A Study of Character Animation

Session Notes

I will be critically comparing two styles of character animation in order to explore how each genre of character animation is applied and differs among st one another The primary function of a character animator manipulates both digital and corporal objects that convey a personality in both a two dimensional and three-dimensional environment.

Furthermore, there are many forms of character animation such as puppetry, 3d software such as Maya , Cinema 4d and 2d digital and hand-drawn animation. In addition, no matter the tools used to create and manipulate these objects, the practitioners of this craft manipulate the subject in order to convey a message and story. In addition, as stated in the Animators Survival Kit  " We're exaggerating what's important in the scene and leaving out what isn't". Which is an interesting comment. Since I have observed that most of the early pioneers in animation shared the opinion that animation was a method of expressing one's imagination and achieving movement that was currently unachievable in the corporal world.

However, it would seem with the advancement in technological hardware it has lead to the current obsession with implementing reality to all of our creations. Most animators and audiences seem to crave realistic movement, expression or other factors that govern us in our own world. Moreover, despite audiences, personal preferences, both  CG and 2d character animation must still follow the principles of animation such as the rules of anticipating between each movement and squashing and stretching anatomy to give the illusion of weight.

These principles are evident in films such as Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Shark tale and the LEGO film which feature characters that feature either exaggerated anatomy or manipulated as if they posessess biped anatomy in order to apply human characteristics.. In comparison, a CG film such as Pixar's Brave (2012) compared to a 2d picture such as Anastasia (1997).

(left) Anastasia (1997) & (right) Merida (2012)

Moreover, the developers of Brave revealed that in order to create a photo-realistic form of movement for their title character Merida. The animator had to capture reference recordings of himself while conveying the emotions and behaviour of the character. This is a common way to understand how the subject will move in an environment since all animation requires to study the movement patterns of an object.

In addition, the team behind Anastasia followed a similar process of production. Since the voice actors such as Meg Ryan who voices Anastasia described being surprised having to adjust the sound around the visuals and I have learned that all animation when dealing with sound must be animated using twenty-four frames per second in order for the human audiences to accept the animated story as believable. It is also evident in both characters movement cycles that most of their actions behave in a photorealistic manner and that is after first and secondary research that concern the object is undertaken. Only after having a concept of the anatomy can the animators then start to exaggerate the character movement in order to create more entertaining movement as seen in most Pixar characters.

In conclusion, these discoveries have revealed that despite the choice of graphical style almost every animation incorporates the same theoretical applications of studying the object and applying the principles of animation to that object in order to create an authentic visual story to the audience.

References

Mark Giambruno (2002). 3D Graphics & Animation. 2nd ed. CA, USA: New Riders. p401-404.

Richard Williams ( January 7th 2002). The Animators Survival Kit. N/A: Faber & Faber. p369-376.

Michelle Burton. (Saturday 2nd, January, 2015). Character Animator - Career Profile. Available: http://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/character-animator-career-profile. Last accessed Tuesday 2nd, February 2016.

Disney. (N/A). Walt Disney Studios Animation. Available: http://www.justdisney.com/animation/animation.html. Last accessed Tuesday 2nd, February 2016.

Richard Zenteno. (Saturday 23rd, May 2015). Anastasia 1997 Behind The Scenes. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42lAmcAqtE0. Last accessed Tuesday 1st, March 2016.

Movieclips Extras. (Thursday 14th Febuary, 2013). Brave Behind The Scenes - Designing A Character (2012) - Pixar Animated Movie HD.Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cecx5HVtUDY. Last accessed Monday 29th Febuary 2016.

RMIT University. (N/A). Animation Notes #5 12 Principles of Animation. Available: http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/anim_principles.html. Last accessed Monday 29th Febuary 2016.



By Sebastian Jones