How an Episode of The Simpsons is made Part 3 – The Simpsons Designer’s Dilemma
THE SIMPSONS NEWS – The Simpsons designer’s dilemma
Simpsons Quote:
Bart : I am through with working. Working is for chumps.
Homer : Son, I’m proud of you. I was twice your age before I figured that out.
Have you heard the saying: “You can’t please all the people, all of the time?”
Well, what if that’s your job?
Welcome to the world of The Simpsons designer.
In Part 1, I wrote about what happens at the Fox studios before the animation studio gets involved.
In Part 2, I wrote about process of Storyboarding. This time, I’ll write about how the designs on an episode get made.
In a nutshell, the process looks like this:
- The designer gets an assignment
- Ideas are put forth
- Roughs are done
- Designs are revised and are sent to Fox
- More revisions
- Designs go into production
- Rewrites cause redesigns
- Final designs are prepared
Alright, so how is that about pleasing everyone? Let’s see:
The designer gets an assignment
Just as production assigns an episode to a director, production also assigns specific designs in a show to specific designers.
There are three types of designers:
- Character Designers – There are four of them. They design all the new characters in an episode, as well as design any new looks or outfits existing characters might wear.
- Background Designers – There are four of them. They design all the new backgrounds in a show, as well as update and adjust any existing locations according to the script.
- Prop Designers – There’s one of them. He designs any new objects that animate in the show, or that characters interact with. The objects must somehow move for them to be props.
Each designer is given specific characters, specific locations or specific props in each episode. They will be in charge of that particular design for that episode.
Ideas are put forth
Ideas for the designs come from a few places, beginning with the person put in charge of designs at Fox.
Fox, sends notes for ideas they have about certain designs. They either have a description, or reference of what they have in mind for a design. These notes may or may not incorporate some ideas the writer had in mind as well.
The designer now has to make sure to try to incorporate these ideas into his design which will please Fox.
Meanwhile, the storyboard artist is working on the boards and is taking a pass at the designs. He might not know what Fox wants. He’s trying to find a functional shot.
The Designer has to make sure that the designs work with whatever the storyboard artist is doing, making sure to please the Board artist.
The designer also consults the director who has ideas of his own, which very well might contradict some Fox notes. The designer needs to make sure to keep the director pleased.
Roughs are done
Based on all the notes and ideas rough designs, are produced. These designs are then run by the director. He makes any notes and changes he deems appropriate.
If the changes are different to what Fox wants, he calls and pitches the changes, explaining the reasons why.
Designs are revised and are sent to Fox
Gotta keep the director pleased.
Any notes given by the director are incorporated into the design. Once that’s done, the rough designs are sent to Fox for approval.
More revisions
Fox sends back notes on the design.
The designer then has to revise the design again making sure to keep Fox pleased. But he also has to run the design by the director again, to make sure he’s pleased.
Designs go into production
Finally, the designs go into production where the story reel crews and the layout crews use them (more on them in upcoming posts).
But that’s not where it ends
Rewrites cause redesigns
Once the writers and producers see a rough story reel of the show (more on that in another post) they do rewrites. If any rewrites effect the designs, the original designer is assigned the revision. The thing is, at this point, the designer may already have moved on to a new episode.
Suddenly, the designer may be working on designs for two episodes and sometimes even three episodes, at the same time. This all depends on how far into the season production is in.
The designer then has to go through the approval process all over again, making sure the storyboard revisionist is pleased, the director is pleased, and Fox is pleased.
Final designs are prepared
At some point, depending on the designer, the final cleaned up version of the design must be finalized. This needs to get done before the show is shipped overseas to be finished (more on that in a later post).
At this point, once all the designs are done and sent off, the designer looks back at a job well done, and is himself pleased.
Any questions about the process? Feel free to ask in the comments below.
