STORY DEVELOPMENT

STORY DEVELOPMENT

Building the storyboard is an integral part of putting together an animated feature. The process provides notonly a visual interpretation of the script; it also allows designers in each

department to get a feel for what is being presented on screen.

 Creating the visual story

 composed of consecutive story sketch panels that depict the action and staging

 of the film’s script is the first step in the animation production process.

 Twenty or more departments, converting them into a final full color film, will

 build upon the concepts and timing initiated here. The storyboard is the basic

 game plan, the vision of continuity that will drive the entire production.

Storyboarding involves working

 from a film script to set a story down in picture or illustration form; rather

 like a comic book. The storyboard functions as the blueprint of an animated

 picture. The following is a breakdown of the story-sketch artist’s set up, and

 the thought and drawing processes involved.

Equipment:

01.     

Pencils: Whatever the individual feels comfortable with.

 Anything from an HB to a 6B depending on the quality of the line and darkness of

 shadow required.

02.    

Paper: 8.5 x 11, standard white.

03.    

Field Guide:    Story sketches are drawn to a standard

 8-field size (5.5 x 10.25). This is traced down on the paper and represents the

 screen edge all around. Significant details will occasionally be drawn outside

 this cutoff since all production artwork is finished out to the edge of the

 paper. Wide screen projects will have altered field sizes and measurements.

04.   

Xerox™ Machine with Variable Size Capability:    It is

 frequently necessary to enlarge or reduce artwork to specific sizes, both to

 save time and for cutting purposes. Final approved boards are then enlarged or

 reduced to proper production size.

05.    

Desk:  Any comfortable desk will suffice. An animation disk

 is not necessary, though backlight is sometimes useful.

06.    

Pin-Up Boards: For displaying sketches in continuity.

07.    

Push Pins: To pin up sketches

08.    

X-Acto™ Blade: For cutting Xerox copies before revising.

09.    

Erasers: Plastic or kneaded soft eraser: the plastic for

 getting rid of drawings completely, the soft for lightening lines.

10.     

Model Sheets and Reference as needed.

11.      

Chair.

12.      

Overhead Light.

13.     

Pencil Sharpener.

It is also

 important to keep your work area neat and easily accessible. Keep the desk

 functional and as uncluttered as possible. Reference material should be pinned

 up or displayed for use as you draw.

 The Story Board:

A smooth visual flow is the

 major objective in any film, especially if it is an animated one. Good

 continuity depends on coordinating the action of the character, choreography,

 scene changes and camera movement. All these different aspects cannot be

 considered in isolation. They must work together to put across a story point.

 Furthermore the right emphasis on such planning, including the behavior of the

 character, must also be realized. The storyboard should serve as

 a blueprint for any film project and as the first visual impression of the film.

 It is at this stage that the major decisions are taken as far as the film’s

 content is concerned. It is generally accepted that no production should proceed

 until a satisfactory storyboard is achieved and most of the creative and

 technical problems that may arise during the film’s production have been

 considered

There is no strict rule, how

 many sketches are required for a film. It depends on the type, character and

 content of the project. A rough guideline is approximately 100 storyboard

 sketches for each minute of film. If, however a film is technically complex the

 number of sketches could double. For a TV commercial, more sketches are produced

 as a rule because there are usually more scene changes and more action than in

 longer films.

When developing the

 storyboards, careful attention was paid to budgetary and creative constraints

 designated by the client. Any solutions that allowed for greater efficiency and

 better use of the budget without hurting the quality of product were worked into

 the storyboard, while constantly aiming for increased action and overall

 coolness. The storyboard process was critical, as it would fine tune the story

 and serve as a point of reference throughout production. Major corrections and

 story changes took place during this phase of the project to avoid making them

 during vital parts of production down the road. Once the storyboards had been

 approved, they were scanned and taken into Final Cut Pro to be edited into a 2D

 animatic. The editing of the 2D animatic is where we first took a swing at the

 trailer’s timing… roughly depicting the camera motion, as well as the actions of

 the characters.

Storyboard Process Chart:

Whether from an original concept

 or by buying rights to a book, a story must be developed to fit the proposed

 duration of the movie. This in turn will be refined into a storyboard. A

 storyboard shows sketches of the envisaged movie, each of which represents

 perhaps 4-5 seconds of action, with the dialogue shown against each picture. A

 shooting script and a timing chart are also normally produced. Model sheets are

 also prepared. These show the major characters in different poses, from various

 angles and with a variety of expressions. They will also show the coloring to be

 used. In effect, the model sheet is the nearest an animator usually has to a

 sculpture of the character. The model sheet is used to fix in the animator’s

 mind how the character moves and what it looks like. This completes the design

 phase.

Leica test or Animatic:

Leica test a somewhat dated term

 is used for the first attempt to put together a film of the required length. As

 there is no animation available yet, it is filmed from stills corresponding to

 the storyboard, but each still is held for as long as the corresponding sequence

 will take. A soundtrack will be added because the animators will work from the

 timing of the sound, especially for dialogue but also for overall pace. The

 result gives an impression of the movie. Weaknesses can be spotted and a

 re-design can take place to rectify them.

