When the director has given some thought to the overall timing of a film, he proceeds to more detailed timing and puts this down on paper on specially printed bar sheets. These are much like music manuscript paper, with several horizontal lines having spaces for dialogue, sound effects, music and action. He is concerned with timing the action and this is entered in the spaces very much as music is written, but in a kind of animator's shorthand.

The horizontal lines of the bar sheet are marked in frames with heavy lines marking every foot, that is, every 16 frames. The footage divisions on the required number of bar sheets are then numbered for the length of the film, and the timing of the action is ready to begin. If there is prerecorded music or dialogue to which the action must fit, this is charted beforehand from the soundtrack and entered into the appropriate spaces on the bar sheets.

People have their own individual shorthand, but generally a horizontal line means a hold, a curve means an action of some sort, a loop means the anticipation to an action, a wavy line means a repeat cycle and so on. If an action must take place on a certain frame, this is marked with a cross on the required frame. The action is also written out verbally with stage directions, repeat animation instructions and other relevant information.

Before production of an animated film starts, the director works...