“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” — Confucius, Philosopher
In this week’s student showcase I want to demonstrate the power of simplicity. And to do this, I specifically wanted to discuss the usefulness of the simple exercises that involve walking or running. All the artists that work with me start with walks, runs, jumps and sitting shots. It’s a test of their technical, graphic and creative abilities — almost immediately I know where they stand. I also ask them to do several of them, rather than just one or two, as is common in schools. Moving characters across a layout is not only an opportunity to interact with the environment of the character but also helps ground the shot with a sense of depth and substance. In the selections below, we can see how beautiful and effective simple locomotion can be. Some of these are very short exercises, while others are part of a larger performance.
Shot 1: Bill Meunier
This simple run was an exercise to help the animator get more comfortable working in “spline” mode. He was to do all the necessary research, exploration and planning prior to execution in Maya. Like a performance, the animator then proceeded to work straight-ahead all the while monitoring his weight distribution and paths of action. The significant side-to-side weight distribution and forward head movement, which is admittedly larger than normal, were part of a designed intention to ensure he’d learn good overlap, follow-thru and drag — elements that give the character a solid sense of weight and form. It’d be nice to show the before/after differences in his work but I don’t think that’s necessary; the results here show a successful transition and the walk is tidy. The solid compressions on and off the ground really makes it feel like she’s wearing those bouncy athletic shoes.
Shot 2: Rachel Chelius
I love what the animator did with this simple challenge which was to create some old school slapstick as part of a walk assignment. The pace of the walk is quick and spritely which quickly defines the character’s aloofness making him a likely candidate to slip on something as obvious as a yellow rubber duck. With solid pose and timing, the animator has created a fun yet visually interesting shot. Well chosen distortion and the fanning of multiple images brings back techniques first pioneered by animation masters Tex Avery and Ken Harris.
Shot 3: Richie Prado
Here, I wanted the animator to do a simple run and jump exercise. To establish a sense of timing and weight the character propels himself up and on towards a higher elevation creating interest and depth while interacting with the environment. The reversals in the Lines of Action, and good use of squash and stretch principle give the character a weight that’s rightly appropriate to his design. Expressing personality in every shot is very important under my instruction, so good clear choices must be made of pose and rhythm to ensure that an audience can read easily the attitude of the character. The nice little touch with the spin around and subsequent leaping off are good examples of such decision-making.
Shot 4: Elena Miroglio
In this shot, I challenged the animator to do an acting shot that started with walking and ending with sitting down. A layout and story was chosen to fit the dialogue providing a suitable context. After much planning and reference work, actions and poses were choreographed to make it feel as natural and believable as possible. Although this is presented only in blocking form — the animator had to relocate to a feature studio across the country before this shot could be finished — it’s quite clear how the convincing body mechanics here aids in the motivation of the character whose attention is completely on himself and his story which is archetypal elderly behaviour. This proves time and again that good physical weight go hand and hand with good psychological (or emotional) weight.