Olympic Gold….
I love when the Olympics are on. Even if you are not into sports, as an animator, you just have to watch. There is so much great stuff to be taken in at an event like this. On a physical level, you can learn so much about how the body moves and reacts to things. On the emotional level, watching the expressions and gestures of people winning and losing are amazing. Its almost just as fun to watch the reactions of family and coaches etc… after a win. When I teach, I love to show Olympic footage because it is almost an exaggeration of reality. I have already posted a similar topic in the past, but I really think its great to watch. Vancouver also holds a special place in my heart since I went to school there. What an amazing city!
-Andrew
Jonah Sidhom
Any tips on observing?
That’s probably a stupid question, but I’m just starting to truly observe stuff like this.
A couple days ago I was watching the olympics slow mo and trying my hardest to observe, but I just didn’t know what all to look for.
Grzegorz Dalek
My bet would be to get a sketchbook and try to memorize some poses while watching and then register them on paper as fast as you can from memory. That’s my tip.
Jonah Sidhom
Oh, that’s a good idea. I didn’t even think about drawing while observing. Thanks, Grzegorz.
Theresa Adolph
I was watching the couples skating and the announcer was talking about how one couple seemed to be skating to just get the job done. She said they felt very mechanical and expressionless. At first I didn’t understand what she was talking about but when I compared that couple to the next pair that went her point became more clear. There was a certain level of appeal that the next pair had that truly made you believe this was their passion. The expressions on their faces were gracefully and their overall performance seemed to flow seamlessly together. It was like they were two separate skaters skating in unison.
There are so many opportunities to observe. Thanks for sharing Andrew.
– Theresa
David
Hey Guys!!!
Jonah, i totally know what you mean about sometimes struggling to see whats really happening, or changing.
Drawings are cool for poses, but when it comes to ‘motion’, one thing that is helping me is to constantly be asking yourself where the’weight’ is. following the centre of mass, and asking where it came from, and where it’s going. Also asking, what created this movement to start (ie, pushing off the foot/hips or maybe an external force), and also, where is the ‘weight’ going.
This is helping me, also, when i’m a bit lost, i’ll consider the angle of the hips, and how they have changed
David
haha, actually, another comment regarding the games, but a bit random, this time:
I was watching the downhill speed ski races, and I notcied how disappointed the guys who were coming in 20th etc were….
And it made me think of how I’m always so critical of my skill as an animator. But here are these guys, in my eyes, they are successfull because they qualified for the olympics. They are successful because they didnt fall on their butt on the way down. It shows you, there will always seem be something preventing you from being the best you think you can be. The wise thing is to just try your best, acknowledge your improvement, and enjoy the ride!!!!
Alexei
Hey everyone,
David’s comment about weight is very true. Following weight transfers in the body helps you a lot with the poses. When you understand weight, all your key poses are logical. They will be able to communicate the characters motives. And thats something to try to look for in reference. Most of the time in sports the body moves in the simplest way possible. What I mean is that we don’t necessarily think “how am I going to bring my foot forward”, we just think where we want to move it and mechanics do the rest. Therefor, limbs will find the fastest way to get from point A to point B. Which means you won’t necessarily see those perfect arcs but rather more simple movement. Although something to consider is that an athlete already has his or her technique down so their movement will be different compared to a regular Joe. The “how” in these cases is sub-conscience I believe. When I see an athlete skating, I’ll watch for the sequence of moving limbs. What moves first? Second? (what “bone” drives another “bone”). I will also look for overlapping action and count the frames it takes to overlap.
Now when we get to sports like figure skating it because slightly different because a lot of the technique is based on appeal (perfect arcs, precise timing, strong key poses (silhouettes), etc).
Oh dear, now my comment is longer than the original post. Well, it was a lot of fun sharing.
cheers!
Ted Warnock
Loved your talk at GDC Gordon. This part of it especially. The close up of the Gold Medalist was a priceless essay on human emotion captured for all of us to see. Thanks again!