Flash Project

flash project 

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/17774605" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/17774605">flash</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/rebeccapople">Rebecca Pople</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> 

Here is an explanation of the principles I have used to create this piece.

Fig 1 planning the animation

Principles I have followed within this animation:

1. Cycle - walk cycle. (see Fig 3) considering weight shift (see Fig 2) helps the understanding of where the head and stomach placement would be, especially considering this character is fat and round.
2. Secondary Action - arms move when character is walking (yoyo) head moves in sympathy with arm movement. (Reaction character) when hit with yoyo characters arms and head fly backwards.
   

3. Staging - Camera is at first focused only on character who finds the yoyo, it is only when the yoyo flies out of shot that the camera then switches to the reactionary character making it less obvious what was to happen.
4. Anticipation - arm lifts before pushing downwards to use yoyo and arm swings back before throwing yoyo off screen.
5. Squash and Stretch/Exaggeration - when yoyo hits reactionary character the stomach squashes but in an over exaggerated way to make the scene look more effective.
6. Follow through and overlapping action - when the character stops walking his arm carries on moving. When the yoyo comes back up it carries on travelling upwards after characters arm starts moving downwards again. Characters body has to go back to a resting position after forcing forwards to throw yoyo.
7. Timing - yoyo will move at a much faster speed to everything else.

Fig 2 exaggerated weight shift

 

         

Fig 3 simple walk cycle

audience expectations

Take the top image: The audience expects something to enter from the right and for the character to know about it. This is due to the character placed on the far left facing empty space.


Take the bottom image: The audience expects something to enter from the left hand side and for the character on the right to be unsuspecting. This is due to the character being placed on the far right with its back to empty space.

Development of straight ahead and pose to pose methods

I have already covered the fact that both straight ahead and pose to pose methods offer certain advantages for different types of animation. However a combination of the two when animating will give the spontaneity of the straight ahead method whilst the pose to pose element will stop it from getting out of hand.

In these cases the animation can be planned out in the pose to pose animation format whilst using none of these in the final format preferring the straight ahead methods. However straight ahead animation will rarely work if there are busy backgrounds or a strong perspective in the layout because the layout will provide limitations. Historically, this haphazard method was used by the first animators as they were more concerned with entertaining actions. The pose to pose method developed eventually after the finding and stressing of the importance of using the principles of animation by Disney studios.

Key Frames and Inbetweens

The principle of timing is tied very closely with the principle pose to pose.

 

If these diagrams are time lines, and the numbers in the circles are key frames or frames drawn in the pose to pose technique then the numbers outside of the circles are inbetweens.

The top timeline would involve movements that are in a very rhythmic pattern, which would be a very stale animation. Whilst straight ahead animation is spontaneous, it is hard to judge what the timings are are whether it is becoming stuck within a rhythmic pattern.

The bottom timeline would involve movements that are timed differently throughout. It is easy to plan this within the technique of pose to pose, once the key frames are set out it is easy to set the timings of the inbetweens.

Disney's Principles of Staging to evoke emotion within an audience.

As well as establishing the Principles of Animation, Disney have set nine principles to get the most out of the principle of staging, mainly having relevance of evoking emotion within an audience.

1. Rear view - for example viewing characters looking off into the distance will leave the audience imagining their feelings and dreams (if it is a happy scene of course) along with them
2. Shadows - usually associated with suspense and drama.
3. Shadows over the character - works well in intense situations and heightens the drama and emotion
4. Overlays - for example characters pushing their way through something whilst distraught can help the intensity of the scene without having to focus on facial expressions too much.
5. Dramatic layout - If the layout of the scene relate to how the character is feeling eg. overpowering shapes whilst feeling insignificant, can heighten the audiences understanding and emotions.
6. Pictorial shot - "A background with a strong mood can save a difficult animation."
7. Effects animation - Falling rain, a storm, vivid colours of leaves can evoke strong emotions within an audience.
8. Held drawing with camera moves - When expressions cannot be strengthened by movement it can sometimes be beneficial to move the camera instead.
9. Offstage sounds - a still shot of something can portray a lot if the sounds the audience hears can build images in the imagination.

zoetrope

I have been concentrating so much on examples of walk cycles that I have completely forgotten to look at the obvious. Historically zoetropes are some of the earliest forms of cycles in animation.

Here is my own example from the first week of term:

 

http://www.vimeo.com/18499509

 

Cycles also work very well with morph sequences, for example in the first week of term we made morph sequences in groups. I also made my own morph and cyclical sequence for the Open Brief and found that cycles in animation are not as limited as I would have believed them to be, managing to combine techniques of hand drawn and pixilation. Personally I find a lot of appeal in cycles, there is something satisfying about watching cleverly considered movements that repeat themselves.

Placement of characters, are they true to real life?

It is often the case that cartoon scenes are staged not with the characters looking directly at each other, but instead at a 3/4 angle. It is more convenient for the animator to work this way and it could be argued it makes the viewing experience more enjoyable and the audience do not tend to register this fact anyhow.

 

If the characters are in profile and looking directly at each other it is difficult for the animator to capture facial expressions, but most importantly the audience are cut off, they are not fully part of the scene. Two profiles facing each other directly can also look very mechanical, it works well for cartoon strips but for animated films such as the works of Disney's it would become more regimented and less magical.

One way of overcoming characters interacting face to face is the over the shoulder pose which replicates life better. However to animate over the shoulder poses are extremely difficult, this could be due to the fact that it is hard to draw the back of a cartoon character and to make them look like they are interacting.