Animation Final ~ Storyboard and Animation Plans

Starting with the first section of the animation, I already have finished the backdrop and was about to begin animating the character walking towards the traffic light. I planned to use the pose to pose animation technique by drawing keyframes of the movement and then hand drawing the in-between frames using the cowboy bebop animation as a reference. I planned to draw all of the character actions on twos. I also considered having cars move across the street in this section. 

Moving on to the second section. I planned to draw a long backdrop that would be at least 4 full frames in length. This backdrop would move along to the left as we watch from a close-up angle from knee down of the character’s feet walking to the right in front of the camera. The main character should still be animated on twos. A female scream sounds and the character stops walking abruptly. I would then create a separate layer on which to draw another pose-to-pose animation of the alien bursting from the building and being shot. This would be layered in front of the moving background, which should pause in time with the main character stopping his movement, and behind of the main character’s legs. This staging should allow for an interesting section, and it should be obvious to the audience that the main character is watching the alien being shot as the camera angle should be between his legs with his feet facing the action. As the alien bleeds out for 3 seconds the character will then turn to the right again and continue walking. The backdrop should continue moving again in time and the alien will be moved out of frame with the backdrop. 

The next shot would be of a hand turning a key in a door and then turning the handle and opening the door. This is a simple shot and would be animated using the pose to pose method. This shot would require a door, handle and keyhole, an animation of the hand movements, and a separate doorframe. The door and parts could then be manipulated and warped so that they wouldn’t need to be redrawn frame by frame. 

The next shot shows the shopping bags, seen in the first section, being placed upon a kitchen counter near a sleeping cat which is lying upon some newspaper. As the shot pans towards the cat the main character would move out of the shot. Shortly to move back into the shot again after the cat wakes up and he strokes it. This would be a top-down panning shot to show the action. I would draw the background of the counters and newspaper at double the size of the intended final animation so that I can move the shot around for the panning part. This image would be static and not need any animation. I would then do separate layers and animations. First, for the bags being placed on the counter, this would require straight ahead animation. Secondly, the over the shoulder view of the main character placing down the bags would be done using pose to pose. Thirdly the cat waking up, stretching, and then reacting to the stroking would be animated pose to pose and on a separate layer. Lastly, the animation of the main character re-entering the shot and interacting with the cat would also be done using pose to pose. 

The next shot is a mid-close-up-shot from behind the main character which includes the cat in the background. This would be done using three layers. A static image for the background, The cat, animated using pose to pose. And then the character, also animated using pose to pose. The main character takes off his hat and then reaches behind his head and to the base of his hairline to begin to unzip his skinsuit. This is when it is revealed to the audience that he is also an alien. The staging of having the zip behind his head should help to build audience intrigue and suspense. The audience then hears a clatter like china breaking.

A quick cut to a mid-shot from the same angle but now showing the whole upper body of the main character turning to the window. This would also be done pose to pose. The cat would also turn and be startled. 

A final, mid-long shot of the window shows a boy laying looking terrified on top of a broken plant pot. There would be very little animation in this shot other than to keep the boy looking lively and moving slightly and looking shocked. This would be done using a mix of pose to pose and straight forward animation.