Using Animation to depict "The Real"

In chapter four Walt Disney is quoted with saying, “I definitely feel that we cannot do the fantastic things based on the real, unless we first know the real.” When it comes to animation, I completely agree with this quote. Animators who are creating characters also have to create the multiple different emotions that these characters feel. Without having experienced these emotions and experiences hands on first, how can they accurately depict them through animation? By honing in on these emotions and experiences, animators can ultimately create a much stronger and emotional scene. In chapter 2, the book talks about caricature and realism as parts of animation. I do not feel that there is a contradiction between this quote and those concepts. Realism and caricature are simply just two ways of depicting a situation or emotion that those animators have experienced in “the real.” Sure, realism is supposed to be a more truthful and accurate depiction of a certain emotion or situation. By creating a scene that is more focused on realism, the audience will be able to connect with that scene or character greatly. However, caricature can have the exact same effect in my opinion, and in some cases even push that emotion even further. Caricature is exaggerating the emotion of a character to the furthest degree. I think that sometimes exaggeration in animation can be a key aspect to really making the scene more powerful and emotional for an audience. It may look more like a cartoon and not realistic, but there are definitely moments where that exaggeration works just as well as realism. 

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.  

Caricature and Realism

When talking about animation there are two different types that are typically used. These two types are realism and caricature. Both have their advantages when it comes to animation, but it typically all comes down to the type of audience that you are trying to attract. In realism, artists are focused on creating scenes and characters that are to represent the subject matter truthfully. Typically the characters and landscapes in these animations look very real and contain a lot of detail. Paying attention to the fine details is a key part of creating a realist animation. In caricature, we see the opposite. These drawings typically heavily exaggerate a part of the character that we see. For example, when a character gets angry in an animation we may see smoke coming out of his ears while his face turns beet red. I believe that the choice to use caricature or realism depends on the audience that you are targeting. Realism has its benefits when trying to create dramatic scenes and atmospheres. Overall, I think that realism just creates a much more serious animation just based on the fact that everything is made to be truthful. One example of realism is a lot of the Japanese cartoons. On the other hand, I feel that caricature can be extremely beneficial and is a very creative way to animate. Caricature is heavily used in children’s cartoons especially when showing facial expressions. For example, if we see a clip of Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck acting shocked, we might see their entire jaw drop down to the floor. By using different sound effects, caricature can be taken to the next level by using interesting sound effects. In children’s cartoons, this can be very useful because it will normally produce a reaction from the child watching the show. As I said before, I feel that realism and caricature can both be extremely successful based on the audience that the animators are targeting. 

Principles of Communication

As a communications major, you learn the basic functions of all forms of communication pretty early on in your education. One of the most interesting aspects about all these principles is that they can be applied to many different areas in the world. One of the first aspects we learn about is discourse. Discourse is just basic communication through words, talks or or conversation. While this sounds very basic, there are plenty of different kinds of discourse that are appropriate in particular settings. Secondly, ideology is another huge form of communication. Ideology is a set of beliefs that fuel a particular social movement, group, or class. Thirdly, one of the most recent and what I feel to be one of the most important parts of communication is signification. Signification is the act of signifying by using signs of other symbolic means. Many signals are shown in our everyday conversation and media without us even knowing it. That right there shows the true power of communication. When it comes to animation, all of these principles are key to keeping a viewers attention. By understanding all of these different aspects of communication, animators are able to create characters that everyone can relate to. Animators can customize and bring more life to characters when they understand all of these examples. By doing this, they create a successful animation with much more energy and life to them for all audiences to enjoy. How else do you think that they came up with characters such as Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck that still remain relevant in today's society? The power of animation is infinitely multiplied when animators can understand all of these concepts.

One Step Closer to Graduation

While I was pretty nervous when I first started Capstone, in the end everything turned out really great and it was a eye opening experience. To create something that I had truly wanted to create for a long time was an indescribable feeling for me. I was extremely with how "Through Different Eyes" turned out simply because it was what I had envisioned the moment I had the idea to do it. The most memorable part about the whole experience was when I had finished the video. I wanted to show it to so many people, and that was something new for me. I was truly proud of what I had made and was really happy with the positive reception I got. Even with all the stress of presenting it to the whole faculty, I stuck it out and got through. Overall, my experience in capstone was really awesome to me simply because I got to do something that I love and added another piece to my portfolio. I most definitely consider "Through Different Eyes" to be my best work so far, and I can't wait to see what I make next to further develop my style.

Think Fast!

During the final stretch of the semester at Shepherd University, they brought in a live trivia game show for students to participate in called "Think Fast!" Some friends and I got to attend the event and even though we did not get to go on stage, it was fun just sitting and participating in the audience. The questions that were asked referred to a wide variety of pop culture references which really made this even fun for students. There was a lot of energy at this event as people in the audience were screaming and trying to help out their friends who were on stage. One of the coolest parts about this was that some of the questions they were asking referred back to some of our earliest childhood memories. For example, some of the questions asked you what a specific song was, and in some cases it was the theme song from a cartoon that was popular when we were growing up. That being said, this event was not only referring to recent pop culture, but to things that are nostalgic to the student body. In the end, the match was extremely close with the person who came in second only being one question behind the winner. The contestants got a variety of prizes just from participating, and the winner actually got a pretty hefty cash prize which is pretty awesome! With the stress of finals week creeping up, this event was definitely a great opportunity to get out, clear your head, and just relax and have fun.

A Night at the Movies: Horrible Bosses 2

I had the pleasure of being able to take a trip to the movies and see Horrible Bosses 2 the other week. Since this is the second installment in the series, I was a little bit skeptical about going to see it. The first movie was absolutely hilarious due to an extremely diverse and well picked cast. When I first saw that this movie was coming out I had no idea what they could possibly use to make a story possible. After watching, I was completely satisfied with the sequel and thought that they did a fantastic job on it. The movie was just as funny as the first movie and the original cast was brought back along with some new characters as well. Not only was the movie hilarious, but it was beautifully shot. The cinematography was awesome and they even had some really well edited sequences throughout. Like the first movie, the strongest aspect was the cast. Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day all work so well together. With the additions of Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, and Christoph Waltz, this movie hosted a cast full of stars. If you are a fan of the first film, I highly recommend that you go see this movie and get some good laughs out.