Animation Process. The process of animation is a long and complex one, with many disciplines and specialties intertwined to produce an original piece of storytelling. What follows is a simple description of the different stages, in an approximate sequential order. The Story. No animated film can succeed without a good story. A good story, simply told will always beat a bad one with spectacular production values. No visuals, no matter how magnificent, can save a bad story. But a good story can be enhanced by great visuals and the result becomes a masterpiece. On an animated feature project, there are usually two head writers (of which at least one should be familiar with the animation process) and several junior ones, beside them theres also a lyricist for the wording of eventual songs. The Scenario. Dividing the story into Acts, Sequences and Scenes its the beginning of the Storytelling process. Three or four scenario writers can work, in tandem, on a single feature. They usually work closely with Story Board Artists (they can themselves be story board artists, maybe with a background in comic books) and with Visual Development Artists. The Story Board & Visual Development. Story Board. In several frames, it describes visually every scene, with the dialogue and remarks written under each frame. Generally, it contains information about the framing and length of the shot. Story board meetings decide how well each scene tells the small part of the story contained in it, and how well it ties with the scenes preceding and following. Visual Development is the visual DNA of the movie. How it looks, what style and period of every object, prop, building and costume in the film. Visual Development research can start as early as soon as the first script of the movie is available and is dictated by the vision of the director(s). Production Design/Art Direction Both are two sides of the same job, it could be occupied by one person in small productions, but need a whole team of artists on bigger productions or features. A Production Designer processes the work of visual development artists and designs the final look of the movie, key shots angles and length, mostly in linear and value terms. His/Her input goes mainly to the layout and scene planing department. An Art Director is responsible for color schemes and moods, as generally as in an entire act or as specifically as in a certain scene. He also overlooks the styling of the animated film. His/Her input goes mainly to the background artists and film colorists. Character Design/Character Building Character Designers are probably the most important draftsmen on an animated movie. They create, according to the vision of the Director(s) and under the supervision of the Production Designer, the Actors of the film. In traditional animation, they also design the expressions and turnarounds of each character and its proportional size compared to the other characters. Sculptors turn the work of Character Designers into three dimensional sculptures to help animators in a traditional feature understand each angle of a character and, in a computer generated animation, help the digital building of the character. Character Builders turn characters into a 3D digital form according to the styling of Character Designers and work directly with the Animators to accommodate their animation needs. The Soundtrack. Dialogue/Music/Sound Effects. The rough Soundtrack is produced as soon as the story board is approved. It will become the base of the Animation Timing for the animators. The Dialogue, the spoken words of the characters, will determine the facial expression of the characters and the Music, Songs and Sound Effects will determine the action timing during scenes and, more generally, acts of the animated feature. The Final Soundtrack is later based on the different sound layers in their final forms. Helped by the Story Board, the Actors, one for each speaking character, record the dialogue. The Music Composer works closely with the Director(s) to design the Musical Soundtrack and with the Lyricist to form the songs of the movie. Layout and Scene Planing. Layout and Scene Planing are the heart of an animation studio. They pump the information received from Story Boarding, Production Design and Art Direction, Soundtrack and Character Design to prepare the work of Animators and Background Artists. Its there where the Camera shots are planed: Angle, length, zooming, panning and traveling as well as the position of each and every character in a given frame. Timing is also calculated for each scene, sequence and act. In an Animation Studio, the Layout Artists (5-6 working on a small production or 30-45 working on a major feature) will insure the smooth flow of the action and the right timing of every scene. The Backgrounds. Background Artists are usually good painters and designers who work directly with the Layout Department but also under the supervision of the Art Director(s). They decide the mood and level of detail in every scene background in the film. They will also, especially in CG (computer generated) movies, get directions about the lighting of the backgrounds to correspond with the lighting of the characters. Animation. Animators are the stars of an animated picture. Its through their work that characters become alive, funny, dramatic or sad. Their work is essential to the storytelling process. But good animation must let you forget youre watching an animated film and remember only the plot, the story and the drama. A good animator should not only a good draftsman or technician, but also a good actor and a master storyteller. Animators work normally in teams of 10-15 on a single character in a big production, headed by a Lead (supervisor) Animator, with two Assistant Animators and 6-12 Inbetweeners. Although this hierarchy does not exist in CG movies, the work on a single character is divided between the same number of animators, but on a scene basis. The supervising animator makes sure the attitudes, reflexes and gestures of a character are consistent during the entire movie. Special Effects. Following the animators, Special Effects Artists add all sorts of action that does not involve characters like leaves blowing in the wind, clouds, flames or ripples on a water surface, etc. They can also add the shadows, tear drops or supernatural effects to the characters. In CG movies, this might also include moving backgrounds (or parts) or hair/fur, elaborate clothing on characters or reactions of normally still props. Editing. Following the original (or revised) Scenario, the Editors put together the animated footage and the Soundtrack. They determine the rhythm of the different acts and of the movie in general. In an animated movie the editing job is crucial to the credibility of the movie, its magic. Post Production. Post Production work is essential to the the good finish of a movie. It is normally done under the supervision of the Production Designer, to insure the continuity of style, and of the Producer(s) to guarantee the accuracy of the material. Some Intros and Titles Rolls are as spectacular as the movie itself. In a medium size to big studio, a post production department is usually comprised of 25-35 artists from such different disciplines as Graphic Designers, Illustrators and Painters, as well as 5-6 Technicians. Finally, in a Studio that aspires to achieve great work, the chemistry and camaraderie between coworkers is of the utmost importance. Also the feeling of security and constant evolution in ones career, are also essential to the harmony inside the studio. Decent remuneration, Company events and day trips, good health insurance and programs, Artist/Designer Enrichment programs and training art classes are all the work of a group of people (working with HR) dedicated to the campus atmosphere and well-being of all workers. #Hani_Elmasri #CPD
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 22:16:09 +0000
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