Animatics

An animatic is a series of rough storyboard frames drawn to the planned camera angles, edited together to approximate the finished film and timing between frames, with in some cases, sound and dialogue layered into the animatic. Most professional animatics are created using Photoshop to draw the frames, and edited together using AfterEffects; however for my first animatic, I created my frames by drawing them by hand and edited them together using Windows Movie Maker. Both are effective methods and uses of software for creating animatics, however the first method would more likely be used by a company which specialise in creating animatics, or a high end film production team.



I have created this animatic to plan my sweded film; Sweded Les Miserables. Sound and dialogue would be most effective if the film created was for a music video, with the effect of the frames are in time to the beat of the song. Also if the film has lots of dialogue which has already been scripted and finished. I chose not to add dialogue or sound to my animatic because my frames were widely spaced, therefore the dialogue and sound would be harder to follow in relation to the frames.

Some of my favourite animatic examples include:



This animatic was created using Photoshop and AfterEffects to plan a short film. The frames are detailed with small spaces between them, and there is no sound or dialogue which focuses the planning on the frames. The only colours used are black and white shading, and a maroon/red colour for detail within the film, which makes a clear not of it.




This animatic is created to plan a music video, therefore sound was used to arrange the frames in time with the beat and length of the song. There are also stage directions on the bottom left corner of the frames, to add further detail. The frames are drawn in the angles of the camera angles that it will be shot with, and are medium-lengthed spaced and quite detailed. The setting of the frames is also very detailed, as it is complex and changes between each frame; this organises and determines where each scene will be shot.


Advantages/disadvantages of creating an animatic as opposed to a live action film

Advantages:

• Cheaper to produce as actors, mise en scene, locations, lighting etc. are not required
• Easier to remake scenes/shots later, as live action films would need to be set up exactly as before for continuity
• Can create expensive and imaginative sets and ideas without the need for special effects, e.g. the tall castle and flying scene from the 'Defying Gravity Storyboard' animatic above
• Can be created over a long period, unlike live action films which are effected by changes in natural lighting and actors

Disadvantages:

• Live action films are easier to follow if the animatic lacks artistic ability
• Live action films are more realistic, therefore animatics work better for fantasy films, but worse for more serious genres such as dramas, historical, and documentaries