Scene Staging:

Scene staging is the mapping out

 of each scene, in particular the relationship between the characters and the

 background elements. The backgrounds may well be prepared in full once this has

 stabilized. Backgrounds are those elements, typically scenic, which are

 unvarying across many frames and so can be painted in much more detail than can

 a character. A good background can give a lot of visual richness to a scene or

 can set a mood, as well as providing the correct context and contrast for the

 main action. Backgrounds are often much larger than the frame size, to allow for

 pan or zoom effects.

The term `staging’ is usually

 reserved for the development of the viewpoint the animator is encouraging the

 viewer to take. Staging is really the clear presentation of an idea which

 includes avoiding anything which might distract the viewer’s attention or

 placing characters, viewpoints, expressions etc, even the timing of a scene, so

 that the viewer’s attention is engaged most directly. This use of the term

 `staging’ really covers the design issues in setting a scene while scene staging

 is about how to implement the design and may involve questions of how to break

 down the scene into layers.

Drawing:

The next stage is thus to

 produce the drawings for each cell in each frame. These are line drawings, not

 colored, and were originally prepared on something which resembles tracing paper

 with accurately-located holes for mechanical alignment. In the computer

 environment a similar but more accurate process happens. This is done in three

 phases. Firstly the extreme drawings are produced (key frames). These show the

 major features of the action and are drawn by the main animator. Next the

 computer creates the in-between frames, these then need careful checking and the

 motion between the key frames is adjusted to generate the desired movement. Key

 frames and tween frames can be quite rough, with lots of experimental

 over-drawing, and will usually have to go through a clean-up stage.

Line test:

A line test is shot (nowadays

 often onto video or reproduced on DVD) without the backgrounds, and still using

 the line artwork. The purpose is to verify that the movements are correct and

 that characters interact accurately. In some cases, this may reveal problems and

 those sections will have to be reworked. If the line test is accepted, and on

 film rather than video, it can then be spliced into the Leica test (animatic),

 replacing the corresponding section of stills. The animatic thus evolves towards

 the complete movie. Indeed those of us who are used to computers have to remind

 ourselves that the product at any stage is simply the current piece of film: the

 task of recreating this from the drawings is much greater than that of splicing

 together computer files. At the end of the process, the film is the totality of

 what is required: all of the drawings can be disposed of.

Ink and Paint:

The outlines are then colored.

 In the computer environment color consistency is no longer a practical

 difficulty: all characters will have their colors precisely defined so that they

 can be mixed in a digital palette. Special paints are no longer needed either as

 translucent and other special effects can now be controlled more accurately

 within the digital environment.

Rendering:

The artwork for each frame is

 now illuminated and shot within the computer environment. Some special effects

 can be added at this stage but compositing and other effects are completed post

 rendering. Unlike the original rostrum cameras which are physically massive and

 only offer limited facilities for moving backgrounds, the digital camera offers

 much greater flexibility and control; it also allows us to try ideas without

 committing to the final shot, thus saving time and a lot of money.

Soundtrack:

The final soundtrack is then

 synchronized with and added to the movie. At the outset, the sound was used to

 drive the animation timing: in the end, the fine adjustments needed are made the

 other way round.

A

 Story Trick:

In storytelling, the timing of

 ideas and actions is important to the audience’s understanding of the story at

 any point in time. It is important that the animation be timed to stay either

 slightly ahead of the audience’s understanding of what’s going on with the

 story, or slightly behind. It makes the story much more interesting than staying

 even with the audience. If the animation is too far ahead, the audience will be

 confused; if the animation is too far behind, the audience will get bored; in

 either case, their attention will wander.

Action timed to be slightly

 ahead of the audience adds an element of suspense and surprise; it keeps them

 guessing about what will happen next. An example of this is at the beginning of

 Luxo Jr. Dad is on-screen, alone and still; the audience believes they are

 looking at a plain inanimate lamp. Unexpectedly, a ball comes rolling in from

 off-screen. At this point, both Dad and the audience are confused. The

 audience’s interest is in what is to come next.

When the action is timed to be

 slightly behind the audience, a story point is revealed to the audience before

 the character knows it. The entertainment comes in seeing the character discover

 what the audience already knows. Another application of this is with a

 dim-witted character that is always behind; the audience figures it out before

 he does.

Many of these tricks can be

 used in concert in any given scene in order to achieve the strongest impact on

 an audience. At the end of the dream sequence in Red’s Dream, Red juggles three

 balls and catches them with a big finish; the crowd explodes into wild applause,

 and Red takes his bows. Slowly the circus ring dissolves to the interior of the

 bike shop, the sound of the applause fades into the sound of rain, and Red,

 unaware, continues to take his bows. At this point, the audiences have not

 caught on to what is happening because the timing of the action is slightly

 ahead of the audience. As the room appears the large 50% OFF tag hanging from

 Red’s seat. The animation of the tag is timed to be light in weight; it flops

 around more actively than anything else in the scene. This contrast of action

 directs the audience’s attention to the tag that is a subtle reminder that Red

 is still in the bike shop. The audience is now ahead of the character and

 watches Red discover where he really is. Red’s actions were timed to be slow,

 accentuating his sad emotion. Timing made the story points clear, the emotion

 stronger, and the character’s actions were a result of his thought process;

 thus, the scene has a strong impact on the audience.