This is one of the most important techniques in the animation process. The purpose of this technique is to give a sense of flexibility and weight to the objects being animated. This technique can be applied to simple objects such as a bouncy ball or to complex items such as facial expressions.
This technique is used to prepare the audience for action in the film. This makes the action seem more realistic. An example of this would be a tennis player preparing to hit the tennis ball and hitting the tennis ball. This technique is not only used in physical actions, it's used also in many less physical items such as a character looking off the screen to see somebody arriving or to focus attention on an object which will become part of the action.
This technique is similar to staging as we know it in film and theatre. The purpose of this effect is to direct the audiences attention and to make it clear what the superlative is of the scene, what is happening in the current scene and what is about to happen in that scene or in further scenes. This technique can be put in to action through various ways such as where the character has been placed, the use of light and shadow and the camera angles. The objective of this technique is keeping focus on what is relevant and to avoid any unnecessary detail. Examples of this 'type' of technique is what we often see on the news but in a slightly different essence where the backgrounds of a still frame is blurred out so that a person or object becomes the most noticeable on screen.
Straight ahead action means to draw out a scene frame by frame from beginning to end, I had experience of this in drawing a flip book and it is a long process especially if this was used in creation of a children's cartoon. It can also be very easily misconstrued such as forgetting bits of a scene.
Pose to pose involves drawing out a few major frames and filling in the intervals later on. This may be drawing a fish tank with a moving plant as that could consist of only around ten frames, you could then add the fish later on with a new layer to the film.
Straight ahead action creates more fluid dynamic action of illusion in making your eyes feel this is a very natural production . The negative points to this technique is it can be very hard to maintain proportion and creating the exact poses frame to frame.
Pose to pose is better when using dramatic or emotional scenes in which composition and relation to surroundings are of a greater importance to a production. A lot of the time a combination if these two techniques are often used to create a production but with the advancement of computer animation these techniques can often be used slightly differently as computers can allow you to maintain the aspect ratio whilst keeping separate frames and then combining these on separate layers displaying the end product of an animation.
These two techniques are very closely related. They both help in the process of rendering movement of objects and helping to create a more realistic look to the objects on frame; giving the impression that characters are being applied to the laws of physics.
Follow through refers to separate parts of the body continuing to move after the moving character has stopped such as a character walking down the street, stopping and putting ones hand to ones chin in order to think whilst the legs still remain static.
Overlapping action is how the tendency of parts of the body can move at different rates, we could imagine this technique being used in a scene where a character is running and the characters head turns right to look at the other side of a running track, the head would move at a different pace to the legs as if it was moving as fast as the legs either the character would be moving very slowly or the head should move at this different pace on order to show emotion on the face and not make this look like a production error.
A third technique is known as 'drag' where a character begins to move and parts of the character takes a few frames to catch up with the character. An example of this could be Marge Simpson, famous for huge hair out of 'The Simpsons' is running and then sharply stops, if she is applied to the laws of physics her hair will be slightly behind her head whilst running and presumably would fall forwards or to its natural position after the sharp stop so we can see the force of this 'drag' through the hair, this could be a small thing to consider when animating but the end result in registering this technique in the viewers head would be huge. Body parts with much tissue like large stomachs, breasts or loose skin on a dog would be much more prone to force than the torso of the dog which is more static as it has more bones.
An example of the moving hold would be in 'Thomas and Johnston' where the character is rendered absolutely still and this is often used in drawing attention to the main character. Thomas and Johnston said that this gave a dull and lifeless effect on a character but this could produce a powerful emotional scene on how one was to use camera angles and lighting in a scene.
Movement of the human and many other objects need time to accelerate and slow down. This makes animation look more realistic if it has more frames near the beginning and end of the sequence. This applies to characters moving between two extreme poses like sitting down and standing up, this also applies to inanimate moving objects such as a bouncing ball.
Most human and animal motions occur along an arched trajectory and by animating this the motion picture should make these movements more realistic. This technique can be used on bodily items such as a moving limb by rotating the joint the limb's attached to, or an item being thrown along a parabolic trajectory. The exception of this technique is a mechanical movement which typically would move in a straight line.
By adding a secondary action to the main action, this makes a scene more life like and can help in supporting a main action. A character whom is walking could simultaneously swing its arms or keep ones arms in ones pockets, the character could be speaking or whistling or be expressing emotions through facial expressions. One of the utmost important things one should consider when using secondary actions is that the action should empathize and compliment the main action; not taking attention away from the main action. If the secondary action is taking attention from the main action then perhaps the action is better to be left out. A point of note is when using facial actions in a dramatic scene then these will often go unnoticed, when in these circumstances it's better to use this secondary action at the beginning and end of the motion rather than during the motion.
The timing is referring to the number of drawing or frames allocated per action, thus translating to the speed of the film. On a strictly physical level, correct timing to an object would make the item to appear to the laws of physics thus having a more realistic motion; for example, the weight of an object would decide how it reacts to a moving force such as a push. The timing is also of vital importance for establishing the
mood of a character along with its emotion and reaction. Timing can also be a device to communicate the aspects of a characters personality.
This is technique which is very useful for animation; a good mimic of reality can look static and dull when used in cartoons. The degree of the exaggeration used can depend on whether one seeks realism or a certain style such as a caricature or a style of an artist. The classic definition of exaggeration which was used by Walt Disney was to remain true to reality but presenting it in a more wild and extreme form. Other forms of exaggeration can involve the supernatural or surreal alliterations involving the physical features of a character, or elements in the storyline. It's important to employ a certain level of restraint when using exaggeration; if a scene contains many elements then there should be a balance in how those elements are exaggeration in relation to one another, thus avoiding confusion or overawing the viewer.
Solid Drawing
The principle of solid drawing means taking in to account the many forms used in three dimensional space, thus giving volume and weight. The animator needs to be experienced in creating mechanical drawings to show advancement when drawing the 3D shapes, the anatomy, weight, balance, light and shadow. For the classic animator this would involve taking art classes and drawing real life sketches. One thing in particular which Johnston and Thomas warned about was creating 'twins'; characters whom were mirrored either side of one another as this made the characters appear lifeless. Modern computer animators draw less because of the advancement in the facilities a computer can offer. Yet this work benefits extremely with basic understanding of the principles of animation as well as the basic computer animation know-how.
In cartoon characters, appeal is what we know as charisma which would be seen in an actor. A character that is appealing isn't necessarily sympathetic; villains and monsters can also be appealing; the important thing is when using appeal is that the character appears to be real and interesting. There's many tricks for making a character connect better with an audience; for likable characters a symmetrical or particularly baby-like face is often effective.
Referenced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_basic_principles_of_animation
1 comment:
I would give this work a distinction as it explains the techniques clearly and has some good examples.
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