How to Become a Filmmaker - Part 4: Animatics and Principles of Animation

Okay so you have a story and you’ve designed the characters and background. The next thing you want to do is put the words and pictures together into a comic strip. The reason for this is to be able to share your idea with others. When you show it to your peers they may give you new ideas for changes to your joke or story. The process of sharing your ideas at an early stage in the development of your project is tremendously advantageous. You may find out that the joke isn’t clear to the audience. Maybe some people interpret your idea differently, or they see it in a way that you don’t like. Maybe it’s offensive to them and once you see it from their perspective you make a change. The point is you want to get feedback from at least of few people before you jump into the labor intensive animation process.

Now if you’ve cleared the story with some trusted friends and everything looks good its time to make an animatic. The animatic is an extremely rough version of your story. It shows the basic movement of characters and objects in your scene. It’s like the outline for an essay. Its the skeleton of the final product. It should take a fraction of the time spent on your finished film. When you show it to someone they should understand what is happening in the story. The animation not there but they understand. It’s like you’re reading your comic strip aloud to an audience. Based on your words and a few pictures the story comes across. Here is an example of an animatic and then below that is the final version of the gif:

This is an animatic.

This is the final gif.

After the animatic is complete you are going to want to think about principles of animation. If you are unfamiliar with the 12 principles of animation start doing some research. I’m going to put a bunch of links in the description to get you started. Knowing when and where to add principles of animation to a project takes practice. You won’t get it right the first time. Be patient and it will get easier and easier with each new film. Now if you are feeling totally overwhelmed I recommend that you focus on just a few in your first project. For example, try just adding 3 principles like: squash and stretch, slow in slow out, and exaggeration. Then add one new principle with each new project.

So to summarize you’re going to:

1. Create a comic from your idea

2. Make an animatic

3. Think about where to add principles of animation in the project

How To Become A Filmmaker - Part 3: Designing The Film

So you have a story idea but you’re thinking, wait a second, I can’t draw!

A lot of people have this problem so let’s take care of it right away: you can a draw a stick figure right? Anyone can draw that. The characters in your story should be refined stick figures. Easy to draw, easy to animate. You should have a minimal background or even no background if you can get away with it. If you think you can’t tell your story with stick figures and no background head over to Ross Bollinger’s Pencilmation channel. He has every kind of scenario you can imagine. Each story is told with stick figures. While you are making your film you can start to learn how to draw. This will take time but through consistent practice you will improve. Down the line maybe six months or a year from now you can do a project with more complex characters. For now stick figures will get the job done and get it done well.

Lets look briefly at the kind of stick figures you should draw. They should have a short torso with legs that are at least as long as the torso. Do not, I repeat DO NOT draw a long torso and short, triangle legs. Give the torso some width so that your legs can attach to hips that have two sides. This character design is much more versatile than the stick figure design of a child.

Now allow me to elaborate on the background design. The best background is a simple background. This can be as easy as a piece of paper that has been crumpled and then uncrumpled. You can draw something very minimal, like a tree, rocks, or a bus stop. Whatever you do it can be just enough to suggest the location of the story.

Even if you are a great artist and you’ve been drawing for years, I still recommend doing stick figures. The issue is always time. You’ve got to get to the next frame as soon as possible because there are so many drawings to complete in a short film. So keep it simple!

Now, for certain situations stick figures might not work. If you can’t use stick figures then use the most simple design possible. I have a video tutorial on this here:

Should you have color in you project? No, because it will take longer. The idea is to strip away as many elements as possible while still being able to tell the story. You can do a project with color in the future but for now do a film with just line art.

The whole idea is to create a minimalist style that will allow you to work fast because you want to be able to make lots of films over the course of the year.

In the next post I'll talk about principles of animation and animatics.

Stay creative!

The Casual Commute

I saw a guy skateboarding across the street holding a cup of coffee. He seemed to be in no particular rush, just cruisin'.

How To Become A Filmmaker - Part 2: Choose The Right Project!

Okay so you’ve made the commitment and you’ve scheduled the hours. That means you are ready to get started on your film. So what kind of film should you make? This is probably the most important question to ask when getting started as a filmmaker. It’s important because if you choose the wrong project and you don’t finish the film it can be discouraging and you don’t want to feel bad after making a film. You want to feel empowered. You want to complete the film and be excited for the next one.

For your first project it should be something short, simple, and fun. Think of these three restrictions as non-negotiable. You can make whatever you want but make sure it adheres to these three guidelines. Why? Allow me to explain.

It needs to be short because you want to make as many films as you can over the course of the year. Make lots of small films rather than one big one. This way you get lots of practice telling stories. You can make lots of mistakes and it’s not a big deal. Mistakes are actually a really good thing but if you only do one big project a year, you’ll feel like there is no room for mistakes. You’ll want the film to be perfect and it won’t be. If you make lots of little films the mistakes won’t be that big of a deal and you’ll learn a lot in the process. You’ll grow so much faster as a filmmaker. Also each time you finish a film you’ll get that feeling of satisfaction. If you make one film over the course of a year you might become disinterested and abandon it. The amount of work might be too much and overwhelm you. But something short? It’s so much easier. The famous director Ridley Scott made thousands of TV commercials before he made his first feature length film. Think in those terms. Small projects.

