In this video the presenter talks about writing the script according to the resources that are available. This is relevant to us because no one can have everything s/he wants. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQzhyxdYWLA

Here is a video talking about the important role of one's energy (passion) plays in making a movie. Be a little patient, he will get to that part some minutes into it. Again, I think it is relevant to us - starting and finishing a movie is not easy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiznR1nRc1o

Here is a video that provides a quick recap of filming techniques. It is a high school project but if one wants a quick overview of common techniques, it will do a good job.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1japIhKU9I

Know your limits; try and push the envelope a little with each project, but don't try and reinvent the wheel if you don't need to. 

By the same token, don't expect to make something as visually stunning as say Coming Home, or Expedition, or Strife if you only picked up the software a week ago and have 5 mins to study it before trying to make your movie; you'll end up sadly disappointed ;)

Do what you're good at, get help for the bits you aren't.  If you can do great voices but can't mod to save your life, ask for help.  If you can do great camera work but can't write, get a writer; vice versa if you're good behind the keyboard but can't line up a shot to save your life.

If you can't get what you need to make a movie work, scale it back or change it (unless that totally compromises your "artistic integrity", of course! :P)

Be realistic; if you want it to look and sound right, you're either going to have to a) spend a loooong time on it or b) be an audio/technical wizard or c) both!  You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, my dear old mum used to say, but you surely can do the other way round with very little trouble!

If you get help for anything, be specific about what you need and when by.  If you want VO help, be specific about what format you want and when you want the files back by.

Be ready to use and (if necessary, break) all the "standard" conventions of movie making; what works in a film studies book about "optimum positioning" and "golden ratios", etc, doesn't always work for machinima.  Be prepared to get creative to fix or avoid problems with sets, animations, lighting, etc.

And, above ALL else... have fun and enjoy the process, or it's pointless you indulging in it!  That's the biggest secret, after all ;)

The fun of creating animation is that you don't have to follow the approach of traditional film-making.  I have worked with independent animators (as a composer) and it is not unusual for them to combine writing, set design, lighting, and animation. Only music, sound design, and final editing were done by others.  

Now, personally, I would spend money on good voice talents, but I would find having to deal with a whole team too restricting; it would remind me too much of my day job. You have to know your limitations of course...

I came to animation in part because I do have ideas about film music and sound design. However, rather than having the stress of working for hire for a film director, it occurred to me I could try and create the films myself. Animation is ideal for that purpose.

That said, not everyone is aspired or committed to do that kind of movies. Some of us only want to make a few animated clips to share with friends and family. Some want to enjoy the process of making a movie alone, just like a poet enjoy writing a poem alone. iClone is ideal for these purposes.

Even for some of us who would like to have his or her own team, or be part of a great team someday, iClone is a great way to start. iClone makes it possible for an individual to learn and hone movie making skills without the need for a team. Along the way of learning, one can find out which aspect of movie making appeals to him/her the most, and what type of movies s/he really enjoys making. One will also know and be known to other movie makers with whom s/he can form a team in the future.

Learn iClone and, more importantly, learn how to make movies. There are good discussions of iClone skills, animation skills, and even modeling skills in this forum (because it is the iClone forum?:-). There are way too much complaints of how iClone can't do this and can't do that. On the other hand, there are few discussions of movie making skills. Is it possible that this lack of focus on movie making is one of the reasons that iClone movies in general are not making waves out there yet?

If you are interested in artistic freedom, a team can be a burden, unless you are the one calling the shots and not the producer or anybody else with a financial interest.  But, of course, to each his own.  If you feel the need or urge to be part of a team, go ahead. 

I think it is good to have this discussion and talk about film-making in general, regradless of the particular tool used. A while ago I was thinking about setting up a course that would use iClone but concentrate more on the story-telling aspect than on the technical details.  As others have pointed out, this is all about film-making and story-telling and the principles of cinema.  Like some, I like to learn from books, so I started to buy books I thought would be relevant. One, Cinematic Storytelling, is about how to use the camera effectively. The book provides examples of movies to watch that illustrate a principle, which is yet another avenue for learning...

In iClone the potential resources are massive of course, so we are in the most part limited by our own skills. But there are limits; for example, the actors movements often look stilted, slow or unnatural in finished videos, but even these can be overcome with effective use of camera angles and using the motion editor in conjunction with the ever expanding library of stock motions to enhance the action.

The key question to ask of any finished movie has to be does it achieve what it sets out to? If the director wanted me to learn, laugh, cry or be angry, did I learn, laugh, cry or get angry. Did I even understand what the filmaker was trying to get over?

Many of us, in the iClone community, bung up videos on YouTube to demonstrate that we have just learned about DoF, particles or whatever it is this week and we're gonna show off our new knowledge whether you want to know about it or not.

Perhaps it is time we concentrated more on the storytelling and a little less on the bells and whistles, and in this spirit I'd like to share one technique that wasn't mentioned in the videos on the OP.

Storyboarding.

Particularly in iClone, where it is advisable to work with short clips for all sorts of reasons, I find it a tremendous benefit to have a picture of the whole movie beside me to constantly remind me of the context I am working within for that particular scene. I am a rubbish drawer and use stick figures  and scribbled annotations but that's good enough to act as my bible for the movie.

Edit: the link has been moved to the PopVideo forum.

I enjoyed my time at university actually... 

But you can look it this in another way. Directors that know their craft use a particular shot for a purpose, not just to be fanciful.  In the beginning, of course, this was trial and error, but over time certain conventions, or a film language, if you will, developed.  If the movie is done well you will not conciously notice it, but you will go in the direction the director (hence the name) wants you to go.  If the editing is bad, you will notice it right away.

I view all these things as useful information and it was fun to go back to a movie I was working and see what I already had done intiuitively or what I could change to improve.  None of this is a recipy for a good movie, but it all helps. 

I don't have a large arsenal of movies that I have seen to back this up, but maybe in older movies they took more time to think about the use of the camera, because they could rely less on special effects to impress the viewer.

I am perusing the various websites about script writing and I actually bought the e-book by the UK writer Phil Gladwin (to have a non-US perspective) and after a while it gets confusing. It also doesn't really give me what I am looking for.  So I analysed my uneasiness and realized that to me it is a lot like investment advice: follow these steps to become wealthy / make it in Hollywood.  But since I am the one making the film, I think I am looking for something else. It is like in music: are you the composer writing the notes or are you actually making the music? 

Regardless, of course, this is a very interesting thread and many useful resources have already been brought forward.  I will be taking a short course in Narrative Filmmaking in about a week and this discussion has helped me formulate a number of questions.