How to Come Up With a Good Animation
Coming up with a good animation requires proper planning as well as proficient story-telling abilities. Though animation skills are important for completing the final draft, you must first develop a good plot and characters to provide direction to your animation. Additionally, you must develop a proper aesthetic for your drawings so that the style is consistent with the story and underlying intention of your project. For example, a humorous animation for children should utilize a more cartoony style and plot compared to an animation for commercial advertisement use.
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Instructions
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Consider the intended audience of your animation. Both the artistic style and dialogue of your story should be chosen with your audience in mind. Though a good animation exhibits artistic freedom, keeping in mind your target audience before you begin your animation ensures that the final product is both appropriate and effective for your viewers.
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View other animations that are related in theme or purpose to your animation. While your animation should be entirely original, other artists' work can help spark creative ideas to be applied to your animation. Pay especially close attention to the stylistic elements and story-telling techniques that other animations utilize.
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Brainstorm plot ideas for your story. If you wish to convey a specific theme or message with your animation, think conceptually to create a story that depicts your theme through metaphoric illustrations and dialogue. If you intend to promote a product, service, or other commercial element with your animation, think of clever ways that these elements can be incorporated metaphorically into an entertaining story. In either case, the underlying ideas of your animation should be conveyed in a subtle way that comes across as subsidiary to the dialogue and illustrations. This ensures your animation is engaging while avoiding heavy-handedness.
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Write out descriptions of characters to be included in your animation. Character descriptions help you fully develop your characters and also help inspire ideas for situations and interactions to be included in your animation.
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Draw rough sketches of your characters. Illustrate your characters so that their most prominent traits are evident. For example, you might draw a villain with an exaggeratedly menacing expression and black clothing. The appearance of your characters should be consistent with both the intended purpose of your animation as well as the narrative style.
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Incorporate your rough sketches and outline material into a storyboard of your animation. Storyboards are rough sketches of scenes to be included in your animation. With a storyboard, you are able to visualize the overall animation and make any necessary additions. This saves times and edits on the final draft of your project.
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Share your storyboard and ideas with others. Ask other animation artists for their input regarding your plot and drawing style. Also, ask a variety of people who don't work in an artistic field for their reaction to your animation This allows you to gauge the reaction that average viewers will have to your work.
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