1. Stop Motion Animation

It is a style where physically the animators manipulate objects, which makes it look like these objects are moving by themselves. So an exact sequence is played back, generating an image of movement and action.

2. 2D Animation

This is the traditional way of drawing for animation. Its function is to produce storyboards, backgrounds and characters in an environment of two dimensions. Now due to computers, it is mostly done on software. But earlier, everything was hand drawn. Though 3D is on the rise, 2D is still in demand.

3. 3D Animation

This is a revolutionary technique. In this style, objects appear in three dimensions. They have the ability to move and rotate. 3D animation is used in feature and short films, television commercials, brand or corporate videos, etc.

4. Mechanical Animation

This is utilised to show assemblies, modus-operandi and configuration of mechanical products. Explaining the functions of machines using this style of animation makes it easier to understand.

5. Cutout Animation

This animation is a form of stop motion. They move paper cutouts under the lens to tell a story. But with innovations in the industry, computers can now easily cut and animate images.

6. Animatronics

This is a robotic animation. This idea belonged to Walt Disney Imagineering, which they created to welcome guests at their theme parks. Many companies later began using this style of animation for their brand’s purposes.

7. Whiteboard Animation

It is also known as an explainer video. Due to its minimalistic design, it allows your audience to keep his/her focus on what is being shown on the screen without getting distracted by the visual effects. In this animation, a story will be told using a whiteboard to the audience using drawings. It is good for an educational purpose.

8. Clay Animation

A kind of stop motion were pieces of clay are used to form various characters. Here water based or oil based clay are used. It is a time-consuming process. That is why clay animated movies are much shorter than other animated ones.

9. Rotoscope Animation

In this technique, the footage is software-traced using the rotoscoping tool. It’s an early animation style. This equipment was developed by Max Fleisher, a Polish-American. Although computers create this animation now, it is still known by its previous name.

10. Typography Animation

In this style, there is both motion and text. This is used in cinematography during the title scene of the movie. If creating font faces is what you like, then this could be your favourite animation style.

At Magic Elements Studios, we are on a mission of making this world a better place, one film at a time.

Despite their experience and action of over three decades, November 2016’s “Moana” was a new chapter, a new accomplishment for the director duo. This went on to be Musker and Clement’s first film with 3D animations.

The last Disney 2D movie was 2009’s “The Princess and the Frog”. It was directed by the duo. All animation used were hand-drawn at their studios. In “Moana” lot of traditional techniques were used for production and pre-production, especially with the Mini-Maui character who was entirely drawn by hand.

Moana’s character was drawn using a computer and not by human hands. However, the character of Mini-Maui is a mix of 3D and 2D animation. The film’s Mini-Maui character travels using Maui’s body. This character represents a big technical accomplishment, as it is a 2D character who seamlessly interacts with the 3D animated world all around.

Animation is an art. For a film, after the artist adds the final touches to the drawings then the technical animation team takes over to draft the animations to the 3D model. Now unlike paper, our body is not flat and has curves. The skin moves and the muscle flex, which moves alongside the character. So to avoid any warping or stretching, the technical animators whipped a whole new technology. This would preserve old-fashioned and modern-day animation.

During the film’s production, the adjustments between 3D and 2D techniques did not always go smoothly. At times Musker and Clements asked for some changes, which made the animators push their limits. In fact, as the movie progressed, the team discussed as to how to make the movie more interesting. Now as 2D animators produced new drawings and the computer animation team had to frame and rearrange digital objects.

Combining a balance of modern as well as traditional animation and also of the techniques and ideas wasn’t easy, but in the end, was really worth it. The audiences and the critics agreed that this was the most advanced technologically animated movies ever produced. Not to mention that it had the same humour, charm and warmth for which Disney has been known and loved for over 100 years.

At Magic Elements Studios, we are experts of 2D and 3D animation styles. We appreciate good pieces of art. Disney’s Moana blended the freshness of 3D animation with old-fashioned 2D, creating a new cult. What a masterpiece!

Remember as kids we would laugh and sometimes imitate the wacky voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester? It was because of a grown man behind the bunny, the duck, the cat and thousands of other characters which he enhanced with his voice. It all came out of one legendary person, Mel Blanc aka “The Man of 1000 Voices”.

