A theme. What is the “point” of the short film? This doesn’t need to be grand, profound, or complicated. It can be anything from “the loss of childhood innocence,” or “boredom is a state of mind,” to “I want to make people laugh with this joke. " Think of it as a guiding principle for your film. [1] X Research source Characters. What will hold the attention of your audience? This can be anything from a person or an animal to a squiggly line, like the Oscar-winning short “The Dot and the Line: A Romance. " Visuals. Where does the short take place? What’s the mood, or atmosphere? A screenplay needs to tell the story of the short in full so it can be used as a blueprint for future work. [2] X Research source A beginning, middle, and end. This sounds obvious, but that’s the point – almost all stories are told in three specific, delineated parts, or acts. This doesn’t mean you must have a three-act story, or even “characters. " You do, however, need to think out the “action” of the short film before moving forward. [3] X Research source Act 1 introduces the characters and a problem (they’re hungry, the world is ending, boy has a crush on someone, etc. ) Act 2 complicates the story/problem (All the stores are closed, the bad guy might win, the person has a boyfriend already, etc. ). Act 3 provides resolution to the problem (they find a sandwich shop, they save the world, the boy meets another person, etc. )
Act 1 introduces the characters and a problem (they’re hungry, the world is ending, boy has a crush on someone, etc. ) Act 2 complicates the story/problem (All the stores are closed, the bad guy might win, the person has a boyfriend already, etc. ). Act 3 provides resolution to the problem (they find a sandwich shop, they save the world, the boy meets another person, etc. )
The Image: In a rectangular box, draw the principal action of the shot, ignoring background images for now. You can also draw notes or arrows to indicate movement. The Dialogue. Underneath the shot, write down what needs to be said in the shot, the proposed length of the shot, and any effects (zoom in, shaky camera, etc. )[4] X Research source
Adobe AfterEffects or Premier Pro are considered the industry standards, but you can use whatever program you are most comfortable with.
You can find examples of animatics online, like the animatic for the music video “Feel Good Inc. " as well as some Pixar animatics. Almost all animated movies are made into animatics first. Otherwise you risk spending hours fully animating a scene that needs to change, get longer or shorter, or get deleted.
The closer you can get the dialog to perfect, the better, as most good voice acting requires proper timing. That said, now is not the time to worry about the finer details of voice acting. You need to get your animatic together before moving on to full production.
If you are knowledgeable of video editing, you can add pans, zooms, and transitions right now to test them before your final editing.
2D Animation: This is the classic cartoon, hand-drawn look. The characters are flat line drawings. Originally, they were drawn frame by frame, but now there is a variety of software that makes the process much faster, such as Synfig, Pencil2D, ToonBoom, or even Adobe Photoshop. Traditionally, you use 12-24 drawings per second of film. 3D Animation: Similar to the models used in video games and movies like Toy Story and Shrek, 3D animation is much harder to master. You make models of the characters and code movement into them, making 3D animation a sort of artistic/coding hybrid. You also need to add lighting and textures. 3D software can used, yet it takes a long time and requires software like AutoDesk, Poser Pro, Aladdin, or Sketchup. Most 3D animation is the result of large teams working together. [7] X Research source Stop-Motion: So simple anyone can do it, stop-motion is when you use real-life figures or drawings and take a picture after every small movement. When the pictures are played back to back at high speeds, it looks like movement. It is incredibly time-consuming, however, as you often need upwards of 12 photos per-second of footage to make it look smooth. You can use cut-outs, clay models, individual drawings, or real people to make it. [8] X Research source Rotoscoping: A niche form of animation found in films like A Scanner Darkly, rotoscoping is animating on top of conventionally shot films. You will need a tablet, and you go through the footage frame by frame, using the live video as a guide for drawing the characters. The result is a realistic, but still animated, look.
Key Pose 1 = Resting. It could be a face of surprise, anger, or determination, or simply the character with its hands at its sides. Key Pose 2 = Winding Up. How does the character cock their arm back? Don’t worry yet about the movement to get to this position, just draw out them with their arm back and ready to release. Key Pose 3 = The Follow Through. Where does the character end up right after the punch? Their arm will be exposed and their body likely follows through. Again, you want the final pose, not the frames as the hand goes through. The more key poses you draw, the more complex the movement will be. For example, you can add keyframe sof the character looking shocked, balling into a fist, dropping their elbow, swinging their arm, punching, then spinning around on the follow through.
Key Pose 1 = Resting. It could be a face of surprise, anger, or determination, or simply the character with its hands at its sides. Key Pose 2 = Winding Up. How does the character cock their arm back? Don’t worry yet about the movement to get to this position, just draw out them with their arm back and ready to release. Key Pose 3 = The Follow Through. Where does the character end up right after the punch? Their arm will be exposed and their body likely follows through. Again, you want the final pose, not the frames as the hand goes through. The more key poses you draw, the more complex the movement will be. For example, you can add keyframe sof the character looking shocked, balling into a fist, dropping their elbow, swinging their arm, punching, then spinning around on the follow through.
It can help to put your keyframes on the screen as guides. This helps you see where you need to get the characters, and where they started. If something doesn’t move, don’t bother re-drawing. Copy and paste the keyframe, erase the part that needs to move, and keep everything else where it was.
For 2D animators, compositing is about making the motion looks smooth. Software like ToonBoom will do this for you, and may be called “rendering. " For 3D animators, know that this takes a long time. Lighting effects and textures are difficult to program, and even the fastest computers may take hours to composite a video. For stop-motion animators, you should play with frame length, adjusting the shots by a tenth or hundredth of a second to get smooth, fluid motion. [11] X Research source
Note that, at this point, any changes to the animation might be very time-consuming to make. This is why careful pre-production is essential to an animated film of any length.
Sound mixing is an important, and subtle, art form. Invest in a good pair of headphones and/or speakers to fine tune all the volumes correctly.
Do any scenes feel quick and essential? Do you feel engaged the whole time? Does a specific line or shot help move the story or theme along? If the answer to any of these questions is no, start trimming. Oftentimes the first and last lines of dialog are inessential, as jumping straight into/out of a scene is usually more engaging. Every frame counts when editing. Watch the film with someone who is distant from the project. Were there parts the got bored? Did anything confuse them or need more time? How can you cut and trim your story to make it as gripping as possible? How do the scene flow together? Sometimes 2-3 seconds of background footage helps the viewer catch their breath and dive into the next scene before dialog starts. [12] X Research source
Add wipes, dissolves, or fade-ins to the scene transitions. Add any filters or effects over the finished footage. Add titles and credits to the beginning and end as necessary, at the very end.
