Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Pre-Production Booklet for Animation

Name: Joe Walley
Order of contents (italics show areas you must add in yourself)
Assessment criteria
LO2

Mind maps of ideas

Risk assessment

Format of your animation

Subject and storyline

Character notes and profiles

Movement of characters

Moodboard

Sets/backgrounds

Audio and soundtrack

Sound table

Props list

Audience

Storyboard and script (add script to booklet)

Frame rates

Lighting design

Production schedule

Crew details

LO3

Frame Numbers

Dope Sheets

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

How to use this booklet

You will need to complete every page of this booklet, and all sections / questions
required.
Assessment criteria for Distinction grade;
LO2
Plans will show a full consideration of movement and continuity, perspective, point of view,
transitions and special effects.
Precise and workable planning of timing and synchronisation to a soundtrack will be
produced. It will be clear at this stage, from the documentation, what the finished piece will
look and sound like.
Learners will follow industry conventions and terminology used in storyboard production
correctly.
Plans for the construction of models, sets and props will be realistic and clear.
Drawings, script and storyboard will all show a creative interpretation of the idea.
LO3:
The documentation linked to the production will be full and detailed and there will be
evidence that the production management and scheduling of the project has been effective
and carried out in a professional manner. The techniques used in the production of the work
are likely to be related to an understanding of current trends in the industry.

Both LO2 and LO3

In all practical activity learners will be capable of working autonomously and effectively. They
will work on their own initiative, will not need constant support or supervision, will give the
work their full commitment, work positively and cooperatively with others, and meet
deadlines. In other words, they will have the kind of self-management skills that would be
expected of them in a professional context. Note also that this criterion should not be taken
to mean that learners do not seek advice or that they work without discussing things with
their tutor, but rather that they are not dependent upon the support of others and that when
they take advice they weigh it carefully for themselves.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Planning
Brainstorm / mind map (add extra pages if necessary)

Attach a 400 word treatment of your idea

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

How will you meet the requirements of your brief?
To meet the requirements of my brief I first have to understand what my brief is asking. The
brief specifically says that it must be no shorter than 30 seconds. To meet this requirement I
have decided I will estimate to take 750 + photos, this should exceed the minimum time
given.
It also states that you must only create animations as a hobby and be under 25 years old, I
already meet both these requirements.
It must be aimed at all genders and ages above 15. It meet this I want to have something
that is comical that all ages above 15 can relate to. The animation will be aimed at both
genders because I will try to make the content as natural as possible. It can be in the style of
any genre but can have no more than three characters.

Risk assessment: Are there any health and safety issues you may encounter?
nope

Discuss any legal issues you may face. Eg; sound, plagiarism, age restrictions

The music used in the video may be copyright, Ill have to make sure I state that I am
making no profit from the video and I may even have to get permission from the
company itself.
It is also age restricted to 15 and above so that will have to be stated on the video.

Use of possible formats

Circle which of the following formats your animation will take;

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

stop-frame techniques
time lapse photography
plasticine animation
Claymation
using found objects
modelling
puppetry
combined formats

Why are you using that particular format?

To meet the requirements of The Vibe productions brief

What are the different possibilities you could explore using this format?

There are a lot of different formats in animation. Stop motion is what Im going to be
using, possible along with live action. Other formats are, using clay models, toys etc
although this is a lot more time consuming then others.

What are the limitations of using this format? (i.e what problems/ obstacles might you
have?)

The limitations are its very time consuming to create. Every frame must be
individually taken and then edited. If need the sets must be made by hand, although I
may be using life size characters therefore I can use existing locations.

What imaginative or inventive animations have you seen which use this format?
Add in links and screen shots of three examples of animations using this format.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3p2TZ5q9to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Ue1AXSzyw

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNJdJIwCF_Y

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Subject
What will the subject of your animation be?
Its a short stop motion animation about a character who is an egg finding himself in
a sticky situation

Storyline
Describe the storyline of your animation. What events will happen to your
characters?
An egg names Egbert wakes up one day to find himself trapped inside an icy prison,
with no knowledge of why or how he got there. He meets three other eggs inside, the
leader Sargent Eggton and the two brothers Eric and Erin Eggsmith. The sergeant
explains the situation Egbert has found himself in, but before he can finish Egbert is
saw exactly what his future holds for him if e does not eggscape.

