To catch and hold the interest of the viewer of an animation project, there are twelve basic principals to follow . Without these principles your piece would be flat and mechanical at best; however, with these principles your animation comes alive.
The first and most important principal in animation is what is called “Squash and Stretch.” I say most important because it is used over and over again to show weight and volume to a character as it moves. Anything that is not made out of plastic, metal or wood will squash and stretch to some degree or another. In the early days of animation, Mickey Mouse’s figure was traced from two coins. It was a flat rigid shape that could never be turned, moved or distorted; it was always a two dimensional shape on the screen. A bouncing ball in those days was represented by a circle, moving up and down. As Disney moved into the thirties, animators discovered that bouncing balls were not rocks. Rocks hit the ground and do not change shape. They are rigid and once they hit the ground their downward momentum is spent. When a rubber ball hit’s the ground, the downward momentum distorts the shape of the ball. The ball pushes against the ground to throw it into the air. This principal rings true with anything composed of living flesh as well. The movement of facial features with each different expression. In essence, Squash and Stretch is shape distortion to accentuate movement. So much life is added to a character with this one principal.
“Anticipation” is a reverse movement to accent a forward movement. This movement prepares the audience for a major action the character is about to perform, like , starting to run, jump or change expressions. A backwards motion happens before the forward action is executed. That backward motion is the anticipation. When a golfer swings his club, he doesn’t take the club straight from the ground forward, he winds backward with the club above his head before going into his full swing forward. A baseball pitcher winds up and leans backward with most of his body before the ultimate throw forward. All that action is in real life and must be portrayed in animation to make it feel alive as well. Anticipation is a key to believable animation.
The camera
viewpoint to best show the action is known as “Staging.” The
correct staging clearly communicates to the audience the attitude, mood,
reaction or idea of the character as it relates to the story and continuity
of the story
line. Staging directs the audience’s attention to the story or idea
being told. Background and animation should work together as a pictorial
unit in
a scene so care should be taken in background design. Confusion of the audience
could occur with too many actions all at once or if the background obscures
the
animation or is competing with it. The use of long, near or close up shots,
as well as camera angles can be very effective in telling the story and connecting
one scene to another.
“Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose Animation” starts with the first
drawing and works drawing to drawing throughout a scene. This is how basic
animation first began and is still used because it is the best way to control
size, volumes
and proportions. Fast action scenes are done this way because this method
is more charted and planned out. Pose-to-Pose breaks down structured motion into
a series of clearly defined key poses. While in straight-ahead action the
character
moves spontaneously through the action one step at a time until the action
is finished.
Nothing stops all at once in animation and this is where Follow Through, and Overlapping Action come into the picture. If a character stops all at once, his hair and clothes continue in a forward direction and catches up a few frames later, in other words it consists of the reactions of the character after and action and it usually lets audiences know how he or she feels about what just happened, or is about to happen. In overlapping action, numerous motions influence, blend, and overlap the position of the character.
Smoothing starts and stops by spacing is know as Slow-In and Slow-Out. More drawings are needed in the beginning and ending of a scene to make the action slower, and less in the middle of the scene. This slow to fast, and back to slow again make the action more life-like.
Arcs are known as planning the paths
of action. All actions, unless mechanical, follow an Arc, or slightly
circular path. They give animation a natural
action and better flow. This is especially true in human movement and
the action
of animals.
One action following another action, in relation to the initial action
is called Secondary Action. All actions work together to support one
another. Arms swinging
in relation to a person walking, faces changing expression at the same
time
help to convey the emotion of a scene, and all work together to make
it happen.
Timing is time relations within actions for the illusion of life. It establishes mood, emotion, and reaction to other characters or situations in a scene. A variety of slow and fast timing in a scene adds texture and interest to the movement.
The caricature of actions and timing is Exaggeration. It involves caricature of facial features, expressions, poses, attitudes and actions. Exaggeration in a walk, eye movement or turn will give your animation more appeal. Squash and stretch is used a lot to achieve Exaggeration.
If you want to be an animator you must first learn how to produce a Solid Drawing. Solid drawing is the term used in the ’30’s, today it is referred to as Solid modeling and rigging. Three-dimensional is movement in space, while four-dimensional is movement in time. In both of these dimensions the basic principals of drawing apply. Being precise in this principal of animation helps to convey the weight, depth and balance of the character, and in itself saves a lot of time and production complications.
To capture and involve the audiences interest, your characters have to have Appeal. Appeal includes easy to read design, drawing and personality development. Story content, character development, and a high quality of artwork will help your animation to appeal to the mind as well as the eye of your audience.
With the world of computers and the complexities there-in, there are a few tune ups where the principals of animation are concerned. Visual styling, blend motion, cinematography, facial animation, and user-controlled animation are in the picture now, who knows what the future holds?
Resources :
1. www.frankandollie.com
2.Disney Animation - by Frank and Ollie
3.The Art of Computer Animation and Effects - Isaac V. Kerlow
4.www.hwcn.org/~ab323/als/animating/squash.htm