example the character walk cycle could start on the right hand side on the screen toward the lift hand side of the screen, or the walk cycle could be fixed on the same point on the screen, the character facing the lift hand side of the screen and by moving the arms and the legs forward and backward plus moving the background from the lift hand side to the right hand side on the screen this create the illusion of character movement.
in my animation new york scene the boat have a fixed point on screen and the background moving from lift hand side to right hand side which creates the 