Directing Animation by By David B. Levy

Author:By David B. Levy
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781581157758
Publisher: Allworth Press

A still from creator Loren Bouchard’s prime-time animated comedy Bob’s Burgers, which launched with thirteen episodes on Fox. Copyright 2010. Image courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox TV.

It’s mind-boggling to compare my experience on this out-of-house pilot production to the woeful in-house pilot production described above, which squandered the benefit of having everyone in-house, sapping their strength and enthusiasm.

So how did Loren Bouchard pull off such a smoothly run pilot with the added challenge of having to work long-distance? Here’s how:

• as a creator, he had a very strong vision for the entire project: story points, character motivations, comic timing, animation styling—you name it.

• before animation’s start, Bouchard, his staff, and I had lots of discussions on how to build the best pipeline, rig the After Effects character files, etc. Everything was tested and ready to go in time for the animation start.

• before an animator would start a sequence, he and I (as lead animator) would conference-call with the animator so Bouchard could explain the scenes and what to look out for. The animator was able to ask questions and give suggestions.

• Bouchard would review QuickTimes posted on an ftp site. He sent his notes via e-mail. The notes were always very specific, thorough, clear, and most of all supportive. Along with his list of notes, he always made sure to compliment, appreciate, and encourage the animator.

Needless to say, our pilot crew was incredibly enthusiastic and excited about the project. Despite the geographic distance, we felt so connected to the work. When we heard the news that Bouchard scored a thirteen- episode pick-up on the series, we all shared in his victory.

Tortoise Beats Hare!

I was recently chatting with some animation pals who have also headed up projects as animation directors. Our conversation turned to how there are some animators who have trouble working with a deadline. In our experience, sometimes this is due to an animator trying to squeeze more quality into the work than a schedule allows. Most TV animation is kept simple because of the tight budgetary and time limitations. You can’t deliver The Lion King for a Webisode budget, no matter how many times you hum “Hakuna Matata” while you work. We speculated that some of these animators who couldn’t handle our deadlines were either moonlighting on more than one job, taking advantage of their friendship with the director, or simply unable to stop fussing and call something finished. Of course, there are probably more reasons than that, but we were drinking and three reasons seemed good enough at the time.

Instead of a fourth reason I offered a story about an animator I worked with on Flash series I directed. Sometimes it’s not an animator who needs to adjust his working methods, it’s the director’s outlook that needs adjusting. I’m grateful that I learned this lesson in time before I did any damage to my relationship with this animator. On the first season of a Flash animated preschool series, I was an episode animation director and the animator in this story was one of my three lead animators.

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