Andrew Gordon is a character animator who has been working at Pixar studio for 15 years.
He recently did an article with creative blog which highlight his time so far at Pixar. I found this to be a very interesting and insightful read. One of the things he says I found especially interesting was his answer to the question "What do you prefer about 3-D animation vs 2-D "
"I like the subtlety of acting and the very small minutia that you are able to get in 3D animation"
Click the link below to read the full article, and find out which one in the photo is him. If you don't know, here's a clue he's wearing glasses.
One of the key areas I looked at was facial expressions. Facial expressions is a key area in character animation and one I wanted to enhance my knowledge and skill in. This is a very useful chart or infographic I found highlighting the various facial expressions we make.I am sure I will be referring to in the future.
I used the site Reference Reference, which is great for, you guessed it references for animation. The video I choose was of a man terrified.
Expressions test animation 1
In the second facial test animation I wanted to show the characternervously eye darting before looking towards the camera, as to say he knows his being watched.
Expressions test animation 2
I decided to composite the two facial tests together to make this one animation.I think it works well overall and makes for a good short animation.
The twelve principles are of huge importance when creating animation and can be apply to all kinds of animation in Isaac Kerlow's book 'The Art of 3D Computer Animation and Effects' (third edition 2003). Kerlow says:"The twelve principles are mostly about five things:
acting the performance, directing the performance, representing reality
(through drawing, modeling, and rendering), interpreting real world physics,
and editing a sequence of actions. The original principles are still relevant
today because they help us to create more believable characters and situations.
They can be applied to almost any type of animation, even though they work best
for comedy. But, some of these principles require updates, and a few new
additional principles are also needed to address the new techniques and styles
of three-dimensional computer animation."
Kerlow list few more principles designed for 3D computer animation include: visual styling, blending cartoon physics with real world
physics, using cinematography, mastering facial animation, and optimizing
user-controlled animation.
So after completing my tests with walk cycles. My next test in the fundamentals was to try and show believable weight. I felt this would be a good test as it would further test my timing as well as my work process. The animation was simply to showing a character attempt to push an object with all his might before giving up at having not beening able to move it.
For this test my work process was firstly to act the scene out. From this I would use my visual reference of acting it out to create a storyboard which highlighted the key-poses my character would make. After all planning was complete, this included the making of a storyboard and thumbnails, I started animating.
Blocking Stage
The first video is of my blocking stage this went generally well as I could see my frames coming into animation. This stage was where I made my rough timing of how long I thought each pose should last.
Flat Stage
Coming out of my blocking stage cause some serious problems for me. I took my character out of liner and stepped tangles and into flat tangles. From here I worked to smooth out the animation and add more details. I seem to have lost a few poses from doing this as I added holds to the animation, which was disappointing.
The main problem I had was with the animation was with the timing. Animation works, because of good timing as much as it does because of good performances. Showing this to my tutor and fellow peers it was clear that the timing had to be improved.
Final Push Animation This is my final version of my push animation. Having made the changes suggested by my fellow peers. I have improved the timing and feedback has been that it looks and works much better. As a test I am positive about the overall outcome and that with more practice I will improve.
Walk Cycles are
one of the most difficult tasks for an animator. This is because both
mechanics of motion and character and personality must be infused into
that walk through your timing, spacing and poses. A solid understand of
technical shifts in weight and acting choices are key to making a
successful walk cycle. -Thinking Animation.com Starting off with a walk cycle I feel is a good starting point for me. As there is much I can do with this alone. although it may seem basic, the knowledge of creating convincing walk cycles are Fundamental. It is something all good character animator would have done and something I want to gain a good bases of.
After showing this to my tutor and peers the feedback was to further exaggeration the walk give him more personality.