It needs to be simple because you’re just getting started. You never start learning something with a complex task. That’s just not the way it works. As you begin to grow and mature as a filmmaker the projects can get more complex but for now let’s keep it simple. And trust me you’ll be happy you decided on a simple project as soon as you start animating.

It needs to be fun because you should be excited about the project. You need to like the subject. You need to make something that you want to see. Don’t try and figure out what others want to see. Its takes too long to make a film to do it for others. Do something that you really want to do. If you follow your passion it will come through to your audience. If you have fun making it, the audience will have fun watching it.

Okay so what does all this mean practically? You should make a GIF. Or tell a joke. That means the project will be under ten seconds. If you think that's too short think about this: 10 seconds times 24 frames per second is 240 drawings. Thats plenty of work. You don’t want to go over 10 seconds. If you follow all of the guidelines I’ve provided, you should be able to produce one project a month or roughly 12 projects a year and that’s a really good number!

Now if you are having a hard time coming up with ideas for a story take a look a short cartoon strips. Go to bizarro.com. Take a look at the way these short cartoons are structured. Then try and imitate one of them. An imitation is something similar but there are changes from the original artwork. Think of it like a remix. You can tell where it came from but you can also see how it’s different from the original. You don't want to copy a story exactly. Borrow something and make something new. This is a great way to get started writing stories. As you get more practice you’ll rely on imitations less and less.

So in Summary you are going to come up with a story that is:

1. Short (10 seconds or less)
2. Simple
3. Fun

If you end up coming up with something more complicated, put it in a folder and save it for later. Then try and generate a more simple idea. Generate a few ideas before you choose one to turn into a film or Gif.

In the next post I'll talk about how to design your film.

Stay Creative!

How To Imitate a Cartoon

This joke is an imitation of a cartoon that I saw in the New Yorker. An imitation is something similar but there are changes from the original art. Think of it as a remix. You can tell where it came from but you can also see how it's different from the original. Borrow something and then add on something new. In this example I've borrowed the idea of an older generation complaining about the younger generation. What I changed was the type of animal and the how I showed that the younger generation is lazy. Side note: I don't actually think that young people are lazy. I think it's funny when older folks complain about younger folks!

This is the original New Yorker comic.

How To Become A Filmmaker - Part 1: Make Your Film Right Now!

Today I want to talk to you about how to become a filmmaker. Maybe you want to make a film but don’t know how to start. Maybe you feel like you need permission from someone. Maybe you think you need to go to film school first. Or maybe you think you need to become a better artist. Maybe you’re afraid the film won’t be very good. There are a million reasons for delaying your first film. I’m sure some of them are pretty good reasons. But guess what? It doesn’t matter. If you want to become a filmmaker you need to begin making films. That’s it. You just have to do it. Your goal should be to start right now because the longer you wait, the harder it’s going to be. 

The goal of this video series is remove all the roadblocks that you think are in the way. You need to get started ASAP because there is only one way to get good at something: Practice. Do something a lot and your skills will start to develop and eventually you’ll reach your goal. Is it going to take hard work? Yeah. Oh yeah. But hard work pays off if you have perseverance and you see the project to the end. Once you have a complete film you’ll be thankful that you stuck to your goals. You won’t regret the time that you sacrificed to make that film. In fact you’ll be asking yourself: why didn’t I start earlier?

So here’s the key thing you need to know about filmmaking: You don’t need film school. You don’t need a teacher. You don’t need to know how to draw. You don’t need a new computer. All you need is $20 and a used wacom tablet. That’s it. If you’re waiting for permission from someone to start, I’ll give it to you right now. You may start your film. There. Now you have permission. So now that you’ve to decided to seize the day, you need to find time. Next week I’ll talk about what kind of movie you should make. This week I want you to take a look at your calendar and figure out how you can schedule 7 or 8 hours per week to work on your film. I know you are busy. Everyone is. Think about how you can make time. Do you watch a lot of movies or TV? Maybe you play video games. Cut out some of that leisure time and dedicate it to your project. Maybe you have a busy social schedule that leaves you with very little free time. Consolidate social events and free up a day on the weekend. Do whatever it takes to carve out some space for your art. It will be worth it. I promise. Once you commit to a schedule put it in your calendar! Don’t be flexible with that time. Tell your friends you are busy. Some of them might not understand why you’re unavailable. Tell them how important art is to you and don’t let them talk you out of your work. If they still don’t understand, they aren’t really your friends. Friends that really care about you will give you the time to make your art.

So in summary: 
1. Make the commitment to yourself to animate a film. 
2. Schedule in the hours every week. 
3. Stick to the schedule, no matter what!

If you can do these three things then you’re on your way to becoming a filmmaker.