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Classroom example Broken Pencil Studios

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The question

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How it works

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Who does this work

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Ways in

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For you

About Broken Pencil Studios

For you

Sources

How can a moving picture explain a process you cannot see?

Broken Pencil Studios · The company identifies itself as a Calgary animation production studio.

Graphic-novel illustration. Fictional animator comparing a simple motion study on a monitor with a paper storyboard.

Where it fits

Pick your class
  • Physics 20 · Frame spacing, displacement and velocity

How it works

Schematic · not to scale

Plan, animate, then check understanding

Conceptual teaching illustration for How can a moving picture explain a process you cannot see? Four numbered stages and arrows correspond to the explanation below.

  1. Choose the question the animation should answer.

  2. Plan the sequence with a storyboard.

  3. Use frame timing and object position to represent motion.

  4. Check what a viewer understood and revise the sequence.

Frame drawings are illustrative, not a quantitative motion dataset. Use the equal-time classroom activity to calculate and compare displacement.

The lesson, in the real world

A useful animation helps an audience follow relationships that a camera cannot easily show.

  1. 1

    Start with the audience and one question the explanation must answer.

    Our explanation
  2. 2

    Turn the idea into a script and storyboard that show the sequence before polishing the artwork.

    Our explanation
  3. 3

    Use timing, viewpoint and visual choices to make a relationship visible. A model may simplify reality, so the simplification should be deliberate.

    Our explanation
  4. 4

    Review whether a viewer understood the intended idea. Revise a confusing scene instead of adding decoration.

    Our explanation
Source: Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 1(opens in a new tab); Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 2(opens in a new tab); Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 3(opens in a new tab); Alberta Physics 20–30 performance standards: A1, B1 and C1(opens in a new tab)

Who does this work

All roles in this example

Role

Animation

Create motion from planned images, models and timing decisions.

Company article explicitly describes animation and timing.General explanation, written by usSource: Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 1(opens in a new tab); Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 2(opens in a new tab); Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 3(opens in a new tab)

What might you actually do?

  • Investigate

    Set key positions and the time between them.

  • Test and compare

    Adjust spacing and transitions to communicate movement.

  • Document and improve

    Review the result against the story and technical requirements.

Typical of this kind of work in general. Not a description of any one person’s job at Broken Pencil Studios.

Often works with
Illustrators, directors and sound specialists
Classroom connection
Spacing at equal time intervals can communicate constant speed or changing speed.

Related job postings

Similar work at other employers in Calgary, AB, not openings at Broken Pencil Studios. These are live searches: results change daily and we have not checked them.

How to prepare

  • Bachelor of Design

    AUArts

  • Film and Video Production

    SAIT

See all pathways

Ways in

For your students

Ways to prepare for this work

Programs that teach skills this work uses. Each is one route in, not a requirement, and no program has endorsed this page.

Showing routes for animation. Show all

  • AUArtsBachelor’s degreeCalgary

    Bachelor of Design

    Develop visual communication through studio-based design work.

    About this route

    Check current admission, portfolio, intake and workplace requirements; program completion does not guarantee a job or professional registration.

    Official program page(opens in a new tab)

    Why it connects to the work · our interpretation

    Animation

    Supports illustration and visual storytelling; portfolio requirements apply. Spacing at equal time intervals can communicate constant speed or changing speed.

  • SAITDiplomaCalgary

    Film and Video Production

    Practise production and post-production through film projects.

    About this route

    Check current admission, portfolio, intake and workplace requirements; program completion does not guarantee a job or professional registration.

    Official program page(opens in a new tab)

    Why it connects to the work · our interpretation

    Animation

    Supports camera, editing and production work; a portfolio remains important. Spacing at equal time intervals can communicate constant speed or changing speed.

Ask the class

Use it in class

Ask the class

When does simplifying an animation make it misleading?

Draw four frames showing a ball at equal time intervals. Make one version constant-speed and one speeding up. Ask a partner to infer the motion from the spacing.

Mindset it shows

Use the ball activity to compare positions at equal time intervals. Constant displacement per interval means constant velocity; increasing displacement means speeding up in that direction. This is our physics extension, not a claimed client project. Artistic motion can depart from reality.

About Broken Pencil Studios

A useful animation helps an audience follow relationships that a camera cannot easily show.

Headquarters
Headquarters not separately verified for this example.
Team size
Not verified. We have not found a dated, sourced figure.
The problem
How can a moving picture explain a process you cannot see?
Source: Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 1(opens in a new tab); Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 2(opens in a new tab); Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 3(opens in a new tab)
What they do
Animation, illustration and technical visualization developed from briefs and storyboards.
Source: Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 1(opens in a new tab); Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 2(opens in a new tab); Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 3(opens in a new tab)
Who uses it
Clients explaining ideas and audiences trying to understand them.
Source: Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 1(opens in a new tab); Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 2(opens in a new tab); Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 3(opens in a new tab)

Broken Pencil Studios is a Calgary creative studio offering animation, illustration and technical visualization. Its own production account describes moving from a communication brief to script, storyboard, design, animation and delivery. The work is not simply making something move: the team chooses what to show so an audience can understand a message.

Source: Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 1(opens in a new tab); Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 2(opens in a new tab); Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 3(opens in a new tab)
Company website(opens in a new tab)
Who does this work

Read each source’s date and scope: a documented role is not proof of a current vacancy or of where every position is based.

Reported as Broken Pencil Studios states it. Broken Pencil Studios has not reviewed or endorsed this page.

Sources and course fit

Sources checked 17 Oct 2026

Where it fits

  • Physics 20 · Frame spacing, displacement and velocity

Editorial mapping to published CBE course topics. Pending educator review. No outcome-code alignment is claimed.

Organization claims are reported as the organization states them. Broken Pencil Studios has not reviewed or endorsed this page.

What we know, and how
TypeClaimHow we know
workBroken Pencil Studios is a Calgary creative studio offering animation, illustration and technical visualization. Its own production account describes moving from a communication brief to script, storyboard, design, animation and delivery. The work is not simply making something move: the team chooses what to show so an audience can understand a message.Source: Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 1; Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 2; Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 3Source-backed company/project account
local connectionThe company identifies itself as a Calgary animation production studio.Source: Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 1; Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 2; Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 3Source-backed local work
course fitPhysics 20 A1 relates displacement, velocity, acceleration and time. Compare ball positions at equal time intervals; animation production supplies the context, not a claim that all studio work is physics.Source: Alberta Physics 20–30 performance standards: A1, B1 and C1Editorial application of verified curriculum topics
limitsThe equal-time motion activity supplies the Physics 20 connection. Do not claim that animation improves learning by a measured percentage.Source: Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 1; Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 2; Broken Pencil Studios — company/project evidence 3Scope of this example

Solid green: the organization states it. Outlined: seen in a dated source. Dashed: our interpretation, not yet researched, or announced but not yet real.