How To Direct An Animated Film
An animated film is very different from any other kind of movie you have seen before. It is not live action filmed with puppets or cartoons that are exaggerated for entertainment purposes, nor is it like a cartoon series where episodes are separated by years.
Animated films are completely computer-generated images (CGI) designed to tell a story. The stories usually focus on characters in some sort of conflict or situation and how they react to what happens around them.
There are several ways to direct an animated feature film, depending on your length goal and budget.
Make a list of things that inspire your team
As mentioned earlier, writers are the backbone of any animated movie. Therefore, it is important to pay special attention to how they write for various characters.
What types of stories do these characters like to read? What emotions do they typically feel? What scenes move them? When writing for other people, you should strive to bring out their inner self-layer or what makes them unique.
This could be through describing their personality, narrating their story, or even telling a short anecdote about themselves!
For example, in The Lion King, Mufasa tells his son Simba about his father going down fighting as a hero. This inspiration made him want to live his life with honor and make his family proud.
In Frozen, Anna and Elsa’s friendship was shown through playfulness and companionship. They were always there for each other and never left each other alone. This inspired their relationship now.
These two examples show that different characters need different levels of intensity when it comes to relationships. There must be enough depth to keep watching the film to see what happens next.
Try to be familiar with popular animated films
It is very important to know what types of cartoons people like so that you can draw inspiration from those movies and styles for your own projects.
There are many different styles of animation, some more artistic than others.
You should try to watch at least five to ten minutes of each style to get the basics of how it works. Some of these styles include action, comedy, adventure, sci-fi, etc.
Action animations have lots of fast paced action and special effects. Comedy animations feature funny situations and gags that viewers will recognize. An example of this would be The Angry Birds Movie where all of the scenes make you laugh because there are always something happening or someone doing something hilarious.
Comedy cartoons usually focus on one main character, but other characters around them contribute to the story. Adventure cartoons often have stories about going somewhere new or exploring unknown lands. Sci-fi cartoons may explore space or technology in general.
These genres are just examples, not rules! You do not need to learn how to animate in one of these styles, but being aware of them is helpful as you start creating yours.
Keep up with new releases
The first thing you must do as a filmmaker is stay abreast of all the current films in the industry. This includes knowing what has received good reviews, what won awards, and most importantly, what made lots of money.
Studying how successful movies are done makes it much easier to create your own movie. You can then take what they did well and apply it to your film or add things that were not included yet something works for them.
There are many ways to study successful films. Some people like watching whole feature length films while others prefer one or two episodes of TV or a short video.
Whatever style of studying you choose, make sure it does not feel too academic. Many students find it difficult to connect with the material because it seems overly detailed and complicated.
Try finding videos and blogs about recent films to watch. Read comments to see if anyone had any insights into the movie’s story or parts that worked for them.
Keep up with what genres have been doing well by looking at their sales and box office records. Find out which stories seem to resonate with audiences and try creating yours after reading its synopsis and comparisons to other films in the same genre.
Develop your own unique theme for the movie
As we have seen, developing an idea is the first step to directing an animated feature film. Now that you know what kind of movies you like, it’s time to develop your own movie!
You can base your movie on something you love or want to do, or you can take inspiration from other films to create your own story. Either way, make sure to develop your movie around a strong theme to keep things consistent.
The main difference between writing a book and writing a screenplay is that a book has a definite end, whereas a screenplay does not. This makes creating a narrative in screenwriting more difficult as you need to figure out how to connect one part of the script to another.
In filmmaking, this process is called editing. By using different tools and techniques, such as re-recording, re-doing scenes, and incorporating new pieces into the script, you will learn how to edit effectively.
Plan out the story
Before you even start drawing or writing any scenes, you have to know your main characters and their back stories! This is arguably one of the most important steps in directing an animated film because it establishes tone and setting for the movie.
In the case of our hypothetical feature length movie about two siblings who cannot get along, you would want to establish their relationship as kids first, then as teenagers, and finally as adults.
This way, the audience can connect with them at each stage of life, which makes for more interesting watching. You also will know what kind of character each person is before anything dramatic happens to them!
After all that groundwork has been done, you can move onto the next step - scripting.
Write your script
Writing a screenplay is not a quick process, nor does it have a fast conclusion. It takes many months to achieve success as a screenwriter. This is because there are no start or end points; you can write as much or little of the story as you want forever!
That being said, most writers begin writing their first draft very quickly. They may edit their work several times after this before taking it into another writer to polish up the narrative and storytelling.
This could be a good thing for you if you are already a skilled writer! You might consider becoming self-directed so that you do not need someone else to help you make the next great movie. But still, getting started writing a feature film is a slow process that requires investment and dedication from you.
There are many ways to get started as a filmmaker but one of the best is to learn how to direct an animated short. Many professionals began their career directing cartoons and now they are able to draw upon these experiences while developing their own features.
Find a good director
As with any other type of filmmaking, directing an animated feature requires having a strong leadership presence in your movie. You will need to make sure that you know what kind of style of storytelling each individual member of the crew likes so that you can create stories that they would be able to direct themselves!
The person who directs an animated film must also have a firm understanding of the medium, as well as being creative. They should enjoy creating new worlds and characters, and exploring different storylines.
When it comes down to it, people are drawn to powerful leaders. So, if you’re looking to become a filmmaker, look into opportunities for education or training around this area.
Find the right producers
As with any type of film, there are different levels of crew members that need to be hired for your movie. This includes writers, directors, editors, production designers, artists, sound engineers, etc.
The director is someone who brings in other people to help make the movie happen. They create a narrative by telling stories and establishing relationships between characters.
Since we’re talking about animation here, the director also oversees all the animators as they bring the characters to life. The director sets the tone and style for the movie while also making sure everything goes according to plan.
There are many ways to find this person. You can search online for potential candidates or visit local colleges to see if anyone teaching courses related to filmmaking could put you in touch. Your filmmaker may even know some people within the field already!
If nothing works out, keep trying until you find someone you connect with and like so you can build upon that relationship when it comes time to hire them.