var mce_preload_checks = 0; function mce_preload_check(){ if (mce_preload_checks>40) return; mce_preload_checks++; try { var jqueryLoaded=jQuery; } catch(err) { setTimeout('mce_preload_check();', 250); return; } try { var validatorLoaded=jQuery("#fake-form").validate({}); } catch(err) { setTimeout('mce_preload_check();', 250); return; } mce_init_form(); } function mce_init_form(){ jQuery(document).ready( function($) { var options = { errorClass: 'mce_inline_error', errorElement: 'div', onkeyup: function(){}, onfocusout:function(){}, onblur:function(){} }; var mce_validator = $("#mc-embedded-subscribe-form").validate(options); $("#mc-embedded-subscribe-form").unbind('submit');//remove the validator so we can get into beforeSubmit on the ajaxform, which then calls the validator options = { url: 'http://luisescobarblog.us5.list-manage1.com/subscribe/post-json?u=378f5b1f2210780e1ed2069c9&id=d2fd6f6c75&c=?', type: 'GET', dataType: 'json', contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8", beforeSubmit: function(){ $('#mce_tmp_error_msg').remove(); $('.datefield','#mc_embed_signup').each( function(){ var txt = 'filled'; var fields = new Array(); var i = 0; $(':text', this).each( function(){ fields[i] = this; i++; }); $(':hidden', this).each( function(){ var bday = false; if (fields.length == 2){ bday = true; fields[2] = {'value':1970};//trick birthdays into having years } if ( fields[0].value=='MM' && fields[1].value=='DD' && (fields[2].value=='YYYY' || (bday && fields[2].value==1970) ) ){ this.value = ''; } else if ( fields[0].value=='' && fields[1].value=='' && (fields[2].value=='' || (bday && fields[2].value==1970) ) ){ this.value = ''; } else { if (/\[day\]/.test(fields[0].name)){ this.value = fields[1].value+'/'+fields[0].value+'/'+fields[2].value; } else { this.value = fields[0].value+'/'+fields[1].value+'/'+fields[2].value; } } }); }); return mce_validator.form(); }, success: mce_success_cb }; $('#mc-embedded-subscribe-form').ajaxForm(options);
}); } function mce_success_cb(resp){ $('#mce-success-response').hide(); $('#mce-error-response').hide(); if (resp.result=="success"){ $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').show(); $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').html(resp.msg); $('#mc-embedded-subscribe-form').each(function(){ this.reset(); }); } else { var index = -1; var msg; try { var parts = resp.msg.split(' - ',2); if (parts[1]==undefined){ msg = resp.msg; } else { i = parseInt(parts[0]); if (i.toString() == parts[0]){ index = parts[0]; msg = parts[1]; } else { index = -1; msg = resp.msg; } } } catch(e){ index = -1; msg = resp.msg; } try{ if (index== -1){ $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').show(); $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').html(msg); } else { err_id = 'mce_tmp_error_msg'; html = '
';
var input_id = '#mc_embed_signup'; var f = $(input_id); if (ftypes[index]=='address'){ input_id = '#mce-'+fnames[index]+'-addr1'; f = $(input_id).parent().parent().get(0); } else if (ftypes[index]=='date'){ input_id = '#mce-'+fnames[index]+'-month'; f = $(input_id).parent().parent().get(0); } else { input_id = '#mce-'+fnames[index]; f = $().parent(input_id).get(0); } if (f){ $(f).append(html); $(input_id).focus(); } else { $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').show(); $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').html(msg); } } } catch(e){ $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').show(); $('#mce-'+resp.result+'-response').html(msg); } } }
// ]]>
VIDEO/COMIC BOOKS – Bottom of the Ninth
I saw this earlier this late last week and thought it was awesome. An animated comic on for the iPad:
Check out more information on, at their site:
Ryan Woodward’s Bottom of the Ninth, an animated graphic novel.YUP! Always dreamed about this when I was a kid….an ANIMATED graphic novel!!! Took me 40 years to realize this dream, well…40 years of dreaming – 6 insane months of animating, drawing, and apologizing to the world for my lack of existence. It’s OUT and in the iTunes App Store!!!!
ART- Continuing my personal project’s rough boards
Getting closer to the beginning of the big fight. That’s when things will get interesting to board:
For more comics and stories written by me: COMICS AND STORIES
If you like what you read, please consider signing up to my rss feed.
Comments are appreciated as well.
I also have a store. Click Here and check it out.
If you would like to have a text ad on my site, click on the red BUY LINKS button under the Archives list.
And while you’re at it, please Digg me too.
Writing this blog is almost a part time job for me. Tips are most welcome.
Post this "How an Episode of The Simpsons is made Part 3 - The Simpsons Designer's Dilemma" image above on your blog/forum using following codes:
Website Code
Forum Code
Please Share this, if you like it:
These posts about making the show are very interesting! I’m learning allot. Great stuff! There’s a bit more approval involved than I thought.
Yeah, and the approval process doesn’t even end here. You’ll see how much of it there is as I continue with the series.
I’m very glad you like the posts so far.