Tbe wo .. ld II ... de of ct.y . t wm Vln· ton P .. oductlonllo Portl.nd, 0 ... Here hindi .. _ch Into th. "mege
IquI .. e let on Rip VIR Wlnld. to mo"e the Chl"ICte .. 1 I tiny hlctlon In hlme·by·f"lme .nl .... Uoo.
Thl. month'. Re"lew e •• mlne_.n effect th.t c.n't be .Imuleted. Breek· e.e), bottlel Ind glellel Ire e"llI.ble relltl"el)' lnexpen. II"ely from ROlco. The)' don'tJult b .. e.k, the)' Ihette .. with In Impect th.t look ... _lind lound • .-e.l. ROlco 1'),1 the f ... gmenU I .. e .blolutel), 'Ife .nd will not herm IC' to .. 1 0" technlcllnl. See pege 31.
The dlooleu .. let: flote the b .. eg· ullrly Iheped cut'out to the rlght of the c.me"I, which I, c.ned. "cookie" or "kukllorl." .0.1 II u.ed to ce.t .hedow., Common U I _ ue to luggest shsdows of t .. ee branda· es Ind I_".s.
,
•
CONTENTS
Editor's
4
Bench
_ _
Basic
Cartoon
6
Animation
_
Simple techniques in eel animation.
By
Richard Allison.ProfUe
_
1 4
FUmmakers
'
1 7
Forum
A regular department devoted to readers' comments and correspon-dence about fantasy filmmaking.
Ciaymatlon
18
Making movie history with mud
& magic-the story of
the world's first daymation feature film. Sy Rick Cooper.Producers
'
Bulletin
24
Board
_
Latest news of our readers'
productions.
Number 7
Review
_30
James F.
Caldwell
examines tools
and equipment for the filmmaker.Books
_
32
Books for fllmml!lkers-valuable sources of Information and tech· niques for the filmmaker.
Clnemaglc
Market-
33
piace,
_ _
_
Classified advertising and
announcements.
FUm
Contest
Rules
26
Close-up
_
3 3
~
Damon Santostephano-A film
·
maker on the rise. By JohnClayton.
The official rules of the 1980 CINEMAGIOSVA Short Film Search illustrated with stills from last year's entries and winners. A column of guidelines and helpful hints is included.
Easy kaleidoscopic effects for special effects.
By
Jack Imes Jr.~
Editor's
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hose of you who are into reading absolutely everything in the magazine, cover to cover, including the indicia (that's what all that fine print at the bottom of this page is called), will have discovered th1lt this issue (#7) is Volume 2, No.1. Which means we are beginning our second year of publication.CINEMAGIC started out as a quarterly, but by the third issue we had grown suf· ficiently to increase the frequency of publication to bimonthly status. I hope that over the coming year more filmmakers and filmmaking schools and libraries will become aware of our publication and ask to join the active ranks of ClNEMAGIC readership. As the scope of our readership grows. so can the scope of our magazine-which means more issues, more pages and more color. But we need to move a step at a time.
Though there are a number of magazines that deal with professional film pro· duction on a "hands-on"level, none of them covers all phases of film production (from film technique to model construction to fantasy makeup and beyond) as thoroughly as CINEMAGIC does, No other magazine seeks to create so strong a sense of community among fantasy filmmakers that encourages the rapid flow of ideas and information.
In this issue we introduce a new department, "Profile," which focuses on the filmmaker as an artist. It will explore the triumphs and trials of young filmmakers like yourselves who are either trying to create a career for themselves or just exer· cise their imaginations by creating their own special brand of fantasy-adventure in film, I hope that over the course of several installments you will be able to gain some perspective concerning the problems and possibilities of professional film-making as well as beng able to pick up a few inside tips that you can use for your own projects,
Speaking of those projects, CINEMAGIC would very much like to look at some of the projects that you have brought to our attention in "Producer's Bulletin Board," As you finish a project, send it in to CINEMAGIC. You may find yourself and your film featured in these pages one day, so that other filmmakers can learn from and appreciate your work. That's the sort of communication between film-makers that makes CINEMAGIC special. It's what we're all about. As you grow in your craft, so do we all.
Later this year we are planning a comprehensive feature on titling for fantasy films. We would like to be able to show off as many examples of our readers' work as possible_ $0 if you have a great idea for a snappy title, by all means shoot it and send it in! We'll print frame blow-ups (the best ones in color) with your description of the means used to achieve the title shot. W~ want to see your work. $0 don't just send us your ideas; let's see what you've done with that idea. So if you've been thinking about an interesting title effect using flames, melting letters. zooming names, spacey artwork or whatever ... now's the time to show it off.
David Hutchison
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THE GUIDEBOOK FOR FILMMAKERS
The authoritative guide to Super 8 is back
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You've read about Gunther Hoos and Marti: Mlkolas In Indus1rlal Photography, Audio-Visual Communications and Super 8 Filmaker, where their reports have helped thousands of serious Super 8 film producers improve their craft. But have you seen the reviews for the Handbook?
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CARTOON
ANIMATION:
toon animators hi!lve been intimidated by the thought of tremendous amounts of work necessary to achieve even modest results. While this is largely determined by the complexity of the artistic style you choose(not to mention the smoothness of the movement), twcrdimensional anlma-tion need not beany more difficult than its three-dimensional counterpart. To put it simply, it need only be as complicated as you make it.
The Basics
By RICHARD ALLISON
This article concerns itself only with the process of getting an animated image on the screen. For this reason, the use of sound will not be covered. Likewise, sev· eral books cover the fundamentals of ac· tual charncter animation and how to draw cartoon characters in much greater detail than could be realized in this short article.
C
reative amateur filmmakerswith small budgets and big ambitions can create their own two·dimensional animated films for a surprisingly smllil outlay of money. A camera, a pair of photofloods and a roll of film are the biggest invest
-6 ClNEMAG/C-7
ments. Although you won't be able to compete with Disney, you can bring good, entertaining films to the screen. No doubt you'll be concerned with the costs in· volved. The techniques el(plored here are relatively inexpensive.
Countless numbers of potential car·
Anlm.UOD
a ••
le.
