Ellen Hufford 4A

Opening Scene: What I Knew/Wanted to Learn

Ever since the seventh grade, Ive always been into anime, or Japanese animation.
Recently, that interest has expanded into western cartoons like Avatar: The Last Airbender and
various shows on Cartoon Network. It didnt really surprise me when I took interest in them,
since I had always preferred seeing animated movies over live-action ones, but when I look
around the school, or even just in my community back home in Kempsville, its obvious to see a
vast majority of the people are into shows like Doctor Who or Supernatural, but I have to look
harder for people who share an interest in animation with me.
I knew that people usually associate anime and cartoons as being for kids, so I always
figured that that was the reason why its not as obvious when a high school student likes
animated shows and movies. I bet if I asked everyone I met if they preferred seeing a live-action
movie or an animated one, more would say live-action, animated movies are more for children.
Lately Ive been thinking, if Supernatural was a cartoon on Nickelodeon, and not liveaction, would the fans not be so obvious as well? Both types of media cost lots of money and
time to produce, so whats the huge difference that makes live-action more popular? Of course,
one is made by using real people and the others completely drawn or computer-generated, but
what really differs live-action from animation in terms of how theyre made? How are they
generally different, as well as differences in production, economics, and popularity?
The Yellow Brick Road of Research
The time it took for me to complete my research was about two to three weeks. Since it was a
computer-based research, I used Google to find all the websites I needed. Before I even started

researching, I organized what information I was looking for that day. For example, I researched the
general differences between animation and live action for two days, then for the next three I focused on
how they differ in popularity followed by production and finally economics. I mainly focused on movies
during my search, since that was what came up in all my Google searches, but I did manage to
incorporate data for TV series. The research for each subtopic was fairly short, since I managed to locate
useful data, so I was able to use the data to create the four blog posts within one or two days. I managed
to get three of the four posts done before the holiday break, so that gave me a lot of free time during the
break, and then finished the last post before school was back in session. During the two weeks we had
before the paper was due, we had time to work on it in the library while Mrs. Graves had practice senior
presentations, so I was able to work on some of the paper and then do a bit of homework for other classes,
but not a lot. I worked on most of it during the three day weekend.
During my research on general differences, I used the phrase general animation and live-action
differences and found articles written by screenwriters for both animation and live-action media, since
most of the main differences were in how they were written. I found two articles written by Todd Alcott, a
screenwriter who worked on Antz and Just Your Luck, and Jeffery Scott, author of How to Write for
Animation. Both articles had numerous points of information sufficient for my research.
The research for the other three topics was similar to the first, with different search phrases and
site results, of course. The second topic, popularity, was researched using ticket sales and number of
movies for each production method by looking at various pages on the-numbers.com, a site that focused
on statistics for movies from all over the world. For research on differences on production, I found a stepby-step process from the DreamWorks website that shows how they produce their animated films, an
article about the basic parts of the production process, and a list of the different personnel each type
would need. Lastly, I returned to the-numbers.com to find the budgets and worldwide gross of top movies
in 2014 to see how they differ economically. I also searched in Google for the different salaries for

various personnel in each type of media. I also found an article on crunchyroll.com, one of the leading
anime streaming website, for how much a typical anime episode costs to produce.
Soundtrack: What I Found
Throughout my whole research, I found that animation and live-action both have strong points in
several areas. Besides animation not requiring acted out parts by real actors, animation is an illusion of
motion caused by the rapid succession of either digitally or traditionally drawn pictures. Live-action, on
the other hand, requires recording the movement of real live people. Live-action movies and shows can
also require the use of animation to generate special effects like explosions and personified animals like
Smaug in The Hobbit, while animated features typically never require live-action elements. There have
been instances, though, that animation and live-action have been used simultaneously in shows like
Avatar, Space Jam, and even Blues Clues.
Both methods can be used all genres. However, the characteristics of animation generally favors
fantasies and folktales, while live-action features generally do stories that would require an actual human
face to relate to. That being said, the planning for both is very similar. The only major different being that
animation projects take longer to plan 1 and require more detail 2 than live-action projects. For instance, in
order to animate someone walking, youd have to list the specific details of what to animate, like an over
exaggeration of the arms swinging a bouncy walk to show happiness, while the director can just tell an
actor to think of a happy thought while walking with no specific detail needed. So, bodily movements in
animation tend to be a bit more exaggerated, depending on the type of tone the show or movie sets, but
live-action movies have to use the limits of the human skeleton for movement. This is why Road
Runners feet spin in circles, but Captain Jack Sparrows dont.
Both animation and live-action follow the five basic phases of production: development, preproduction, production, post-production, and distribution, but the time in each phase can vary. The
personnel and materials needed is the same way, give or take a few positions and equipment.

