JEAN ANN WRIGHT - ANIMATION WRITING AND DEVELOPMENT FROM SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT TO PITCH

Introduction to Animation

10.o. All rules, however, are meant to be broken. If you can develop a story in a way that is fresh, unique, funny, or moving, but does not follow the rules, by all means, try it your way! The most important ingredient in good storytelling is a writer who really cares about the story, the characters, and the audience, and succeeds in telling that story in the most effective way.

It’s important that animation professionals learn story. Most animation schools teach artists who would prefer to draw rather than write. But the lack of a solid writing background is obvious throughout the industry. Whether professionals develop their stories as story development drawings, storyboards, or scripts, professional storytelling skills are all-important!

What Is Animation?

12.o. The best animation is action, not talking heads. Even though Hanna-Barbera was known for its limited animation, Joe Barbera used to tell his artists that if he saw six frames of storyboard and the characters were still talking, the staff was in trouble. Start the story with action. Animation must be visual!

Time and space are important elements of animation.The laws of physics don’t apply. A character is squashed flat, and two seconds later he’s as good as new again. He can morph into someone else and do things that a real person couldn’t possibly do. Motion jokes are great!

Wile E. Coyote hangs in midair. In animation the audience accepts data quickly.Viewers can register information in just a few frames. Timing is very important in animation, just as it is in comedy.The pace of gags is quick. Normally, there are more pages in an animation script than there are in a comparable, live-action script, partially because everything moves so fast. Animation uses extremes—everything is exaggerated.

The Production Process

13.o. It’s important for writers to understand how animation is produced so they can write animation that is practical and actually works.

The Script

Usually animation begins with a script. If there is no script, then there is at least some kind of idea in written form—an outline or treatment. In television a one-page written premise is usually submitted for each episode. When a premise is approved, it’s expanded into an outline, and the outline is then expanded into a full script.

Recording