Pre-Production
Reference
I use References when doing somewhat big movement of any animation I do that has humanoid characters, So I don't have to imagine the action in my head or suffer looking for a specific reference online.
Thumbnails
I had to use thumbnails in order to figure where the character is placed in the frame, how readable the silhouette is and the action the the character is doing.
Story Board
I use Story boards to time the character actions to words, or special actions they are doing.
Animatic
I use an Animatic in order to "time" my actions that character is doing, while also imagining how the finished project could look like
Layout
I use Layout to figure out where the character might end up and to adjust the camera where needed.
Blocking
The early stages of My animation, Trying to figure out what poses look good in a specific shot.