Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Pre-Production Booklet for Animation

Name:
Order of contents (italics show areas you must add in yourself)
Assessment criteria
LO2

Mind maps of ideas

Risk assessment

Format of your animation

Subject and storyline

Character notes and profiles

Movement of characters

Moodboard

Sets/backgrounds

Audio and soundtrack

Sound table

Props list

Audience

Storyboard and script (add script to booklet)

Frame rates

Lighting design

Production schedule

Crew details

Frame Numbers

Dope Sheets

LO3

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

How to use this booklet

You will need to complete every page of this booklet, and all sections / questions
required.
Assessment criteria for Distinction grade;
LO2
Plans will show a full consideration of movement and continuity, perspective, point of view,
transitions and special effects.
Precise and workable planning of timing and synchronisation to a soundtrack will be
produced. It will be clear at this stage, from the documentation, what the finished piece will
look and sound like.
Learners will follow industry conventions and terminology used in storyboard production
correctly.
Plans for the construction of models, sets and props will be realistic and clear.
Drawings, script and storyboard will all show a creative interpretation of the idea.

LO3:
The documentation linked to the production will be full and detailed and there will be
evidence that the production management and scheduling of the project has been effective
and carried out in a professional manner. The techniques used in the production of the work
are likely to be related to an understanding of current trends in the industry.

Both LO2 and LO3

In all practical activity learners will be capable of working autonomously and effectively. They
will work on their own initiative, will not need constant support or supervision, will give the
work their full commitment, work positively and cooperatively with others, and meet
deadlines. In other words, they will have the kind of self-management skills that would be
expected of them in a professional context. Note also that this criterion should not be taken
to mean that learners do not seek advice or that they work without discussing things with
their tutor, but rather that they are not dependent upon the support of others and that when
they take advice they weigh it carefully for themselves.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Planning
Brainstorm / mind map (add extra pages if necessary)

Attach a 400-word treatment of your idea

For my idea I will be using printed pictures as my animation, it will be of one person in the photos are
dancing and walking in different walks of their life conveying the timeline that the person is going
through in each generation almost like they are dancing through life. The animation starts with a little
kid in a playground then exists the playground, a teen takes over from the same spot walking along
the path back home, and when they enter the house an adult takes over walks past photo frames on
the wall of the previous characters and goes to sit down they now become an old person picking up a
photo album. After the animation has got to the old person sitting down looking at the photo album the
final picture will come to life from the last picture in the animation. As the camera slowly zooms out
the old person will fade from the sofa leaving the photo album on the chair. The animation will be in
the form of a TV advert advertising a photo album or camera, with the message of memories are
meant to last forever and be framed in albums. In my animation I will be doing 10 frames per second
to make the animation run smoother.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

How will you meet the requirements of your brief?
I will be doing 16 frames per second for the 35 seconds of the advert out of 45 seconds.
For this production I would have to print out 560 photos to complete this animation time of
35 seconds for the advert which is advertising a photo album. In order for me to meet the
requirements of the brief is to make sure that I fill up the animation to the time length that I
have been given to create an advert within that time length and also I need to be advert a
product in order to fit in with the conventions of advertising in TV. Also make sure that the
advert is aimed at both genders.

Risk assessment: Are there any health and safety issues you may encounter?
Paper/card cut

Low Risk

Be careful when handling the photos

Lights might get too hot

Low Risk

Turn them off when not using them

Discuss any legal issues you may face. Eg; sound, plagiarism, age restrictions
The issues I may encounter is the music copyright system that links with YouTube so the
avoid this I would use the YouTube feature that allows me to know what music I can use
that has no legal copyright meaning that it is free for use without any specific permission
from the creator and YouTube and also I would use for free non-copyrighted music from
the website Royalty Free Music.

Use of possible formats

Circle which of the following formats your animation will take;
stop-frame techniques
time lapse photography
plasticine animation
Claymation
using found objects
modelling
puppetry
combined formats

Why are you using that particular format?

Im using time lapse photography in order convey the idea of time passing as in each section
there is a different generation of ones life like from child to old person. This technique of
stop motion shows the overall concept of time moving forward at a fast rate within the advert
and also it reinforces the narrative of my advert of growing up.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

What are the different possibilities you could explore using this format?
The possibilities that I could explore from doing this format of stop-motion is that I can turn
the last picture to life to give a lasting effect of the pictures can come to life as memories.
Also another possibility that I am exploring in my animation is that it would show a way of
conveying the progress in ones life line in to a short 45 seconds animated advert as it would
show the different stages/generations that one would go through over time like from birth to
death. This technique compresses a long period of time into a short period of time like a 45
second advert.

