Layout begins after the designs are completed and approved by the director. Bar sheets show the relationship between the on-screen action, the dialogue, and the actual musical notation used in the score. If a film is based more strongly in music, a bar sheet may be prepared in addition to or instead of an X-sheet. An exposure sheet (or X-sheet for short) is created this is a printed table that breaks down the action, dialogue, and sound frame-by-frame as a guide for the animators. While the design is going on, the timing director (who in many cases will be the main director) takes the animatic and analyzes exactly what poses drawings, and lip movements will be needed on what frames. Around the same time, the background stylists will do similar work for any settings and locations present in the storyboard, and the art directors and color stylists will determine the art style and color schemes to be used. Sometimes, small statues known as maquettes may be produced, so that an animator can see what a character looks like in three dimensions. The model sheets will often include "turnarounds" which show how a character or object looks in three-dimensions along with standardized special poses and expressions so that the artists working on the project can have a guide to refer to in order to deliver consistent work. Character designers prepare model sheets for any characters and props that appear in the film and these are used to help standardize appearance, poses, and gestures. The storyboards are then sent to the design departments. Editing the film at the animatic stage prevents the animation of scenes that would be edited out of the film as traditional animation is a very expensive and time-consuming process, creating scenes that will eventually be edited out of the completed cartoon is strictly avoided. The storyboard and soundtrack are amended if necessary, and a new animatic may be created and reviewed with the director until the storyboard is perfected. This allows the animators and directors to work out any script and timing issues that may exist with the current storyboard. An animatic typically consists of pictures of the storyboard timed and cut together with the soundtrack.
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Usually, an animatic or story reel is created after the soundtrack is recorded, but before full animation begins. Some studios, most notably Fleischer Studios, continued to post-synch their cartoons through most of the 1930s, which allowed for the presence of the "muttered ad-libs" present in many Popeye the Sailor and Betty Boop cartoons. In the case of Japanese anime, as well as most pre-1930 sound animated cartoons, the sound was post-synched that is, the soundtrack was recorded after the film elements were finished by watching the film and performing the dialogue, music, and sound effects required.
However, the scratch track used during animation typically contains only the voices, any vocal songs to which characters must sing-along, and temporary musical score tracks the final score and sound effects are added during post-production. A completed cartoon soundtrack will feature music, sound effects, and dialogue performed by voice actors. Given the slow, methodical manner in which traditional animation is produced, it is almost always easier to synchronize animation to a pre-existing soundtrack than it is to synchronize a soundtrack to pre-existing animation.
The storyboard artists will have regular meetings with the director and may have to redraw or "re-board" a sequence many times before it meets final approval.īefore true animation begins, a preliminary soundtrack or scratch track is recorded, so that the animation may be more precisely synchronized to the soundtrack. The images allow the animation team to plan the flow of the plot and the composition of the imagery. The storyboard has an appearance somewhat similar to comic book panels, and is a shot by shot breakdown of the staging, acting and any camera moves that will be present in the film. The oral or literary source material must then be converted into an animation film script, from which the storyboard is derived.
Process Writing and storyboarding Īnimation production usually begins after a story is conceived.