While animating, the animator is constantly checking a silhouette of the character to see if the character visually communicates a particular message. Without the details of color and shading, the animator can see if the pose of the character is effective in visually communicating what the animator wants. In other words, in this form of communication - animation - things need to be clear on every basic level of visual perception to be a strong signal of communication.
Now, Disney's Principles of Animation are not just magical ways to animate that automatically make an animation a good form of communication. Everything, at its most basic form, needs to be effective in order for these things to benefit your animation best. Going back to our silhouette example. One of the twelve principles of animation, according to Disney, is arcs. The reason it is important to check silhouettes is to see if the camera angle is truly taking advantage of the arc. If, for instance, you are looking at a character from the front or back and the character's arc goes from the top of his neck to the bottom of his spine, you will certainly not get the same effect that you would from the side, where you can see a strong visual arc.
This example of using silhouettes can be used in other forms of animation and communication in general. In animation, an animator uses silhouettes to see a character at its most basic form from that angle with no details. That is how we should always check our communication: we need to look at its most basic forms in order to create a strong sender. Text, for another example, can be a very strong or very weak communicator. Little tricks like making smiley faces and expressions with characters - :D - won't make your communication the best that it can be without it being strong on its own. Are there words that could be different to make your sentence stronger? Is every sentence readable and logical? Does each paragraph stick to a point and clearly communicate what you want it to communicate? Does the writing as a whole come to a conclusion? If not, smileys aren't going to make up for the lack of a foundation.
The reason animators check silhouettes and writers check sentences is that communication needs to have a strong and clear foundation before making it a strong and clear communicator and adding all of the frills and details that they have in mind. Remember, the special effects and smileys won't save you!