What are the limitations of using this format? (i.e what problems/ obstacles might you
have?)
During production I may encounter some limitations that could prevent me from fully
completing it to full potential is that the printed images might not be printed in the same
quality as the ink used may be different each time. Another problem that I may encounter is
that the people that I use for the pictures might not be able or come in time for the production
process and also the weather is un-predictable as if I plan do a shoot on a specific day and I
would need to be prepared for the weather as it might decide to rain heavily.

What imaginative or inventive animations have you seen which use this format?
Add in links and screen shots of three examples of animations using this format.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9Et7UQh1tg The PEN story
Im using this stop-motion concept of using
pictures to show one-character walking
through pictures as they grow up. Ive used
this animation as my inspiration for my own
stop motion animation as it uses the
technique of time lapse photography through
the uses of printed photos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmkLlVzUBn4 The Wolf and Pig stop motion
This is another example that uses the concept
of using printed pictures as my stop motion
animation section in my advert. In this example
it uses this technique to portray a chase scene
between the wolf and the pig. In this example
they place the printed images around the
apartment and carefully placed how the photos
would be positioned for example the stairs
section each photo positioning is well thought
out as they are placed in a specific place to
keep the continuity of the animation smoother.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Subject
What will the subject of your animation be?
The overall subject of my animation is that it is an advert advertising a photo album. It will
follow one character going through time/ growing up through different stages of their life like
from childhood to old person.
Storyline
Describe the storyline of your animation. What events will happen to your characters?
In my production it will consist of one person in the photos are dancing and walking in
different walks of their life conveying the timeline that the person is going through in each
generation almost like they are dancing through life. The animation starts with a little kid in a
playground then exists the playground, a teen takes over from the same spot walking along
the path back home, and when they enter the house an adult takes over walks past photo
frames on the wall of the previous characters and goes to sit down they now become an old
person picking up a photo album. After the animation has got to the old person sitting down
looking at the photo album the final picture will come to life from the last picture in the
animation. As the camera slowly zooms out the old person will fade from the sofa leaving the
photo album on the chair. The animation will be in the form of a TV advert advertising a
photo album or camera, with the message of memories are meant to last forever and be
framed in albums.

Characters
What characters will be in your animation?
In my animation they will be one character who is the main subject in the advert but they will
be different people portraying the same character as it is the different stages of their lives
aka child, teenager, adult and old person.

Complete the character profiles for each character in your animation

Name:
M/F:
Age
Costume:

Riley
F
8/9 years old
Normal modern clothes

Occupation:
Hobbies:
Character
Background:

Student at Primary School

Likes playing at the park, photography
N/A

Name:
M/F:
Age
Costume:

Riley
F
17/18 years old
Normal modern clothes

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Occupation:
Hobbies:
Character
Background:

Student at college / university

Loves listening to music, photography
N/A

Name:
M/F:
Age
Costume:

Riley
F
40/50 years old
Normal modern clothes

Occupation:

Works at a photography firm, a mum

Hobbies:
Character
Background:

Photography
N/A

Name:
M/F:
Age
Costume:

Riley
f
70/80 years old
Normal modern clothes

Occupation:
Hobbies:
Character
Background:

Retired
Photography, likes to look photo albums
N/A

Add in images and drawings/ sketches of what they will look like.

These pictures are ideas of what each generation / reincarnation will be doing when the
printed pictures changes to another age period like from child to teen to adult to old person.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

What will they be made of?

The character used for my stop motion animation are of real people that are going to be
animated into printed photographs, so theres no models made out of clay or plasticine or
with any metal armature. As my animation is only in the form of printed photos of real people
but animated through the photographs.

Movement of characters
How are you going to make your characters move?
As Im using real people in my animation, I will ask them to get into specific positions in a
way that allows me to animate them through the printed photos in my final thing. I think it
would be easier to put the people into positions that I want them to be in as using real people
as they can hold the positions stronger than using clay and plasticine as using them could go
wrong if the model gets wrecked during the production process.

What is the purpose of an armature?

The purpose of an armature is to hold the models positions in place if using a plasticine or
clay model so the armature would be the wired frame that would help to give the characters
that may be in clay a specific frame / structure to the model.

Will you use them for your characters?

I wont be using any armature frames, clay or plasticine models in my animation as Im using
real life people in my printed photographs for my animation as I think it will be effective in
advertising a photo album this way.

If so, how will you make it?

I am not using armatures for my animation only printed photographs which feature real life
people.

