Rough Cut

Throughout the animation process, I put the sequences onto a timeline as I finished each one; allowing me to see how they work together. For the most part I was happy with the pacing of the animatic, so stuck with that. But I did find myself changing some of the shots - most obviously in the sequence where the small character is kicking up a fuss in the bigger one's stomach. In the animatic I felt I hadn't quite allowed it to come to a head; the sequence should set up a reaction in the big guy - there needed to be more action to set this up. I settled on creating a series of quick cuts to build the pace, then breaking this cycle with a camera movement to indicate the big guy falling to the ground in pain/annoyance. I'm not sure how well I pulled this off as I struggled to make the stomach turn - premiere wasn't cooperating here so I animated this in Photoshop. I think in hindsight it would have been nicer (and make more sense) if the stomach were to change shape as he turns to give a sense of organic fleshiness... but the film doesn't hinge on realism so this isn't a huge problem.

With all the shots in place on the timeline I had a finished rough cut...

With the shots in sequence, it became apparent that there were some bits that could be cut or taken out to quicken the pace. I still want it to feel fairly relaxed, but it should move along consistently to ensure it's not too boring.