Characters
What characters will be in your animation?
You will have the three eggs in the fridge and the main character egg who joins them
at the begging. There will also be a chef character. But he will never speak nor will
his face be seen. This is because it is not vital to the story.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Complete the character profiles for each character in your animation

Name:
M/F:
Age
Costume:

Egbert
M
32hrs
Hes an egg, so nothing but his shell

Occupation:

Egg

Hobbies:

Sitting, rolling, being an egg

Character
Background:

Egbert is in his first year of university studying Egglish. He lives a

busy and hectic life style being out late partying in the chicken coop
and getting up early for his part time job as an egg. Because of
Egberts hectic life style there hasnt go a lot of time for sleeping
and this take a big impact on his life, as an egg.

Name:
M/F:
Age
Costume:

Sgt. Eggton
M
2weeks
Egg

Occupation:

Sargent of the royal shell platoon

Hobbies:

Sunbathing, shouting and running

Character
Background:

Eggton has been in charge of the Royal shell platoon for the
majority of his life and is a decorated war hero. He recently retired
to spend more time with his family.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Add in images and drawings/ sketches of what they will look like.

What will they be made of?

The majority of the characters will be played by eggs with their expressions drawn
on. One character will be played by a person.

Movement of characters

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

How are you going to make your characters move?

With the use of stop motion my character will move across the sets, because Im
using eggs as my main characters I have to manually adjust them like I would if I
was using a model. For my other character that is being played by an actor I will
instead have to direct them to what positions and movements I want them to do.

What is the purpose of an armature?

The purpose of an armature is a frame for the model to me built around. Theyre
commonly made of wire but sometimes other materials. It basically acts as the
skeleton of the model so its stiff, but like a skeleton can ben to move the poison of
the model.

Will you use them for your characters?

No

If so, how will you make it?

Mood board

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Create a mood board showing what look your animation will have. Add images showing
ideas of mise-en-scene, characters, costumes and colours that will be present in the
different shots.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Sets / backgrounds
Will your set be;

A three wall set

A blue/green screen

An existing location

A Combination of two or more of the above

Draw sketches of how your sets/backgrounds will look. Add in labels to your diagrams and
details of locations / lighting etc.

Add in photographs of your sets/backgrounds.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Audio and Soundtrack

Sound Table
Production Name:
Producer:

Shot

Action

Description
of Sound

Diegetic/non/diegetic

Footsteps

Character
walking
across
kitchen

Non diegetic

Door
open/close

Fridge door
opening and
shutting

Non diegetic

Scream

Loud scream

Non diegetic

Knife
chopping

Sound of a
knife over
chopping
board

Non Diegetic

Atmosphere
created

Musice type
and
atmosphere

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Props List
What props / models / furniture etc will you need to make your animation?
PROPS LIST
Production Name:
Producer:

Item

Script page

Description

Character/location

eggs

all

eggs

Kitchen/fridge

knife

Knife used to cut

Kitchen

Audience
Define the following characteristics of your audience;
Gender
Male or Female

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Age
15 to 55+

Interests
Comedy TV, stop animation cartoons, most probably work or are a student

What forms of animation might they already watch?

Probably subject to stop motion without knowing. Theyve most likely seen clay stop motion
such as Aardman animations.

What images do you think they enjoy watching?

Probably comedy TV and dramas. They probably watch a lot of short films and online
videos.

What might they consider distasteful or offensive?

Its hard to say as its a wide audience, But they probably find the generic things offensive or
distasteful i.e. unneeded swearing, bullying, racism, over violence etc.

How will you ensure that your animation will suit your chosen audience?

By using my research of my audience and applying it to my animation

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

How will they physically watch your animation? (i.e in an exhibition format, on screen,
projection, online?)
It will be an online short video. It will also be showing in an exhibition format.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Storyboard
Complete a storyboard for your animation.

And
then.?
What happens?
Describe the
action.

Camera?

Time?

What is the
camera angle?

Duration of the
shot / number
of frames
action is held
for.

Is there any
movement from
the camera?

