I think that Warm Mist and TRL are talking about the animation equivalent of
cinematography.
And yes, in fairness, you can tell a story with nothing more than cinematography (as seen by the Silent Era in movies, think Charlie Chaplin).
However, even with great cinematography (or the anime equivalent thereof), I think it's possible to evaluate the writing quality of a work in a vacuum (presuming it has dialogue). Although, in fairness, it does make it a bit harder.