The different methods of animation
IAIft: An anlmaUon .tand does not Mye to be a .tate· of·the·.rt O.berry. This Yery .lmple copy .tand pro· duces good results for the animator wbo has enough talent to compen . . te for the lack of prGf_.lonai equipment. The large bl.c:kboard u..t I. mounted to the camera'. lea. ellmlftllte. camera reflec:t1on frGm the highly reflecUye eel. or gla ••• Note the two '4" dowela lhIIt _rYe aa regl.tnUon peg •. It take. mo ... lngenulty to produce acceptable anlmadon on thb type of Ht·Up lhIIn It would on •• tate·of·the art anlnutlon aland. Thb kind of equipment forees the animator to
11_
aU of hili c.-tlylty. The re.ults can be very rewudlng. Above: Thb home·buDt camera mOllnt work. well bllt reqlll .... e.tra work for the anlmHor. Thb .tand does not f_ture fleld·.I_lndlcation or foUow·foc\U, but a diligent .nlmator can achieve good .... ulta.,
•
discussed her@ use drawings. Se:v@ral oth@r tKhnlques, most notably those involving cutouts, ar@ better d@scribl!d elsewhere. Although It Is not @ssential that you beable to draww@II,It'sobvious· Iy to your advantage jf you can. The best way to achlev@this kind of artwork Is to work on the fllm one shot at a time and make two "extr@me" drawings for each shoe These two drowings show the @lC· treme or important parts of the action. Th@trlck is to use these two drllwings as the baslsofthatshot. By pl&eing your two extrem@s on a light bolC (animation board) and lighting this drawing from behind, a third drawing can be made in a position in-between th@firstand$@COncl drawings (Figur@ 1). This proc@$S is, needless to say, known as "in- between-ing." In mor@complicatedshotsitisli ke-ly that you will need more than two @xtr@mes. figure
r,z
RJgbt: Another _ample of In-be -tw_nlng. Draw· lag B t. the In -betw_n cIn.· lag for dr.wlag. A & C. Note aiM» UultthebaU flatu_ wben the klc.ll.er .... k_co .... c:t with it and g __ bac.ll. to Ita natur.l.b.pea.
Itnl_ ••• y.A
c
Simply put, the In-between drawings smooth out th@ action between the ex -tremes. In Figure 2, drawing A and E are the extremes in II simple five·drawing shot. From these two extremes comes the in·b@tweenC. At this point, drawing C becomes an@xtremewlthdrawlngAto produc@ the in-between B. This Is con-tinued until enough drawings are ac· cumulated to re$ult in a smooth action_
One point to keep in mind is that the extremes do not necessarily hllve to be the first and last drawings in II shot. In other words, several drawings can come before and after the initial extremes. The action dictat@s where the important drawings will be ioc.!!lted. Also, in-be-tweens do not necessarily h.!!lve to cover the action half-wllY. Here again, it is the action,thi!!lt you want to see on
the
screen that has the fln.!!ll decision. Of course all of this Is a simpllficlltion, but it isbaslcal-B
o
A
B
Iy the same way In which professional animated cartoons are made. By using the in-between method, you know where you are and where you .!!Ire going In rela-tion to the number ofdri!lwlngs you have to [email protected],ifyoustartat th@ beginning of a shot, make the draw-Ings in numerical order (straight through). you don't hi!lve th@ degree of control that you needov@rtheal'Jlountof artwork produced. By not In·betweening, you also run the risk of "character dis:-tortion," a process by which the features of the char.!!lcter or object that you're ani-mllting progressively distort during the shot. In·betweening, acting as a point of reference, helps prevent this.
For the different methods discussed h@re, the use of an animation board is es-sential. This device simply holds the art-work in proper register while it is being photographed. It can also serve as the
la.betw_alng t. a v..., eff.n· Ive _Utod of dnwlag • • ootIa ... tIo ... Dra . . . A .... E . . . the eztre_ of tbb . . . «1. Dra.I"g C t. the ftnt In·be· t"ella dn ... Draw"" C
u..a
beco_an..v.-
for 4nowiDgB (Ia betWell_ dnwlag. A & C) aad for dnwlng D (I .. betw .... drawing. C & E.)
E
c
drawing board when the drawings ar~ first m8d~. You can also buy a m~tal ani· mlItlon "disk" which does th~ sem~ thing. While the degree of precision found on a professional devic~ such as this is quite high, so is the price-uslRllly more than $150. An animation board,
which you can build yourself, consists of a base (plywood isa good material) with a
r~ctangular opening approximately
8
H x 12 H. This opening is cov~red by a sh~etof glass, mounted flush with the top of the board (Figure 3). Registration pegs can be made from simple quarter-inch dowels that are placed just above the glass. (You can also place a second pair of legs direc:tly under
the
glass for addedv~rsatility.) Two pegs are satisfactory but three may be better. The distance be·
tween the pegs is determined by the punched hates in the paper.
Animated "pans" are possible with the
addition of movable pegs. Make a groove in the baseboard just above andlor below the glass-covered opening. The registra-tion pegs are mounted on a strip of wood fitting into the groove (Figure 4). A simpler method is to glue two parallel slats on top of the basebotJrd itself. The pegs, again mounted on a wooden strip, slip between the slats. If you choose this method of mounting a sliding pegbar, the glass must be mounted above the baseboard so that the top of the glass is level with the top of the strip for the regis-tration pegs (Figure 5).
Most professional animators use one of two major systems of registration: Acme or Oxberry (Disney Studios have
th~ir own). The difference is the size of the pegs and the distance between them. Because professional animation disks. cels and even paper are so expensive, it may be necessary for you to make your
=SS
LF'_!:~
,
=~~I--....sl
Rlghtl Figure "3 .how. the. mo.t b •• le eo_b'uc'
~onfol'ananbn.~oa
boaI'd. The. peg . .... not mov_ble.. The. a ... . .. nu.h wlth the .IIIfHe. of
the. boud. Rec:taagular
alas
.
ope.nIna
.hould beabout." . l a",
own equipment and supplies. Using a paper punch. you can save lots of money by utilizing regular typewriter paper and dear sheets of acetate. In any case, by building your own equipment and mak·
ing your own materials, you won't be spending good money for a name, such as Acme or Oxberry. This is not to say that the professional equipment is not worth Its cost. Rather, it's that most of us can't afford what they offer.
The three techniques that follow are possible for the amateur on a limited budget. By no means is any of this easy-animation is a discipline that reo quires total commitment. Noneth~less,
hard work and a reasonable amount of talent can work wonders.
