Seven writer’s rules for survival in animation
Rob Edwards has a great post on MakingOf with very useful suggestions for screenwriters working on their first animated feature.
I’m currently on my third (Frankenweenie), and while the words on the page are the same as any other feature, the process is completely different. And frustrating, honestly, until you get used to it. Rob’s post walks newcomers through some of the biggest hurdles.
(Thanks to Barrett for the link.)
Filed under: Film Industry, Genres, Words on the page, Writing Process
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December 11th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Hey John,
I read your blog practically every day, so imagine the spit-take this morning when I read this. I’m honored and humbled to be mentioned here and I hope the writers on your site enjoy my first foray into blogdom.
Now let’s see what we can do to get Amazon to make screenplays readable on Kindle!
Rob Edwards, writer The Princess and the Frog.
December 12th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Thanks for this great post, Rob!
I’ve got a few questions….please take a shot if you have a minute.
Do animation studios retain screenwriters on staff or is it more on a job/by/job basis? How long do the projects last? How many writers typically work on a project?
December 12th, 2009 at 11:52 am
An excellent piece by Rob there – thanks for the link, John. I especially like the quote, “The goal is to be wrong as early as possible” which reminded me of Goldman’s, “Do anything, then you’ll have something to change.” Both good tips for writing in any medium.
December 12th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
OT, but it looks like your Markdown plugin has ceased functioning.
December 12th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
I can’t imagine people hating a story department. – In my mind, its the dream to be able to not have a writing partner for days, and then walk through a door and suddenly have FIVE. – Sound-board. – Then walk back again.
December 13th, 2009 at 12:22 am
@Paul Collins:
Thanks for the heads-up. The plug-in exploded for some reason. Replaced and working now.
December 14th, 2009 at 7:39 am
John,
Thanks for the link and info. This actually brings a question to mind if you have a second.
A while back I went to a screenwriting class where we had the choice of what we wanted to write. I wanted to do an animated/horror flick in the R rated area. The teacher told me not to try to do animation unless I was well connected because no one will read a script for animation and they are too expensive to do…yadda yadda yadda.
Initially I was just upset that a teacher would be telling a student to curb their ideas and dreams. Especially for a screenwriting class where the chances of a script getting made are remote to begin with. Looking back it does make me wonder something.
Is there anything really different between writing a script with film in mind and writing a script for animation? The only thing I can imagine is that writing for animation means I can come up with some wild scenes or locations. But, is there anything different in the actual structure or layout of an animated script?
December 14th, 2009 at 7:44 am
Sorry, cut/paste and left out the last paragraph.
I know you said the words on the page are the same but I was just trying to figure out why I might have been steered away from doing animation. I figured since there was no way my script was going to actually get made there had to be something different in the creation process. If not then why would the teacher care what I wrote.
December 14th, 2009 at 9:44 am
I wonder how this would translate to an animated sitcom? I’m working on one, and managed to get several episodes done, but I’m always looking to improve. That being said, points 4 and 5 are crazy important in my opinion. Unless you have the sharp writing skills of King of the Hill, embrace the wacky, free-range world that animation has to offer.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:55 am
“Good animation looks for an “animation hook” – essentially a reason why the movie is being animated in the first place.”
Agreed. “Finding Nemo” had to be animated for obvious reasons. But I had some great epiphanies about story structure while watching “Finding Nemo” that translated important value to one of my live action scripts. Great animated films know why they’re animated without depending on their being animated, without forgetting their responsibility to universal “story”.
Great article. What fun that would be!
December 14th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
“a reason why the movie is being animated in the first place.”
Singing, dancing frogs can name their own price these days. Animation’s cheaper.
December 14th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
@Jason
Do animation studios retain screenwriters on staff or is it more on a job/by/job basis? How long do the projects last? How many writers typically work on a project?
I’m sure it varies from studio to studio and project to project. At our studio, some projects are developed and written by the director who “birthed” the idea, who may or may not be considered on staff. Others have writers brought in to do a few drafts. Some come from outside material, but are usually assigned a director even before a writer is brought in.
From development through production there will be a team of story artists and an editor constantly “writing” through storyboards. The process really is quite different from typical live action. Some third acts don’t fall into place until half the movie is shot and edited.