Overall I please with this walk after adding the improvement suggested by my peers and tutor i am happy with the outcome. From this I now wanted to go on and create some character personality walks Carrying out some more research into walk cycle Thinking Animation Brought some good theory of what facts the animator should think about when making a walk cycle. CHARACTER, STATE OF MIND, AND PERSONALITY: Character and
personality are what make the walk real and make the audience identify
with it on an emotional level. Disney always said "the mind is the
pilot" and that is where every motion you create must start. Before
even drawing a pose, you need to establish in your mind where your
character's head is at. The lead is one quick way to establish this
through the posing of your walk cycle. Remember this is a very
simplified approach is not the "end-all be-all"...only a stepping stone
to understanding how to infuse character into your animation. There is
one little trick that can help you find your way inside the character.
This is just one little trick, there are many other facets to a walk
that also contribute to a personality, this is just one suggestion.
THE LEAD tells the audience where you character's head is
at and how they view themselves and their place in the world.
Actor/Actress/Musician/Personality examples below illustrate how the
lead in motion can define a character and state of mind. After you
familiarize you with the lead of a walk, try walking around the room
aware of what part of the body is leading. Observe how this changes
your attitude and sense of self.
Source Thinking Animation.com Bearing this in mind I created an angry walk cycle and running cycle the following to animation. Angry walk cycle
I feel there are problems with this walk which makes me it the the weakest of the three.
One of the most important things during this module was for me to examine and look at how profession character animators animated. I wanted to look at their workflow and in turn hopefully implement there work methodology into my workflow.
“Animation is movement! Movement is
animation! What a person in the audience sees creates a stronger impression
than what he hears”
(Hooks, 2011)
In this case study, I will be exploring the
films of Joseph Frank ‘Buster’ Keaton, well known for his silent films in the
1920s. He is regarded as one of the most influential people of the time, alongside
Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd who were the most popular and significant comic
actors of the silent film era, helping it to flourish and be so successful
during this period. In particular, I want to focus on several of Keaton’s ‘shorts’.
I believe there is a lot to learn from Keaton’s works and looking at his theory
and practice will help to further my knowledge as a filmmaker, storyteller and
character animator.
Keaton’s early life influenced his career
and comic portrayals and therefore, I will now briefly describe his early life
and path to film. He began at the age of three as a Vaudeville performer
alongside his parents (A & E Networks, 2012). ‘The Three Keatons’ was his
first performance on stage and the show was billed as ‘The Roughest Act That
Was Ever in the History of the Stage’. Keaton was referred to as ‘The Little
Boy Who Can’t Be Damaged’. It was here that Keaton would develop his craft as
an acrobatic comedian (Deming, 2012) by learning his signature trade, the
deadpan look, which he took into his films. The following was written about
Keaton, “Buster
. . . is thrown about the stage by a merciless father in a careless fashion and
his treatment and comedy are the things that bring the laughs” (Unknown, 1909).
In 1917, at the age of 21, Keaton made his
debut (just two years after Chaplin) in ‘The Butcher Boy’ starring Roscoe
“Fatty” Arbuckle. This was a small role for Keaton; it was however, extremely
slapstick with Keaton being subject to a range of abuses (A & E Networks,
2012). In the 1920s, Keaton
made arguably his best work, ‘One week’ (1920), ‘The High Sign’ (1921), and ‘Cops’
(1922). With ‘The High Sign’, like Chaplin, Keaton was not only an on screen
presence but also worked behind the camera; his credits included director,
writer, and producer (A & E Networks, 2012). Together, these roles I feel added to
his performance as he was in full control of creating his films.
In
‘The High Sign’, Keaton delivers a masterful performance of comedy and
athleticism, both being entertaining and thrilling. Keaton makes the most of
every opportunity to captivate the audience. In one scene in ‘The High Sign’,
Keaton’s character is seen trying to go through a newspaper. This, by most
people’s imagination, would be a simple and dull task to perform and
consequently watch; but not with Keaton. His character injects personality into
this as a visual performance. As he unfolds the paper, its size grows with
every turn. Keaton plays with this strange occurrence he is finally overwhelmed
by its volume and falls over.
