:: Introduction of anime production :: & raquo;Storyboard(*1), Storyboard artist(*2) and episode director)(*3) The storyboard is a "visualized script" and the "blueprint" for the rest of the production teams to develop the essential frame numbers(*4), necessary visual effects or background artwork(*5). Let's talk about the format first. The sample below is the storyboard copy paper(*6) we use at AIC. The difference from storyboards in other countries is that Japanese tend to draw(*7) the storyboard in portrait orientation. Each copy paper is divided into 5 columns, the cut number (*8), layout(*9), action(*10), dialogue(*11) and running time(*12). As you can tell by the sample(from "Mahou Yuugi") on the left, in the first frame of cut.38 there appears a little mountain of caviar by magic, the action is "how" did that caviar mountain pop up, no dialogue on the first two key frames and the running time is 8 seconds for entire cut no.38. A 26 minutes storyboard usually takes at least 3 weeks to work on. (If its a movie, it takes longer). There is no need for a very specific layout in storyboards as the layout will be done by layout artists later. Even so, since the storyboard artist is the first person who needs to visualize the script on paper, he/she needs a certain period of time to "construct" and draw a rough layout base for the camera work(*13) and to give clear instructions(*14) on paper. That is why it takes weeks to finish one storyboard. Also, in the production of a TV series, due to the limited budget, the number of frames for each episode is fixed. Storyboarders need to pay extra attention to construct the 26 minutes of story within the limited number of frames. Before we go on to explain more about the storyboard process, we have to mention the episode director. In a TV production, it is impossible to ask the executive director to take care of every detail of 13/26/52.. or more episodes in the very limited production time. Therefore we will hire episode director to share some of the executive director's work. As a result, audience may see different way of presenting a story in each episode. Now back to the process between character design and storyboard. There are two cases in this process, one is episode director+storyboard artist, the other is when episode directors create the storyboard by themselves. If the episode director and storyboard artist are different person, they will have a meeting with executive director first to clarify the concept. After the storyboard artist done his/her work, he/she will have a meeting with episode director to discuss the detail. After the storyboard is fixed, the episode director will call a meeting with the layout artist(*15), color designer(*16), key frame animator(*17) and director of photography(*18) to explain each cut. If the storyboard artist and episode director are the same person, he/she only needs to get the feedback and approval from the executive director and go on to have a meeting(*19) with rest of crew. In AIC, we don't have a lot of space like some other big studios, so the meeting does not consist of plenty of layouts stuck to the wall and explaining them to the attendees. Here everybody will have a copy of storyboard and the episode director will explain it page by page. As with the director, there is no clear qualification for being a storyboard artist or episode director. Everybody starts from different genre. Some start as animator, some start as assistant production manager(*20). Some come directly from the film industry. We can't really give our readers a certain path but one thing is for sure, most of storyboard artists/episode directors and those who aim to be one always pay extra attention to study movies and have a certain knowledge of montage. After all, other than the absence of real human actors/actresses on the screen, the rest of basic anime film making is no different from making a cinema live action movie. We will talk about the background artist and mecha designers first in the next chapter and then go on to the rest of the animation production process. »» Next: Mecha design and background art (*)Terms in Japanese *1 Storyboard = =SuTohRi Bo-do, E KonTe, (abbrev.:KonTe.) *2 Storyboard artist= =EnShuTu, EnShuTuKa *3 Episode director = =FuKu KannToKu, AShiSuTanTo DeReKuTa- *4 Frame number = =SaKuGa MaiSuu *5 Background art = =HaiKei *6 Storyboard copy paper = =EKonTe YouShi Size and formats are different depend on studios. *7 Draw = =KiRu:verb, Cut, example:"Ekonte Wo Kiru", Japanese use "Cut" instead of "Draw" or "Create" storyboard. We use "draw" sometimes, but most of time, we "cut" storyboard. *8 Cut number = =Katto BanGou *9 Layout = =ReiAUTo *10 Action ==EnGi *11 Dialogue = =DaiShi, SeRiFu *12 Running time = =ShaKu *13 Camera work = =KaMeRaWa-KuSu *14 Instruction = =ShiJi *15 Layout artist ==RiAUTo TanTou *16 Color designer = =ShiKiSai SetTei *17 Key frame animator = =GenGa *18 Director of photography = =SaTuEi KanToKu *19 Meeting = =SaKuGa KanToku UChiAWaSe, abbrev.:SaKuUChi *20 Assistant production manager = =SeiSaKu ShinKou © AIC. All rights reserved. We welcome you to contact us if you have any question toward this website. If your questions are related to this column, please send your question by e-mail with to here with the topic :"Regards to Intro anime".	Index Planning-1 (2003-07-01) Planning-2 (2003-07-11) Budgeting (2003-07-31) Scenarios (2003-08-28) Director (2003-12-18) Character Designer (2004-05-27) Storyboard, storyboard artist and episode director (2004-07-01)