You are to animate your character of your own design “winking” at a character off screen. This is to be drawn from the character’s waist up. The character must anticipate first and then complete the winking action, then make a pointing action towards the character off screen and then finally recover to an animated hold.
Your character design must be fully developed. By this I mean, designed with all the features of the face and hands, i.e. eyes, brows, nose, mouth, chin, jaw, ears, and on the hands, thumbs and fingers (3 or 4)
In order for this to be a successful “character wink”, your character must have some definable attitude that is clearly readable by the audience. You are to choose and execute this attitude through your animation.
Attitude may also be expressed as an emotional state or a "way of thinking". As an example, your character could be a secret agent acting conspicuously inconspicuous by reading a book or newspaper, they then acknowledge their eye contact with another agent with a wink and a point in the direction they want them to move. Or, perhaps your character is a really "cool dude" in a bar, trying to pick up some "chicks". He winks at a girl and points his finger at her as though to say, "hey, you're the lucky one, babe!" Come up with a couple of similar options that fit your character's design, then choose the best one to animate.
Shoot the animation as a line test showing 3 cycles, transfer to computer as an .avi for grading.
Principles Involved
• Acting
• Expressing an attitude or emotional state
•Working from your own character design
• Keys
• Inbetweens
• Timing
• Slo in & Slo out
• Stretch & Squash
• Overlapping Action
• Use of Arcs
• Weight
• Character
• Emotion & Attitude
• Observation
• Flipping
Deadline
2 weeks (8 - 12 hours)
Grading
Assignment is worth 10% of the second semester grade
Animation will be graded in the following areas:
| • Solid 3 dimensional drawing | ___/15 | |
| • Strong Key Posing | ___/15 | |
| • Appropriate, Realistic Timing | ___/10 | |
| • Proper Anticipation | ___/10 | |
| • Action | ___/10 | |
| • Reactions | ___/10 | |
| • Overlapping Action | ___/10 | |
| • Weight | ___/10 | |
| Total | ____/100 |
Work Schedule
Week 1
Begin working out thumbnails
Rough out primary keys to describe the basic action.
Rough out secondary keys indicating anticipation and reactions throughout scene.
Time out keys and pencil test to confirm timing.
Make any adjustments necessary.
Week 2
Draw breakdowns to broad actions.
Inbetweening.
Week 3
Have animation on computer as .avi by beginning of class.