Papel' Animation
One of the most inexpensive ways to make two-dimensional animated films
Left: Flgul'e. "4 .how •• • Imple. w.,J of co_tn.«· Ina an anlmIiuoa boIar.dI with moveable peg •. The. peg . .... mounted on a .trlp of woo4
u..t
sUd_In a groove.. The .trlp"
leve.l with the ala . . • urf.ee..
Left: Fig ... ~ show. an alte.rDllte. method of eoa' .tn.ctlna moveable. peg •• The .trlp that the. peg • .... mounte.d oa .Ude. be·
tw_a tWD othe.1' stripe wblch are mounted above. the board. 0 .... 1. l'aIA".
,
•
•
(~side from cut-outs) is with the use of drawings on ordinary paper. While this method cen never compete with the quality of acetate eels, interesting things cen be done with peper and lit only a frac· tion of the cost. However, there is one ob-vious disadvantage. if you desire backgrounds, they must be drewn on the same sheet as your enimated characters Clnd just 0$ often. This neceuitates a simplicity in the style of the artwor1<, at least for the backgrounds.
If you use ordln.!!lry typewriter paper, you will have to punch the registration
holes yourself. If you can find it, sdIool notebook peper (without the rul~ lines) Is even better since it's already punched. By lighting the animation board from behind, you can see through several sheets of paper to check the different positions of your characters in relation to each other.
The actual rendering of the drawings should be done in ink-pencil lines are generally too faint. Felt·tip pens are es· pedally good for this. Coloring the characters can be achieved with colored pend Is, felt·tips or even crayons, Acrylic
pilint works extremely well. producing
bold. bright colors. You can use water·
colors. but they have the tendency to slightly wrinkle the [ll'IPf"r. Pladng a sheet of glass on top of the drawings duro
ing shooting helps to eliminate Ihis
somewhat, but it still can be noticeable in somece5es. Thiswrinklingfrom drawing
to drawing cllln b4! quite distracting. Of course, in some CIllse5, this may be just what you wlllnt. As far as the use of the colors themselves, most animators want
to maintain a consistency from drawing
to drawing in tone and intensity. When using colored pend Is or cr!llyons. this is not too difficult. Getting !II smooth, even
Right: One way to cr_te ce.I·llke effects with typewrlter.,.per hi to
cut out around the characters so
that the Hckgrounds show through. A strip of JNoper muat connect the character with the pegs. Below: A similar method. Is to use a paper overla,. with an animated drawing
prolnlding through. Both overlay and drawing must be registered.
o
o
o
o
tone over a large area with felt·tips, on the other hand, Is not as easy.
eel Animation
The use of acetate cels is the most s0-phisticated form of two·dimensional ani·
mation.lt is also the most expensive. The
cost of acetate. like everything else, has risen sharply in the last few years. One way for the amateur 10 cui down on the
cost, but still enjoy the advantages of acetate. Is to make his own cels. Report
covers or document protectors, evailable
at most office·supply stores, can be used
to make your own ecetate cells. These
transparent sheets can be found in the same thickness as professional cels. They come folded, usually with a paper
insert. By cutting this sheet in half and
punching registration holes to conform to the pegs on your animation board, you have a reasonable fecsimile of a profes·
sional cel.
In using this technique, the drawings are first made on paper, and then shot by themselves to determine the smooth-ness and plIce of the &ctlon. If the "pencil test"ls satlsfltctory, the drawings can be traced on the acetate with India ink or art markers. Not all art markers or felt·tlps work well on lIeetate. "Design" and "Sharpie" afe two of thl!! better ones, and both come In 8 wide selection of colors. Care should be used in handling the eels. Keep them clean of fingerprints and scratches. Editing gloves are another good Idea.
The next step is to color the individual drawings, a step known as opaquing. Here, color is added to the backs of the eels. Perhaps the bestpaintsforthellrTlll' teur to use are acrylics, which come in a variety of hues, 8re w.!lter·repellent, won't crack and dry quickly.
/
flgu ... #8One point to consider when using several layers of cels is their combined density. While three, four or even fivecel levels won't significantly change the look of the baCkgrounds, changing the number of levels during the shot will
be
noticed. Thereforl!!, it is advisable to use the same number of cels for each ex· posure throughout the entire shot, even if it means using blank cels.!lt one time or another.Tr.clng-P.per Anlm.tlon
One disadvantage to cl!!l animation, aside from the cost, Is the extra steps in· volved in tracing the drawings onto eels. This one aspect canbe
extremely time· consuming. While certainly not up to acetate standards. the use of translucent, artist's tracing po!Iper can also prove use-ful in many situations. As it is with typewriter paper, you don't have the ex·tra step of tracing your origi nal drawings. On the other hand, unlike t)'pl!!writer paper, tr&eing paper Is so thin that if the backgrounds are lit from behind, they become almost as visible as If .seen through a clear eel. This means, of course, that the backgrounds must
be
painted or drawn on paper instead of something thick and totally opaque such.!IS illustration boord. Unfortunately, in most cases you won't want to use more than one sheet of tracing paper at a time because the bKkgrounds will become hazy and difficult to.see.
Just as with acetate cels, tracing paper will have to
be
opaqued on the back with paint. White acrylic paint isapplied tothe characters on the back of the tracing paper so that the background 110'111 not show through the drawing. Be sure the PlIlnt doesn't wrinkle the paper, whIch may be hard to avoid, especially If theI
I
i
Clockwl_ from top left: This home·bullt, muiUpl.necl _lnw·
tlon stanclls fol' c .... tlng Ute Wuslon of depth. The d ... w .... g vf Ute multl.pl.ned sancl sbows tbe Ugbt Nt-up for _eb p18ne. beb pl.ne muat be Ut _pantel18Dd tbellgbts must be flagled. to prevent b.ekllgbtlng and pre.
nota
the reglstntlon pegs on each plane. Bottom leftl The c.men.la pt.c:e.l behbwI. b18d1: m.sk to pnllV_t It frollll being ... nected In the highly reflective eels _d gl_. u.sed In ualnwatlon. Csme ... flec:tlvD CUI ruin. fUm,•
•
•
are:a to be: opaque:<:! is large:. Whe:n the: drawings are: photographed a she:e:t of
glass will help keep the:m nat.
Different variations of these tech· nlques are only limited by your
imagina-tion. Often the: best results are achieved
when two or more methods are combined. One way to achieve: cel·like: effects
with typewriter paper is to cut oul the area around the characters. In this man· ner, the backgrounds will be plalnlyvlsi. bie. Of course, this technique, ltkeell the others. has its limitations. A strip of paper must connect the character with the: pegs (Figure 6). A similar method
would be to use a paper ove:rlay with the animated drawing protruding through it
(Figure: 7).