He practically became one of them. Bugs’ voice, Blanc said, grew out of his impression of the character as a smart, endlessly resourceful maverick, a very urban rabbit despite his residency in rural holes. His inputs made a huge impact on what Bugs eventually turned out to be. Mel said “I thought, when we were working on how Bugs would talk, which accent sounds the toughest – Brooklyn or the Bronx? I couldn’t make up my mind, so I made his voice a combination of both.” Blanc would instantly embody the facial expressions of whatever character he was voicing. He actually lived these characters. And the characters lived him. One of them also saved him. It was our hero, Bugs Bunny.

When one night at Sunset Boulevard’s Deadman Curve, Mel Blanc met with an accident that crushed his Aston Martin and himself inside it. The chances of him surviving were a million to one. That’s when the address “Bugs Bunny, Hollywood, USA” received fifteen thousand cards and letters, gifts of pennies, nickels, sticks of gum and carrots. Thousands of people praying for Bugs Bunny to get well soon. It’s weird, isn’t it? People don’t even love humans as much as they loved a cartoon character. Maybe that’s the magic of animation and creating new characters. The voice of Bugs Bunny was heard, and it was heard well alright!

After about 3 weeks of Mel being in a coma, his neurosurgeon got an idea. He knew the affection Mel had for Bugs, he said “How are you feeling today, Bugs Bunny?”. It was like a miracle waiting to happen, that’s when a bleak but extremely familiar voice said “Eh, just fine, Doc, How are you?”. A human who was suffering, close to his death and there’s a fictitious character who was being his hero was trying to save him. Bugs eventually won, Mel survived.

Mel Blanc was the voice to Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Pepe Le Pew, Yosemite Sam, Mr. Spacely, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzalez,The Tasmanian Devil, Barney Rubble, Dino the Dinosaur, Heathcliff and so many more but the love for one saved him and it was our dear Bugs. This is the power of animation. Mel Blanc is said to be one of the first voice actors and he is also the first voice actor to get screen credit which he funnily enough received after being denied a raise by his studio boss Leon Schlesinger.

Out of his glorious work history, his career at Warner Bro’s was the longest and memorable. When we think of Bugs, we hear his voice along with the chomping of carrots. We could never thank Mel Blanc enough for the iconic legend that his voice created.

There are a number of storyboards differences between a live action and animated productions. Most storyboarder specialize in one or the other. As their personal drawing style may not work for all types of productions. For instance, live action directors don’t want to see cartoony looking storyboards or live action story artist may not able to draw cartoony style.

In live action boards, artists style vary greatly. The look of the characters and the boards don’t really have to look much like the look of the live-action actors. In fact most of the actors may not be cast when we start boarding.

Just ask the Director for general info of the characters and draw them all different enough so that you can tell them apart from the boards. For instance, if one character is bald and other is fat. Those are simple ways to make them look different on your boards.

For traditional animation, the storyboard need to look exactly like that of the character on the model-sheets. This is because most of the overseas animation studios tend to follow the look of the storyboard exactly as they animate.

When boarding a CG (Computer generated, also known as 3D animation) animation, matching the look of the character is not as important. The character designs may not be complete, when storyboarding starts on a CG project. But even though they are complete, you should have boarded characters somewhat like the final design, but you don’t have to make them exactly.

Another big difference between live-action and animation boards is how many drawings is generally necessary for any scene or action. In Live-action we need to draw the beginning and the end of any action and add drawings for any specific actions in any shots which needs to be seen. We don’t have draw every little actions for the characters as the actors decides for themselves how they act.

But in Animation, the animators are the actors. The storyboards for hand drawn animation in particular, needs to show most of the “key frames”. Key Frames are the key drawings dictating every big and little action drawn by the animator. The “In-betweens” are then added during the animation process to smooth out the action.

In CG Animation, the drawing to show the action will fall somewhere in between those needed for hand drawn and live-action productions.
Another difference in live-action and animation, is to how to properly number scenes and shots. In Live-action, a scene includes various shots or various camera angles used in one location during one period of time.

For instance you can have a scene in your living room that includes a wide shot and two close-ups. And all three shots are a part of one Scene. Hand-drawn animation considers every shot to be a new scene. So when they are saying the living room example you will have three scenes. We don’t even use the term “shot”, in 2D Animation.

The CG Animation can be numbered either way, but as more often than not they are numbered live live-action. The production which we work on will tell us how they work on a scene number.

This could sound a little confusing but knowing the distinction between them could make all the difference. Whether or not you get us back on a another production.

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Producing any Commercial, TV Show or Movie is like building a house. There are many elements to design! And in order for the house to stand, all the elements need to work together.

