Don Bluth's Classical Animation Academy

The Art of Storyboard

Avail. June 17, 2005

Don Bluth's Animation Academy

A Short Synopsis

Let me begin by saying this, a classical animation production is like putting together a million-piece jigsaw puzzle. There are 5 major steps the animated film must go through after the script is approved and before the original score and final sound effects are added. They are:

To get there, the production will go through about 30 departments. Each has specially trained staff to do specific artistic applications. I'd like to give an overview about how a scene evolves and what happens before it gets to the Animation department.

RECORDING

The Director works with the sound editing department to create a "radio show" of the dialogue from the approved script. This is usually recorded with the chosen actors who will voice the characters in the film. We start with a sequence that will demonstrate the characters' personalities and interaction with each other. This may not be the first sequence in the film. We divide the script into sequences and we build the sound tracks one sequence at a time. Sequences vary in length. The director decides how long a sequence is going to be based on his vision and timing of the picture. Once the sound track or "radio show" is approved, it is delivered to the storyboard artists with the corresponding script pages who then render character actions and camera angles for each scene in a comic book format.

STORYBOARDING and SCENE PREPARATION

The storyboard artists illustrate the script using established character designs and temporary set designs. The characters will be drawn in poses that correspond with the sound track, the action described in the script and suggestions made by the Director. The storyboard artists and the Director will agree on the staging, cutting and length of each individual scene within a sequence. Once the storyboard drawings are approved, they will be

shot on video or scanned into the computer and assembled into a story-reel and put in sync with the "radio show" or sound track. The sequence is then reviewed by the producer, director and directing animators for additional adjustments and approval. The approved sequence will have to be processed through the director's assistants and Sound Editing and Continuity departments. Each storyboard drawing will be duplicated to create a physical continuity storyboard "booklet" that will be distributed to each department. This is an invaluable resource that should be referred to at every stage of production and update

d whenever changes are made.
An exposure sheet is built for each scene. The exposure sheet is a method for documenting every action of the scene and each department records their contribution to the scene on it. For example, Scene 1 of Sequence 1 will include a fade up from black revealing a tight shot of two characters conversing on a hill. The camera will fade up over 3-00 of film (two seconds) and we'll hear one character say "it's all we can do." The camera will begin to truck back to reveal the landscape as we cut to the next scene. All of this information will be contain

ed in the xsheet. The process begins in editorial. The sound department must "read" the sound tracks to break down every word and its consonants and vowels for placement on the exposure sheet. The Continuity department will log the scenes, their storyboard drawings and write a short synopsis of the requirements. Each xsheet's footage lengths will be reviewed to ensure they correspond with the timings established by the director and logged on the editorial scene list. Model sheets of the characters and animated props are included with each scene for the animators. A duplicate of the original layout for each scene (set design) will also be included for the animation team. Poses of the characters actions are provided for scenes that have been approved by the director. This is to give the animator a better idea of what the director wants to see in the final product. These elements are bundled between cardboards and secured with rubber bands. The exposure sheet has a hard cover with the Sequence and Scene number clearly exposed on the front and is bundled on the outside of the cardboards for easy identification. The scene is now ready for its trip through the process.

The animator will receive an audio cassette of the dialogue for the scene and the exposure sheet now has the dialogue broken down and placed in the correct frames. This should enable him to sync his animation. The animator must now draw the characters as they perform the acting requirements of the scene. Usually, the animator will draw the scene on "8's" (There are 16 frames to every foot of 35 millimeter film and 24 frames for every second of film). The animator draws approximately three frames for each

second. This, of course, depends on the action required. Some movements need more drawings from the animator, but seldom less. He will "expose" the drawings he completed on the xsheet in lead. Needed drawings are exposed in blue. Now the assistant has, besides the timing charts, a list of what is required of him. Again as each department finishes its job, the work is exposed on the xsheet. The idea is this; at the end of a scene's trip through the studio, anybody should be able to look at the xsheet and understand precisely what is happening. Camera moves and exposures, layouts and props, character stacking order against the background and overlays, are all listed in the xsheet.

The animation can actually be projected smoothly using 1 drawing for every 2 frames of film. We provide 12 drawings for every second of film that goes by. If the animator provides poses of the characters on 8's, they will be referred to as "Extremes" or "Keys". We prefer the word extreme for "ruff" drawings because we will refer to the cleaned up extremes as "Keys" at a later stage in production. The animator will create drawings for frames 1, 9, 17, 25, 33, etc., or every eighth

frame, leaving 3 drawings to be done "inbetween" the extremes. Each extreme will have the animator's "timing chart" at the upper right side of the drawing. Sometimes there will be more than one timing chart provided. These charts describe the changes necessary to create smooth motion between the extreme drawings. The animator should also number his drawings at the lower right corner of each page. This number depicts the frame number that the drawing represents and will be exposed on the xsheet.

At the bottom of each sheet of animation paper are 3 registration peg holes. The holes fit tightly on the registration pegs of the animation disc or "peg bar". The standard is a round peg hole in the middle and rectangular peg holes 4" to it's left and one 4" to the right (most animation discs in the US, Canada and Europe use this standard). The animator or the assistant will list the sequence number between the left peg hole and the center hole and in the space between the center peg hole and the right peg hole will be the scene number. This is important since there are many drawings in a scene, many scenes in a sequence and this system of marking each drawing, extreme, breakdown and inbetween with sequence, scene and frame numbers will be helpful (and time saving) to the departments that follow. You should always use care when placing

the drawings on or removing them from the registration pegs. Reinforce the holes or they could rip and destroy your hard work by putting drawings out of alignment. Sometimes an animator will mark her drawing numbers at the upper right. It is then the assistant animator's responsibility to make sure that the drawings are marked correctly at the bottom right and that the extreme drawings are clearly legible and close to the approved character model design. The assistant must get approval from the animator for any changes to the extreme drawings.