Figure
1: Buster Keaton and Crew on set filming the 'The High Sign' (1921)
Keaton’s
use of props in his features were extraordinary, never running short of ideas
and ways to use what was around him in new and comic ways. Guy Crucianelli (2011)
noted that Keaton’s props were often used for utility objects stating, “Keaton is an
on-the-spot inventor of primitive machines—contraptions, more accurately—and
also replacement objects verging on a kind of rudimentary psychology, but more
utilitarian”.
I
noted the following examples of these in ‘The High Sign’; a cigar as a nail and
Keaton painting a floating anchor. These actions are more fitting of a cartoon character
than used for a reality performance but it could be argued, they worked well
for Keaton.
Figure 2: Keaton with props in 'The High Sign' (1921)
In
a scene in ‘The High Sign’, Keaton’s character demonstrates exaggeration and
anticipation, both key principles in character animation. Keaton sets the
scene, walking in to the shooting gallery; he sees no-one at the counter so he
briefly looks around. As he becomes more impatient, he starts to knock on the
counter. This is where we see anticipation, knowing that something must happen.
A man from behind the counter springs out, scaring the life out of Keaton. There
are no close-ups of Keaton’s face to express his shock or fright; instead we
are shown this reaction through his body language and performance. “A character’s body language is going to
transmit a more powerful message visually than his dialogue” (Hall, 1966).
Keaton
exaggerates somersaults onto the floor, but is quickly back on his feet. This
seemingly works as a believable action I feel, due to Keaton’s secondary action,
which is of him looking over the counter to see where the man came from. These
small but significant actions add a lot to a performance and its believability.
The staged shot is also very important. As it is a long shot, we can see Keaton
fully fall to the floor.
Keaton
was always doing something with his posture and body language to communicate to
the audience a mood or something he was thinking; he was rarely very still for
long. Unlike Chaplin, whose facial
expressions were very important in his films, Keaton’s were not. There were
close-ups however, often of the antagonist showing a very sinister and vulgar
face. Keaton's expressionless face on close- up shots earns him the nickname “The
Great Stone Face”. Keaton’s face was not used to express views, feelings or emotions;
instead it was used as a comic gag (TV Tropes, 2012).
Figure
3: Keaton’s Trademark “deadpan” in 'The High Sign' (1921, with Joe Roberts and
Bartine Burkett)
For
a character performance actor, your face is very important in expressing how
you are feeling and what you are thinking to the audience. In Hook’s (2011) book ‘Acting for Animators’, he notes
that audiences only empathise with emotions, saying of Keaton, “Buster was marvelous with physical
comedy…but he never quite understood the empathy thing the way Chaplin did”.
The reason I feel he says this is because of Keaton’s lack of facial
expressions in his films, whereas Chaplain’s face was use to tremendous effect
to convey emotion to the audience e.g. his betrayal as Little Tramp. This view is however, in contrast to James Agee,
(1949) who said of Keaton:
He was by his whole style and nature so much the most deeply 'silent' of
the silent comedians that even a smile was as deafeningly out of key as a
yell...No other comedian could do as much with the dead-pan. He used this
great, sad, motionless face to suggest various related things; a one track mind
near the track’s end of pure insanity; mulish imperturbability under the
wildest of circumstances; how dead a human being can get and still be alive; an
awe-inspiring sort of patience and power to endure, proper to granite but
uncanny in flesh and blood.
I
feel that there is much truth in Agee’s analysis of Keaton’s deadpan look and
the emotions it can convey to one viewer and others to a different viewer. It has
conveyed much emotion to me as a viewer and I empathise with the character
being portrayed.
To
conclude, I have found that studying Keaton’s work has been very enriching to
my growth as a character animator. Keaton’s character performance in films such
as ‘One Week’, ‘Cops’, ‘The High Sign’, ‘The Goat’, ‘Steamboat Bill Jr’ and
‘The General’ have inspired me to improve my performance. I feel I have learnt
from how Keaton acts or reacts using props, gestures and exaggeration and body
language. Hopefully, I will be able to add some of these traits to my character
performances.
