Being involved in animation courses over the last 18 years, I’ve seen some great animated work, long and short, 2D, 3D and mixed media. However I’ve also seen many great ideas crash and burn due to a number of factors, sometimes over quite trivial issues. What a waste. When you’re making an animated film you can’t afford too many mistakes, and it doesn’t pay to lull yourself into a false sense of security either.

So, I’ve developed this Seven point checklist that will help you produce the best animated film you can, and hopefully avoid the many pitfalls that are out there. These golden rules are especially useful for your Final Film or Major Project. You may never have the chance and time again to make the film which will be your calling card for entry into the Animation Industry, or further study. Hark ye well, o seeker of good keyframing…..

THE SEVEN GOLDEN RULES FOR A SUCCESSFUL ANIMATED FILM

1: The competition for Eyeballs: Time to justify yourself. Ask yourself why would someone want to watch YOUR film when there are thousands out there with similar themes? What’s your 'selling point' in a crowded market?

2: He/She who Collaborates wins: forget the individual artist romantic thing: surround yourself with know-how and expertise; get lots of people who are better than you at different aspects of the production around you. Concentrate on your strengths, farm out things that dilute your energies!

3: Watch a lot of films- that’s films, not animated films. Pay attention to framing, lighting, camera moves, and learn how great film makers manipulate and enhance the story with these elements. Pay attention to when established film makers use Close ups, Pans, and other camera techniques. Even great animated stories can be dulled by badly framed shots. Film has been successfully getting audiences for a hundred years, there's a lot you can learn from the way it is composed.

4: Making the film is one thing- getting it seen is another. Get your gameplan re: distribution/promotion sorted before you start! How will you get to your audience. Where/How will you market it? It’s not good enough to say your film is aimed at everybody anymore. No film is. Is there a theme that could appeal to certain groups who might champion it? Putting it on YouTube alone ain’t enough. Research your potential audience before you start. On a positive note, in some cases your future audience may be able to advise or even fund some of your work.

5: Seek out and act upon constructive criticism from strangers, not just friends- always remember your name goes under the film's title, and if it's crap because you listened to friends who didn't want to hurt your feelings, it's your own fault....strangers and people distanced from animation (who have no idea it took you a week to render that rock) are a good source of honest advice.

6. Risk Assessment: what’s the weakest link in your production chain? Where are the problems likely to be? Is it your slightly flakey mate who promised you could use his computer, or is it the fact that you’re basing your schedule on hearsay about how good the universities computers really are as a render farm? Or is it your studio space isn’t open at the weekends over the holidays? What are the bottlenecks, and can you think of ways to work around them?

7. Network, schmooze, get friendly: A mediocre animator who turns up to events, networks and makes connections will always do better than a god-like genius who sends his/her final film out via post but doesn’t show their face anywhere. Firstly, if you don’t hang around at festivals you don’t get to be influenced by other work or techniques, nor find out what funders and exhibitors are up to. Funders, commissioners, employers are like the rest of us, and tend to keep to the familiar. Get known to them in the bar/on the circuit, but on no account cross the line between banter and harassment!

Saint John Walker is FDMX Co-ordinator at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. Saint was previously the architect and first director of the Central Saint Martins London Animation Studio, and has written several animation degree courses. In 2004 he worked as animator on the BBC2 Comedy show Look Around You, and recently ran Megapixel: a conference on the impact of High Definition technologies, and Next-Gen: visualize the future of Computer Games competition. He is currently organizing Machinima screenings for the Cambridge Film Festival.