Development is when the planning of the project takes place 3. Like I said before, animation takes
much longer than live-action in this. Animation will also use storyboards in this phase to figure out how
each scene would look like 4. Most projects dont even make it out of the development phase. Preproduction is ultimately the preparations for producing the feature 3. Both animation and live-action use
this to hire personnel and final concepts solidified. For movies that are digitally animated, companies may
use this phase to start modeling and rigging 5. Production is, of course, when the project is actually made.
Live-action movies typically shoot scenes and animated features are animated. While animated features
are all made within an animation studio and different animators work on different scenes, live-action ones
can be shot in several different areas, but can only really work on one or two scenes at a time. During the
production of TV shows, a whole season is generally made. Post-production is when final touches are
made to the project. Pretty much, all of the different segments are combined into the final piece 3. Sound
effects and extra animation can be added to live-action movies during this time, but all things necessary
for animation have been done in production. Lastly, distribution is when the project is open to the public 3.
This means movies are out in theatres and shows are aired on television. DVD copies may also be made
during this time.
Animation not only takes longer in development than live-action, but in the whole production
process. Some animated movies can take three to five years to make 4. Personnel and materials are rather
close to what live-action requires, though. Both types of media require directors, producers and engineers,
but live action has actors and various designers for sets/costumes 6 while animation has voice actors and
animators. Materials required for each are a bit more differentiated, but both still share similar equipment
like sound equipment. Live-action shows and movies require cameras, lights, sets, and costumes while
animated shows and movies require computers or drawing utensils and animation programs.
Unless the final product of the movie or show is a hit with the audience, it will be a loss for the
studio who made it. When this research was conducted in early December of 2014, there have been over
1.16 billion tickets sold in movie theatres around the world. About 709 movies shared those billion tickets

.That averages about 1.64 million tickets per movie. Out of those 709 movies, 708 were either live-

action, animation, or a combination of the two. Out of those 708, 673 were live-action and 28 were
various types of animation, the remaining 8 were a mix of the two 7. To put it into perspective, for every
animated film made, approximately 24 live-action films were made as well. This is the reason why you
see so many choices for live-action movies on Netflix, but have to search a bit for animated ones. During
2014, 917 million of the 1.16 billion tickets were for live-action movies, with Disneys Guardians of the
Galaxy having to most with 40 million of the tickets sold 8.The movie was also the bestselling movie of
2014 7. Of the remaining 243 million tickets left, 157 million were sold to animated films 7, and 32
million of those tickets were for Warner Bros The Lego Movie 9.
Even if the movie or show was a bestseller, unless the earnings were more than what the studio
put into it, the movie can still be a loss. Every movie and TV show has to have a budget before anything
can start. A live-action features budget would factor in costs for sets, costumes, other equipment, and
most importantly the salaries of the producers and actors- especially the actors. In the period of June 2013
to June 2014, Dwayne Johnson alone made an estimate of 58 million dollars, and even animal actors can
be expensive with a daily rate of 400 dollars for cats and dogs 10. Since computer programs last until they
arent functional, salaries are the main factor into the budget for animated projects. A typical animators
salary is about 110,000 dollars 11, and multiple animators typically work on a single movie or show.
Animated media also pays by each frame that is made for the project 12. When the research was
conducted, the live-action movie with the highest budget was Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End
with a budget of 300 million dollars, only second in the raking of highest budgets to Avatar. The movie
also made a gross of about 961 million. Disneys Tangled was the animated movie with the highest budget
of about 260 million and made a gross of about 587 million 13. Television series also have budgets, but the
budgets are mostly done by episode. In Japan, a traditional 30 minute episode of anime cost about 11
million yen 12, which is about 91,000 US dollars at the time the data was collected. If the anime series had
a 26 episode season, the studio would have to budget about 286 million yen, or about 2.373 million USD.

