Animation : Ask Me Anything (AMA) 9/12 to 9/13- Making Your First Animated Short! by Derwin Hayden

Thanks for having this AMA, Derwin Hayden. With live-action scripts (shorts and features), filmmakers can keep the budget low by doing things like not having a lot of locations, limiting the number of characters, etc. Is it the same thing for animated films? And are there other ways to keep the budget low with animated films?

Hi! Your short is amazing! How do you start a project like that? Did you have the story first or have some animation you loved and created a story around it? So many details! Think I need to watch it multiple times!

Thank you, Maurice! I would say that it comes to keeping the workload manageable to reduce the budget for an animated film, compared to a live-action action. However, not as significant as live action. For backgrounds, every back has to be constructed. So, I would say that budget-saving methods really expose themselves in the execution of the film. If I were to have a film in a messy room as the only setting, I still have to draw every angle that I use for it. But, if I make the background by taking live photos , then I don't have to commission an artist to make a collection of backgrounds.

Ways to keep the budget low for an animated project fall to how it is animated. Of course, all animation styles take a significant amount of work, but rig animation would be the most cost-effective (typically). Animation is still very expensive even in its most cost-effective form given its very labor-intensive pipeline. Thank you again for the question!

Thank you so much Xochi!

I started this project with a story idea and worked forward to complete the script. I allowed my love for the medium to come out when I was making concept art for the piece. I would draw up ideas and write down things that I felt would impact the audience. Various ways to make a dense spectacle.

I would always watch cool animation pieces and look at gorgeous artwork, giving me great inspiration. I would even go back into the script to edit it for the sake of making more poignant moments in the film if it felt necessary.

Derwin Hayden - great work! Are you incorporating any AI workflows into your development or production pipeline?

Hey Derwin Hayden - great to meet you and thanks for doing this AMA! What are some of the features that influenced your animation style or inspired you to go into animation?

You're welcome, Derwin Hayden. Those are great ways to keep the budget low on an animated project. Thanks for sharing. I really liked "Requiem.Generation.Breaker." Looking forward to checking out your other work.

Thank you so much for making yourself available today, Derwin Hayden! What tips do you have for someone who is interested in pursuing animation for the first time? Are there certain programs or processes that people should be aware of?

Thank you, Will!

I do not use any AI in my pipeline.

Hey Leonardo, Thank you!

Of the features that inspired me, I would say: Lupin the Third: Castle of Cagilostro, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, and (this isn't a feature but it is feature length) Samurai Jack: The Birth of Evil parts 1 and 2.

Derwin Hayden Hi Derwin, what would your advice be for someone like me who with my new project is moving from writing live-action to a serialised animated fantasy.

My aim is to create a proof-of-concept episode with a crowdsourced and crowdfunded campaign.

Why? Because this is a BIG universe story with different realms. I love anime style and have always wanted to create such a expansive story and it seems that this style is a wonderful means of telling a drama with such scope.

It's demonology and spiritual landscape is drawn from ancient writings in the Middle-East, Japan and China and I've written the pilot and scoped several other episodes. Whilst at times I feel must be mad, this project just fuels me with such energy, that I can't give it up! Other than seek professional help, what advice could you give me? Cheers. Geoff

Thank you, Ashley!

A tip that I have for anyone trying to do animation, that I would have loved to know earlier, would be to replicate the works of those you admired. Don't trace the work but do replicate them to the best of your ability. Your first attempts may lack luster but thats good! Keep doing it until you are satisfied and don't give up! Find a five-second animation clip and replicate it. By doing that consistently you will be able to master any style. It's all about standing on the shoulders of giants. Learn from them, and before you know it, you will be pushing the medium forward and inspiring a whole new generation.

Good places to learn are Twitter (X), YouTube, and Newgrounds. There are more resources than ever before for learning animation. There is also a site called https://www.sakugabooru.com/

This is a database of animations, so you could pick a clip and just do replication studies. Hope this helps!

Geoff, Thank you!

That passion is exactly what you need to get this project done! What I would do in your shoes is make an animatic or demo of the piece. The big thing is to design something that is so spectacular that people who watch it feel compelled to help it exist. With the worldly aspect of spiritualism, I would make efforts to find a way how I could incorporate something so beautiful in the animatic/demo. Something like the hands of a character performing a mudra, before showing an oppulant constelation. Find what it is that you love in your piece and then bring that love to the forefront of your animatic/demo. Best of luck to you!

animation seems fun to make but tideous. I wrote an animation short in 2019.

Derwin Hayden thanks Derwin, so I hope I got this right, I need to find an animatic artist that will create the character and its mudra, or seal/gesture and use that to attract my crowdsourced and compel them to join the campaign?

Geoff Hall

Yep! You could also pay an artist to draw up some stills for the series to help sell it.

Cool, thank you. I will in due course post a job ad on the Stage32 site and see if attracts some good people. I loved your animation by the way, and the music too. Great work, “Dslick”! I’ll also check out your YT channel.

Hi Derwin Hayden - thank you so much for this AMA! SCAD is such an awesome school! What would you say are the biggest difference for screenwriters when approaching an animated project as opposed to a live action project?

Thank you for the question, Sam!

I would say the big difference between live-action and animation scripts is scale. When writing a screenplay for animation, there is no idea that is too much for the medium as long as it can be drawn.

With a Live-action screenplay, you gotta think of the practicality of getting a setting that exists, along with the time of day and much more. The level of freedom in an animation script is grand.

Hi Derwin Hayden! Thank you so much for doing this AMA! For artists who are just starting out and looking to get into animating their own projects on a budget, what programs or software would you recommend they check out? I just saw Procreate is coming out with a new app - Procreate Dreams - that looks really promising

Thank you, Emily. It's my pleasure.

I also heard about Procreate Dreams and given how affordable it is (especially compared to my animation software) I would recommend that for most beginners. Along with that, I would also recommend Toon Boom. I made "Requiem.Generation.Breaker" with the essential version. Another program that I would recommend is Clip Studio Paint. It's amazing for both illustrations and animations.

Hi Derwin! Thanks for sharing your work and experience. Can you tell us what benefits you got from attending NOCCA and SCAD, and what aspects of your work are more self-taught?

Thank you, Mike.

I would say that both SCAD and NOCCA gave me the perfect environment to flourish as an artist. I was surrounded by amazing teachers who were knowledgeable in their respective fields and I had a community of peers who always helped me realize my dreams and potential. However, my most significant growth happened in my solitude. When I was doing exercises to find my weaknesses and improve by myself, that was when I made a lasting impact on my skill level. I would read books and watch videos on getting better at my craft (music, animation, writing, directing, etc.) when I wasn't with my community.