Turning Words into Images and Sound (Turning a script into an audiovisual work)

Taking the script as our starting point, we need to transform words on paper into images and sound on a screen. Therefore, we will understand what to extract from the text and what the next steps are from there. The focus here is specifically on 2D animation within a Western pipeline.

In a script, we identify elements such as: locations, characters, props, and, obviously, dialogue. To transform this content into an audiovisual work, we begin by translating these elements into images and audio through three stages: Storyboard, Art, and Casting & Voice Recording. In animation, these tend to happen in parallel, but I will explain them separately.

The Storyboard is the first moment we visualize how the work will appear on the screen. Drawings are made — just like in a comic book — to represent actions, camera angles, and expressions. Here, the director defines the estimated timing of each scene and gives a taste of how they envision the final product.

Art is the moment we define the visual appearance of the work, with an emphasis on three groups: Characters (secondary or new), Props (objects that interact with the characters, like a remote control or a ball), and Backgrounds (scenery, usually static). The team works to create the final art that will actually be used in the episodes.

Voice Casting is the moment to choose who gives life to the characters. The director and the Voice Director meet to listen to and select the actors, and immediately after, the script Recordings begin. In other words, the voices are recorded before the animation (in Western animation).

Since each stage requires considerable time, production works in blocks. With the storyboard, voices, and art for an episode already done, we start the next stage: the Animatic. It is literally the combination of the Storyboard and the Voices. Being the final moment before we dive into animation, this is the last stage where we can make changes to scene timing, camera angles, or the actions themselves. Once the Animatic is approved, we are married to what is on screen, only able to make subtle changes to character expressions or play around a bit with the exaggeration of certain movements.

Up to this point, we were in Pre-production. Now we enter Production (which may take longer to execute, but takes almost no time to explain).

Starting with good old Animation. It begins with the scene breakdown: each cut is analyzed by a line producer, who puts together scene packages and distributes them among the animators. They animate each scene, send them for review, and once approved, move on to the next.

In parallel, the Soundtrack is recorded — some sound effects, backing tracks, and those catchy themes that stick in your head (like the Imperial March or the Jurassic Park theme; if you hear it, you'll recognize it).

With the visuals and audio semi-ready, we enter Post-production.

Editing puts all the scenes and audio together into a single file, adds visual effects, and works on lighting and shadows. Next, the audio goes back to the studio to re-record scenes where intonation can be improved, add sound effects, and do the final mix.

Thus, what were just words in a script become an audiovisual work ready for delivery and subsequent licensing, but that is a conversation for another day.