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Director
What this role does:
Ensures everyone in production has the same creative vision
Quality control on each phase of the production
Communicates between all artists
Provides solution for project related problems that might arise in production
If needed, can be delegated to choose artists to work with on a project
Director makes sure everyone in the production has the same vision. They are the ones that makes the big artistic direction, like pacing, mood, tone, etc to make the end product that matches what they, or the client envisioned.
Clients are usually the sole director of the whole production, but in some cases this can be delegated to another artist. Delegating it to an experienced artist helps a lot for all the other roles, as technical know-how can affect how some shots should be handled, how much effort it'd take, and make guesses on how much time everything would roughly be finished so it can meet the deadline.
Script Writer
What this role does:
Writes a clear story with good pacing, character development, and plot.
Makes a detailed run-down of the story, what happens and how it happens.
Collaborates with storyboard artist to ensure the story aligns with how it is visually represented.
This is where the idea for the video comes. This can be structured as a detailed script, an image board, dialogue lines, novel-esque writing, or even voice recordings. The more details included the better, mostly to make it easier to accurately convey the story in visual form with all the subtle gestures or mood.
From my experience, this role usually merges with the director, be it the client themselves or an appointed creative director as they usually already have a rough idea of what should happen and how they want it to be conveyed. This role works closely with the storyboard artist and the director to make sure everything is on-track.
Storyboard artist
What this role does:
Creates a rough visual representation of the script given as a storyboard, with pacing and layouts.
Makes clear instruction for all the other artists to follow.
Makes a clear dialogue timing and pacing for the Audio Department
Storyboard artists takes the script, either from a scriptwriter or the client themselves and turn it into a rough visual layout for the whole story. They basically plan how every shot roughly look like and flows from scene to scene and how it should be paced. They lay all the groundwork and make sure every shot they make is clear for all the other artists to understand and draw, and for easy and engaging for the viewers to follow.
Storyboard artists relies on a good script and visual references / style the client wants. Just like any other artists, the more detailed the reference the better we can understand the direction this should go.
Layout Artist
What this role does:
Creates a layer structure for both the background artist and character artist to work on
Adjusts the layout from storyboard to both the background artist and character artists' style
Improves the composition from the storyboard artist's rough idea while making it more realistic and accurate.
Communicates the structure ideas to both the character artist and background artist
Layout artist takes the rough layout from the storyboard and creates a more detailed and accurate layout that will be used by the character and background artists. They usually rearranges the scene to have more depth, accurate perspective and better composition that will work with all the camera movement, mood, and angles set by the storyboard artist. They also lays out the technical details, like how everything should be cut and layered, how big the canvas is and where the artists should draw - usually keeping the editors in mind.
In my experience, this role usually gets merged with the storyboard artist, or the background artist if there is no storyboard artist present. They'd need to communicate the idea for the structure / layers of the drawing and why it is structured a certain way.
Background artist
What this role does:
Designs all environment around the character that matches the story.
Makes a consistent background illustration based on the layout given that matches the mood of the story.
Background artist makes all the location / scene that will complement the character drawing. They help make the scene more immersive, and usually is the one to determine the color / mood of the scenes as a reference for the rest of the production. This role has 2 major tasks, which includes environment designing and illustrating.
Background artists works together with layout artist (if there is one) and the character artist to make sure the background and the character perspective matches, and adjusts it accordingly.
Character Artist
Character artist draws all the characters in the scene according to the layout / storyboard. They are the star of the show, they are the ones that makes the main focus of the video - the main characters which usually is the client! Their job is to make all the characters that matches the mood, design, and the story of the characters. Everything related to character drawings, be it Frame by Frame (FbF) animation or just illustrations, is handled by this role - everyone including side characters that might interact. This role is split into 2 - Character Designer and Character Illustrator / Animator (based on the type of project handled).
Character Designer
What this role does:
Create character designs that will be used throughout the project.
Offer alternative designs of the character if needed.
Make a reference sheet for the character (usually applies on a much larger scale projects)
Character designer's task is to create a design that will serve as a reference for the character illustrators. They will make designs that represents each character based on their personalities and stories that highly depends on how the director envisioned them to be.
This role usually works on pre-production, somewhere after the script is finished and finalized and they work closely with the director to match the idea for the character.
Character Illustrator / Animator
What this role does:
Creates all the character according to the storyboard and layout given.
Adjust the character illustrations / animations according to the direction given.
This role draws all the characters from the story into the layout given by the layout artist using character designer's design. They essentially draw what the viewers will see as the end product. They have to keep the characters consistent, accurate, and on-style. On top of that, they have to match how the character behaves with the mood of the scene itself.
Compositor
What this role does:
Matches the character art's lighting to the background
Adds color correction and further adjustments to all artworks combined
Double-checks the files for any kinds of mistakes before passing it to the editor
Adds additional VFX that can be used to enhance the artwork, and adds additional assets to support it.
Compositor needs both character artists' files and background artists' files to work, as their role is mainly to make the two of them harmonize with each other using lighting effects, color corrections, and visual effects. They are also the one that double-checks the files and makes sure everything is there for the editor.
In my experience, this role's tasks usually gets merged into both background artist (to match the character art lighting) and editor role (for VFX).
Editor
What this role does:
Assembles all the assets into a video
Adjusting pacing, transitions, dialogue, music, etc to the final video following the original storyboard and the director's direction
Makes placeholder assets to help the VA, Musician, and SE if needed.
Editor is the one that merges everything into one package after receiving assets from all department. They are the ones that assembles the scene, make further adjustments to the flow of the video, adding transitions, syncing audio and merging it into one cohesive video and story. Their focus is primarily on storytelling using all the available assets given to them. They also provide help with anything video-processing related, like creating a placeholder assets for VA to take place.
They work closely with the director so they can have an idea of what the director envisioned, along with the audio department that includes VA, musicians, and sound engineers to get a matching audio from them.
Audio Department
The audio department involves 3 major roles - Voice Actor (VA), Sound Engineer (SE), and Musicians - Each with their unique tasks. VA voices the characters, SE makes sound effects, ambient sounds and other audio assets aside from music, and Musicians makes the music / soundtrack for the video if needed. They follow the original script they have and in Eastern production pipeline, usually follows the animatic / rough pacing using Layout artist's / Storyboard artist's art and the editor's rough timing.
