Hurry up and choose!

Hello everyone, sorry for such a long delay in posting. Work on Up has kept us very busy.

Now,…on with the post!

A mentor of mine once told me (enter dramatic music here)

“Being an animator!……is being a decision maker!”

Well….maybe it wasn’t as dramatic, but it was told to me. I didn’t realize this important point until much further in my career as an animator. It sounds rather mundane. Well of course you have to make decisions, how else will you get things done. But you see, one of my problems as an animator has always been about possibilities. A piece of dialogue can be animated a million ways. Even a Zillion ways. So I’ll just rack my brain, and second guess myself every step of the way. So which way is the right way? What do I do? Do I bring the brows up first, and then down later? Do I gesture with the right arm or the left arm? Where do I put in the blinks? Should I move him now, or wait till the line is done?

So many question’s right? And here’s where the piece of advice really kicks in.

Ultimately, something has to be picked. So make decision, and stick to it. Don’t have regrets, don’t look back.  Just take it and run with hit.  Let’s call it, Pick and stick. If you over think it it’ll drive you crazy and you’ll never get anything done! Of course spend time planning the shot but just be a decision maker when it comes down to it.

But make a choice, stick to that choice, and commit everything you have in your animation arsenal to make that choice the best it can be. Don’t be wish washy! If you are always worried if you made the right choice you will end up having a ½ baked idea. So if I am trying to decide between 2 choices,…I’ll make my choice an commit to it 100%.

But how do I make my choice?

You make your choice by gathering up as much information as possible about your scene and character, and trying to narrow it down. Your scene will always have a purpose. The reason it is in the film.

Let’s say a character walks in and has to tell his wife that he lost his job. The purpose of the scene is to relay that information.

Well….what is that character going through? Let’s say the director wants the character to feel hesitant about delivering this news.

OK,…Every choice you make from now on,…should be to support the character feeling hesitant. How he walks, gestures, makes eye contact etc. Knowing your character will help as well. Linguini might deliver the news differently than Skinner. The parameters are the same with the scene, but the characters themselves have severely different personalities. So if you had a question about your shot, you want to ask yourself how would someone like Skinner (or Linguine) act? So if I am stuck between 2 perfectly good choices, I consistently find myself deleting 1 of those choices because I do not believe the character themselves would act that way. Linguini is very insecure, and Skinner is very strong headed. While the goal is the same, the path getting there might be quite different because of how different their personalities are.

I hope that helps you become a stronger more confident animator. Remember, make a choice, and give that choice your undivided attention, otherwise, we may never get things done.

Dr. Makarewicz