Animation - behind the scenes

For my project, building a teaser or trailer about animation is important to research how animations are made.

Despite having notions of how an animation is made and some experience, the viewing of these videos shows the dynamics of how an animation is made. That is, it shows us the "behind the scenes" of the animation.

One advantage we currently have is the existence of computers and being able to use software that makes animation work faster, but in my opinion, it is no less complex. Before the digital age, drawings, scenarios, characters, all animation was done on paper and assembled manually. Nowadays, there is the process of creating the storyboard that can be manual or can be done on the computer. But art directors usually create characters by drawing them in pencil. When finished, draw the felt pen and erase the pencil marks. They also create backgrounds with objects and scenarios that they will need for animation. They make a set of drawings made with the indication of the scenes, which serves as a storyboard. It is easy to see that this way of producing a storyboard is different from Rebecca Sugar, creator of Steven Universe. Rebecca writes everything, explaining what she wants from the story, and only then goes to the paper/graphics tablet to draw. In this process that I am describing, the storyboard is already done through drawings, which are then transferred to the computer.

When we have the drawings on paper we have to digitize them all and only then can we start working with the different software related to animation. There is special software to animate the drawings, which allow "giving life" to the characters or working with the different objects and scenarios of the animation. This software allows you to work in a surprising way on animation. I can build a skeleton that fits a character's body, for example, and when the skeleton moves, the software makes the character's body move. It is also possible to place the characters in 3D. Another feature that this software allows us is to synchronize the voices with the movement of their mouths.

For the creation of our history, we must start with the concept and the script. When we have an idea there are some steps to take, among them, to verify if the idea is original or if it can exist. By doing some research we can see the originality of the idea and that there are contradictions in what we intend to write. For example, if the animation has any historical context, we must confirm the historical facts that we intend to introduce into the story. Only when we do the script do we worry about the dialog, descriptions, moments in the story. Then we created some sketches of the story, through drawings. When creating the characters we have to go to the script to check the requirements that are required, such as colors, shapes, size, clothing, among other aspects.

With the sketches we made, we can organize them and we will have a visual idea of ​​the animation, including drawings that show us how we want the camera angles in the animation.

In the whole animation process, I consider the storyboard to be the most important. In addition to everything that has already been said about the storyboard, it is still at this moment that all details are added, such as facial expressions and body positions of the characters, camera movements, details of the scenarios, and position of objects, among other details. The storyboard will be what allows us to tell the story effectively because if the moments are not all well described, we run the risk of producing an animation that does not match the original story.

References:

Animaker (26th February 2018) How to make animated vídeos? [The Ultimate guide for newbies!]   [online] available from: How to make animated videos? [The Ultimate Guide for Newbies!] - Video Making and Marketing Blog (animaker.com) (accessed 27th November 2020)

Made How (s.d.) Animation  [online] available from: How animation is made - material, making, history, used, structure, industry, Raw Materials (madehow.com) (accessed 27th November 2020)

Racounteur Animation (2015) Behind the Pixels: How 3D Animation is Made?  [online] available from: (14) Behind the Pixels: How 3D Animation is Made - YouTube (accessed 27th November 2020)

Stargaru Park (2007) How it’s made animation?  [online] available from: (14) How it's made - Animation - YouTube (accessed 27th November 2020)