Animation Research


                1. Squash and stretch

When you use the principle of squash and stretch it allows the animated object or character to look as if gravity is pulling it down. It creates flexibility in the animation and is one of the first steps to bring your character to life. However, it can only look believable if you keep the size of the object the same so it looks the same weight as it did originally. In future animations I could attempt to use this technique as a way to show Mary Anning throwing a ball for her dog on the beaches of Lyme Regis.

  1. Anticipation

Anticipation creates the viewers awareness of what is about to happen with the object or character. When it's used correctly the decisions of the object become more realistic. Without preparation the action looks incredibly unnatural and manufactured. I will use this technique in preparation for my characters to walk somewhere, maybe by turning their head first.
  1. Staging

This is where you compose the object with motion to draw the viewer's attention to the important part of the scene. By focusing on the object it helps the viewer to not get confused and have one main focus. For me, as I will probably create my animations in the setting of a beach it will be important for me so to make birds flying past or the people on the beach too distracting.
  1. Straight ahead action and pose to pose

The difference between these two practices is that straight ahead works by drawing frame-by-frame working your way to the end of the animation whereas pose-to-pose is where you animated the start middle and finish frames and then go back animating the rest. Straight ahead is for realistic movements and fluidity however, pose-to-pose is how your make the animation look more dramatic and gives you more control. When animating, I will find it a lot easier to use the Straight Ahead action instead of pose-to-pose and I will like the realistic result a lot better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8quCbt4C-c

  1. Follow through

When the object stops moving different parts and sections will stop moving after its at a standstill.  For example when I'm animating Mary Anning walking her will stop later than her body. This is will move for a few frames after the body so is called a follow through which is very important if I want my animations to look realistic. 
  1. Slow In, Slow Out

This is a technique used if a character starts running they start off slow and build up speed, which is likewise to when a character is stopping; they have to slow down before completely stopping. When animating this gives the effect of believability. When I animate Mary Anning playing with her dog I will animate the dog building up sped and slowing down when it catches the ball.
  1. Arc

You have to follow the laws of physics for example the effects of gravity on an object.  So, if a Mary Anning throws a ball for her dog I will have to make the ball arc t appear like its real life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94ne4CFg09A

  1. Secondary Action

A secondary action supports the action of the main action, this helps add more dimension to the character and object. For example it would be a secondary object reacting to the first object, however, it can't be distracting. For example if a ball hit a wall the wall could crumble or slightly rock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzDYbk6MlAY

  1. Timing

If you move something too quickly or slowly in animation it can look off-putting and unrealistic , so, the timing has to be correcting for example, when I'm animating, if the ball Mary Anning has thrown in the air it will move quicker at the start and then slow down towards the end.
  1. Exaggeration

Being too realistic can also be a problem in animation, making it very boring. By exaggerating the movement of characters and objects it makes the animation more watchable because it's interesting and gives the audience anticipation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfFj-VQKiAM

  1. Solid drawing

When animating it needs to have form, anatomy, weight, and tones. However, this rule can be manipulated and but the manipulation has to stay true throughout the animation.
  1. Appeal

You need a target audience and make it as easy to understand as possible. They need to like the animation and give it personality. When I am animating I will need to keep the viewers interest throughout and make the story as exciting as possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SplEuWp0Yw


My first animation attempting to follow these rules; 


A video showing different types of properties in children's animations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXHhC46PPko



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