It Is possible to carefully cut out your characters and mount them onto cels with rubber cement. With this procedure
you still have the expense of acetate, but
figure "10
A
Once you've anlmllt.ed your chlincter Into a atatlonuy
poSWOD. you don't hlive to
do. HlDderiDg of the entln character for eacb frame.
You can _p.rate the rDOYiDg frorD the nOD' moving
pan.
and put them OIl dJrrerent
eels. Since only the anns_d
the mouth of the siDger and
tbe Dote move, you un keep the Ame eel for the HI.t of the e~cter. Animaote only
movlDg )NUts.
you eliminate the laborious tracing process.
Theeamera
A word should be said at this point
about mounting the camera. You can simply put it on e tripod positioned over
your animation board. This is only satis -factory until the first time you accidental· ly bump it and ruin the shot. A much bet-ter solution Is to use e copy stand or a heavy·duty photo enlllrge:r equipped with a vertical column. You can build II
stand out of wood or pipe, but be sure it is
perfectly rigid.
With
the
camera securely mounted'and iights placed on either side: of the art· work, you are re:ady to shoot. However. a few minor details remain: Because you
use a sheet of glass to hold the drawings nat during exposure, you will need a
shadow board between the camera and
the: art toelimJnate unwanted refiections.
This is e:spedally true if you use ace:tate eels. illustration board painted fiat black should do the trick (Figure 8).
A cable: re:lease is another good invest· ment. This helps preve:nt accidentlll
bumping of the camera during shooting.
One final Idea to consider Is a multi· plane rig. Developed by Walt Disney Stu· dlos in the 19305, the multi-plane: caryl' era Is simply 1m cll1imation stand with
severalleveJs of glass between the cam, era and the: base (Figure 9), Each level
should have Its own set of registration pegs, but If only a static piece of art Is used on these levels, they won 'I be neces· sary. The efFectiveness of this device is realized whe:n the camera tr&Cks up or
down (zooming doe:s not have the: same: effect). Since each level should be indl·
vidually lit and the /lmoun! of artwork is multiplied by the numberof levels, use of
B
c
the multi.plane is both time·consuming and expensive. Also, to be really effec-tive, it must be quite large: the two rigs that Disney Studios have today are both more thah 14 feet tall. Only the most am-bitious lImateur should undertake some-thing llke this.
Whether you keep your /lnimalion simple or go /Ill out, some written nota-tion should be used. Again, this can be as simple or as elaborate as your needs dic· tate. Even with the least complicllted film you will have to number your draw· ings in the order you want them shot. In cel animation, with different cel levels and backgrounds, this can get quite in· volved-especially with "holds" and cy. cles." Use of an exposure sheet helps the animator keep track of all these different elements. An exposure sheet is simply a written breakdown of the film, shot by shot, frame by frame, guIding the
ani-mator in preparing the drawings and shooting them in proper order.
You don't need to make one drawing per frame of film. By "shooting in twos," you can cut the work in half. Some ani· mators use three frllmes per drawing, with good results. Any more than three, however, the movement begins to look too jumpy.
Another shortcut is to use cycles and hold drawings. Simply put, cycles are a series of drawings that repeat an action over and over. A running cycle is a good example. If you are animating a charac-ter in an eight-cycle run, you need only eight drawings. By making the last draw· ing "flow into" the first, the run can continue indefinitely.
A "hold drawing" (or hold cel)issimply a single drawing filmed for more than the usual number of frames. By animating a character into a "pose" and then holding
Right: After the c ... cter .... been traced on.to the eel, you can color In the outlined fonn wltb .cryllc
.,.lnt. The eel. are I:olored from. behlnd.o that the black line. of the c ... racter'. fonn are not covered by the paint. Acrylic. work be.t beeau_ of their .hort drying time, the w.y they apply to the eel. and their deIUllty. Other type. of paint don't work •• well.
12 ONEMAG/C"7
that drawing for several frames before beginning movement again, you can save a lot of time and work. If you're working in lIcetate, this technique can have even wider use. If, for instance, you draw a character singing and moving his arms about, there is noneed to render the full figure for each frame of film. Figure 10 shows the hold cel lind the cel that contains the parts that actually have to be animated.
When animating with typewriter pa. per, make two hold drawings for each pose. While the ink outlines of your char -acters will be consistent in width and in-tensity from drawing to drawing, this is not likely the case with the color. If you've used pencils, felt·tips or crayons, there is bound to be subtle inconsisten· cies from one drawing to the next. This in itself is not objectionable. However, when you hold one drawing for any
Left: The ouUlae of. character b tn.c:ed. onto a eel from a pencH drawing. Regular nolaboolr. peper wom. well becauae of au prepunched hole •• The
eel .. beld In place during lI"IIcing b,. the 'I.. .. dowel. that also secure the notebook paper. The dowels later _rve . . regl.tn.tloD pegs. Thla eel
Is made from a report cover and Is cb_pe.r than Mylar cels made for ani· matora.
•
length of time, it becomes <!Ipparent. The color change from one drawing to anoth· er "freezes" for the duration of the hold.
This can be quite noticeable. You can prevent this by making two hold draw·
ings, alternating back and forth, shoot· ing each two frames at a time.
All of the methods described in this ar·
ticle can be used singly or In combina·
tion. All have their advantages and disad· vontoges. Becouse of the costs involved, all are compromises in one way or anoth· er. However, all three are successful in
getting <!In cmimated image on the screen. But these techniques alone can't
tell the filmmaker when or why to use
them in the first place. The ideas behind
the film will always be more important than the method of filming. And those ideas will invariably be the least expen·
sive element of production. An imagina.
tive story with interesting characters will
always Involve the audience more than technical virtuosity.
Two·dimensional animation can ac·
complish many things for the amateur. Everything from simple titles to com·
plete animated "productions" is possi· ble. All too often animation finds itself being used asa "gimmick" instead of the cinematic storytelling art that it is. Animated films are capable of express·
ing complex ideos, emotions ond stote· ments. As it is, fully 90 percent of the pro·
fessional animated films made today never rise above the level of simple car·
toons. "Cute" characters chasing each other is about all that most of these films
offer. It is hoped that the amateur film
-maker, even though he has a smaller budget and generally works alone, can
use animation on a higher level than
many of today's simple·minded "profes·
sional" films. (JI
"
Coloring In. b.ckground cel. a.ckground. c;an be done on
w.tercolor p,8per and colored In with w.tercolor. or .cryUc __ h.