From greenlight to final edit can sometimes take 3-4 years.
December 14th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Great post. Thank-you Rob for the guidance. I’m about half-way through a spec animated feature and these points were all enlightening and helpful. I especially like the point about making the feature with 30 3-5 minute sequences as opposed to the 10-15 minute sequences I usually use for live action features.
On another note…
@ Chris
If you are the Chris I’m thinking of, I may have been in that class. It was the same class where I pitched writing a sequel to “The Truman Show”. Yeah. We all have our moments.
December 14th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Great blog post. Ahh, Rob, you have my dream job. To spend one day writing for Disney, well, it would make my life. Enjoy it!
December 15th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Hi Rob,
My family and I were lucky enough to be invited to the Chicago Opening of Princess. We were, as was the whole theater, guests of John Musker. He did a Q & A session and took us all out to dinner afterward. He also autographed a poster for everyone, shich I thought was a nice touch.
Great movie, by the way.
Frank Livorsi
December 16th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
You guys are awesome! I’ll take your questions in turn, if it’s okay…
@jason: 1) For me I’ve moved from project to project (mostly with Ron Clements and John Musker). I did, however, give notes on other projects while I was there and actually wrote for a year on another project in development after Princess. A talented writer named Jared Stern was on staff for several years but he’s not there anymore. So I guess the answer is “yes and no.” 2) I worked on both movies for about 2 years, during which time it was very difficult to get anything else done because I was always being asked to write new material at the drop of a hat.
@Dave Morris: Thanks. Blogging has been such a positive experience I might do it again soon. When I was struggling, I’d totally geek out on insights from working writers. Thank goodness for John’s blog and a few others!
@Synthian: Exactly. It’s like being able to legally cheat on a test. You get stuck. You grab a bunch of guys who are up to speed on the story, hear the different points of view and then go back and write. It’s similar to what happens on the staff of a television show.
@Kevin J: You’d be surprised how many people forget that one and crash and burn.
@Chip Street: Thanks, man.
@Curious (re:@Jason): Yeah. Many studios like Disney and Pixar are “director driven” which means the directors (who are also accomplished writers) come up with the ideas and the writers are brought on to execute the ideas because the demands of directing animation are so time consuming. I believe that’s different at some of the other studios so I’ll defer to Curious.
Remember, writers are relatively new to animation. According to the fantastic documentary “Waking Sleeping Beauty” we were brought into the process because Jeffrey Katzenberg didn’t like to sit through story artists’ pitch meetings and felt more comfortable reading screenplays. Many directors still like to work the old way where ideas are worked out in a room and then story board artists execute the ideas drawing by drawing.
@Frank L: Glad you liked the move. John told me about the night. It sounded like a blast… like he was showing a very high-end home movie! It was a thrill to help him bring his vision to life and I’m wishing on Evangeline that we get to work together again.
I hope I’m being more helpful than annoying here and I’m sorry to go on so long. Now I’d better get back to my note cards!
December 16th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
You could do several pages, & it would be nothing but appreciated by this crowd. – You’re not even close to the event horizon of annoying. – Some of these guys I can say are absolutely freak-serious about their craft, and its what we came for.
Thanks for takin the extra step.
December 17th, 2009 at 11:56 am
“Remember, writers are relatively new to animation. According to the fantastic documentary “Waking Sleeping Beauty” we were brought into the process because Jeffrey Katzenberg didn’t like to sit through story artists’ pitch meetings and felt more comfortable reading screenplays. Many directors still like to work the old way where ideas are worked out in a room and then story board artists execute the ideas drawing by drawing.”
Precisely. Some longtime animation directors are thrown for a loop when the men holding the bags of money insist on a finished script up front. In their minds that’s just not how animation is done. The process is so long and drawn out, there’s time to work the story as you produce it. But a guy like Katzenberg needs to calculate just what it is they’re making, and how they’re gonna sell it.
It does seem that the world of feature animation production is moving more towards working from a finished, more polished script… although at director driven studios like Pixar probably less so. I’d be curious to hear what Michael Arndt’s experience has been like.