As part of our Screen Experience suite of courses for aspiring screenwriters, Patrick Reiger (Justice League Action, Thunderbirds are Go, Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac) is teaching Screenwriting 103: Writing for Animation – now open for enrollment! Class starts September 20 and will run for six consecutive Thursdays after. You can sign up here. Remember – our classes tend to fill up pretty quickly, so make sure to enroll and ensure your spot as soon as you can!
“Animation is a highly visual and collaborative process, and it all starts with the script. As writers, having our words interpreted by storyboard artists, directors, animators, layout artists, character designers, editors, executives, and more can be daunting at first,” Patrick says.
“My approach will be to encourage students to think visually, consider their target audience, and find ways to make the production process as streamlined as possible.”
The course will cover the basics of formatting, character, theme, plot, and other factors that go into a good animation script. At the end of the six weeks, students should have a 7-15-page short that they can take to an animator for production! Patrick also plans to address some of the biggest myths associated with writing for animation.
He says, “The biggest misconception is that there’s one magical way to write an animated script. Having worked on dozens of series as a freelancer, I can tell you this simply isn’t true. Script formatting varies wildly from show to show. Some series are more collaborative with storyboard artists, while others give writers the final say.”
“Some younger series include input from educators or consumer products specialists (aka ‘toy people’). Every series possesses its own set of challenges, and as writers it’s our job to work through these challenges in a creative and collaborative way.”
And what is Patrick looking forward to the most with this new class?
“Encouraging student’s voices! I’ve been in many writing groups and classes, and my favorite part is discovering a writer’s unique voice and perspective. My privilege as a teacher is when I’m able to elevate and amplify that voice in the scripting phase,” he says.
“Also, for those students that are serious about making a longterm career out of animation writing, I hope to shed some light about what that entails and take away some of the mystery. It’s not the easiest job in the world, but it sure can be lots of ding dang fun!”
If you want to enroll in Introduction to Animation Writing, you may do so here.
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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you’ll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!