KODAK'S
ANIMATION
GUIDE
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animation techniQue. This In-depth guide book was prepared by Kodak especially for the animator who wants
to make professional-quality anImated films on a MODEST BUDGET.
"Tne wona Of Animation" INCLUDES
-33 pages of complete blueprints for building your own animation stand. • A guide
to
all the Kodak films available for animation and when to usethem!!I• A "hOw-to" guide for achieving all the major animation technlquesm
How to find work with a producer!!!
• How to break Into the busIness!!!
• 152 pages-full COlor through-outlll
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CiNEMAGIC"7 13..
I2ROFILE
Damon
Santostephano:
A FUmmaker on the Rise
D
amon Santostefano. a 2Q-year·old filmmakerftom New York
City. is currently directing an
industriaVdocumentaryforthe New York Harbor Development Corpora-tion. He is making the film while attending
clll~~ ot New York Univel"$ity's Dep!lrt· ment of Film. The N.Y. Harbor
Develop-ment Corp. approached one of Damon's
professors. George Stoney, in search of someone to make II film about their
group. Stoney suggested that students be
given a chemce to prove themselves on a
professional project.
Perhaps it is unusual for a 20·year·old
student to be directing a professional
film-certainly none of the other students
wanted the responsibility. There is a prov-erb that is appropriate for this lucky break -"Who dares, wins." Though success is guaranteed to noone, Santostefano dared to take the directorial challenge, Besides looking impressive on his resume, theex
-perience has more to do with Santostef-ano's courage and ambition than with a
lucky break,
By JOHN CLAYTON
Damon Santostefaoo made his first film when he was 13 and has been going strong since, Now a junior at N,Y,U, hecre
-ated RoulJkx. 0. M, F. when he was II sopho-more. The film cost $),000 to make and was financed by Santostefllno's fllther,
&!bc$tiono, 0 psy<::hologist in the Boston
area, and who also etcted 115 Roublex's
voice.
Santostefaoo's early films were clay animation stories shot in Super-S without sound. This genre attracted him becllUse of its low production costs and because it
can be ao:omplished by a one-man pro-duction company. He feels that clllY animation is an expreSlOive medium that allows an artist the freedom to create true art without going broke in the process,
The next step in Santostefaoo'sgrowth as a filmmaker was to add sound to his productions and write scripts for his ac·
tors-who by this time were humans in· stead of day characters. Stop-moUon ani·
mation of models Illso figured Into his Super-S sound productions, which were interspJiced with live·action
scenesllsspe-\
;
Damon Santoa-terano ~II
.-c. ... lhe
• bootlngor Brooklyn street
.c.enes ""Ith Carl
Bellavla, Uae
dnematog
-npber for Uae
lnd .... trLal/doc. -umenta". rUm that Damon I. directing, Damon I. boldlng tbe camera, an A.nl· Flex 16SR,
dlll·effects sequences in order to add a greater cinematic scope to his films.
It became apparent to Santostefaoo that he was destined to become a film
-maker, a
goal
he actively pursued throughout high school by making films with his friends,NYU was Santostefaoo's natural choice for a film school; ifs the largest and
one of the most reputable in the world,
While a freshman, Santostefano began prooucing 16mm films. A course entitled
"Sight and Sound" provided him with both the proper atmosphere and the facil-ities to make nine short films in one year school-the required curriculum for the course,
"The films are all three minutes
long-six are si lent and th ree are sound," Damon explains, "I've already made 10 16mm films of my own, worked on four short films done by other NYU students and two feature· length films,
"I got the idea for Roublex o.M,F. one night while sitting around with some friends and thinking that it would bea per
-fect film for my junior project. I immedi
-ately sttlrted storyboarding it and writing
the dialogue-getting the whole project together .
~RoubI.exhasa running timeof just over 14 minutes and is filmed in black and white. My father put up the money to pro-duce the film and acted as the voice of Roublex.lwanted the robot to sound likea machine and not have any human inflec·
tions In Its voice, so I had my father say Roub's (Roublex's nickname) lines sepa· rately from the live action, which com-prisesall of the scenes in the film, J
record-ed my father saying Raub's lines in reverse word order. For example, 'Alex morning good: as I had my father say the line, was
reassembled through tedious tape editing to become 'Good morning. Ale:< in the finished film. This made Roub's speech sound like It was made up of prerecorded words drawn in proper sequence-but with random order of inflection-from the memory bank of an unfeeling, prepro. grammed computer electronically capa· ble of conversational speech by drawing words from its memory bank in whatever sequence they might be needed to com· pose a sentence. This technique effective
-ly removed any quality of human intelli· gence-lIS would be evidenced by logical inflection plIUems-from Roub's voice." Roub's voice is actually quite soothing and the robot ]sconstantly repeating com· forting statements like: "Calm down, everything is under control."
The film is a morality statement, set in the noHoo-distant future, about ho .... the human character may become weakened and overly dependent by allowing robots to do all of our mental work. Roublex's voice is a strikingly credible effect that enhances the film with an aura of reality worth every bit of Santostef,mo's effort to achieve the film's professional results.
There lire three charllcters in the film: Alex, Roublex'sowner and master; Lenny, Alex's friend; and, of course, Roublex. Alex hlls grown d~ent on Roub to wait on him hand and foot. One of mil· lions who own a Roublex, Alex represents a vast cross·section of society that finds itself addicted to robot servants.
Lenny i5 Alex's best friend. Lenny II concerned that Alex is lOSing his strength of character by leaning so heavily on Rou· blex to dOlll1 of his housework. Lennybets Alex $25 that Alex can't fend for himself for one full day without Roub's help. The bet is on-lind we can see thllt Alex is hav· ing trouble with such simple daily banal· ities as dressing himself In the morning without Roub's help.
Lenny, one of the few people who does not own 1I RoubIexO.M.F., is Ideologically opposed to having robot servllnts. He has a very strong character. He is llS rare in his future society as the person today who does not own a television set. In fact, there is a TV commercial for Roublex in the film-which is the device that San· tostefano uses to make his audience aware that Roublex Is a common household item. The commercial appears at the beginning lind end of the film. Sen· tostefano filmed the commercial, edited it, transferred It tovideotepe and re·filmed it off 1I dosed·circuit pillyback monitor in order to incorporate it into his film-lIn -other exomple of the effort put into the film to DChieve credibility, The slogan in the ad for Roublex is: "Sure, you can Jive without 1I Roublex O.M.F.-but why should you?"
