Creating an animation from a script

By THOMAS HUKAHU
IN my article in Weekender last week, I mentioned that some of my goals for this year (2018) are to work on three of my hobbies as a in the evenings or on weekends.
These pastimes are, creating animations, working on piano (keyboard) skills and foreign language learning.
I have worked on the two latter hobbies in previous years but need to develop on them from where I left off. Animation is a new hobby that I’ve recently started on.

What is animation?
Before delving more into the subject of animation (as in creating moving images), let us get some terms defined. Like, what is animation?
According to freedictionary.com, animation means:
1. The technique of photographing successive drawings or positions of puppets or models to create an illusion of movement when the movie is shown as a sequence.
2. The manipulation of electronic images by means of a computer in order to create moving images.
I will be discussing the second definition, whereby computer software is used to create movie plots, scenes and characters to tell a story.
By the way, the first definition is how the Walt Disney animated cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and Donald Duck and Micky Mouse were produced.
The films made by this technique were created by penciling and painting the characters tens of thousands of drawings and then showing them in sequence to make it look as though the characters were alive and really moving. Shrek, Toy Story, Finding Nemo and The Lion King are children’s movies that adopted the same technique.
Animation can also be used by artists to sell products of a company as in advertisement or commercial or it can be used to promote a concept or project, as in a government’s plan to build a new state-of-the-art facility in a city.

The wish to produce a script
My learning animation actually came from another hobby of mine – writing scripts. I self-taught from sources online and have completed a number of full-length scripts. I am now mulling over how to have them produced – whether as a stage production, or doing a re-write of a stage play for a screenplay and have the story told in the film format.
The obvious hurdle before me has been finding a production company to stage the play or shoot a movie version of it. This caused me to re-think the issue in another way – to do an animation of one of the stories that I have written, particularly a 3D animation.
Just before Christmas, I stumbled upon a free animation software called Plotagon and have since been creating short animated videos (of films) using that resource.

What sort of animations can you create?
Creating a film (and possibly selling it) might not be the only reason why you may want to use the software. There may be other reasons. For instance, if you write speeches, and want to see how it will sound by way of a Plotagon character using American English, you can copy your speech in text form and paste in the appropriate place and your speech will be heard.
If you want to share information on various issues or topics, use Plotagon characters to voice your thoughts on those.
Teachers will also find that useful in creating short videos on various topics, where two Plotagon characters debate a theme or discuss a science concept.
Teachers of theatre arts or English will find the animation software a valuable tool that will enable their students to bring their scripts, or skits, to life.

Information on using Plotagon
To use Plotagon, you will need to first download the free software from their website. Also check that you have the correct specifications for supporting systems on your computer or laptop.
If you are using a laptop, you should free up space by removing unnecessary files – or better yet, get one that will be used for animations only. I use a Dell mini netbook/laptop for the exercise.
To produce animations, you must do it online. It is advisable that a Wi-Fi system be used to avoid having interruptions as you make the characters in your script come alive in film format.
Note that a short video may take an hour or more to make, so ensure you have enough internet data to work on.
Once you get into Plotagon, you will have to select a “plot” – a new story to work on, which will be dated for you.
Then you select a “scene” where you will place your characters – in the meadow in summer or winter, at the bus stop, in the classroom or café. You choose.
After that, start your story by selecting the “dialogue” option and you select your “characters” (two is the maximum for any scene.)
With the dialogue, choose appropriate “stage direction” in the scene as your characters interact; what they will do – shrug, cough, give the thumbs up or clap.
You can also indicate their “action” – like one character shaking the hand of another.
You can include the “sounds” (people clapping, cheering or murmuring) and “music” in that scene too.
When all is done, you can share your videos with others by posting it on YouTube or social network. (Some of my recently completed videos are on my wall on Facebook.)

Some restrictions in using Plotagon
As is the case when using different software, there are some limitations in Plotagon too – like you can only have two people in a certain scene at any given time. Also, you need to know that some settings/backgrounds for a scene are free but others must be purchased from Plotagon.
The best advice is to tailor your script to suitably tell your story despite the limitations. Like, instead of having three people in your original script, split it up into two scenes where in the first, Person A meets Person B, and then Person B goes to get Person C to see Person A, instead of having all of them present in the same scene, as this won’t be possible with that software.
It is a matter of experimenting and seeing which works best for you. Adapt your script to still tell your story despite the restrictions.

Tinker with it, learn and grow
To really learn how to use Plotagon, tinker with it – fiddle around with it.
You don’t have to go to film or animation school to learn how to create animation. Just spend time fiddling around with the software and you will soon have the hang of it.
The marvellous thing about it is, it is user-friendly and you will soon find yourself creating your first 3D animated video.
There’s another thing too if you choose to create animation. It is hard work and demands patience – a lot of it, and especially so if your computer/laptop is slow.
In the real movie business, the scriptwriter/screenwriter is usually a different person from the director, producer and editor, not to mention the animation team.
However, when you are creating your own animations using Plotagon, you are doing a one-man show – hence it is going to be very challenging.
But if you have a nice story that you want told in a film, then it is worth putting in the hours. After all, that’s how all blockbuster animated movies are made.

• Next week: Developing skills in playing the piano.
• Thomas Hukahu is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Weekender.