tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8022653905840889580.post3556773667140797951..comments2023-10-17T02:44:03.005-07:00Comments on Animation writers: When an outline is a premiseStevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17349670871562090251noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8022653905840889580.post-4959933448541741742007-05-29T14:08:00.000-07:002007-05-29T14:08:00.000-07:00Every board driven show that I have worked on, wen...Every board driven show that I have worked on, went from premise, to outline, to storyboard, to animatic. The execs get to bite at the apple and make changes at each of these stages. Not just at the premise and finished board.<BR/><BR/> I don't think a premise should ever be more than a page in length. I've found that if they're longer than that, it's been filled with bells and whistles that are in there to sell it, rather than to simply explain the story.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8022653905840889580.post-2868312072937130332007-05-27T22:43:00.000-07:002007-05-27T22:43:00.000-07:00I hear ya.I left a message over on the tag board t...I hear ya.<BR/><BR/>I left a message over on the tag board to make sure you knew I wasn't discussing this to start a flame war with you...<BR/><BR/>...I thought it was an interesting (if not cryptic) comment, but it made me think about the issue.<BR/><BR/>All the best...<BR/><BR/> - SteveStevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17349670871562090251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8022653905840889580.post-28234040239790491542007-05-27T21:37:00.000-07:002007-05-27T21:37:00.000-07:00FWIW, the complaints I received initially were tha...FWIW, the complaints I received initially were that some studios wanted long premises (actually outlines) and then didn't pay for them because they were "premises", as magically defined by the studios. (These complaints included story editors at two different companies.)<BR/><BR/>I stopped writing animation scripts eighteen years ago. My purpose now is to make sure that writers (and everybody else under TAG's jurisdiction) is properly paid for work performed.<BR/><BR/>Studios, in my experience, don't make it policy to short-sheet employees for the sheer fun of it. But production execs, managers, and others sometimes pursue agendas that <I>are</I> abusive. For example, some years back an over-eager production manager had a group of DreamWorks Animation assistant animators doing 12-14 hours of animation per day, the last six of which were "off the clock." The assistants put up with it because they thought (hoped) it was a pathway to being full-time animators instead of mere assistants. Studio execs, however, knew nothing about this cute manuever being practiced by one of their production managers. <BR/><BR/>When I informed them about the free overtime going on at their Lake Street facility -- and they confirmed it -- they put a stop to the practice.<BR/><BR/>I don't have a big problem with writers doing longer premises IF there is a longer (and paid) writing assignment attached to the back-end of said premises. But I have a problem if there isn't. In the final analysis, you look at these things on a case-by-case basis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com