During the course of the story, Lenny steals Roublex from Alex to prove that Alex Cen't function without it. Ironically, Lenny too becomes addicted to the com-forts thllt Roub provides. A practical joke thus converts Lenny into another
lethargic robot junkie. This entire com· plex story is developed and told in the course of the film's l4-minute running time.
It took one year of planning, story· boarding lind scriptwriting to make
RoubIex.o.M.F. This is not to say that San· tostefano put In 40·hour weeks working on the production for a whole year, but the story was on his mind a grellt deal of the time. He would, for instanc:e, jot down any new ideas he had for the film during the course of a given day.
'The film took six days to shoot," San-tostefano remembers. '"The lIctors in the film, Richllrd Stack as Alex, lind Steve Dolan liS Lenny. are professional actors lind belong to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). NYU has an agreement with SAG to let SAG actors work on NYU student film projects without pay in exchange for the exposure and 1I copy of the finished film.
Roublex cost $J,()(X) to produce. Most of the money Wllsspenton film lind devel· oping (the talent was free.) This fig!-lre may sound a tittle high to some young film· makers. but actually this budget is not ex· travagant for 1I 16mm sound film of al· most 15 minutes running time. Sentoste· fano had to make concessions to his bud· get in order to maintain the J·to-l shoqt·· ing ratio needed to properly edit the fin· ished film.
"Among the concessions i had to make was to shoot the film in black lind white. This saved a c:onsiderable amount nf money. Most labs don't develop black· and·white film anymore, but I had the 'good fortune of making my film at the same time that Woody Allen was making ManhaUan-so I brought my exposed film over toGuffanti Labsand had it developed with Allen's negative."
Santostefano designed lind built Rou -blex himself-and the robot is more inno· vlltive and looks more lIuthentic than
Roubln hoven over LenDJ . . Lenny becom_ _ _ rl&edity
hI. TV Mit. Len·
ny'. character
g __ through a
do.tlc change durlag the abort
film. Roublex'. IlOOthlng .tllte· ment, "Relax. LeDny.eve~g' t. under con· .... 01." cau . . . Lenny toloMl all motlv.tlon to do thing. for him_it and be become. Ilk., aU of hi. contem-porarle.-weak and In)'.
most of the robots that have come out of Hollywood. Roub Is not an android robot: there's no reason for a robot to resemble a human in order to function properly. Roubiex controls objects by exerting a magnetic field on them-so it doesn't
need arms to lift things. Roublex floats by
exerting a reverse magnetic field
under-. neath itself-it has no use for legs. This design is a departure from the standard concept of what a mbot should look like (according to Hollywood depictions of robots in science·flCtion movies). Ifs Roub's novel design that captivates the Imagination of the viewer and makes him feel that Roublex is perhaps a relll robot-devoid of extraneous embellishments that Hollywood prop masters love to tack on for "added effect.R
There are no visible wires to remind the viewer that the robot is being controled by human hands lind that Roublex is really just a prop In the film.
Roublex cost "between $ I 50 lind $200 to build, including 1I11 of the support sys-tems we needed to make him lIppear to float in the film:' according to Santoste· fano. This price Is far below the cost in· volved in creating robots for Hollywood productions-some which use robots that lire far less convincing than Roublex.
Roublex's floating system was also
de-signed by Santostefano. The device re-sembles a modified microphone boom, allowing Santostefano to control all of Roublex's movements from an off -camera position. Roublex can move ina large arch hy swinging the boom·scounter·weighted arm.The arches appear as straight lines in the film. Roublex can also rotate in place. There were some shots where the boom would have been visible, SO Santostefano 1Iiso constructed a support that plugged into the bottom of Roublex and kept the camera angle high enough tocrop out the support as he crawled around and maneu-vered the robot from below the camera vision.
He went to a great deal of trouble to achieve the sound effects of Roublex mov· ing about. The robot emits a low fre· quency hum called "system noise." There are several different frequencies of this system noise-one for each of Roublex's different movements.
"I used over a thousand feet of magnet· ic tape to record Roublex's system noise." the young filmmaker explains. ''There are four basic system noises that [ had to cre· ate for the robot's movements: a steady hum for hovering. a humming sound that increases in pitch for when Roub starts up from a hovering start, a higher·pitched hum for when Raub is moving around the apartment and, finally, a humming noise that decreases in frequency to the steady· hover hum for when the robot slows down to a hovering stop. I created these sounds on an electronic synthesizer by using a technique called frequency modulation. I had to make 30 start noises and 30 stop noises on the effects tape. I used the same tape for the hovering noises-repeating the cycle as necessary. The sound mix for
Roublex cost $500."
Roublex appears to defy gravity in the film, much the same as the robot, Vincent, did in Disney's The Black Hole-only Rou· blex was made before The Black Hole and you can't see the wires that support Roublex as you could in the Disney film. Again. a great deal of planning and work was necessary to conceal the wires that supported Roublex and give the illusion that the robot could float through the air. "We had to paint the wires to match the backgrounds so that you wouldn't be able to see them in the film. Since we were working in black and white. we only had to match the gray tones of the backgrounds and not the colors themselves. We also used flags-also known as barn doors-on our lights so that we could control the light to hit the robot but not the wires above it. We tried to use a lot of white backgrounds and black backgrounds so that we could simply paint the wires either white or black, depending on the back· ground."
Santostefano controled Roublex's movements during the shooting
of
the film and said Roublex's lines off·camera so that the actors could carry on their con· versations with the robot with properly timed cues. The film's cinematographer, Richard Friedlander, did all of the actual camera work. Santostefano later dubbed· in the tediously edited tape of his father playing the voice of Roublex. In the end, the film earned Santostefano an "A" for his junior project.The industriaVdocumentary that San· tostefano is presently working on has to do with plans to rehabilitate the Brooklyn waterfront. The film is in color and is to have a running time of 15 minutes and is currently budgeted at $16,500. The pro· duction company is made up of students and graduates from NYU's film schooL Much of the footage is to be aerial shots of
16 C/NEMAG1C"7
Brooklyn's waterfront, so Santostefano has recently been flying around New York City in a helicopter provided by the Harbor Development Corporation and filming test shots of the waterfront from the air. This certainly sounds exciting-but it is also hard work for this ambitious young filmmaker because his reputation is on the line. He's determined to prove that he is a professional equal to the task he has undertaken, The first footage that was completed on the new project consists of on-location shots of community life in Greenpoint, Brooklyn-the area that the Harbor Development Corporation is con· cerned with. Footage of the community life includes interviews with area res-idents, shots of a church service letting out, street scenes and footage inside the office of an architectural concern that plays a role in the film.