Ending Credits: My Growth as a Researcher

While conducting the research, I discovered that live-action and animation are not too far off
from each other. While the differences are rather big most of the time, the similarities are very close.
While live-action usually has the most bestselling movies, The Lego Movie was only about 8 million
tickets short from tying Guardians of the Galaxy for bestselling 2014 movie. And when theres 7 billion
people on the Earth, thats pretty close if you count individual people and not include a persons second
time seeing it. Guardians of the Galaxy also had a talking raccoon character named Rocket who had to be
animated into the film, so its animated aspects helped it reach its place as 2014s bestselling movie. Both
methods have very strong high points, and even go hand in hand with each other.
While my research on each topic was rather short, only taking me about one or two days, it
helped me make inferences like that. Writing this paper also helped me learn how to use the CSE writing
format, and the blog posts helped me learn valuable organization techniques. I found many helpful
articles and websites that I never knew existed. I also found out that animators are paid rather well, and
they arent as famous as actors and actresses are, which would fit my lifestyle if I were to go into the
animation business.

Works Cited
1. Todd Alcott: What Does the Protagonist Want? [internet]. Screenwriting 101:
Animation vs. Live Action; March 3, 2008 [cited December 9, 2014] Accessed
from: http://www.toddalcott.com/screenwriting-101-animation-vs-liveaction.html
2. Jeffery Scott. Animation News Network [internet]. The Difference Between Animation and LiveAction Writing; February 1, 2011 [cited December 9, 2014] Accessed from:
http://www.awn.com/blog/difference-between-live-action-and-animation-writing
3. Glen Berry. Film Underground [internet]. Five Phases of Filmmaking [cited December 19, 2014].
Accessed from: http://www.filmunderground.com/180/article/NWFS/Page/1/Five-Phases-ofFilmmaking.htm
4. DreamWorks Animation [internet]. [cited December 19, 2014]. Accessed from:
http://www.dreamworksanimation.com/insidedwa/productionprocess
5. Catherine Winder. Animation News Network [internet]. Producing Animation: The 3D CGI
Production Process; January 4, 2002 [cited December 19, 2014]. Accessed from:
http://www.awn.com/animationworld/producing-animation-3d-cgi-production-process
6. Wikipedia [internet]. List of Theatre Personnel; last modified December 22, 2014 [cited
December 19, 2014]. Accessed from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_theatre_personnel
7. The Numbers [internet]. Domestic Theatrical Market Summary for 2014; [cited December 17,
2014]. Accessed from: http://www.the-numbers.com/market/2014/summary
8. The Numbers [internet]. Box Office Performance for Live Action Movies in 2014; [cited
December 17, 2014]. Accessed from: http://www.the-numbers.com/market/2014/productionmethod/Live-Action
9. The Numbers [internet] Box Office Performance for Digital Animation Movies in 2014; [cited
December 17, 2014]. Accessed from: http://www.the-numbers.com/market/2014/productionmethod/Digital-Animation
10. THR Staff. The Hollywood Reporter [internet]. Hollywood Salaries Revealed, From Movie Stars
to Agents (and Even Their Assistants); October 2, 2014 [cited January 2, 2015]. Accessed from:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-salaries-revealed-movie-stars-737321

11. Glassdoor [internet]. DreamWorks Animation Salaries; [cited January 2, 2014]. Accessed from:
http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/DreamWorks-Animation-Salaries-E36343.htm
12. Emily Balistrieri. Crunchyroll [internet]. How Much Does One Episode of Anime Cost to Make?;
October 30, 2011 [cited January 2, 2015]. Accessed from: http://www.crunchyroll.com/animenews/2011/10/30-1/how-much-does-one-episode-of-anime-cost-to-make
13.The Numbers [internet]. Movie Budget and Financial Performance Records; [cited January 2,
2015]. Accessed from: http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/budgets/