Mood board
Create a mood board showing what look your animation will have. Add images
showing ideas of mise-en-scene, characters, costumes and colours that will be
present in the different shots.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Sets / backgrounds
Will your set be;

A three wall set

A blue/green screen

An existing location

A Combination of two or more of the above

Draw sketches of how your sets/backgrounds will look. Add in labels to your
diagrams and details of locations / lighting etc.
The set of my production is not a three wall set as it is set mainly on a rectangle table where
the printed animated pictures will be shown on. During the printed picture animation
sequence there is three different locations shown throughout the flow of the animation. The
three different locations are playground, a house and along a street. On the last photo of the
animation the camera zooms into the picture making it come to life where the old person is
sitting on a chair with a photo album on their lap as the camera zooms out the person fades
out of the chair leaving the photo album on the chair. For the section where the animation
comes to life the set is a living room.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Add in photographs of your sets/backgrounds.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Audio and Soundtrack:

What audio will you have for your animation?
The audio I am using for my animation is two royalty copyright free music, one which is an
upbeat guitar / piano instrumental whereas the other piece of music I am using is a sad
atmospheric piano instrumental.
Complete the sound list, detailing what sounds you will use, where you will source
them, what equipment you will need to record them and when you will use them in
your animation.
You will need to design your own soundtrack. You cannot use copyrighted music, and
it must be more than simply adding a track.
I am using royalty free copyright music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gm45F4csOY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcLlTLKhk9M
What actions will need sound effects?
None of the actions in the animation will need any sound effects its just background music
over the printed picture animation.
Think of the scenes in your animation. Each scene should have different
sounds/music to give information about the mood / emotions of the characters.

Sound Table
Production Name: Animated TV Advert
Producer: Charlotte Westall
Shot Action

Description Diegetic/non/diegetic Atmosphere Music type and atmosphere

of Sound
created

Throughout Upbeat,
the
piano/guitar

Non-diegetic

Upbeat,
uplifting,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gm4
5F4csOY

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

animated
sequence

background
music

Voice over
at the end
of the
advert
where you
see the
photo
album on
the chair

moments
are meant
to last
forever

cheerful,
happy

Non-diegetic

Nostalgia

Voice-over

Non-diegetic

Sad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcLlT
LKhk9M

Voice-over

This is
Sad piano
played
theme
when the
old person
looks at the
photo
album and
fades from
the camera

Props List
What props / models / furniture etc will you need to make your animation?
PROPS LIST
Production Name: Animated TV Advert
Producer: Charlotte Westall
Item

Script page

Description

Character/location

Earphones

Riley is wearing
them listening to
music

Teenager Riley17/18 years old

Photo frames

They are on the Adult Riley- 40/50

wall when the
years old
adult Riley walks
past

Photo album

Old aged Riley

Old aged Rileyhas the photo
70/80 years old
album on her lap
when she is
sitting down,
looking through
them

Notes

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Office supplies/
keys

They will be on
the desk around
the pictures

Seen on desk
throughout the
animation
sequence- when
the adult is seen in
the animation

Dummy/ toys

They will be on
the desk around
the pictures

Seen on desk
throughout the
animation
sequence- when
the young child is
seen in the
animation

Headphones/
iPod

They will be on
the desk around
the pictures

Seen on desk
throughout the
animation
sequence- when
the teenager is
seen in the
animation

Audience
Define the following characteristics of your audience;
Gender
My animated TV advert which is advertising a photo album is aimed at any gender as the
concept of growing up is relatable as they will be also growing up through the different
generations.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Age
My production will be aimed at the older generation like 35-50 aged group as they are more
likely to buy a photo album and the animated advert would give an element of nostalgia
because the advert features a character that goes through the different stages of their lives
like young child through to old person.

Interests
My target audience will more likely to be interested in scrapbooking, photo albums,
photography and creating memorable moments that are captured through pictures.

What forms of animation might they already watch?

The target audience my advert is aimed at might already watch stop motion animation, time
lapse photography, Claymation.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

What images do you think they enjoy watching?
My target audience would be more likely to enjoy watching documentary style programs like
David Attenborough documentaries and cinematography style images. They would also
enjoy watching John Lewis, Sainsburys and Coca Cola adverts that feature around
Christmas time as they also give the element of nostalgia and the concept of family and
growing up.

What might they consider distasteful or offensive?

My target audience might find that swearing offensive bit in order to prevent that from being
offensive to my target audience is that I wont include any swearing or any offensive
language in the voice over to the animated TV advert.

How will you ensure that your animation will suit your chosen audience?
In order to ensure that my animation will suit my target audience is that I will make sure that
there is no offensive language and fit the style of a TV advert that is aimed at the older
generation.

How will they physically watch your animation? (i.e in an exhibition format, on screen,
projection, online?)
I think that the target audience of my advert will be showcased on TV between programs and
also as adverts that show before YouTube videos plays as these forms of exhibition of the
advert will be shown on will apply to the different generations as the younger generation will
more likely come across it on media platforms like YouTube because that is where that age
group of the audiences tend to be on the platform. For the older generation it would be
shown on TV between programs as it is highly likely that they wont use social media
platforms compared to the younger generations.

