Animated Storytelling Summary (Introduction & Chapter 1.)

Since the two were created, there has always been some confusion on the difference between animation and motion graphics. Animation goes hand in hand with filmmaking while motion graphics is involved more with graphic design. No matter the differences, animated storytelling is all about planning. The three questions that should be asked before any animation is made are: "What is it? What does it look like? And what is it made of?" To help answer these questions, the animator must go through these three stages: Concept Development, Previsualization and Asset Building.

The concept development stage should start by writing a creative brief. This brief should include what the project is, who it is for, how long it will be, its objective, a calendar with weekly milestones, etc. From there, the animator should spend some time writing down everything that comes to their mind about the topic of their story so they can circle the most important 4-5 words. A tagline should be created based on these words, followed by an elevator pitch explaining the tone, plot, theme, etc. of the story. It is important to have clarity over cleverness when writing the story.

Previsualization is "visual development or concept art," meaning that it helps to define the look and feel of the production before it begins. It also helps to strengthen design direction and establish animation techniques and methods. This is the stage to get inspiration from others' work and it is very important to look for good references when doing so. From this inspiration, experiment! Go DIY with colored pencils, play dough, coffee grounds and music and be inventive. It is normal for animators to go back and fourth between designing and refining their story because this stage really allows you to hone in on the primary images of the story.

The final stage, asset building is all of the pieces that are needed in order to begin animating including logos, character designs, props, fonts, color scripts, sound effects, etc. The animator may even use some of the assets that you created in the previsualization stage for the final piece!