Animation videos

Lately I have been watching a lot of animation tutorials and videos talking about workflow and the breakdown of an animators shots. This is something I'm trying to get into a habit of as by doing this I am learning how people within the industry work and certain techniques they use to better their work. It's one thing to read about tips and techniques in a book, it's another to hear it and see it in action, by seeing it you get a better understanding and it is more likely to stay in your mind.

The video below is from animator Joe Bowers who talks about his work on Disney's Tangled and Bolt. It's interesting to see how far he pushed the rig, to the point of breaking to get that exaggeration in and to really show the emphasis of the power of a certain action. Even for an animator working in the industry, there is still so much to learn and he took advice from Glen Keane to push it even further - "you forget how far you could and should push it sometimes..." 
Thumbnails are a really important part of the process as this gives you a basis to work off when animating, it gives you an idea of the key poses and you are also able to work on the line of action here too. When you think you have the pose, always know there is more, you can always push it more. Another interesting point brought up was the fact that even though there are a set of rules for a walk cycle and the body movements, but sometimes keeping things to a minimum is more beneficial to the shot and to sell overall character. Rules can be bent as long as the idea is there. It all depends on the scene and the character's personality, this will influence the way they walk and act.

Holding poses or just changing them slightly can really emphasise a certain action, you build up the momentum and power before it is all released in a short burst. This is very similar to what Glen Keane mentioned in a talk he gave at Calarts - it's what happens in between the start and end poses, it's the delivery, how good of a joke can you tell? It's the fun of holding back the punch line, the ending pose has to be earned. Some people say the poses are a key area, you character needs strong poses with a good line of action and the flow lines should lead you to the area you want the viewer to look at. You can have brilliant poses, extreme poses but at the end of the day it's what's in-between that will really catch the viewers attention or else it may be a forgettable performance.

There are so many things to consider and to try and work into any animation, so many different techniques and workflows. I need to find one that suits myself and this will involve trial and error, the more animations I do, a better understanding I will get, it's putting what I learn into real practice. Watching tutorials is so beneficial and there's nothing wrong with always learning that bit more, but there comes a point where unless you do it you won't know it fully. You can understand the theory but do you understand the practice?


JoeBowers Interview from Frame By Frame on Vimeo.