CA0932a Multimedia Development Lecture 8 Animation Principles

Animation - recap History of animation

Topic – Animation Principles Why discuss – all animation produced is based on using these principles or a subset thereof. Animation however long or short should use these principles to get best effect Topic/genre of animation does not matter. Advertising to fairytales 2hr 2d Disney or 3d Pixar to 5 minute Flash all use animation principles

Creating Animations Good animation is based on 12 principles of animation Developed by Disney Animators Good animation is based on Character Development Story Acting and Emotions Expression and dialogue

12 Animation Principles Squash and Stretch Anticipation Staging Straight ahead and pose to pose animation Follow through and overlapping action Slow-in and slow-out Arcs Secondary Action

Animation Principles Timing Exaggeration Solid Drawing Appeal Example –Road Runner Example – Ice Age

The ‘other’ principles Following based on work by Louise Harvey Based work on (Thomas and Johnston, 81)

Character Development Know the character Define personality, traits and quirks Get inside his/her head Exaggerate the way they look, move, speak to define personality Decide on the clothes they wear

Story Story is important Good animation can’t save bad story Disney believed: A good story can be told in 2/3 sentences Story broken into sequences Each scene should have as its purpose advancement of the story

Acting and emotions Emotional impact of the characters based round animation principles Characters are everything Disney animators enrolled in acting classes so they could better represent their characters Pixar Example

Emotional Principles Make sure that the emotional state of the character is clearly defined. The thought process reveals the feeling. Sometimes it can be shown with a single, held drawing or a simple move. Other times there should be gestures, body moves, or full action. Determine which is best in each case. Be alert to use of cutting and camera in helping accentuate the emotion.

Emotional Principles Ask yourself constantly: What am I trying to say here? What do I really want to show? How do I want the audience to react? Use the element of time wisely: to establish the emotion of the character, to convey it to the viewers, to let them savour the situation. Don’t be ponderous, but don’t take it away from them just as they start to enjoy it.

Expression and Dialogue Facial expression needs to tell a number of things Thoughts Feelings Some expressions evoke emotions Eg cuteness is evoked by character looking up out of the top part of its eyes, with chin dropped slightly

Expression and dialogue Resist the temptation to try to tell too much in one drawing – keep it simple so that it can be read quickly. Do not let the expression conflict with the dialogue. The way that a character, walks, stands, listens – all reveal the meaning of the words. The expression must be captured throughout the whole body as well as in the face. Any expression will be greatly weakened if it is confined only to the face

Others opinion http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20070810.105026/index.html Louise Harvey http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211_fall2002.web.dir/George_Nash/01Georges%20home.htm http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~patrick/csc418/notes/tutorial11.pdf