Story vs. Acting

There's a big difference between what happens in story and what happens in animation that I think is really great.

In the story process, you have to make sure everything is clear and reads well onscreen, but it's not the writer's job to tell the actor what the character is thinking, or every bit of backstory. In fact, it's better to leave that work to the actor. The story should contain all the core information, all the clues to who that character is, but the actor needs to make it specific and personal.

I love this dynamic. Every step of the production process should ideally increase the number of layers artistically while remaining true to the story.

I like to think of the story as a huge egg containing an unhatched phoenix and every element of the filmmaking process is a person holding that egg up and providing support to its development. If everything is doing its job right, when the egg hatches, something magical is created.

So back to my point, the work of acting as a support to the story is crucial. And I'm enjoying the process immensely as I start to flesh out the simple characters in my short film, find out who they are, and show them to the rest of the world.