Santostefano shot the Brooklyn street scenes with the help of an Arri Stabiliza-tion Unit-a new device designed by Arri· flex that steadies camera movement. "We needed some sort of device tliat would steady the camera as we dollied down the pothole-ridden streets of Brooklyn. We mounted the Arri Stabilization Unit on top of a station wagon and got great results. The Arri unit is a new prototype and there are only five of them in the world at this point. We were lucky enough to obtain the use of one through a Manhattan·based equipment rental company. The Arri unit has a small gyroscope that helps steady the camera image through a sophisticat· ed arrangement of mirrors that compen· sate for any camera tracking errors on the cinematographer's part.
"We're going to shoot one fuJI day of aerials of the New York Harbor. We're go· ing to use the Continental Helicopter Stabilization System to keep the camera steady during this shoot. Thisstabilization system is the only mount of its kind on the east coast-it is available exclUSively
Steve Dolan, who pl.y. Lenny In Roubk.¥ O.ltf.F. is Menhel'\lll with Roublex .fterhe .... stolen the robot from A.le •• Roub -le. Is holding Lenny's antique music bo. th.t pl.y. a piece by Chopin, the ram -ou. compo_r of the nineteenth century. Lenny dla.covera that Roublex hils bet -ter taate In music th.n Alex. Lennyeventu.lIy .uccumbs to the temptation to own hls own Roublex unit. through Island Helicopter in Garden City, Long Island. The mount costs $300 a day to rent. We were fortunate enough to be able to reserve the use of it for one day of shooting. Because of the high demand for it, we had to schedule it far in advance to be able to get the use of It.
"We're shooting the film for the Harbor Development Corporation on about a 10 to I shooting ratio. We're going to need 10,000 feet of film to complete it. At pre· sent prices we're going to spend about S16,sao to make thefilm, which will have a running time of 15 minutes after we finish cutting it."
Santostefano has been so busy shooting the film for the New York Harbor Development Corp, that he hasn't been able to attend his classes at NYU recently. "My professors understand that I'm busy making the film, bull'm still responsible for my regular load of school work. They tell metodothe bestlcan.l'mgettingfour academic credits for making the film and I'm going to have to do some catching up on my school work when we're finished shooting the film:'
Among Santostefano's courses this semester is "Documentary Workshop." When he's finished shooting the industri· aVdocumentary film he'll go back to studying the very thing he's been doing in a professional sphere, He's also taking II
cour5e entitled "Developing the Screenplay." His professor for the latter course is Venerable Herndon, who wrote the screenplay for A/k:e's Res/aurant. San -tostefano also has two non·film courses: Renaissance Art and PoJiticO!lI Theory.
Becoming a success in the competitive field of filmmaking requires talent, ambi-tion and lots of hard work. Damon Santo-stefano has all of the qualities. With a pinch of luck he'll be one of the upcoming generation of filmmakers that we'll all be reading about in the not·too·distant
future. (1/
Filmmakers'
EORUM
A I"lIgular department devoted to readers' commen'" about filmm.ldng, their problems and solutions.
Hyperspace Titles
... While goofing around with John Cosentino's backwinding
technique, I found a way to add some professional class to your tilles. This Ie<:hnique is similar to
Ihe ending titles in Buck Rogers in
lhe 25th CenIIUY. It's a reilltively simple technique compare<! to
others in this magazine. First, get a poster board and poke some small holes in it with a pin or n(lil and then backlight ii-that's the easy part. Now for the hard part.
Film the poster board for about 30 seconds and t~n go into your
darkroom Hnd backwind (for
those of you who are more privileged, take out your Craven
and backwind). Next, film your SUlfS from another angle, but this
time zoom in. This will add a moving effect to the stars. Repeat the last two steps, speeding up the loom as you go along. When you've done about sev~n ex· posures (the number I use). film your production company's name (13 you :r.lowly loom in. Til., fill",1
effect will be stars zooming past (like in a hyperspace shot) with your production company's name moving forward from the background.
Ben Jones 5617 Trooj>er Las Vegas, NV 89120
Zooming through star fields seems 10 be becoming a standard effecl. It
might be interesting for someone 10 calculate what speed would really
be necessary for a crd/llrlUJeling
through a star cluster to actually
wilness the effect. Incidentally. many of our reader's have fOUfld the Oaven backwinder to be a
much higher quality product than
the EWA backwinder. &xii ilems are available from HaJmar Enter·
prises; se£ their ad in CINEMAG/C
Marlrelpla~.
Warp Drive
... The electronics system you
describe in CINEMAGIC '"4 is also very useful for warp-drive enAines for the AMT (old version) Enter·
pri5e model. This identical system is available from Paul M. Newitt"s company at 5035 Swingle Dr., Davis, CA 95616. The kit form is no longer available and the prebuilts sell for approximately $225.
John Potter Rt. 2, Box 479-A Honea Path, SC 29654
~lnlaturestv.nted
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"T~==~::
We need miniatures for our film,
r
S/aTRaiders. We are holding a contest for people who want to make miniatures for our movie, We need four ships: the 5.5.Omega: the Dark Raider; the
Gargoyle Base Ship and the Ark 7. Anyone who is interested in building a miniature for our film can submit one or as many as you like. We will use the four best entries in our film. Your work will
be c;edited and all models not us· ed .... ill be returned, We ap-preciate all entries.
Garden State Productions 1032 Prospect St. Westfield, NJ 07090
Newsstand Sales?
... In your ads for ClNEMAGIC, you advertised (when I ordered a subscription) and still do adver· tise, "Not on newsstands!"' But that must not include bookstores with magazine racks- because Ihat"3 where I found it. I 3incerely hope that they are there without your permission. or I shall feel Ilke I have been "had" by an ad campaign designed to sell subscriptions before the magazine goes public. As I men· tioned before. I do enjoy your magazine and I will continue to buy it even if you are selling CINEMAGIC in bookstores.
