Principles of Animation

     We have now returned to NUCA for our new term. Within this unit (BA2) we will begin by learning the basics of digital sculpting/modelling, and how to go about combining this with animation. In our first lecture we learnt about Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas,  and their development of the "12 Basic Principles of Animation". These principles are as follows:

     -Squash and stretch: This gives a sense of weight, flexibility and depth to the object/character. It is essential that the volume of the object does not vary within the animation, therefore changes within height/depth etc. must interact accordingly.
     -Anticipation: Antipations prepares the audience for a particlar action, and in turn makes that action more realistic eg. a character bending his legs before a jump. Ommiting anticipation before an action is also sometimes used for comedic effect.
     -Staging: Staging directs the audience's attention, and clarifys what is happening and what is about to happen within the scene.
     -Straight ahead action/ Pose to pose: Straight ahead action requires drawing a scene frame by frame till the end of a sequence which, whilst considered more effective for action scenes, can result in failure to maintain proportions. Pose to pose means drawing the first and last frame and filling in the intervals. It is common for a mixture of both techniques to be utilised.
     -Follow through/ Overlapping action: This goes towards making animations of characters and objects that much more realistic. For example after landing on the ground, coming to a sudden stop, parts of a character's body will continue to move, just like with real life physics. Overlapping is when different parts of a character's body will move at a different pace, again like with a real life person. Emphasising these effects is sometimes used for comedic purposes.
     -Slow in and slow out: This reflects the real life nessecity for any moving object to accelerate into movement, or deccelerate to a stop, as opposed to reaching speed immediately.
     -Arcs: Arcs are generally used within the animation or organic characters or material. One might deviate from this if the object being animated was mechanical.
     -Secondary action: Secondary action accompanies the main action to make it more lifelike. A character running down a hallway would also pump his arms as he moved. Something to be noted is that the secondary should not distract from the main action but simply accompany it.
     -Timing: "Timing refers to the number of drawings or frames for a given action, which translates to the speed of the action on film.^[14] On a purely physical level, correct timing makes objects appear to abide to the laws of physics; for instance, an object's weight decides how it reacts to an impetus, like a push.^[29] Timing is critical for establishing a character's mood, emotion, and reaction.^[14] It can also be a device to communicate aspects of a character's personality".
     -Exaggeration: Levels of exaggeration within animation would be determined by the visual style of whatever is being created, but as a general rule it seems to be considered nessacary to at least a small degree, purely to prevent the animation looking lifeless.
     -Solid drawing: This means understanding and comprehending the 3D nature of your character/obeject, and utilising this when taking into account aspects such as volume and weight.
     -Appeal: This means creating a charismatic or identifiable character that will appeal to an audience. Kind of a given really.