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When setting out to make an animated film, many questions arise:
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This basic framework is used to make a screenplay. The screenplay, or script, is the "recipe" for the animated film.
The story is written down and then divided into separate steps or scenes. It is determined what happens in each scene, which character says what, and how the scene should look. It also includes rough sketches of the scenes.
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Now it's time to make the film. The illustrator creates backgrounds and figures. Each main character requires not only several drawings for the various scenes, but also many different variations of individual body parts: eyes, mouth, arms and legs must be drawn separately for every movement and every expression.
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The animator then brings all these "puzzle pieces" together on the computer. The scenes are painstakingly constructed and animated, giving the figures movement, like dolls. The eyes and mouth must be animated to match to the spoken text which will be added later.
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The dialogues and narration must be recorded in a studio by a professional voice artist. Not only must she narrate the story, she must also provide each character with its own voice, a voice which fits to the character and gives it life.
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There's one last important thing still missing, and that's the sound design. This involves all the noises heard in the film: the footsteps of the children, the barking of the dog, the rustling of leaves, and much more. It also includes the film music. All these are assembled in the background like a theatre set. Even if one doesn't always notice the sounds whilst watching the film, it would be immediately noticeable if they were missing.
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