This book focuses on story and character development for animated features. I gravitated towards the beginning of this book, since it relates most to the stages of story development, the point I'm at currently.
Log Line: The basic idea for any film. Distils the entire story in a few sentences. The foundation for a film.
Outline: the story told in a few paragraphs with character details. This helps to influence appearances and personalities. This is a key point to remember, as it suggests that an outline should be created before any fundamental visual concepts are finalised.
Treatment: a short story version of the film story that may include dialogue, but doesn't include cinematography details or script detailing.
"can you place your characters inside a refrigerator, in France, or on a dog's back?" p7. I am limited to my three topics when creating my story. However, what's to say that my environment, a gymnasium, cant be located on a cruise ship? on Mars?
"draw thumbnails of characters and situations on a lined pad while working out the story. the lines on the pad will help create a rough size guide". p8
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| An example of using notepad lines as a scale reference for sketches. |
Nancy's basic story rule: Normal characters are not interested in normal situations. Something has to happen to get them out of their routine, in order to hold our interest and create a story.
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| A visualisation of the animation pipeline. |
"I ask that my board artists draw no more than three panels per shot" p19. This is an efficient tactic and also avoids over-complicating.
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| An example of how value can create clarity. |
"always know where, and how, your picture is going to end, before you start production." p54
"Always consider silhouette value when designing a character" p 72. This allows a designer to test readability
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| Despite the simplicity of these silhouettes, viewers can read them as monks. |
when you're ready for storyboarding, using value is important. linework can be confusing for cluttered scenes, where is the viewer supposed to look? Strong tonal contrast should appear in the most important areas. Charcoal is a great medium for this.
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| I was drawn to this image for its style, I would like to experiment with lanky, slender drawing styles. Maybe their enemy could have the opposite anatomy? |
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| A demonstration of how an ambitious camera movement might be translated into a storyboard format. |
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