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THE ANIMATION WORK PROCESS - PART 2

• Timing

• Final Planning

• Key Points

• Pose Test

• Rough Animate

• Pencil Test

• Show Somebody

• Revise

• Complete the Scene

• Disclaimer

THE ANIMATION WORK PROCESS - PART 2

Timing

In animating a scene, the animator must deal with two elements: TIME and FORCES. These must be fully analyzed before anything else is done. The combination of time and force dictate what the action will be and the analysis of the action will dictate what the poses will be.

Act out the scene again to get a natural feeling for the timing. Do it several times to arrive at a consistent performance with which you feel comfortable. Remember to consider the exaggeration and entertainment value that could be available within the scene. Do timing charts on the paths of action to help you break down the timing and spacing of the action. To the animator, time is represented by the spacing charts. Use a stopwatch to help you determine the number of frames and drawings you will need. Record your timing decisions on an exposure sheet.

Final Planning

Draw your overall path of action in relationship to the character and the fielding of the scene. Fill out the appropriate level on your exposure sheet. Some studios use odd numbers for animation on two's (1,3,5,7, etc.) and the even frames for any animation that is on one's (1,2,3,4,5,6, etc.). Draw your major keys and number them accordingly; 1, 17, 35, 53, etc. Decide if you've placed too much emphasis on one part of the scene and make any necessary revisions.

Write short descriptions, on your exposure sheets, of what bits of business are happening inbetween the poses and then time them out. As you are doing this, indicate what will be the anticipation, action, and reaction.

After initially timing out all your actions, check to see if you've given everything equal emphasis. Go back and find the major action that you are trying to emphasize. Add in the appropriate keys and check again. Perhaps you have put in too much action. If this is the case, throw out the unnecessary poses and give that time to the strongest action. Make the actions simple and direct. Actions should not distract from your major poses, they should enhance them.

Draw your timing charts connecting your major poses. Transfer the timing from your exposure sheets onto these charts.

Remember these key points:

Enlarge your thumbnail sketches to full size by either using a photocopier with an enlarge option or simply redraw them. These should roughly correspond to the layout posing as far as size, positioning within the field, and the relationship of the poses to the perspective within the layout background. You may need to revise your poses to strengthen their relationship to each other. Be flexible and don't feel like you're locked in to what you've drawn.

Double check your drawings, does it work with the layout? Don't accept your drawings too quickly, try them out on someone else.

Simplify. Once you've roughed the scene out go back and pick out the essence. You may have to remove a few drawings and/or modify some poses. In scenes with dialogue, don't move the character too much, be sure you can see the expressions.

Pose Test

Work out your rough poses very rough and dirty. Don't worry about the model or the little buttons on the shirt of the character. Use simple, basic shapes: spheres and cylinders to create the basic framework of the character pose. Think shorthand when doing these drawings, 20 to 30 seconds each. Go for the emotion or action within the scene. Shoot a pencil test and then show it to your instructor.

Rough Animate

Once your pose test works to your satisfaction... animate! Use your layout poses for size, construction and space but feel free to push or refine them as the action becomes more specific and concrete. Using the simple shapes, block out your key poses with your thumbnail sequence as a guide. Keep it loose-rough and flowing but solidly drawn.

Try to do the complete action from start to finish at a single sitting without interrupting your concentration. Be flexible. If you can see a better way forming that is an improvement over your thumbnails then make the changes.

When the key action is complete from start to finish, flip the stack of drawings to see how it looks and feels. Pay special attention to the arcs and paths of action on various body parts, arms, feet, head, etc. and plot all your arcs and points.

Shoot Pencil Test

With your exposure sheets in hand, shoot a pencil test. Record it on your video tape for reference and later when you review the test, write down any changes in timing you want to make while it's still fresh in your mind. Be sure to transfer the changes to your exposure sheets right away while the information is still fresh in your mind.

Show Somebody

Whether you personally assess your test as good or bad, get a second opinion from your instructor or someone whose opinion that you respect. If you don't get another opinion you may end up continuing to make the same mistakes over and over again. Immediately after the critique, sit down and write out the suggested changes or you may end up forgetting them. Don't be afraid to show someone your work. If you have this fear, ask yourself, "Why am I even doing this if I'm never going to show it to anyone?"

Revise

With a clear direction and understanding of what is necessary to make your scene read well, go back over your keys and make adjustments. Don't be afraid to throw out a large chunk of your drawings, or even the whole batch if it's really that bad. Sometimes, we fall in love with our drawings too much, that's the excuse you'll hear a lot. In reality, it's the loss of time in having to throw out a series of drawings that may have taken 5 - 10 minutes each. When you throw out 20 key drawings, that accounts for about 3 hours and 20 minutes of work in the garbage can. Too many times we hold onto bad drawings for this reason. At this point in your training it's: QUALITY OVER QUANTITY.

Complete The Scene

Add in any secondary extremes you feel are needed and then clean them up. Once these are done add your breakdowns and then shoot another pencil test to check the volumes, structure, and proportions of the character. Finally, add any inbetweens as are required.

A Disclaimer To Cover My Butt

So, now that I've taken you through this entire process, you can do with it what you want. Everybody will have their own approach and their own personal habits that they will bring to the drawing table, this is the way I learned to do it and it works for me. The important thing is to get the scene done in the most effective way possible to convey the emotion and action that suits both the character and the context. If you have some other way that someone has taught you and you feel comfortable with and it works for you and your employer/supervisor then, go for it.

A wonderful set of books to refer to on acting is the Stanislavski series entitled; An Actor Prepares, Building a Character, and Creating a Role. These can be ordered through any major bookstore or found at a bookstore that specializes in theatre related books.




Next Tip: Scene Planning Process