The art of writing stories is based on creativity and innovation. But along with that it’s based on a set of guidelines and rules. These storytelling guidelines decide which route the story will eventually take. In animation, there are two basic types of stories that are Linear and Non Linear stories.

Linear stories.

Linear storytelling is the most widely used and accepted format in animation. It develops with a beginning, progresses into a middle and then goes off to a resolution at the end. At the beginning a situation is shown along with a problem arising in the middle of the story and it ends with a resolution or a solution to the story. Linear stories can also work in reverse as seen in Piet Kroon’s short film T.R.A.N.S.I.T. The movie begins as a man is moving away to Argentina after a murder. The movie then goes into a flashback showing the interconnections in the characters’ past and how this situation was inevitable and unavoidable.

Non Linear stories.

Whereas non-linear movies aren’t based on structural outlines, they’re based on setting a mood or an effect. Non linear movies basically consist of experimental short films. Waking Life is a rare example of a full fledged feature film of a non linear pattern. The story revolves around dreamy logic and it builds up over time. Instead of being a carefully assembled narrative.

However both of these type of stories will require extensive pre-production work. Although non linear stories might not need character development as much as linear stories to attains it’s desired effects. If you’re wanting to create a non linear film, you must concentrate on the moods, effects and emotions. Try out different artistic styles, color, sound, music and effects that will impact the audiences in the required and necessary manner.

Well, Story, Character strengthen and support each other and are created in parallel during the concept development stage. A good character can be developed from a story. A good character can in turn inspire a story. While Story is the important element in animation films (or live-action for that matter). Creating appealing characters to tell it is the other most important thing. But then, which element should the animator develop first?

Development is an awe-inspiring process in which the journey itself is as important as the destination. It’s what you do, and also how you do it!
In this blog, we’ll discuss the elements of the animation process, in as detail as possible. Going beyond the cliché saying “actor with pencils (or mice for the digital artist)”, ‘cause I personally feel that term does not cover what an animator really does.

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These small sketches, combined with brief notes, capture ideas for a story or character so that the memory is not lost. Thumbnails can be worked up into a finished drawing at a later time.

Always work rough before going clean. Do not render or model final drawings at this stage. Draw a new thumbnail if you can stage something better. Thumbnails allow you to change the drawings and your mind.

Remember character designs and storyboards both start out as rough and simple thumbnails. And for Animators they can portray different stages of the animated action.

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.

As human beings, we live in a story all of the time. Story is as natural and essential to us as breathing. We all have stories to tell, but telling our personal stories on a daily basis and constructing a story from scratch are two very different things. Usually when we tell stories on a daily basis, we are relating events to one or two other people. On the other hand, when constructing story, we are trying to communicate with a mass audience. When we tell stories to a friend it is because it’s important to us or to them. We are connected and moved emotionally because it is personal. When we construct story, we are moving not just an individual, but an audience. The goal then becomes to make the personal universal.

But what is a Story?
As Karl Iglesias put it “A story has someone who wants something badly and is having trouble getting it”.
The above determines three elements: character, character goal, and conflict. Without these elements, any story cannot exist.
1. Character: The Hero, whom the story is about and through whose eyes the story is told.
2. Goal: This is the physical object the hero wants to obtain: the princess, the
treasure, the girl, the recognition, and so on.
3. Conflict: Conflict is what is between the character and his goal. There are three forms
of conflict:
• Character vs. Character
• Character vs. Environment
• Character vs. Self
Conflicts create problems, obstacles, and dilemmas that place the hero in some form of danger, either physically, mentally or spiritually. This means that there will be something at stake for the hero if they do not overcome the conflict.

Then there are Linear and Non Linear Stories.

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.

RnH as it is fondly called, was one of the few places on earth were artists working there were treated with dignity and respect. It was a place were we enjoyed while we work. It was full of life that every artist can possibly dream of. People sharing their knowledge, supporting others to learn and grow.

Bad management, Blind faith…whatever the cause for the down fall and this situation may have been. It will take a while to get over this tragic incident, as news of a similar situation for the Hyderabad office looms large. Hope the new management has something sensible enough to roll up their sleeves to revive RnH, now left with full of machines.

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.