talking to each other as a mother walks away from her car, forgetting that her baby still is inside. It then shows the baking sun in the sky, and ends with sobering statistics on child injuries and deaths.
A typical public service announcement features a public official and an admonishment at the end. McAfee hopes the brightly colored cartoon will be more of an attention-getter.
"If you see a talking head, you kind of tune it out," McAfee said. "Cartoons draw people in. It has to draw in the person's attention and then it has to deliver the message."
Working with graduate student Sean Novak and research associate Rosina Killian, McAfee hopes to finish the project in a few weeks.
Many parents who endure repeated viewings of movies such as Finding Nemo or Toy Story usually have no idea that each frame represents hours of work, Novak said.
Just to make one of the cars in the announcement smile might take several days for animators to accomplish, said Novak, 27, a graduate student in the fine arts' computer arts program.
The project starts with a concept, which is expanded into a storyboard. An audio track is recorded and then an animatic -- a rough version of the announcement with audio -- is created. From there, the artists sketch out 3-D models on a computer program and they work on lighting, animation and editing. Dawson plans to ask television and cable stations statewide to air the announcement, which she hopes can save lives.
"When I go to bed at night, I can feel good that I've done something," Dawson said. "I have a 3-year-old grandson and I can't imagine not having him in my life."
Nancy L. Oth?n can be reached at
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or 561-243-6633.
Here is the to the same article on the Sun-Sentinel.com website:
Link to Sun-Sentinel website article.
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