Every house needs blueprints before it can be build and blueprints are the architect’s vision. You can tell someone what kind of house you want, but everyone will see it differently in their head. What kind of floors you want? what are the doors? Where do you want the bathrooms? There are a thousand details of building a home, that needs to be detailed in order to get the construction crew know what to do.

Storyboards are the blueprints of any production, and the director is the architect.

Where do we put the camera? How much of the set are we seeing? What do you want the special effects to do? Which door do they go through? The Storyboards answers these questions so everyone knows what they need to do.

Every department relies on storyboards to prepared for their of the production. Budgeting and scheduling of many scenes are completely dependent on storyboards. A Script may describe what may seemed like a simple action. But the director’s vision may be bigger than what has been described on the page.

For example: a mere two-three lines of script can turn into a huge action sequence. There is no way the production department can plan without a storyboard to work from. Once that scene is storyboarded the art director then knows what needs to be designed. The set crew will know what needs to be build and dressed! The props crew will know what they need to purchased and rig, and the wardrobe department would know whether they need extras of certain outfits or to rig for tearaways! The stunt crew would need what they need to get prepared for ! The Special effects crew know what to expect and can provide the producer an estimate of both time and cost. And the camera crew could of course could know what equipment they need for the shots.

During the process of storyboarding, the story artist would know how the director and the crew-heads plan to accomplished the various elements of the production. And the notes on the storyboards needs to contain details to share it with the entire crew. Once the production team has all the information from various departments, they can finalized a production schedule and a budget. And none of this is possible without completely planning the stunts, special effects and hard to achieved shots with the storyboards.

A single problem on the set could easily costs the production thousands of rupees an hour or over and a good storyboard can save any production from many of these potential problems. STORYBOARDS CAN SAVE THE PRODUCTION MUCH MORE THAN THEY COST.

To sum up there more efficient storyboards are the more efficient the storyboards will be! They are a guarantee against the crores of investment put in to any production. And for getting just that you can get a quote from us here.

The omnipresent question every animation wannabe faces.

In all Practicality…..

The job assurance which the institutions gives is again depends upon the quota they get from the studios requirements. These institutions impose this quota on the students who are categorized as per the quota list. Unfortunately not according to the students aspirations, molding them into mere production making workers in this creative industry.

You’ll be wasting a lot of money as well time as most of them dictate what is better for you. Rather than what you like the best even if you are not good at it, learning is always an option.

You better back off from doing any course at such a place.

Students, here are some tips to consider when choosing the right animation institute:

• Opt for a well-reputed training institute that provides high-quality training content.
• Beware of short-term courses; the institute must teach all the basic tools and software required.
• Check if the faculty is qualified and trained to teach. If the faculty comprises unsuccessful animators with no other job prospects or those who have simply passed a basic animation course, BEWARE!
• Talk to final-year students to understand placement opportunities through the institute. Having professional animators as part of the faculty guarantees valuable connections in the industry.
• Tour the institute before making your choice. Check the classrooms, library and labs. Look for options that provide workshops or internships with major production houses.

Great experiences make great stories, usually. The world around us is filled with great stories, we just need to open our imagination. Every person on earth has a story to share. Every success or failure has a compelling story to express. Those unforgettable moments, those unexplained encounters, those unexpected love stories are the experiences that compel us to write a story. We simply need to become aware of our surroundings. Stories are like ping pong balls and all we need to do is catch the right one.

A good storyteller is one who can ignite the emotions of the audience. Storytellers are good listeners, good readers and are aware of the happenings around them. If we see something that incites our emotion, we find ourselves telling the tale.

The more dramatic your story is, the more engaging it will be to the audience. Use interesting words that keep the audience hooked.

Infusing these key elements to make your story more dramatic:

• Conflict/Tension
• Surprise elements
• Extraordinary character behaviour and nuances
• Controversy
• Mystery
• Suspense

There are many ways to tell a story visually:

• Computer Animation: 2D Animation, 3D Animation,
• Graphic writing: Comics, hand-drawn animation
• Drawing
• Movies

Scripts – the key to Storytelling in a visual medium

A good script helps you to hook the audience into the story. The audience, in turn, needs to see and hear the suffering of the protagonist to feel it themselves.

Previsualization is important for good storytelling. Here, you don’t just explain the feeling, you show the feeling. We only love the movies and characters that captivate our imagination.