have to actually implement the vision to make it real, but they have to believe in it first.
Communicating the vision effectively sets the stage for the next phase: getting people to
act.
(Source: Pony Express, March 1997, p. 24-25)
Presentation Skills
A character does not have to be facing the camera for it to sync up with the dialogue he or
she speaks. Again variety is the key word here. Mix it up a little bit to keep your audience
interested.
- You can rely on a characters head moves to sync with dialogue
- You can portray a character from the rear or in an over the shoulder shot. Shadow
and silhouette are another great cheat to achieve sync - Offstage dialogue
- You can also train the camera on another character and show the reaction to the
off screen characters words.
A sequence overloaded with dialogue can become very disturbing to a viewer. Try and run
your sequences without the dialogue track. Many times you will find that it plays well to the
pantomime and the music alone. A key line may be needed for explaining the scene, but
you will find that a lot of the dialogue can be expunged. See the section on dialogue for
more information. Most of the time, however, cartoons communicate much better through
expressions than through words.
If the dialogue doesn’t require a definite physical expression, it may be a warning that you
need to handle the scene differently.
Again, the Disney Animators followed a set of guidelines when it came to staging dialogue.
They are outlined below.
- Show the expressions change. Avoid a fast move while changing expressions. You should
change the expression before the move, and at the end of the move, when the character is
moving slowly enough for the expression to be seen. Don’t lose the expression change in
an active secondary, such as a wave or follow through on clothing. - Do not look up for a frown unless it is sinister or domineering
- Don’t hide a smile with a head tilted down, or behind a big nose or moustache
- Thumbnail, thumbnail, thumbnail to achieve correct staging which will show the charac-
ters expression to its best advantage.