tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8022653905840889580.post30322618896453451..comments2023-10-17T02:44:03.005-07:00Comments on Animation writers: Marmel: Okay, Anibator... I accept your challenge.Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17349670871562090251noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8022653905840889580.post-21089800265909019362013-06-12T11:34:21.883-07:002013-06-12T11:34:21.883-07:00Only your own inside Inspiration can guide you. So...Only your own inside Inspiration can guide you. So, an area without vegetation aside from grasses may hold that <br />you simply cesspool.underneath.<br /><br />my weblog :: <a href="http://xn--biay-dunajec-dworek-7Fd.pl/" rel="nofollow">tanie noclegi zakopane</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8022653905840889580.post-16614623947324496442007-04-18T17:06:00.000-07:002007-04-18T17:06:00.000-07:00Do you feel better ?Do you feel better ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8022653905840889580.post-46613201359285778792007-03-07T13:00:00.000-08:002007-03-07T13:00:00.000-08:00Hey Steve, it's me, Bart. For anyone who doesn't ...Hey Steve, it's me, Bart. For anyone who doesn't know me, I've been writing, story editing and producing animation for the last nine years.<BR/><BR/>Frankly I think any attempt to codify what can and can't fit into an 11-minute cartoon is ridiculous. Add up the seconds? Every joke needs three beats? Puh-lease. Some A stories are so meaty that they need nothing else to sustain them. Sometimes they're so slight that they need a B story to help move them along. Whatever works, works. <BR/><BR/>And yeah, some comedy needs to breathe, but that doesn't mean that rapid-fire, quick-hitting comedy is invalid. "Family Guy" works specifically because it's so damn fast. The comedic dexterity on that show is astounding -- and I don't need a lot of breathers to see that.<BR/><BR/>I do, though, think that this strikes at the heart of how writers and artists often see animation differently. For writers clever dialogue, funny, well structured stories, quick jokes and hilarious characters can be enough to make a cartoon work. Animators, understandably, care more about the art, and want more time to focus on composition and acting. Why wouldn't they? They're great at it. <BR/><BR/>I see a lot of blog comments from artists decrying the "crap" put out today -- "Simpsons," "Family Guy," etc., and comparing these shows' "shitty" art with the art of Tex Avery or Bob Clampett. It's apples and oranges. <BR/><BR/>Sweet Jesus forgive me, but there's room in my fruit salad for both.wurdhurlrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18083769623592557609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8022653905840889580.post-44125674087402079452007-02-27T09:57:00.000-08:002007-02-27T09:57:00.000-08:00Maybe one of the other writers that are listed as ...Maybe one of the other writers that are listed as authors on this blog can do a post about this. It's a good topic.<BR/><BR/>Me personally, I find:<BR/><BR/>11 minutes - Good for a solid A story and a running gag B story. Ideally that B story runner is character based so that character ALSO has a story, but it could just be something dumb and fun.<BR/><BR/>7 minutes - I've always believed these were better when they were board driven shows because they are more about a situation and the amount of gags you can throw into them. That's not to say these things CAN'T be character driven, but I feel like it lends itself better to a Light "A" story with a lot of supporting chaos.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17349670871562090251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8022653905840889580.post-83642322418381062642007-02-27T09:36:00.000-08:002007-02-27T09:36:00.000-08:00I've always thought the 11-minute format is the mo...I've always thought the 11-minute format is the most difficult to work with. A 7-minute cartoon is just right for a "theme and variations": Coyote tries to catch Roadrunner; Our protagonist is thrown into jail and he spends the rest of the picture trying to get out --- etc. The 22-minute is just right for the "A and B storylines" (Simpsons used to do this better than anyone) Feature length (70-90 minutes) uses the Syd Fields 3-act structure - I don't know of any longer formats done in animation, but someday someone will do an 8-hour "Lord of the Rings" type epic cartoon - Good Luck figuring out how to make THAT entertaining! --- But 11 minutes is tough - if you try to squeeze a full A & B storyline into that short a time, the something has got to go - and you usually end up cutting those nice "character moments", which are probably the best and most memorable bits in the picture, but they are disposable because they don't directly relate to a "story point". It's tough to sustain a "theme and variations" over 11 minutes - because these pictures (if done well) will start relatively slow, and build to a crescendo. 6-7 minutes is just right for this - so often you'll add a 3 minute "Prologue" or "teaser" and that seemed to work. It's a shame that so many programmers are going for the 11-minute format.Kent Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11737362545673892485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8022653905840889580.post-10969340136326313022007-02-27T04:21:00.000-08:002007-02-27T04:21:00.000-08:00Hey, all I'll say is:Agree or disagree, I apprecia...Hey, all I'll say is:<BR/><BR/>Agree or disagree, I appreciate the discussion.<BR/><BR/>Thanks!Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17349670871562090251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8022653905840889580.post-78651491384208965592007-02-26T22:51:00.000-08:002007-02-26T22:51:00.000-08:00I know some good guys that write... but honestly, ...I know some good guys that write... but honestly, a subplot for an 11 minute piece? That is asking a bit much.<BR/><BR/>Let's say you break it up so that the subplot only takes up about 1/3 of the screen time; you're taking one story in 7 minutes, 40 seconds, and a subplot at 3 minutes 20 seconds. So any good story has 3 acts: set up, conflict, resolution.<BR/><BR/>Main story:<BR/>set up - 2min 34sec (rounded up)<BR/>conflict - 2min 34sec<BR/>resolution - 2min 34 sec<BR/><BR/>Sub Plot:<BR/>Set up, conflict, resolution - 1min 7sec for each act (rounded up)<BR/><BR/>naturally, each act won't be exactly the same length, but that's still fairly meager real-estate no matter how you chop it up.<BR/><BR/>So, you've got gags and exposition; good gags come in 3's (if you've studied comedy, this is a given), then whatever banter or action you need to move a story along let's say 10 seconds per gag and each line of dialogue will take up 2-3 seconds... it's starting to sound pretty crowded, right?<BR/><BR/>The timer, trying his best to fit all of this in, needs to jam it all together, leaving very little room for the audience to 'breathe' between action and gags (another necessity for good comedy). You have to let people soak in one gag before moving on to another, but becuase we're working with a tight slot and we're trying to fit as much of the writer's work in as we can, we start cutting out the quiet spots and the subtlety needed to accentuate the 'funny.' We could trim the plot and stick to the main theme (which is really the most important thing in any story - English lit 101) but.... then we'd be doing the writers a diservice... right?<BR/><BR/>I studied film before enrolling into an animation school. Mainly I consider myself as just a storyteller, using drawing or film as tools and realizing that there are different approaches to both. But when it comes to good STORY, there are things that count more than others, especially when the timeframe is short. The most important advice is K.I.S.S. - keep it simple, son.<BR/><BR/>that's just one point I didn't agree with you on. It's fine if you feel like it's necessary to stick a subplot into an 11 minute story, but honestly, for animation, too much just confuses things. Looney Toons didn't have subplots, they stuck with the situation at hand. That allowed it to be easy to follow (this is generally a medium for kids after all!) and the 'funny' comes from within the context of the theme, not a random assortment of references to things that don't matter to the story (something that only seems to exhasperate the problems of the A.D.D. generation, not help them).Stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16430631433396246413noreply@blogger.com