ANIMATION -Basic Guide

Content:

-From idea to storyboard.

-Backgrounds, characters and visual

communication.

-Animation techniques.

-Sound

Animation is to bring life (or the illusion of life) to objects or drawings. To

make an animated film, there are some things you need to consider before
you get to the actual animation. In this guide we will try to help you get a
good start and an understanding of what it is, to do an animated film. We
suggest to use the software : StopMotion and Monkey Jam.

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Animation genres:

Cut out : In cutout you use cardboard for everything; the backgrounds ,the
character, objects etc. Everything is cut out and put together with sticky
tag.You animate/move the cardboard figures under the camera, and it is a
fast way to work with animation.

Claymation : You make the characters and objects in clay, but not the
background(they are usually made out of cardboard) You animate/move
the clay figures in front the camera, and it is also a fast way to work with
animation.

Puppet film: When you do the puppets, you have to make sure that the
puppets have a great mobility. You can use materials like wood, latex and
steel wire. To do puppets can be rather time consuming and you need to
take that into consideration when you plan your film.

Pixilation : When you do pixilation you animate people or objects like toys,
fruit, food etc. Because you do not spend a lot of time building puppets or
cutting out characters, it is easy to get started, and you can have a lot of
fun with this method.

Drawn animation: you need to do between 6-12 drawings per second. It is

a lengthy and slow process, and you need a lot of patience.

PREPRODUCTION

This first part of the film making is called preproduction. This is where you
write, do your storyboard, your backgrounds and your characters. The very
first thing is you getting an idea for a story. Write the story, cut away things
that might disturb the main idea, or any superfluous actions. In this process
it is very helpful to discuss the story with people around you. Ask for their
opinion, how they understand the story that you a trying to tell. Next step is
to write a synopsis based on the finished story. A synopsis is your story
told in 4 sentences.

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STORYBOARD

Doing a storyboard is you making the visual recipe for you film. This is also
where you might find that certain aspects of your story do not work once it
is made visual, and you may need to rethink parts of you story in order to
make it clear.

Do the storyboard in small panels no bigger than 5cm x 7cm. Use simple
drawings like stick figures. Do not spend a lot of time with each drawing.
The drawing is only there to represent an angle of the camera and the
position of the characters. If it doesn’t work, it is easier to throw away a
quick sketch, than a very nice and pretty drawing that you spend a lot of
time with.

When your storyboard is done you have a clear overview of which

backgrounds you need to make. You have an overview of how big you
need to do your characters, and if you need to do a bigger character or
object for close up shots.

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When you do your storyboard make sure to use different cuts and positions
of the camera.

You answer the questions for the audience by using the different shots and
cut between them.

Establishing shots can describe the environment, are we in the city, in a

forest, inside or outside.

Long shots/Medium shots are good for presenting the different

characters and are also useful when you work with dialog scenes.

Close-up shots are very useful to show emotional reactions, and objects
that are important to the story.

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Remember to show the audience, the characters reaction.

Focus point

When you cut from one shot to another, be aware of where the eyes of the
audience are placed on the screen. This is the focus point, and make sure
that the focus point is on the same place on the screen in the next shot. By

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paying attention to this you will be able to make a smooth cut, which
increases the flow of the film. You can also use the direction of where the
character is looking, to change the focus point

Enter/Exit

Make sure that when something is leaving the screen in a certain direction;
let it enter the screen in that same direction in the next shot.

Dialogue.

Establish where the characters are, and when you use closeup shots keep
the left character on the left side of the screen,and vice versa with the right
side character.

Then you are able to cut between the closeup, and the medium shot,
without confusing the audience.

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Angles.

You can also work with different angles when you do your storyboard. It
can help the audience to feel with the character e.g. if the story is about a
child, and you use the worm´s eye view as the child´s point of view, then
everything the child looks at feels big and the audience get the feeling of
being with the child, and small as child.

Pay attention that the angles create a feeling in the audience, so when
using different angles, ask yourself why you do it, and if it is useful to
emphasize this feeling in the particular shot or scene.

Backgrounds:

The camera always “eats“ part of the background, so make sure when you
do your backgrounds that they are big enough.

