Walks and Timing the Total Ad



Slow work on the animation.... Seems there is always something else that needs to be done.

I want one of the main characters to have a "fat walk." The Animators Survival Kit by Richard Williams is an excellent reference with all sorts of different walks.

A preliminary soundtrack is together, but I don't like parts of it. The timing, however, works for a thirty-second spot. That is a key element. Virtually every animation in the past has been more than the thirty-second limit. At that point, I am forced to use sound-editing tricks to speed up the dialog and cut "precious animated frames."

My first aggressive driving spot was a full minute. After I showed it to the staff, they delicately let me know that only a thirty-second spot is appropriate. I went back and aggressively cut scenes, dialog, and frames. I also sped up the dialog electronically, as much as acceptable. Amazingly, it came down to thirty-seconds. When I previewed it for the first time, it was tough to adjust my thinking. Those meaningful glares between the husband and wife pretty much vanished, which made me a bit disappointed. After the third preview, or so, it became clear that the heavily edited version was better. Lesson: Edit, edit, edit, edit!

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