In this post I will be talking you through animatics. I will be carrying out research on animatics as we as a group have to create an animatic of our own for our thriller Never Look Back.
An animatic is a preliminary version of a film, produced by shooting successive sections of a storyboard and adding a soundtrack. An animatic is simply a series of still images edited together and displayed in sequence with rough dialogue and/or rough soundtrack added to the sequence of still images to test whether the sound and images work effectively together.
Animatics have changed a lot over time, they started in a very low tech manner - they were produced by filming or taping storyboards, then an editor would edit the footage to an audio track. These animatics would seem crude to today's standards, but people were able to do some remarkable work with just paper. Some companies still hang onto these old fashioned techniques, unwilling or unable to move to the next generation of production.
Today some animatic companies have developed their own computer-generated 2D and 3D art to use in their animatics. Some 3D figures look so realistic that the expense of photographing models for testing purposes has become a thing of the past.
There are 2 types of animatics a photomatic and a rip-o-matic. A photomatic is where they test their animatics or film using photography or videos that may or may not have originally been shot for something else. A photomatic is based around photography. An animatic based around re-purposed video is called a videomatic or rip-o-matic.
The elements of a film that should be included in an animatic is the soundtrack and the sound effects. The soundtrack and sound effects are an important part of an animatic because it simulates reality, it makes the audience feel as if they are a part of the scene.
It can also be used to create an illusion. For example;
"A man and a woman walk into a cafe. several other people are sitting at various tables deep in conversation. The main couple sits at a table and a series of close-ups for their conversation are presented."
By adding the sound effect of the off-scene diners the audience is convinced that they are still in the cafe. Obviously, the producer does not want to pay a group of extras to sit off camera, the sound editor places them there with his crowd for the sound
Another Example;
"A woman is sitting in her living room. The door opens and her husband walks into the room."
With the addition of a few sound effects it is possible to inform the audience that he has driven up to the house, parked his car, walked to the door and used his key to unlock the door. None of this was shot it was an illusion created with effects.
Sound effects can also be used to create mood, for example, loud, fast-paced sound effects can create an upbeat kind of mood. Slow sound effects can add a tense kind of mood to the scene.
Another element of a film that should be included in an animatic is the camera movements. Camera movements are important as they can direct the viewer's attention to a specific shot in the scene or to a significant part of the scene. It can also reveal off screen space, for example, the setting where the characters are could play an important part in the scene and could be significant to what is happening or what is going to happen in the scene.
Animatics are used to test films before they get distributed properly. The creators of the film develops several ideas. Animatics allows everyone to see what is and what is not working in the film and what needs to be changed in time so they can make significant improvements.
It allows the producer to look at the animatic and see if they like the structure and all of the elements of the film work together and if not then it gives them significant time to make some necessary changes.
Below I am going to embed some real life examples of animatics.
Despicable me 2
Here is how the scene turned out;
Joust
Batman
My next post will be our very own animatic that we have created as a group for our thriller opening never look back.
