I am the Entertainment Tycoon

Theo was inside the animation studio of his house.

After he finished having a lovely breakfast with his sister, where the both of them made multiple plans for their vacation, Theo came to this place to continue the work he started yesterday.

He already finished drawing the character designs of most of the main characters of SAO anime.

Today he would start drawing the designs for the SAO world.

The Aincrad to be precise.

But before doing that Theo would draw the storyboard of the 12 episodes of Part 1 of the SAO Anime.

Theo was aware that this anime would only cover all the happenings of the novel with 25 episodes.

So, it was evident that Theo was only planning to release half of the story.

And if the anime was successful, Theo would produce the rest of the episodes.

But Theo was confident that this anime would earn a big audience.

So it was only a matter of time before the 25 episodes of SAO get produced.

But Theo would focus first on the first 12 episodes of the anime.

Theo picked up storyboard marked papers and started writing them according to what he remembered from his last life.

With his eidetic memory and enhanced intelligence, Theo remembered perfectly all the scenes from the 25 episodes of the anime.

So even if in his past life he was not knowledgeable in storyboard making, Theo could make the storyboard now with his enhanced stats.

But before we dwell on what Theo was doing.

We need to know what he was doing exactly.

What is an animation storyboard?

In animation and special effects work, the storyboarding stage may be followed by simplified mock-ups called "animatics" to give a better idea of how a scene will look and feel with motion and timing.

At its simplest, an animatic is a sequence of still images (usually taken from a storyboard) displayed in sync with rough dialogue (i.e., scratch vocals) or a rough soundtrack, essentially providing a simplified overview of how various visual and auditory elements will work in conjunction to one another.

In other words, this allows the animators and directors to work out any screenplay, camera positioning, shot list, and timing issues that may exist with the current storyboard.

Theo would basically shorten significantly the amount of time that his studio would have to produce the anime by just drawing the storyboard of the episodes.

The storyboard and soundtrack are amended if necessary, and a new animatic may be created and reviewed by the production staff until the storyboard is finalized. Editing at the animatic stage can help a production avoid wasting time and resources on the animation of scenes that would otherwise be edited out of the film at a later stage.

A few minutes of screen time in traditional animation usually equates to months of work for a team of traditional animators, who must painstakingly draw and paint countless frames, meaning that all that labor (and salaries already paid) will have to be written off if the final scene simply does not work in the film's final cut.

But with Theo's intervention, the months of work will be shortened to weeks and days.

In the context of computer animation, storyboarding helps minimize the construction of unnecessary scene components and models, just as it helps live-action filmmakers evaluate what portions of sets need not be constructed because they will never come into the frame.

Often storyboards are animated with simple zooms and pans to simulate camera movement (using non-linear editing software). These animations can be combined with available animatics, sound effects, and dialog to create a presentation of how a film could be shot and cut together.

Storyboarding is a creative, exciting, and fulfilling career. In addition to knowing how to draw to a high standard, a storyboard artist needs an understanding of storytelling, as well as a knowledge of animation layout mechanics.

The television storyboard artist creates the visual blueprint for the animated production. Put simply, if it isn't in the storyboard, it won't be on the screen. It's not unusual for the character poses from the storyboard to be traced and used as extreme poses by the animation artists.

In addition to knowing how to draw the characters acting out the performance, a production board artist (The Animation Guild title for a television storyboard artist) must also have a firm grasp of filmmaking principles and how to translate those principles when designing the layout for animation camera moves.

So, it was implicit that Theo had to have extensive knowledge in animation and filmmaking to produce these storyboards.

But the skills he received from the system and the studying the made on the project, Theo was certain that he could be considered an expert storyboard artist.

But these are all technical concepts.

But what does have to do with practical things?

Theo followed some tips he saw in online classes he watched about storyboarding. These tips examine the most important principles an animation story artist needs to understand. Storyboards aren't finished art, but rather a key component of planning the production from which the finished art is designed. The storyboard enables the movement of the characters and camera, with each scene sequentially designed in the context of what came before and what will come after as the story unfolds…

The first tip: It's all about telling a story.

Boiled down to its essence, Theo's job is to tell the story. He would begin by reading the provided script or outline for the show. It's important to remember that the story is about the characters, so he always had to ask himself these questions:

What is happening in the story right now?

How does it affect the character?

What is their state of mind?

How do they feel?

How should the audience feel?

What is the emotional moment that I'm trying to communicate?

These are the key points that, as a whole, tell the story. Every decision should be driven by the story!

Second Tip: Build on the line of action.

The line of action is a design decision related to the energy/force the character exudes and is the first line that Theo draws.

A character who has the weight of the world on their shoulders will slouch, with his/her head pulled to the ground. One exuberant with success will arc in the opposite direction, throwing his/her weight into the air and away from the pull of Earth's gravity. This line is the design foundation upon which the drawing of the character is built; communicating the direction of movement, emotion, energy, and so on.

Third tip: One drawing equals one idea.

Animation moves quickly. The audience can only look at one thing at a time, so including multiple ideas in a drawing will just result in the audience missing some of those ideas. The storyboard artist must commit to creating a new drawing for each new idea. If an event takes more than one step to be described, then Theo is going to have to draw each step.

For example, if a character sees something and reacts, Theo had to draw the character looking, draw what they see, and then draw their reaction.

Fourth tip: Think like an actor.

Storyboards plan the performance of the characters.

For television productions, this character layout is detailed and very specific.

Voice actors are vital in defining the character.

At this moment, Theo had to listen to the dialogue and then listen to it again!

Theo would occasionally pick up a mirror on his desk and visualize the expressions of the characters.

Subtle expressions are the most challenging. Each character is unique and the performance must reflect this individuality. Character design model sheets are a handy resource story artists use to maintain a consistent character performance.

Fifth tip: Ensure continuity.

Continuity is a word used often to refer to screen direction, although its meaning extends beyond that. Maintaining continuity is ensuring the geography of the space and characters is kept clear from shot to shot. Screen direction, or the 180 Degree Rule, is an important filmmaking principle and a fundamental aspect of continuity. We're translating a 3D world into a 2D experience on the screen. Once a character is established as moving left to right or right to left, keep that direction of movement while the character is onscreen.

And this continuity is the same that Arthur and his crew had to follow when they filmed the scenes of the music video.

The difference was that the storyboard artist had to draw the in a flow that would ensure the continuity when the animators started to draw the frames of the anime.

There were several other tips that Theo had to follow.

Draw cleanly for animation, Find clarity in silhouettes, Communicate the story through character poses, Use the frame as the 'eye', Sketch thumbnails for a simple panel, establish the point of view with the horizon line/eye line, and so on.

These technical names all refer to storyboarding.

And if we dwell in all of them we would talk about them all day.

But these are the main points that Theo had to follow.

It may sound complex, but Theo only had to follow these tips as he remembered the scenes from the anime of his past life.

So, his work was considerably shortened.

Theo spent the day working on that.

At a certain point, he remembered that Arthur started working that Sunday.

'I wonder how are they going?' He chuckled inwardly as he worked.