"No man
can be a genius in slapshoes and a flat hat” (Keaton, unknown).
__________________________________________________________________ Here are some of Buster Keaton feature films, among the first I watched, and thought they where brilliant. They
managed to keep me engaged considering they are silent. Simple and fun stories, slapstick humor, extraordinary stunts in 'cops' Equal some excellent films and are all worth a watch! -->
Going in to 3D character animation, the first thing I decided to do was create a mind map. The purpose of this was for me to try and list as many things as possible, I feel are seen, in good character performances. These were some of the things that came to mind straight away.
With this my plan is to complete a series of micro-tests before entering the November 11 seconds club Competition. My Micro tests will be in the following of the the key area in character animationperformance. I intend to research follow in to these area in the following of case study.
Micro-Projects plan
Fundamentals-Will see me look at the basics of creating believable character movement. My tests will be in the following of walk cycles and weights issues looking at arcs and timing.
Facial expressions- This micro project will focus on me carrying out tests on creating believable facial expressions.
Performance-Here I will be looking at body language, posture, anticipation. Strong
focus on capturing a believable performance.Tests will be in the
following of animating a scene from a film.
The first
module of my final year is specialist study one. This module is designed so
that I can choose the area of animation in which I want to further my knowledge
and develop my skills as an animator. As I have previously written, I want to
go into 3D animation, but I have now narrowed down the particular field within
3D animation I want to pursue, which is character animation. I have every
intention of continuing my learning in the other fields of 3D e.g.
modelling, rendering and rigging but for me, the key area of my study now and
for the final year is character animation.
Character animation is something I have always loved, regardless of the form of
3D or otherwise e.g. 2D or stop motion. I have always enjoyed seeing good
characters that connect with the viewer, often making them ‘feel’ for them and engaging
with them emotionally, thus what could be termed as ‘investing’ in them. The ‘Toy
Story’ films are the first films that come to mind of doing this; they are a
good example of capturing the audience through the characters - not wanting to
let go. Audiences are still eager to know what is happening in the lives of
Woody and other characters, thus Pixar are creating new short features and a
rumoured ‘Toy Story 4’ is in the works (which is probably going to happen). This
is perhaps best described as manipulation; getting the viewer to simplify or
feel a particular emotion with the character. This is something that goes deep
down into the psyche of humans; to ‘root’ for the underdog or the demise of the
malevolent villain. Upon reflection, this is something I want to achieve with
my characters and partly why I have such a passion for character animation.
The Aim
The aim
for me in this module is to create a believable character performance
animation, focusing on being 'believable'. I want to create a short animation
that entertains the audience and one that they believe in. I have two ideas of
how I would like to achieve this. The first is by entering into 11 second club.
They produce a sound clip, fully rigged characters and an audience to critique
it. The second is creating a short silent animation piece with more emphasis on
the performance of the character and making him feel real. My recent watching
of Buster Keaton’s short films has inspired this idea. In both cases, my
workflow and the information that follows will stay the same.
My Learning Outcomes
To develop and
enhance my knowledge of character performance in animation and what makes
a character believable.
To critique and analyse
techniques used in performance.
To demonstrate an
understanding of the principles of animation and application of them in 3D
character animation.
To complete tasks
according to a clear production pipeline, including the use of tests and
procedures, resulting in improvement and development in animation.
Reflection and Action Plans
I want to
increase my knowledge of character performance and animation and thus intend to
complete a number of different micro projects, including the basic walk cycle
test to more challenging facial expression tests. I also see this as a chance
to further develop my character design work and therefore, will undertake some
more life drawing classes. I will also be creating storyboards and thumbnails.
Personal Aim
I am
hoping this project and the tasks I complete will in turn, greatly benefit me
as an animator and widen my knowledge of the field. I believe this will be
achieved and enable me to produce a substantial piece of work that will be
compiled into a character animation show reel.
