ABSTRACT
Storyboard is the visual script for an animated film. Story problems are dealt within storyboard stage, so that the picture won't need to rework the characters, settings, and animation after the animation is 40" completed. Layout, the first stage of production, is the cinematography of animation. Good layout pluses the storyboard staging, choreographs the camera moves, adds depth and design to backgrounds, and sets the stage for the animated actors. Layout and previz are blending more and more with live action in modern animated films. Animated scenes are cut into the Leica/animatic as they are completed, replacing the scene's storyboards, which are now placeholders for the animation. This keeps the scenes at their correct lengths and the animator informed about what comes before and after each scene. The acting, editing, and story continuity will be consistent. Now the Leica/animatic becomes a work picture.
