I am the Entertainment Tycoon

Saturday, December 19th.

Tkyo Animation Studios, Elffire City.

Emina and Kanai were walking toward the food court with Brianna, Araya, Mitsue, and Zofia.

It became usual for the six of them to go together to the cafeteria in the mornings.

"So, how was your first week working here? Did you like it?" Brianna asked as she looked at Emina and Kanai.

"It was amazing!" Emina exclaimed.

"Yeah, everything here is of high quality. We can work without having to worry about distractions." Kanai commented with a smile.

"Plus, everyone here is so talented! I was so impressed when they showed me the first piece of animation I had to produce the sound effects for." Emina added.

"Tell me about it! The editing team I am part of is filled with talented people. Especially my team leader." Araya commented.

"Oh, yes, I already saw your team leader speaking in one of the creative meetings. She seems very knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the editing procedures." Zofia commented as she recalled the last few creative meetings.

"Is her name Nora Wells?" Kanai asked curiously.

"Yeah, why?" Araya asked.

"Well, as a sound engineer, my team and I work very closely with the editing department. But you are an editor and you already know that." Kanai replied to Araya.

"Yeah, the sound effects produced by your department need to be edited by my department." Araya said.

"Well, Miss Riverdale asked Nora Wells to come to our department last Tuesday to explain how we should produce things with her expertise in editing. And I have to say that her class was very helpful, she knows so much!" Kanai explained with shining eyes.

"Our job became much easier after she explained some things to us." Emina added.

"Wow! is that right?" Mitsue exclaimed in wonder.

"I told you all that she was a genius!" Araya exclaimed with a smile.

"She is a genius and very valued by the bosses." Brianna commented with a pondering face.

The others also had the same impression after they heard Kanai's story.

Nora seemed to be treated with high importance by Miss Riverdale.

But they could understand why.

A talented editor could transform a simple anime into a masterpiece anime.

And they were right.

After Ryoko observed Nora for weeks, she concluded that Nora was one of the best Animation Editors in the industry.

But what is an animation editor?

You could say an animation editor is an artist, problem solver, team player, and business-orientated person. To create an animation, hours of editing and reviewing an idea will tell an effective story.

It's a very important job that shouldn't be taken lightly.Â

People would think animation is planned to a tee beforehand where scenes are written, shots are animated and clips are put together in the order they were written, right? Wrong, the process is more complex than anyone would think an editor would do.

It is safe to say that apart from Theo and Ryoko, Nora, as an animation editor, was involved in every process of planning and production, she may even help with the concept and end up writing or re-writing scenes herself. Making an animation is a collaborative effort and is usually completed with a team of people. As an editor, she was involved in the Animation process from the beginning to the end.

Nora, as an animation editor, was involved in all sections of the Animation Process:

Idea Generation: The editor sits with the director (editor and director can be the same person in small projects) thinking of a concept for a story and aligning each others' vision.

Style and Character Design: The editor helps to decide on the look, feel, mood, and style for the animation and characters.

Script and Storyboard: The editor sits down with the director to get all the details concerning dialogue and camera angles.

But these first three elements Nora was not asked to participate in.

After all, Theo knew exactly how the anime should be, so he did not need help from the animation editor.

Also because Theo was an animation editor himself too.

Therefore, if at any point of the Idea Generation, Character Design, or Storyboard development, Theo needed an animation editor, he was the best option for the job.

But that did not mean that Nora was useless.

It was the opposite actually.

Theo did not have time to work on the lengthy procedures like:

Animatic: A static visual display of each scene is created with the placement of desired sound and music. This is essentially a rough draft before animating begins to check the flow of the story and possible changes in the order of the visuals or sound.

Creating Content: Content is created to use in the animation.

Animating: Editing and reordering the footage is essential in telling the story in the most direct way possible, following the director's vision. Making alterations such as adding or subtracting time and selecting specific footage will allow for a good creative output.

Pace & Timing: The editor checks that the animations have good timing and that the sound and music convey the desired mood and pace.

Intercutting: Changing between compositions and alternating footage to create the desired effect.

Synchronizing: Ensures the sound effects play in time to the visuals. Music is reviewed to see if it fits the animation well and recorded voices are synchronized to the mouth movements of the characters.

All these procedures would be overseen by an animation editor, a talented editor.

Even though Theo could be the animation editor, why would he do it?

He had hundreds of animators in his studio, and they should work for their salaries

And Ryoko chose Nora to be that person.

This was a test for Nora.

If she passed the test, she would be hired as the chief of the editing department.

But the only people who knew that were Ryoko and Theo.

Actually, several other people were being tested throughout the production of the [SAO] Anime.

For example, Brianna was one of the people being tested.

She and her team received the task to design all the monsters that appear in the anime.

That was a huge and very important task.

After all, if these monsters are poorly designed, it will affect the whole anime production.

And if she performed well, Brianna would get to be the chief of the Art Department and one of the Art Directors of the studio.

It is very easy to understand the importance of these positions.

After all, the animation is art becoming a movie.

Drawings becoming frames, frames becoming footage, and footage becoming a movie/series.

Art directors are responsible for the visual style of the animation. They decide how the characters, props, and environments are going to look and provide a basis for the rest of the art department to work from.

Art directors start by examining the script and working with the director to understand the vision for the film or TV program. They then create their designs and determine the tone, mood, and color palettes.

The work of an art director is more specific and directive than the work of a concept artist. Art directors determine the design 'language' of the film, which requires them to have an understanding of what the final, on-screen image will look like and how to get there. They work with the concept artists to develop sketches and artwork that communicate the artistic vision to the rest of the crew.

Art directors are involved throughout the project up to its release, acting as a supervisor to the other artists, such as modelers, character designers, and background designers. This is a job that involves a lot of communicating with people and needs strong management skills. They are responsible for ensuring all artwork is of high quality and in keeping with the director's vision. They are also responsible for making sure everyone in the art department stays on budget and schedule. Art directors are sometimes employed as freelancers working on a project-by-project basis.

After saying all that, we can understand how important Brianna would be in the studio if she passes her test.

Nora, Brianna, Aida, and many others did not know that they were in the run for positions they didn't even dare dream to be at.

But would they be able to pass the test?