Questions for cartooning in shows and movies.?

Question

Hey Everybody, I have questions about real t.v cartooning. I've always wanted to be an author/cartoonist/screen-writter. Is that to much, or would they be fine to take together>

I'll use Avatar: the last air bender, as a good quality cartoon.
I am only saying on how people make cartoons, no voices, no sounds, nothing.

1. Do you have to draw re-draw backgrounds every time a character moves?

2. Let's say, there's a a couple trees in the background, some of the leaves on the trees move, so does that mean the background has to be re-drawn as well?

3. I once saw a bambi thingy that showed that they had bambi and they moved the character (bambi) out on the screen. How is that done, (If it is still done know).

4. How many people does it take to make a good quailty cartoon. What do you think is the lowest amount of people to make a good qaulity show?

5. Is it possible to make a good quality show by yourself, like how much time to make 30 minute eps.

6. How much money does it take? (I heard it costs 1,000,000 dollars for one episode of avatar.) Does that included paychecks for peopl, and stuff besides the actual drawing? If you would only sketch, how much money would it take (for one person.)

7. Do people use special programs to get characters moving, the background coloring (even people coloring) etc...

8. How do you get the actual pictures moving on screen?

9. Is it possible for a kid like me to make a "little" show, (not anything big and fancy) like maybe 5 min or something, or could a kid actually make a good quality show by themselves, do they use more people because it's quicker (I know, impossible for a kid and all.) If I were to make a good quality episode, would it be possible, would it like take me a year to make just one episode or something?

What is POSSIBLE for a young person to do to gain more talent in my chosen subjet.

These are questions for preparing for a possible career as a cartoonist/screen-writter.

11. What colleges should you go to.

12. How for a young person to prepare for a possible career in the subjects.

13. Good drawing books for young begginers

14. Good writting books for young begginers.

15. Good sites for my chosen subjects.

P.S the animation style of avatar is what I like, is there any books that have that animation style?)

Thanks for any help!

I know, a lot of questions, sorry.

Answer 1

1) um, actually, you really need to edit anything for example your cartoon is a man standing, then he will run, you need to edit the man and the background because the action will occupy a certain space in the drawing.

2)yup.

3)maybe it's a caricature.

4)maybe it can be 3-5 people to make a quality cartoon-one for drawing one for coloring and one for lettering.

5)in 30 minute episodes, maybe it can takee you 1-3 weeks but if you're really responsibe you can finish it in a week

Answer 2

1. No. The backgrounds are done seperately.

2. You draw the part of the background that remains still, and just animate the parts of the background that will change.

3. Depends on if you're doing the animation by hand or by computer. Either way it involves you drawing the character by themselves and moving them across the background which is a seperate image.

4. Watch your favorite shows and pay attention to the credits. See how many names are in those credits. Thats how many people it takes.

5. It is, but that's rare and only for the most experienced animators.

8. It depends on how many people you have, what quality the animation is, if it's hand drawn or computer animated and whatever.

7. Nowadays most coloring is done on computers even if the art itself is handdrawn. Photoshop should be able to handle it I suppose.

8. Either you get special film equipment which allows you to take each image as a frame of film, or you do it on computer with programs that compile your images into video.

9. It's possible. You need to learn to crawl before you learn to walk. So try making a short animated film first. 5 minutes sounds fine. Without knowing you I couldn't say how long it would take.

10. Watch the commentary tracks on animated films, and the behind-the-scenes features. Go to the library and read books on animation.

11. Look for colleges with animation or film degrees.