BEAT 01
Offer the thought
Open with the cleanest possible proposition. A held glance or a tilted plane may be enough.
keep the first read quiet
Character animation / rigging
Make a pose that holds the room.
A paper-stage practice for characters with readable weight, articulate joints, and a clear reason to move. Bring a scene, a question, or a stack of rough cutouts.
Reserve a rehearsal note
Clear pose ✦Considered joints ✦Room for revision ✦Paper-thinking, digital delivery ✦Clear pose ✦Considered joints ✦Room for revision ✦Paper-thinking, digital delivery ✦
Read before scene one
The working premise
A character is not a diagram. It is a decision seen from across the stage.
Our rehearsal board starts with the image the audience should receive first. Rigging, spacing and secondary motion are then arranged to protect that read.
01 / pose flipbook
Turn the page. Keep the idea.
Pick a paper frame to change the rehearsal note. This is a small way to inspect where a character’s intent becomes legible.
02 / rigging primer
A rig is a conversation between pressure points.
Name the pivots that change the image. Let the rest serve those pivots.
Anchorwhat stays planted
Hingewhere a turn begins
Counterthe answering weight
Reachthe action’s edge
Settlethe afterthought
Loose line, not a checklist: identify only the joints that revise the silhouette or carry the force. Extra controls can wait until the character asks for them.
03 / paper-prop dock
Things that make the scene answer back.
Props are tiny scene partners. Stage them for scale, grip, friction or interruption—not merely decoration.
Dock rule: every object receives a purpose before it receives a close-up.
04 / vertical rehearsal score
Score the scene by its changes, not its seconds.
Different offsets make the beat visible: a thought, a push, a catch, a release, a settle.
BEAT 02
Commit the weight
Shift the center with purpose so the audience can predict the next decision a fraction early.
the floor is part of the performance
BEAT 03
Let the parts disagree
Shoulders, head, hands and gaze do not need the same arrival. Their differences create attention.
offset, do not scramble
BEAT 04
Catch the consequence
Give the action somewhere to land. A small recoil can carry more story than an extra gesture.
one response is enough
BEAT 05
Leave a pocket of air
Let the final picture stay long enough to be understood before you turn the page.
hold what matters
05 / stage workbench
Pose clarity lives before the polish.
Test the scene in flat shapes and quick staging first. If it reads in an untidy rehearsal, refinement has something steady to follow.
- Protect the outline.
Separate important limbs, props and gaze lines from competing edges. - Choose one main force.
Push, pull, wait or resist—one primary idea keeps the image honest. - Check the small frame.
Zoom out or step back; if the action disappears, simplify the arrangement.
06 / cue mixer
Adjust the instruction, not the character’s soul.
Tap a cue to swap the stage direction. These three levers are useful when a scene feels technically busy but emotionally vague.
07 / cutout wall
Delivery materials that keep the work movable.
A practical handoff is a continuation of the rehearsal: labelled, readable and ready for the next pair of hands.
Rig map
A visual key for controls, parent relationships, deform zones and the intended range of movement.
Pose sheet
Key silhouettes, expression references and framing notes collected where they can be checked quickly.
Rehearsal notes
Plain-language observations about intent, timing and unresolved choices—kept beside the visual work.
Organized source
Layer and file naming that leaves a clear path from supplied art to current scene materials.
08 / an empty stage is useful
Bring the work before it knows how it wants to move.
A grounded process keeps the conversation close to the scene. Start with what is visible, decide what needs to change, then make the next pass specific.
- 01 / SHARESend the scene question, artwork or current rig material.
- 02 / SORTChoose the audience read and the practical constraints.
- 03 / REHEARSETest poses, pivots and timing in purposeful passes.
- 04 / HAND OFFLeave clear materials for the next stage of work.
09 / questions from the wings
Useful things to ask before rehearsal.
Bring whatever makes the scene easiest to see: a character drawing, a storyboard panel, an animatic excerpt, a short written beat, or a rough rig. It also helps to name what feels uncertain—silhouette, weight, mechanics, timing, asset organization, or handoff—so the rehearsal can begin with a concrete question instead of a vague wish for polish.
No. Paper theatre is a way of thinking about staging, depth, pivot points and audience attention. It is useful for drawn animation, digital cutout work, 3D character scenes and physical puppets alike. The method asks what is visible first, what changes second, and which parts of a character need to carry that change without confusing the overall read.
Notes are most useful when they point to a visible choice. Rather than saying a character needs more energy, a rehearsal note can ask for a clearer lean, a later hand arrival, a longer hold before a turn, or a stronger separation between prop and torso. Each note should identify the moment, the intended audience read, and the smallest next adjustment worth testing.
The useful contents depend on the scene, but they can include current source materials, a rig map, pose or expression references, timing annotations, scene-specific notes and a simple description of naming or layer organization. The aim is not a decorative archive. It is a set of materials that another maker can open, understand and continue using without needing to reconstruct the whole rehearsal from memory.
10 / call the stage manager
Send a scene question.
This browser-only form lets you compose a rehearsal note. It does not send a message or store your details; use the stage email for direct contact.