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Session 1
Session 1
12 principles of animation were developed by the Nine Old Men
they worked for Disney in the '20s, '30s and '40s
the West was generally ahead in terms of animation
the term animation means 'to give life'
the skill is giving an object/character personality - not just to make it move
Acting for Animation explains the difference between normal human behaviour/movement and that of animation
stylized body movement
animation goes back to approx. 30,000BCE with cave paintings
thaumotrope - the bird-and-cage spinning illusion
[SHOW OTHERS]
rotoscoping
when live action acting is used to guide animation and make it more accurate - e.g. mid-cent. Disney movies
1928 - Steamboat Willie was the first appearance of Mickey Mouse, as well as the first time synchronised sound appeared alongside animation
1937 - Snow White was Disney's first full-length film
The Golden Age of animation was dominated by Fleischer Studios/Paramount, Warner Bros, and MGM.
The arrival of TV in the 1940's meant animation had to be created faster and were therefore simpler
Hanna Barbera studio???
The Golden Age ended in the '70s and '80s as VFX began to rise
Digital animation was also beginning, taking precedence over traditional 2D animation
1981-1994 was the Second Golden Age
Steve Jobs helped start Pixar
Who Framed Roger Rabbit was one of the first hybrid 2D-live action movies
3D animation tends to age poorly, whilst 2D can still look very good decades on
VFX and 3D special effects took off in the '90s with movies such as Independence Day, Titanic and Twister
after this, 2D movies became more epic in scope - e.g. the Lion King - but were relatively unsuccessful at the box office
the early 2000s saw the emergence of motion capture, which was derived from rotoscoping
ANI172_Week_1_History of Animation.pdfSession 2
Session 2
Brief 1:
doesn't have to be clay
max of two objects (excluding props and set)
5-10s long at 15-24fps
Brief 1 due Sunday, October 8
Mid-project reflection due Week 2
The 12 principles of animation are:
Squash & stretch
objects get longer and/or flatter to emphasize movement/momentum
more S&S implies softer objects and vice versa
volume must be maintained e.g. a ball gets longer and narrower, before getting flatter and wider
stretch at terminal velocity
Anticipation
preparation for action to give the audience a clue
also makes it more realistic
kinetic energy is important
also called a 'wind-up'
the greater the anticipation, the more likely the audience is to catch & understand the action
multiple levels
the wind-up to the wind-up
Staging
the presentation of any idea so that it is unmistakably clear
it's about controlling where the audience is looking at any one time
don't have too many actions happening at once
Straight-ahead & pose-to-pose
straight ahead is drawing the frames in order
pose to pose is drawing the main frames first and then filling in the gaps
PTP is generally more accurate
SA is good for unpredictable animations e.g. fire
Follow through & overlapping actions
having things drag behind the body
physics is important
also includes drag
Slow-in & slow-out
all movement starts slowly and builds speed
without it, the action feels mechanical
prevents the 0-100 problem
Arcs
very few organisms move in perfect lines
most organic things move in arcs or circular motion
Secondary action
gestures that support the main action to add more dimension
e.g walking angrily - the primary movement is the walking, the secondary action is the swinging fists
ties into staging as well
Timing
refers to the number of frames between each action
less frames = faster
more frames = slower
Exaggeration
making the essence of the action more apparent
this means making it more convincing
e.g. sad - sadder
Solid drawings
making sure that forms exist properly in 3D space
requires knowledge of 3D dimensions e.g. drawing contours on a sphere
perspective and vanishing points
avoid symmetry
Appeal
the animation should be pleasing to look at
interesting is better than good-looking
dynamic designs are a good way to boost appeal
almost like caricatures
be careful not to overwhelm the viewer with details
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