Introduction
Discover how professional filmmakers and content creators use animatics to plan their videos before production. This comprehensive guide explores the process of creating rough, timed-out versions of films using voiceover, music, and visual storyboards – a technique employed by industry giants like Pixar and directors like Wes Anderson. Learn how modern AI tools can make this professional planning method accessible to creators at any level. For advanced storyboarding solutions, explore Shai Creative’s AI Storyboard Generator.
The Power of Pre-Production Planning
The more videos I make, the more time I find myself spending in the planning phase before I ever pick up a camera or set up a light. And it turns out that some of the biggest names in film making have a bit of a planning trick up their sleeves. Epic teams like Pixar or directors like Wes Anderson are known for using something called an animatic.
Basically a rough timed out version of their films using voice over music and visual storyboards. They use it to map out everything before they ever start shooting or animating. And I’ve always wanted to try one of them on my own projects. So, in this video, we’re going to give it a shot and see what it’s really like to plan a video this way. And maybe you’ll even want to do it for your own videos. And we’re going to do it with the help of some amazing tools from Art List, who are also sponsoring this video. So, secure the cup and let’s plan a video.
What Exactly is an Animatic?
Okay. So, what exactly is an animatic and why are they useful? It’s basically a rough version of a video or film made up of visuals, voiceovers, music, and sound that lets you test out the timing, the tone, and the pacing before you actually go film anything. Think of it like a storyboard that’s been brought to life just enough to feel like a mini movie preview. In fact, they’re often made using the actual storyboard frames for the film or movie that’s going to be made. It’s not meant to be final or polished. The whole point is to figure things out early while it’s still easy to make changes.
And once you start digging into how animatics are actually used, it becomes pretty obvious why creators, even solo ones, might want to try them.
Benefits of Using Animatics
Test the Flow Before Shooting First of all, you can test the flow before shooting. One of the hardest parts of film making or content creation is knowing if a moment will actually land once it’s edited together. With an animatic, you can see how all of your shots, voice over, and music will work together and whether the timing of the video actually feels right before you spend hours filming or editing.
Communicate Vision Clearly It helps you to communicate the vision clearly. Big teams like Pixar rely on animatics to get everyone on the same page, from the director to the animators to the editors. And if you’re working with a team, an animatic can help them understand your exact vision, both visually and emotionally. But even if you’re working solo, it helps to clarify what you’re actually trying to make before you go chasing it with the camera.
Set the Tone It sets the tone visually and emotionally. Wes Anderson is legendary for this. Actors who work with him say that before shooting he shares a full animatic of the entire movie shot for shot. He even records the entire voice over himself, playing every single character, not just to show what the shots look like, but actually how he wants everything delivered. That level of planning means that there’s no guesswork. Everyone involved knows exactly what it’s supposed to feel like.
Save Time And beyond all of that, using an animatic can save you a ton of time. You’re not wandering into a production hoping that it comes together and wasting time on set trying to figure things out. You’re building something with a clear plan that makes the whole process faster, smoother, and less stressful.