Exercises
- Research a location for your outline. If this is a fantasy, research styles and influences
that might help stimulate your imagination. Use the library, books you might have, mag-
azines, design books, catalogues, encyclopedias, the Internet, and so on. - Study cinematography. Two good books are The Five C’s of Cinematographyby Joseph
V. Mascelli (may be hard to find) and Shot by Shotby Steven D. Katz. - In class, take the narrative gag about the Halloween pumpkin in the school gym and
write it in script form. Feel free to change it and improve on the story. - Try to draw from memory something you’ve seen or read. Stage it in the most dramatic
way. Now stage it as a comedy. Compare the two. - Using your outline, board an important sequence from your project, or team up with an
artist and work on the sequence together. - Put some of the sequences up on a large board so the class can critique them. What did
you learn from the critique? - Rework your sequence after listening to the critiques. Has it improved?
- Board your entire project.
- Practice pitching your story to the class by tacking up your storyboard and telling your
tale. Act it out and really “sell” your story as you do. - Try to get more information about storyboarding and visual development on the Inter-
net. Check out http://www.AWN.com, http://www.mpsc839.org (The Animation Guild), and other
animation websites. Share some of the information and where to find it with other
students.
174 Animation Writing and Development