Every Frame a Painting - Animation Industry

For the final post of Every Frame a Painting, I'll be talking about something different - Animation. I am a huge fan of animated films and TV shows but never fully understand how the full process of making them until I watched Shirobako.

Shirobako is an excellent Japanese animated series (aka anime) about making animated shows. The story follows a group of five best friends, Aoi Miyamori, Ema Yasuhara, Shizuka Sakaki, Misa Tōdō, and Midori Imai, who all go into the anime industry after their experiences in the animation club of their high school. The series depicts the daily troubles and hardships the five experience in their respective jobs, as well as their efforts to overcome them, largely focusing on Aoi and her fellow staff at animation studio Musashino Animation as they work on two anime television series.

So, what has the show taught me? Here is a quick summary of what's going on.

1. Research and script writing.
2. Character designs and art direction.
3. Voice actor auditions and audition meeting.
4. Storyboarding.
5. Directing staff meetings - To discuss the director's vision with episode directors. This is usually for TV series.
6. Production meetings - To have the key animators a better understanding and take note of the director's vision.
7. Supervising animator meetings - For supervising animator to check everything with the director.
8. Art board meetings - To discuss the background art style, tone and design.
9. Colouring meetings - To try various patterns of colours and decide which to use.
10. CG meetings - To discuss the CGI/3D animation parts
11. Filming meetings - To discuss any editing-related matter
12. Accompaniment meetings - To discuss the soundtrack with the music composer
13. Production desk - Responsible for pushing the whole production forward. The list of jobs include taking notes, preparing project strategy, scheduling, checklists (storyboard checklist, key frames distribution checklist, simulation chart, program, setting distribution list, 3D list, special effects 2D list, colour program, scene colour checklist) and communication.
14. Meetings are still occasionally held to make sure the whole project is going the right direction.
15. Inbetween animation (aka inbetweening or tweening) - Either done in-house or outsourced to another animation studio.
16. Recording sessions (both VAs and OST) 

List of roles (incomplete):

• Director
• Writer
• Assistant Director (AD)
• Episode Director (ED) 
• Producer
• Chief Production Assistant
• Production Assistant (PA)
• Supervising Animator
• Key Frame Animator
• Colouring Artist
• CG Animator
• Background Artist
• Voice Actor
• Composer
• Editor

The process goes:

Research > Script > Art > Audition > Storyboard > Meetings > Animation/Sound > Voice Recording > Filming (aka editing) > Test Screening > Broadcast

For shows adapted from a source material, most aspects of project must be approved by the creator, mainly scripts, storyboards, character designs and art direction.

Of course, this barely scratch the surface. There a lot more to it such as securing funds, promotion videos (PVs)(aka trailers), and freelance animators. The anime also does a great job showing real-life problems occurring in the animation industry. A production may fall apart when something goes wrong. For example, when the director decides to change a scene when the production is already near its completion, fights between employees, miscommunications and messy outsourced cuts. There are also tons of references to the animation industry, from voice actors, animation studios, famous people, to other works.

*The entire may vary from country to country. E.g. In the west, voice recording are done before animating.