Storyboard
Complete a storyboard for your animation.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Think carefully about the shots you will be using. Consider the range of shots/angles
to give interest and perspective

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

You will need to convey all movements and actions. Copy and paste the storyboard to
make it as long as you need to show all the detail of your animation.
You will need to add pages to this section for your full storyboard

Frame Rates
What is the duration of your animation in minutes? (minimum 30 seconds)
The duration of my animated TV advert is 0 minutes 45 seconds.
In seconds?
The animation sequence through time lapse printed photographs will take 35 seconds of the
overall 45 second animation

How many frames per second for video?

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

For my animation I am doing 16 frames per second for the duration of 35 seconds included
in the overall 45 seconds where the animation come to live in 3d video form for the last 15
seconds of the advert.

There are 60 seconds in a minute. How many frames (ie. Individual photos) will you
need to take?
If my production was a minute long with 16 frames per second for the animation I would
need to take 960 photos in total to make up 16 frames per second for a minute.

Lighting Design
Where will you be photographing your animation?
In the printed photographs I will be taking the images in a playground, along a street and at
my house. For the actual animation sequence, I will be photographing the animation on a
table in the studio on the Rotherfield Campus at Henley College

Does it have natural daylight?

In the printed pictures it would be taken in natural daylight as it is set outside but the pictures
that consist of the printed images are done under artificial lighting as it will be shot inside the
studio.

If so, you will need to block this out. Explain why.

I will need to block out the natural daylight when I take the photographs of the printed
pictures to do this I would need to do it in a controlled environment where I can block out
natural lighting by using the studio as it has no windows or any sources that could allow
natural light in. By blocking the natural daylight because the pictures of the printed
photographs would show a lighting continuity and wont change throughout the animation.

Do you have a constant light source(s) such as a lamp?

Yes, I will be having a constant light source throughout the animation sequence in the TV
advert in order to keep the continuity of the lighting throughout the animation. The artificial
light source I will be using for my animation section will be a studio light.

Where will you place your light source(s) to create interesting effects?
In my production I will be placing a dim light source in the section where the animation
comes to life and the section where you see the old person sitting on a sofa with a photo
album on their lap and in that section the camera zooms out of the old person in the chair
where the old person fades leaving the photo album on the chair. For the section where the

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

animated printed photographs are shown on the table the lighting will be placed above the
picture with directional lighting in order to avoid any shadows.
(LO3)

Frame numbers
You will need to label your images as frames
The first 24 frames will be written as;
0_1
0_2 etc etc

the following 24 will be

1_1
1_2
1_3
Ensure your clips are labeled as such. Screen shot the folder your clips are in, and copy the
image underneath.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Dope sheets
A dope sheet is an animation tool which helps a animator organise the animation shot-byshot.
This gives the camera operator instructions on each shot type and how many frames this will
be used for.
A dope sheet is usually split into 5 different sections.

To indicate what action occurs on which frame number

To see what action is happening in this shot.
To see what dialogue used in this scene.
To show what level of animation is happening.
To give camera instructions (angle).

For example;

Because you will be working with video, you will be using 30fps. You will need to complete a
dope sheet for EVERY SECOND of your animation.
i.e, if you make a 30 second animation, you will need to complete 30 dope sheets.
This will be a time-consuming task, but it will help you understand what will need to
happen in each of the shots you take. The higher marks will come from a detailed and
careful collection of dope sheets. For example, if your characters speaks, you will need to
show the mouth forming every shape in order to look effective.

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Frame
0_1
0_2
0_3
0_4
0_5
0_6
0_7
0_8
0_9
0_10
0_11
0_12
0_13
0_14
0_15
0_16
0_17
0_18
0_19
0_20
0_21
0_22
0_23
0_24
0_25
0_26
0_27
0_28
0_29
0_30

Path of action

Dialogue /
Soundtrack cue

Animation

Camera
instructions

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Frame
1_1
1_2
1_3
1_4
1_5
1_6
1_7
1_8
1_9
1_10
1_11
1_12
1_13
1_14
1_15
1_16
1_17
1_18
1_19
1_20
1_21
1_22
1_23
1_24
1_25
1_26
1_27
1_28
1_29
1_30

Path of action

Dialogue /
Soundtrack cue

Animation

Camera
instructions

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Frame
2_1
2_2
2_3
2_4
2_5
2_6
2_7
2_8
2_9
2_10
2_11
2_12
2_13
2_14
2_15
2_16
2_17
2_18
2_19
2_20
2_21
2_22
2_23
2_24
2_25
2_26
2_27
2_28
2_29
2_30

Path of action

Dialogue /
Soundtrack
cue

Animation

Camera
instructions

Stop Motion Animation Pre-Production Booklet

Copy and paste as many dope sheets as you need. Remember to change the frame
numbering so that the first number refers to the second of animation ie, 1_24 is the 24th
frame of the first second, 3_17 is the 17th frame of the 3rd second.

Liaising with client (write notes on discussions between you and your client)