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If you do your background in color, consider your choice of color. Are the
colors warm or cold? Strong or pale? Are the colors complimentary:
red/green orange/blue yellow/purple.

Consider the colors of your characters compared to the background. If you

use blue for the sky in a background, but also use blue for the shirt of the
character, then chances are that the character will vanish or appear vague
when you film the background and the character together.

Never glue anything on the background. Use sticky tag, so it is easy for you
to adjust the different elements in the background.

Characters.

When you work with cut out characters, make sure that you do not make
the characters too small. The character is easiest to work with if it has the
size of a grownup hand. Make sure that all parts are separate, also the
white of the eye and the pupil. Never glue anything together.

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When you design a character, think about what kind of feeling this
character has, what kind of emotion or movement lies within the character,
and base your design on that.

Use the shape of the line to create the right feeling of the
character.

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Attitude and action, is found in the basic shape. To wear sports clothes and
jogging shoes does not necessarily give the audience perception of speed.

Good questions ask yourself.

-Do characters, objects and backgrounds emphasizes the
story you are telling.
-The choice of colors and the symbol of the colors. The
mood of the colors.
-The symbol in the background, are there any, and how are
they interpreted by the audience. E.g. if you have an apple
people might think of the garden of Eden etc.
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-Are the backgrounds and the characters true to the mood of
the story.
-Are the shape of characters and objects in the background
in connection with the story you are telling.
-Remember that everything communicates, and you have to
know what it is you want to communicate.
Basic rules of animation.
-Contrast in the movement. Move the objects in the opposite direction of
where they are going. A car will move a little backwards, before it takes off
and move forward. A person that needs to jump up, will push the body
down before jumping etc.

-One thing at the time. It is hard for the audience to look at more than one
thing moving at the same time, and they might miss an important
movement or elements of the story. Tell one thing at the time; ask people
around you if they understand what is happening in the scene, because
they have lucid eyes, and are not involved in story you are trying to tell.

-Breaks. It is important to make a break/pause between actions. E.g. A

character sits down on a chair. Break. The character reach out their hand.
Break. Grabs the coffee cup on the table. Brings the cup to the mouth.
Break. Drinks a sip. Break. A break can be between 12 and 24 frames
depending on the action.

-Frames. You are working with 24 or 25 frames per second, so half a

second is approx. 12 frames. You set the animation software so it grabs 2
or 4 frames per click on the camera. That means every time you take a
picture, the software grabs 2 frames (or 4 if that’s what you want)

It takes approx. 7 frames for the eye to actually see something, and if you
have some text in your film that is important for the audience to read and
understand, it usually takes min. 3 sec (72 frames) to read, depending on
the length of the text.

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When you do eye blinks, the eyes will be closed 3-4 frames for a normal
blink. If you keep the eye closed for longer the character may seem tired of
in love. If the eyes are closed for only 1-2 frames and there are more blinks
after each other, you have a nervous character.

If you are working with cut out characters, the simplest way to do an eye
blink is to remove the pupil, take 4 frames of the character with no pupils,
put them back on the character, and continue animating.

-Movement. If you set the software to grab 2 frames, each time you click
the camera and If you move the character/object approx.. 1 cm each time
you click on the camera, the movement will be quit fast. If you move the
character/object only 5 mm. per click it will be slow.

When you start or end a movement, it works well if you make a slow (5
mm. move) in the beginning and end of the movement. Then in the middle
of the movement, you move the object 1 cm per click.

Make the movements strong and clear. Exaggerate the movement, and the
audience will understand it more clearly.

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Sound

When you do the sound, think about what type of music fits the mood of the
film. If you have dialogue in the film make sure that there is time for the
dialog in the animation. You need to think about this before you star
animating, so you will know how long it will take the character to say “ I love
you” ☺

The animation will communicate what is happening and the dialog can
easily be mumbling sounds instead of real dialog. It all depends on which
story you are telling.

The sound effects you can do yourself or search for on the internet and
record from there using Audacity. Certain sound programs also have a
sound library.

Putting the sound and film together is easy to do in moviemaker, but you
can also use software like Premiere, Final cut, and Pinnacle Studio.

Good luck.

And most important: HAVE FUN . ☺

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