Pink Elephants on Parade: Animation Blog 3

The 12 Principles of Animation

·      Squash and Stretch – One of the most important aspects of animation. This is how you show movement from one frame to the next.

·      Anticipation – The act of preparing the audience for what is going to happen next, before it even occurs.

·      Staging – The presentation of any idea so that it is completely and unmistakably clear.

·      Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose – Straight Ahead Action is when an animator starts with his first drawing and simply keeps going from there. He does not start in the middle. Pose to Pose is the act of planning out each of these drawings.

·      Follow Through and Overlapping Action – This is the sequence where a character goes from one action to the next. At first many characters would come to a complete stop before doing the next action. Follow Through and Overlapping Action create a fluid motion in the character.

·      Slow In and Slow Out – A way for an animator to create very smooth movement as a character moves from one attitude to the next. This was designed to make an animation look less mechanical.

·      Arcs – A way of studying the motion of characters. Every movement that we make typically hosts some type of arc. Animators go through each motion and plot out each of the arcs to create smoother motions.

·      Secondary Action – An action that follows the primary action of a character. For example, after a character does a very sad expression, we may see a tear run down his face.

·      Timing – Timing is all based on the number of drawings that portray an action.

·      Exaggeration – The act of exaggerating a characters emotions and actions. For instance, if a character is meant to look sad, make him look even sadder.

·      Solid Drawing – The act of being able to draw outside of animating. Disney felt that you must perfect your drawing skills before beginning to animate.

·      Appeal – The act of creating a visually interesting character or drawing. Your audience must enjoy what your drawings look like and they must hold their attention. 

 

 One animation that I feel encompasses all of these elements is a sequence from Walt Disney’s film “Dumbo.” In this clip Dumbo has drank some alcohol and begins hallucinating. He sees a bunch of pink elephants marching around and a song titled “Pink Elephants on Parade” plays. Two of the strongest elements portrayed in this clip are Squash and Stretch and Appeal. As we see the elephants marching around we can see them stretching as they move, creating great motion between them all. Appeal is another element from this list that I feel is used strongly in this animation. The elephants are all pink, which is obviously not the usual color of an elephant, so I think that aspect really draws the viewers eye in.

Fred’s 14 Points of Animation

·      Appeal in Drawing

·      Staging

·      Most interesting way?

·      Is it the most entertaining way?

·      Are you in character?

·      Are you advancing the character?

·      Is this the simplest statement of the main idea of the scene?

·      Is the story point clear?

·      Are the secondary actions working with the main action?

·      Is the presentation best for the medium?

·      Does it have 2 dimensional clarity?

·      Does it have 3 dimensional solidity?

·      Does it have 4 dimensional drawing?

·      Are you trying to do something that shouldn’t be attempted?

This list is quite similar to the 12 principles of animation. The only difference is that an animator named Fred Moore designed this list. Using this list we can examine more aspects of the “Pink Elephants on Parade” animation. The animation clearly demonstrates great uses of 2 dimensional, 3 dimensional, and 4 dimensional drawing. The animation moves along smoothly, with extremely well drawn figures. The animation even gives the illusion of the elephants popping out at you at points throughout.

12 Additional Points

·      Inner feelings and emotion

·      Acting with clear and definite action

·      Character and personality

·      Thought process through expression changes

·      Ability to analyze

·      Clear staging

·      Good composition

·      Timing

·      Solidity in drawing

·      Power in drawing

·      Strength in movement

·      Imagination

These also apply to this animation clip in several ways. One way these apply to this animation is the Strength in movement and Inner Feelings and Emotion. The whole animation is based around these elephants marching in a very uniform manner. To go right along with this is the emotion that goes along with the scene. The sequence is somewhat disturbing and a little bit intimidating as well. Personally, I feel a lot of emotion pouring out of this animation. The use of staging and composition is incredible as well.

9 Economical Ways that Animation can build Emotion

·      Rear View – Creating a dramatic environment in which the audience can imagine the feelings of the characters. This makes the audience dream along with the characters.

·      Shadows – These are normally associated with suspense and drama.

·      Shadows over the Character – By creating a specific emotion on a characters face, casting shadows over them while a certain action is occurring can create a more intense dramatic sequence.

·      Overlays – Using certain aspects from the background while a character is going through something can strengthen a scene.

·      Dramatic Layout – Creating a scene around a character that matches his/her emotions can be extremely effective.

·      Pictorial Shot – Creating a background with a strong mood can strengthen a difficult animation.

·      Effects Animation – This is when you establish a mood either by symbolism or showing what the character sees. This can create an emotional reaction very quickly.

·      Held Drawing with Camera Moves – Instead of moving a specific character, sometimes just moving the camera can create a dramatic scene as well. For example, slowly zooming in on a characters facial expression.

·      Offstage Sounds – Using sound effects to establish the mood of a scene can be just as powerful as action sequences in animation.

While the pink elephants animation does not host many shadows, there are two elements that I think are used very well. The use of Rear View and Effects Animation in this sequence is very successful. At one point, we see Dumbo with elephants marching around him and he looks very sad and frightened. Effects Animation is used expertly as well since we are seeing what Dumbo is seeing in this clip. By showing what he is seeing, and knowing that he is drunk, the mood of the clip is completely changed.

5 Points to Remember when Animating Emotions

·      Make sure the emotional state of the character is clearly defined

·      The thought process reveals the feeling. This can be executed differently based on what is happening

·      Be alert to use of cutting and camera in helping accentuate the emotion

·      Ask yourself constantly: What am I trying to say here? What do I really want to show? How do I want the audience to react?

·      Use the element of time wisely

Emotion is a huge part of the pink elephants clip. Right before this scene Dumbo had been made fun of and laughed off the stage of the circus that he performs in. After a rough night, he drinks some alcohol and becomes intoxicated. He is so intoxicated, that he begins hallucinating. We also see a shot of Dumbo where he looks very sad and even a bit scared from what he is seeing. It is safe to say that out of all these aspects, this specific sequence executes most of them successfully. While it does not use all of these elements, it certainly uses the majority of them.