Animated 3d Feature Film Production Schedule (Page 2 of 10) in pdf

Page 2 of 10

TIMETABLE

The complete timetable indicated above for pre-production, production and post-production of the film is an aggressive 24-month

schedule. This is consistent with current trends in 3D animated feature film production at both major and minor studios, which

seek to reduce material creation time from previous cycles of 3+ years down to 2 years (or less).

The aggregate time

compression is now possible due to advances in non-linear production techniques, but must be based upon thorough production

planning, tracking and follow-up in order to achieve sufficient quality. Obviously, major story changes can wreak havoc on tight

schedules. In situations where both story notes and delivery dates are non-negotiable, the result is a bulge in production

personnel/resources and activity, with an associated increase in management complexity.

PHASES

Filmmaking, whether live-action or animated, is typically characterized by the phases of pre-production, production and post-

production. In live-action, pre-production refers to the phase before the shoot – in which production is planned, shots are

storyboarded, a final shooting script is created, and some digital pre-visualization (pre-viz) may be done. The production phase

in live-action refers to the actual on-set physical shoot (and is relatively short compared to animation production). The live-action

post-production phase is where the shots are assembled by the director and editor into a workreel (a rough cut of the movie,

formerly on film but now usually on an Avid system). Visual effects (VFX) shots are created in post, sound and score are added,

vocal pick-ups are recorded, and color timing is applied. Today’s digital film industry has seen a decrease in physical shooting

schedules, but an increase in footage and special effects. The latter two factors have consequently expanded live-action post-

production schedules.

In animation, pre-production typically encompasses storyboarding & animatic creation (the boards arranged sequentially in time

to the movie and slugged against temp voice, music and sound), vocal recording, temp score & sound, production design and art

direction, art packet creation (instructions to the production artists on every character, environment & element in the film), 3D

pre-viz of complex scenes, and a workbook of camera instructions for every scene (the latter is sometimes omitted in favor of

direct planning of the 3D environment in the Layout department).

Animation production is comprised of two general categories:

asset production and shot production.

Simply put, asset

production is the creation of the “stuff” that is used in the film (characters, sets, props) and shot production is the creation of

Animated 3d Feature Film Production Schedule Page 2