Who?
Which
characters/
objects are in
the scene?

Say What?
Is there any
dialogue/text?

Where?

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Think carefully about the shots you will be using. Consider the
range of shots/angles to give interest and perspective
You will need to convey all movements and actions. Copy and
paste the storyboard to make it as long as you need to show all
the detail of your animation.

Shots
Extreme long shot
Long Shot
Medium Shot

What is the
location for the
shot?

Lighting

Natural
Camera Angles
Ambient

Birds-eye view

Torchlight

Spotlight
High angle
Direction of

Eye-levellight?

Two Shot

Low angle

Movement
Over
the Shoulder

Editing

Pan
Medium
Close up

Montage

Tilt up
Close

Cross cutting

Tracking
Shotup
Extreme
close

Match cut
Shot, reverse shot
Eye-line match
Jump cut
Tracking shot

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

You will need to add pages to this section for your full storyboard

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Frame Rates
What is the duration of your animation in minutes? (minimum 30 seconds)
0.30

In seconds?
30

How many frames per second for video?

25 frames per second is what Im going to aim for so it flows nicely

There are 60 seconds in a minute. How many frames (ie. Individual photos) will
you need to take?
1500

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Lighting Design

Where will you be photographing your animation?

At home (interior / exterior)

Does it have natural daylight?

Yes

If so, you will need to block this out. Explain why.

Maybe, if Im using lighting it will have to be blocked out so it does not interfere

Do you have a constant light source(s) such as a lamp?

Yes

Where will you place your light source(s) to create interesting effects?
The lights will most likely be placed up high. Although this is something that cant really be
decided until the day.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

(LO3)

Frame numbers
You will need to label your images as frames
The first 24 frames will be written as;
0_1
0_2 etc etc

the following 24 will be

1_1
1_2
1_3
Ensure your clips are labeled as such. Screen shot the folder your clips are in, and copy the
image underneath.

Dope sheets

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

A dope sheet is an animation tool which helps a animator organise the animation shot-byshot.
This gives the camera operator instructions on each shot type and how many frames this will
be used for.
A dope sheet is usually split into 5 different sections.

To indicate what action occurs on which frame number

To see what action is happening in this shot.
To see what dialogue used in this scene.
To show what level of animation is happening.
To give camera instructions (angle).

For example;

Because you will be working with video, you will be using 30fps. You will need to complete a
dope sheet for EVERY SECOND of your animation.
i.e, if you make a 30 second animation, you will need to complete 30 dope sheets.
This will be a time-consuming task, but it will help you understand what will need to
happen in each of the shots you take. The higher marks will come from a detailed and
careful collection of dope sheets. For example, if your characters speaks, you will need to
show the mouth forming every shape in order to look effective.

Frame

Path of action

Dialogue /
Soundtrack cue

Animation

Camera
instructions

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

0_1
0_2
0_3
0_4
0_5
0_6
0_7
0_8
0_9
0_10
0_11
0_12
0_13
0_14
0_15
0_16
0_17
0_18
0_19
0_20
0_21
0_22
0_23
0_24
0_25
0_26
0_27
0_28
0_29
0_30
Frame

Path of action

Dialogue /
Soundtrack cue

Animation

Camera
instructions

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

1_1
1_2
1_3
1_4
1_5
1_6
1_7
1_8
1_9
1_10
1_11
1_12
1_13
1_14
1_15
1_16
1_17
1_18
1_19
1_20
1_21
1_22
1_23
1_24
1_25
1_26
1_27
1_28
1_29
1_30

Frame

Path of action

Dialogue /
Soundtrack

Animation

Camera

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

cue
instructions
2_1
2_2
2_3
2_4
2_5
2_6
2_7
2_8
2_9
2_10
2_11
2_12
2_13
2_14
2_15
2_16
2_17
2_18
2_19
2_20
2_21
2_22
2_23
2_24
2_25
2_26
2_27
2_28
2_29
2_30

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Copy and paste as many dope sheets as you need. Remember to change the frame
numbering so that the first number refers to the second of animation ie, 1_24 is the 24th
frame of the first second, 3_17 is the 17th frame of the 3rd second.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-production Booklet

Liaising with client (write notes on discussions between you and your client)