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• Scene Planning Process

• Before Planning

• Know the Story

• Staging / Storyboard

• Layout

• Mechanics

SCENE PLANNING PROCESS

The following is one way of approaching scene planning. It's not everyone's way nor is it always necessary. Style of film, budget, and time restrictions dictate what and how much planning can be done, but remember,

IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN , YOU PLAN TO FAIL!

- General routine - Scenes in a production are planned from start to finish before the animation is begun. The story drawings are the expression of your thoughts. Timing, exposing, etc, all follow later.

Before Planning, Understand the Larger Context

In the entertainment / communication medium: What is communication? (idea sending- receiving idea)

What is entertainment? (Communication, film-maker's relation to audience). On a broad level all scene planning and visual analysis should be developed within the context of purpose, communication, story, direction, entertainment,character, motivation, acting. At each stage,fully understand the relationship of parts to whole:

Purpose to story

Story to audience

Story (What) to character (How and Why)

Sequence to story

Scene to sequence

Major poses to scene

Minor keys to major poses

Breakdown drawings to keys

Inbetweens to breakdowns



Know the story and how your particular scene fits into it

- Study the connecting scenes (preceding and following your scene)

- The character must not do anything that does not apply to the story:

- A simple walk across the floor should be done characteristically, as that particular character would do it, and it should be as direct as possible unless a funny gag is specifically called for.

- The audience should not be made to laugh in the wrong place, thus killing the buildup of a later gag.

Staging / Storyboard

Compose your action for the best clarity and staging possible. Consider the scene in the context of a series of shots and choose the composition, angles, and sense of space that you think will best stage your action. Do your visuals tell the story in pictures? Is it clear? Be sure what you want the audience to see is clear. Like a magician, lead the audiences eye to where you want them to look. Focus your actions. Focus your audience. Ask yourself, "How best can I show this to focus the audience?" Explore possibilities. Better to chose from 20 ideas than 1. Your visuals will be shown at 24 FPS. Be strong and clear.

Layout

Solve special problems through visual presentations, full size sketches, atmosphere sketches.This activates thinking about staging, acting, action phrasing. Rough out your perspective and character positions on a single drawing to test out the staging and composition of the total look of the scene before committing to the final background drawing.




Putting over the gag - using directness:

- Plan to keep the main action out in the clear, don't hide it with a poor silhouette

- Look at the drawings made by the Layout Artist to see whether they express strong poses - if they aren't clear, redraw to make it clear.

Mechanics

PERSPECTIVE -Work out action plan and placing of character within layout (sizes, relationships, eye direction).

SCALE -Show proper scale to other characters and objects.

ANGLES -What angle works best for staging clarity?

TECHNICAL -Trucks, pans, levelling, BG interaction.

Next Tip: CHARACTERIZATION