The Storytelling Canvas: Text to Frames was a brilliant masterclass presented by Green Gold Animation creative manager Apoorva Idya and head of 2D pre- production Tirtho Ghosh during the KAM Summit. It took us through the process of generating ideas and creating them into the storyboards.
A small creative clip of Mighty Little Bheem was played to explain the steps involved in creating the storyboards from an idea.
Idaya explained the different steps involved in animation story development she said, “In animation, Story development can be broken into three segments ideation, brainstroming and synopsis. Each of these stages plays a crucial role in developing a story.”
The session shed light on how to write scripts for different formats of shows including dialogue, non-dialogue, adventure or comedy shows. Idya expounded, “Scripts can be written in multiple formats. For non-dialogue shows we suggest beat sheet structure where we elaborate the moments that happen in the story adding in all the elements that fits apt for the show without dialogues.”
Elaborating the scripting process, she further added, “Once the beat sheet is ready, it is again discussed with all the creative departments to get their insights and thoughts on the story ideas, whether it fits and adheres to the parameter of the show. If things work out then the next step we would take is storyboarding. ”
We all know storyboarding is the process used to visualize what the final look of a motion picture, motion graphic, animation, or interactive media sequence will be.
Explaining the importance of storyboarding, Ghosh added, “Storyboarding is very important because here we can see how the story flows and how the shots work together. This is a stage where we create a visual presentation for the written story. We visualize the entire script in front of our eyes.”
He further presented the stages of storyboarding where he explained about script breakdown, making of thumbnails (rough drawings of elements), staging (adding of camera movements and shots) and final step is clean up (detailing the background and elements).
Working as a team always gives good results. Sharing the importance of team work, Idya added, “We as a team always believe that the writing, creative and the production team always have to work together to achieve a seamless and good output in the end.”
At the end of the masterclass the panelist had a quick Q&A round hosted by Animation Xpress founder and editor –in-chief Anil Wanwari.
When asked about what are the codes to be followed while creating the show, Idya said, “Every show has its unique DNA and Identity. Any idea we create or generate has to adhere to a certain guideline which was pre-set for the particular show and that is what makes the show unique.”
Talking about the brainstorming process, she shared, “Brainstorming sessions usually take place between director, channel counterparts, the internal creative team and writers who all discuss and work together to make the idea work.”
Creative thinking is the process of mind which has to generate the creative juice regularly. Commenting on that, they said, “We believe that people in the writing domain need to watch a lot of content which helps them to come up with new ideas. It doesn’t mean to replicate the existing ideas but to keep your mind going and to generate newer ideas.”
Sharing the secret mantra for creative minds, Ghosh added, “As a creative person you have to read a lot and be aware and updated of everything happening in and around. We have to read about different slice of life including sports, games, novels, watch films as it all helps to generate ideas and to create new situations in your stories.”
Concluding the session, Idya shared, “Never shy away from discussing your thoughts with the people because there is a good probability of learning something new from another person.”
Watch the masterclass of The Storytelling Canvas: Text to Frames here from 3:22:34
