Dorothy of OZ - The Animatic Editing Phase

I like puzzles.  A couple of weeks ago I did a 1,000 piece puzzle of San Diego with my kids. It was fun, and when it was finished we felt like we'd really accomplished something.

Before we started though, it was intimidating to look down at the island in our kitchen and see 1,000 pieces extracted from the box, half of them upside-down, waiting to be connected with the rest.  I also noticed how much space I needed on the island for all the pieces when they were not put together yet.  It was like twice the space. 

I suppose you could equate editing an animated feature with putting together one of those 18,000 piece puzzles you see at the game shops (but would probably never buy).

BEFORE ANIMATION EVEN BEGINS, lots of pieces, and lots of details must be assembled.  The process of combining scripting, dialogue recording (temp and production), song recording, story-boarding, sound effects and the temp score, is intense.  Plus, each of these parts go through many versions and changes during the development and pre-production phases, that you end up cutting several versions of the film.

When you are editing, you are bringing a story tighter together, usually taking a longer early version down to a more concise film.  The seconds shaved off of a too-long film are like counter space gained every time another puzzle piece is found.  It's a beautiful thing.

I was describing animation editing to my Dad the other day.  When you cut live action, you usually have multiple takes, multiple camera angles, and tons of variables to look at and consider when selecting a shot to go in the movie.  When you're editing animation, every frame is built from scratch.  You are creating moments in the scene and are dictating pacing, rhythm and performance totally from nada.

This type of editing can be a challenge, but I think my puzzle-loving self can cope.  More of my experiences on "Dorothy" soon.