Roger W. Perkovich
1423 Sooth 81st St., Apt. '"30 West Allis, WI 53214
Your are correct. Newsstand
distribution is nol the same as
bookstore sa.les. ClNEMAG/C is
IIvallabie through 11 few specially
shop dealers in the United States
and the United Kingdom. II is a/sa sold through the larger Walden's
Books slores. II is nol, however,
distributed nationally through newssland dealers as are
STARLOO. FUrURE UFE and
FANa:JRJ..O..
••• J thought you might like to see the end result of CINEMAGIC '"4's article on building a wire animation model. It began as something resembling a spider and ended up as something any
ALIEN fan should be able to
recognize. It WllS built by follow· ing the article, except for a few small changes. For instance, Anyone who wants a copy of the details for this technique can send II. S.A.S.E. to my address and I'll send you one-free of charge. Also. I own one of the now discontinued Elmo C·200 cameras. with interchangeable Single or Super·8 backs. ! would like to hear from anyone who can tell me where I can purchase a Single·8 back so that r can put this marvelous method to use.
Dale Schoeck 2210 E. Hwy. 190 Copperas Cove, TX 76522
Pa
i
nting Spaceship
s
••• 1 recently constructed a model spaceship for a SFX shot. The following is a description of
Backwlndlng
Technique
1-
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--
1
its construction. First, decide howyou want to suspend your model in s~ce during filming. In this .. .In tn earlier issue you placed l!I
spot III Filmmakers' Forum con· cerning Gerald Genco's method of reloading Single·8 cartridges with Super·8 film. I have been in touch with Mr. Genco and he has
shown me II. truly ingenious method for doing this-allowing for unlimited backwinding of he film for multiple exposures.
case r used a horizontal rod stretching from the center of the model into the black back· ground. The ship itself masked the rod. The model was pieced together on II plastic hot·rod frame. Additional detailing was added from other model kits. When you lire satisfied with the results, prime the model with a
coat of white paint. When dry
thanks to my huge budget, it was colored by mixing food coloring into the latex-although I haven't matched the color all the way
around yet. "III know is it can sure liven up a dull party.
rony Gardner
3415 W. Oxford Oval North Olmsted, OH 44070
(working one section at a time), apply dots of color to the detail. Before the paint dries, wash it over with a clean brush dipped in thinner. The resulting faded col· ors can make the ship look damaged or weather beaten.
Carl Paolino 53-12163 St. Maspeth, N.Y 11378
Moon Mix
... Being a Space: 1999 fan, J found it ne<:essary to make II realistic Moon surface suitable for close·ups for one of my produc·
tions. I feel the most economical and realistic is a mixture of crushed charcoal briquettes and white flour. First, crush the char -coal into a fine powder with a hammer. This can be done under a piece of burillp to minimize the mess. Silt the powder through a screen to remove the large chunks. The chunks can be add·
ed later to simulate Moon rocks.
Now mix the charcoal with the flour until yOll get the desired shade. Be wary-this mixture is very messy!
Tom Lauten P.O. Box 878
New Paltz, NY 12561
]. "Yeah, /'u
e
seen some of that .
..
like Mr. BiI/,
right?"
2.
"
Oh ... you do cartoons like
'
Gumby
'
, huh?"
3.
"
You mean you animate poltery?"
T
hese are the three most com-mon responses we get when we try to explain what kind of movies we make. "We" are Will Vinton Productions, end we make clay. animated movies.04ymatlon
movies, to bemore prec
i
se
.
I'm the production manager for WII Vin
-ton Productions, and I'm here to tell you how we make Claymation movies-specifically, how we made The lJJtJe Prince
andF_
But first, II little history. You all re~mber Oosa:t ~ right? The thelItricel short which
won
an Academy Award back In 75? Well. that was Will Vin· ton's first bonafide clay-animated film. which was co<~ted by Bob Gardiner. Bob went on to create Ind~nd~tly. and Will proceeded to form Wil Vinton P ro-ductions.WVP's first project was ell tM!etriCllI short clIlled MounJ.ain Music. Then, btl -ween 1976 and 1979, they made three half-hour films:
MMin
theCobbler.
Rip Van W!nkIeand The UtUe Prlnce Theylliiso did e short documentary In '78 called 18 C!NEMAO/C"7Oayl1UJlion, plus two commercials
(Rollinier Beer and Levi's) lind another short in '79 called Legacy.
At present we are completing two more shorts, Dinosaur and pllJ(fon's Pyramid (cel·'!mimated) end we've begun yet enother: A Christmas Gilt
So where does The LIWe Prince IJfId Friends fit In, you wonder?
SImpIement:
We took Rip Van WInkle, Oaymatk)n and The UttJe Prince, bridged them together with a moderation (by the esteemed Alistair Cookie) and prestol Feature fUm! And it doesn't come off looking contrived.
Audiences at the test opening in Seattle found it quite cohesive end enjoyable.
Until the release of 1l.P6F in December of ·79, each of the Hlms in the progfllm had ba!n limited elmost entirely to non· theatrlcel exposure-schools, Ilbfllrles, festivels end some television-through our distributor, Billy Budd Films of New York. But Rip had received an Academy Aw.mi nomination in '79,
OaynuJ1lon
had been e consistent festivel winner lind crowd pleaser I!lndThe
Uttle Prince had won a grand prize in e&eh of Its first threefestival competitions (Plus a Silver Hugo lit ChlclIgo), 50 it appeared that the three should really be given more exposure then they were gettlng ... thus, the feature-end the big leap into the theatrical mllrket.
While you can get some idea of how we
makeourfUms by watching
Oaymalion,
itdoesn't offer quite the whole picture. I'll try to provide you with the whole pIcture, HIm by film, In order of their IIppellrance In TI..P6F.
Rip
Van "lalde
To begin with, we had e story written back in prehistory by this fellow named Washington Irving. Naturally, we couldn't I«ve the story the wily it was and expect a Oreat Film to emerge, so we had to tailor it a bit to suit our contempofllry storytelling sense. Susan Shadbume did the sel'eenpley odopt.et1on end come up wlth the perfect mix of humor, excitement and suspense. (Susan also wrote the hulk of the musk and all the song lyrics.)
After the story adaptation came the storyboard, a scene-by·scene blueprint of the film. Our productions arealweys plen. ned almost to the ffllme, allow-ing very lit· tie mergin for error; the storyboard is vir· tually the Bible for production. This doesn't m«n there·s no room for 1m· provlsatlon: creativity Is encoultlged lind welcomed, if it will serve to enhance the finished product.
