Subtext

I haven't posted in awhile, but I've been meaning to post this thought. Several weeks ago, we had a great lesson in my acting for animators class, where we talked about subtext within a scene. Our friend Tom Jech has touched on this long ago, but the way we approached it in class, it finally started to sink in.

We were given some lines from a play and then there were two blank lines below each one. One line for subtext the other for revealing actions. So the one character says "You're carrying a heavy load there, Steel." Now Steel just walked in with his suitcase full of heavy dumbells. (He's a strong man for the circus and his ring master is talking to him) Now carrying a heavy load... physically YES... but for the subtext he's really saying, "something's bothering you, Steel." Then the actions could be varied depending upon the character... if he's sympathetic he will stop practicing with his whip and approach Steel... if not, he will continue practicing with his whip and maybe give him a quick glance.

We then did this for each line between the characters, and what I discovered was your strongest moments are when a character will say one thing but really they mean something else. Great characters moments can definitely evolve when one is in conflict with him/herself or a situation. So when thinking about the "SUBTEXT" of your scene, always write down what is my character really saying or thinking. You can start to really consider yourself a successful animator when you can fully get that character to think.

Another quick idea that has been bothering me is what my one professor calls "on the nose acting." The best way to explain it is to look at the moments in Family Guy when they poke fun at the way William Shatner acts. He's all over the place and starts to become very mime like. Now I've had the privilege of living with a deaf roommate and a lot of times when we communicate I do spell out or there is a logical sign for the words that I want to say. However; this is not how you animate. If I were to say, "I'm going to the store after lunch." That line does not need a separate sign for going (making a guy walk with your two fingers), one for store (rubbing fingers together to indicate money), and lunch (eating motion). To me that can all be summed up into one gesture, because that is more natural when thinking about acting and human behavior. Too many times I see gesture upon gesture and it just looks really bad.

My buddy Tom Jech has many other great posts about acting on his blog. So check those out here. Also the one book we have for the acting class is called Acting for Animators by Ed Hooks. By far one of the best books I have read for character animation. I highly recommend it.

3D Character Animation

My favorite class this quarter was character animation. Wow! I learned so much about workflow, hold poses, in-betweens, when to apply the squash and stretch in a full body, or that wonderful whip/ wave principle.

Anyway, I will also be taking an acting for animators class next quarter, and I can't wait to learn more about acting choices and how to apply them. This is my dialogue clip for my final. I'm happy with it but would like to have fixed a few things back in blocking 2 unfortunately. Here it is.

Drawing in Motion

So here's my final for drawing in motion. This by far was one of my most difficult class ever. I learned so much, yet it will take a lot more time to develop the needed skills from this class. If there's one thing I learned, it's OBSERVATION IS KEY.

Here are a few good videos about observation, drawing and animation. It's probably material we've all heard, but it never hurts to reinforce it all. Check them out here.

Anyways, here is my final for drawing in motion. It was a hand drawn animation in flash with photoshop painted backgrounds. I'm pretty happy with it, but there is always things to make better.

Advanced Modeling/ Design

So the quarter is wrapping up and I thought I'd start posting my final projects to share. This is my final from a class I had to take called Advanced Modeling and Design, where you could honestly do anything you wanted for the final, but I decided to throw together a model to break up all of my animation assignments.

This project was a nice "on the side" project. I sometimes find it hard to keep motivated in animation and it does help to have others things to keep you busy. This includes, digital paintings, modeling, drawing, or even reading a good book. There was a great post about this on Carlos Beana's blog (who you should check out... I think he has some great work). But check out his blog here and look for the post titled motivation... it's a good read.



I'll get my other finals posted soon. Hope you enjoy it.

Reaction

It's been awhile since I posted work, so here it goes. We just finished a acting/ reaction piece in 3D character class which I didn't have as much time as I had hoped to finish. It definitely still has issues, but I learned a lot and I can see some of the good aspects of it as well. So here's the final playblast.

Coraline

So just like every other animation website and blog, I must give my review of Laika's latest masterpiece. Personally "I LOVED IT!" I was not thrilled about watching it in the stereoscopic 3D, but I guess I must not judge an animation alone by it's technical traits. In general I don't like the new 3D experience, especially when the movements are so fast. It does just become a lot of material to give on a headache. However; I think they have started to tame it so that it enhances the important aspects of a film and push the scene. I especially noticed this when she walk into the theatre with a flashlight. The old throw things in your face doesn't impress me but the push further back into a scene really does. As far as story goes, I can't wait to get my hand on Neil Gaiman's book and devour it. The story was rich and enticing... I particularly loved Coraline.


They did such a great job in the early scenes of portraying a 7-8 year old girl full of youthful spirit. Her character is absolutely adorable. I say Coraline is a must see even if it's in "true 3D."

Another good article on this new 3D is the review of Pixar's new film Up and I feel they have the right take on the whole situation. Plus from what I've read I believe Up will be another film with a very rich story and wonderful characters. Definitely a film that will blow Wall-E right out of the water. Check out the full article here.

Also for any who read this blog... I've been trying to formulate ideas for my graduate thesis in animation, and I know this true 3D topic is quite big right now. I have a couple other ideas as well, but if anyone has any thoughts please comment or feel free to email me. Thanks!

I Love Running and Animation

I was checking out a previous SCAD student's work and I stumbled on this posting. Here is what you get when you breed two of my passions.


Origami In the Pursuit of Perfection from MABONA ORIGAMI on Vimeo.