1. Squash and Stretch: By exaggerating a objects movement giving the illusion of movement, weight, speed or impact. This can be applied to simple objects such as bouncing balls or the more complex muscles in a characters face. An important tip is to keep the volume of the shape constant in order to avoid a peculiar looking animation. This technique has been demonstrated in my flip books for example.
2. Anticipation: For almost every action we make there is anticipation - for example before we jump we bend our knees, or thrust our arms. This is used to prepare the audience for an action, and by doing so makes the animation more realistic. Mostly noticeable in large, physical movements but can also be applied to when a character simply moves their eyes to anticipate an arrival of someone else. An important note is that anticipation is always in the opposite direction to the action, for example if you're jumping up, you bend down first.
3. Staging (Mise-en-scene): Refers to the presentation of an idea so that it clearly communicates to the audience. This could be through shot framing, for example a close-up or an extreme close-up, through the placement of a character in the frame or the use of lighting. In summary it is maintaining focus on what is relevant and avoiding anything unnecessary.
4. Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose: These are two different approaches to the drawing process in animation. Straight Ahead: Animating frame after frame without the use of key framing. This allows for faster action, often making it fresh and fun. Pose to Pose: Refers to incredibly well planned animations in which the animator works out the key poses and then fills in the 'in-betweens'. This allows for clarity and strength in terms of quality.
5. Follow through and Overlapping Action: This refers to the actions that happen after the main body of the object has stopped moving, for example if slapped in the face, your hair and skin will still move due to momentum. This also relates to 'drag', when parts of something take a few frames to catch up. The lighter the object, the less drag.
6. Slow-In and Slow-Out: Because the movement of the most objects need time to accelerate and slow down, easing in and easing out of actions is required. This means there should be more frames during the beginning/end of an action and fewer frames whilst the object is moving at a high speed. Fewer frames = faster actions. This is demonstrated in the common animation of a pendulum swinging, in which I did for my pose to pose animation.
7. Arcs: Often actions follow an arc or circular path, and animation should adhere to this principle by following the implied arcs in order to gain greater aspects of realism. For example, an arm swinging when walking. Following arcs allow for a more fluid, natural looking animation.
8. Secondary Action: This refers to an action that supports and reinforces the previous action. For example, an angry person may tighten their grip. The aim of secondary actions is to emphasise rather than take attention away from the main action.
9. Timing: The number of drawings/frames for a given action which further translates to the speed of the action on film. Having a variety of different timings adds texture and interest to the movement or animation.
(Johnston and Thomas provided this as a guide for animators)
10. Exaggeration: Exaggeration is a key component to animation, often bringing an animation to life. However it doesn't just refer to vast movements giving a comical effect, but also subtle characteristics such as movement in the eyebrow to express emotions.
11. Solid Drawing: This means taking into account the basic principles of drawing for example weight, volume, solidity and the illusion of three dimensions. Drawing a character from the side rather than simply straight on will bring the character to life for example.
12. Appeal, or Character Personality: For your animation to relate to your audience your characters must have an appeal to them, including villains. It is important for the audience to view the character as real and interesting, furthermore bringing your animation to life. For likeable characters baby-like faces are effective in engaging the audience, for example Homer Simpson.
No comments:
Post a Comment