This week in class we started on animation , we were taught about the 12 principles of animation , we were show multiple videos about the principles and we also were told how to apply squash and stretch to an object. I will be writing about my first piece of animation in another blog post but this post will be focusing on the 12 principles of animation.
Squash And Stretch
This action gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character as it moves. It is also used in animation to create facial expressions. I have used this in my first piece of animation which I will be writing a blog post about also.
Anticipation
This movement prepares the audience for a major action the character is about to take part in such as preparing to jump or run or even change within the expression. Its the same concept as a windup mouse , the wind up is the anticipation before the movement. A real life example of this taking place is in a pitchers wind-up or a golfers back swing.
Staging
A pose or action should clearly communicate to the audience the attitude , mood , reaction or idea of the character as it relates to the story and continuity of the story line. The effective use of long, medium , or close up shots, as well as camera angles also helps in telling the story.
Straight ahead and pose to pose animation
Straight ahead animation starts at the first drawing and works drawing to drawing the end of a scene. You can lose size, volume and proportions with this method but it does have spontaneity and freshness. Fast wild action scenes are done this way.
Follow through and overlapping animation
When the main body of the character stops all other parts continue to catch up to the main mass of the character , such as arms , long hair , clothing , coat tails or a dress , floppy ears or a long tail. Nothing stops all at once. This is follow through. Overlapping action is when the character is going in a new direction, to be followed , a number of frames later, by his clothes in the new direction.
Slow-Out and Slow-In
As action starts , we have more drawings near the starting pose, one or two in the middle, and more drawings near the next pose. Fewer drawings make the action faster and more drawings make the action slower. Slow-ins and slow-outs soften the action , making it more life like . For a gag action , we may omit some slow-out or slow-ins for shock appeal or thee surprise element. This will give more snap to the scene.
Arcs
All actions, with few exceptions (such as the animation of a mechanical device), follow an arc or slightly circular path. This is especially true of the human figure and the action of animals. Arcs give animation a more natural action and better flow.
Secondary action
This action adds to and enriches the main action and adds more dimension to the character animation, supplementing and/or re enforcing the main action. Example : A character is angrily walking toward another character. The walk is forceful, aggressive , and forward leaning.
Timing
Expertise in timing coming best with experience and personal experimentation , using the trial and error method in refining technique. The basics are: more drawings between poses slow and smooth the action. Fewer drawings make the action faster and crisper.
Exaggeration
Exaggeration is not extreme distortion of a drawing or extremely broad , violent action all the time. Its like a caricature of facial features, expressions, poses attitudes and actions. Action traced from live action film can be accurate, but stiff and mechanical.
Solid drawing
The basic principles of drawing form , weight , volume solidity and the illusion of three dimension apply to animation as it does to academic drawing. The way you draw cartoons, you draw in the classical sense, using pencil sketches and drawings for reproduction of life.
Appeal
A live performer has charisma. An animated character has appeal. Appealing animation does not mean just being cute and cuddly. All characters have to have appeal whether they are heroic , villainous , comic or cute.
I am looking forward to doing the animation part of the course as I want to be able to animate characters using a rig and learn to bring my models to life.
nextgennathan 