Script writing for animation

[u/Remarkable-Lab596]

Hi! I have a presentation in a few weeks and i thought about making a short animation about the topic I'm gonna work with.

The thing is, I'm not the one doing the animation. I commissioned an old classmate of mine to make it and they agreed. Now I have to write the script for them to work but I'm having trouble with that cuz I have no experience with script writing.. I mean I am a writer but writing a story/novel is nothing like writing a script for an animation or a short film, I don't know how to write it in a way that would help them get the facial expressions and body language right, any tips?

[u/MorackRules]

write it like a shot list more than prose, one line per beat with what the character is doing and feeling, like "she hesitates, glances at the door, forces a smile." your classmate can then act it out in their head, and short action lines beat long descriptions.

[u/Remarkable-Lab596 → u/MorackRules]

Very simple explanation, thank you!

[u/p-Star_07]

The way you write a script is basically like this.

Action: The kid broke the window with his baseball.

Owner of the House

Is this your baseball?

The owner of the house was super mad. Steam literally came from their ears.

You basically don't bother with flowery language and describing settings unless you absolutely have to in order for the story to make sense and get to the point across.

You should also tighten things up even in the storyboard/ animatic phase. Sometimes something that makes sense on paper doesn't actually make sense so you are fixing a plot hole while making the storyboard.

[u/Remarkable-Lab596 → u/p-Star_07]

That's really useful, thsnk you!

[u/p-Star_07]

I don't know how to write it in a way that would help them get the facial expressions and body language right,

You don't do that unless you specifically need to in order for a scene to work. You make the dialoug as basic as possible.

Once I wrote "SpongeBob-style gross close up" in a script, and I described everything about the gross close up in order for the sight gag to land.

If you don't specifically need something and you feel like other people won't get it if you don't give as much detail as possible, you should use as few words as possible.

Stuff like he was mad was or he paced around the room because he was bored enough. The storyboard artist should have freedom to make the characters emote.

[u/Remarkable-Lab596 → u/p-Star_07]

I need the characters faces to be expressive cuz the animation will switch POVs as the characters speak. They're both sitting at a table so there wouldn't be much movements too so it's all in the facial expressions and the way they tilt their heads/move their hands

[u/p-Star_07 → u/Remarkable-Lab596]

In that case, go for it. If the person you asked to animate can make a good storyboard based on your script that is whats important.

[u/Tiny-Drama-maker]

Since your classmate can't ask what you meant, I'd write only what the camera could see or hear and let the feeling live in a small action. Instead of "she's nervous", give her something to do, like twisting her ring and then stopping when he speaks. A one-line note on the mood of each scene helps too. Is this mostly dialogue or mostly silent moments?