Reference footage… and the planning process.

Hey everyone,

I wanted to bring up the topic of Planning and how I approach using reference to do that.

The first thing that I would like to bring up is that there are MANY ways of planning a shot, but the 3 main ones are recording reference, sketching thumbnails, and watching reference.

Watching Reference: This is less about planning, and more about getting an idea about your subject matter. Getting information about your subject, doing your research, tremendously helps the planning process. If you research what your subject matter does or doesn’t do, you won’t make those mistakes and put them in your animation, only to realize it not correct and have to take it out later. Some scenes are hard to act out this way.

If I had shot where Remy would crawl up a sewer pipe or run across a table, I wouldn’t go record reference for it. If our Rats walked on 2 legs instead of 4 legs than maybe I would. But they generally don’t.

I could thumbnail it out. But as I’ll mention later, that’s not my style. So instead I will watch LOT’s of reference. This way I can get a feel for what the Rats move like, and try to mimic that feeling in my shot.

Thumbnails: Thumbnails are a great way to explore a shot. We can use thumbnails to quickly try out poses both Body and Face. This allows us to roughly see the shot and get a sense of where it’s is going to go. You don’t want to spend a lot of time on your animation only to realize that where you were going with the shot isn’t going to work. Below are some thumbnails that Stephan Gregory had done on cars. It shows a good example of exploring the expressions for the shot.

Generally thumbnails are not something that I personally explore much. I occasionally do use thumbnails,…but my personal drafting skills are pretty horrible, and so I feel more comfortable either quickly posing in the computer, or recording reference.

Recording reference: This is something that I use quite a lot. Why? Well….the first reason is that I love acting out my shots. Not to say that I wouldn’t do that with thumbnails, but it’s really a state of mind thing.

Now I don’t want to take reference, and then Copy what I recorded exactly in the computer.  That would look too rotoscoped, and we have motion capture for that.  Reference is more for about getting my ideas down so I don’t forget about them.   I can also refer to it at anytime as I work on my shot.  I like to look at it to see my general timing and ideas.  It’s like a mirror that I can pause myself in.

Second, I like being able to play my dialogue on a loop, and record myself acting to it right then and there. I usually have a general idea of what I want to do. BUT sometimes if I’m not sure what I want to do…. I just start my dialogue on a loop and start acting to it. I just want to see what my body does on the fly; what my acting chops are on the fly. This is some of the most natural performances you will get, because it is as unplanned as it can get. It can also however be some of the worst, because it’s not planned and maybe my acting chops aren’t up for the “Make it up on the fly” routine. But as far as I see it,….it sure doesn’t hurt to try. There might be something that I do that I will keep for later.

After I try several unplanned takes, I start thinking about my planned idea. That general idea that I was talking earlier about….this is where I really start to flush it out.

Now sometimes with a planned idea you get yourself in a rut. While it’s great to have a planned structure for a shot, sometimes that structure becomes a prison. No matter how much I record myself, I keep doing the same things over and over and over again. I can’t do anything else.

So what do you do?

Well,…..take a break. Come back and try it again later. Maybe that break will be enough to get the idea juices flowing again.

Say you always start in a particular pose….try a new one. If you start with a new pose, it might force you to take your acting in a different direction.

Pull a friend in and ask them to act it out. You might be surprised how they approach it.

Now this next part is a very important part for me. I like to set up my acting room as close as I can to the room that is represented in my shot. So if there is a table in my shot, I make sure there is a table when I’m acting things out. If the character is holding something, make sure you are holding something when you are acting out your shot.

The reason I like to do this is to have more of my imagination work towards my Acting, and not trying to remember what is in my scene. I want all my brain power to focus on the acting. If I have to keep reminding myself that there is a table in the room, then I am doing something wrong. Having similar props in your reference will keep your acting true.

It’s like when actors have to act on a green screen, or on a set. Everyone is going to choose the set, because it’s there! They can use it! Work with it, or against it….whatever. It is also very important to keep your character in mind. If you are animating a Large character, and you are a small person and Acting like a small person,…your reference won’t be very useful.

Take for example the Captain in Wall-E. He’s a large guy. I’m a really small guy. I wanted to get into my character more (the Captain), so I requested a pregnancy suit. You know,…the kind that people wear so you can get an idea of what it feels like to be pregnant. If I could wear this while acting out my shots,…I could get a real sense of the weight that the character feels. All of a sudden, picking up a cup isn’t as quick. Or getting up off the chair isn’t so easy.

I remember when I was animating my Mike Wazowski test, I printed out a picture of Sulley’s face (this is who Mike was speaking to in the dialogue) and taped it way up high in the acting room. The reason I did this is to make me act UP to someone. Mike Wazowski is much shorter than Sulley, so I wanted to make sure my acting reflects that. Again,….I just focus on the acting, I don’t have to think to look up, I do it automatically.

Below are a couple of examples of me doing reference. OKAY,…this is me putting myself out there.  It’s a little embarrassing, (At least there aren’t any real emotional shots) hope it’s worth it.

The First applies to a shot I did in Wall-E where Auto is trying to grab the boot from the Captain. In order to get a better feel for the movements, I asked a fellow co-worker to help me out. I asked Tom to keep the boot away from me, while I really try to grab it.

REMEMBER you can click the “Watch in High Quality” button. I would recommend it for the Confession Scene.

WALL-E Ref:

The second is a little thing I did after Cars for the Rascal Flats. It was Mater introducing the Band when they went on tour. This shows how I still do reference, even though I am animating a Tow Truck. In my original blocking I did present the Rascal Flats to the side like I do in my reference. However, since we did not know what they would be coming out of, the decision was made to just have Mater go forward toward the crowd. This was also very difficult to animate because of the Ratio Constriction. I didn’t have much room to play with on the sides. So I tried going toward and away from the camera more often, so it didn’t seem like Mater was just standing in 1 spot.  I also don’t have reference for the beginning of the shot, because I knew what I wanted to do with that part already.

Cars Ref:

Cars Shot:

The third reference is for a Class I did for Animation Mentor. If you are a student of the school, you might have seen my lecture series where I show how I Polished the shot. Again, I recommend watching in High Quality.

Reference:

Shot:

You can see the reference I took. There wasn’t much exploring because I knew what I wanted to do. See how I use the table and even tied my hands together with string to simulate handcuffs.

The last is just a picture of my using a scarf thing, to help me with the shots of Ego and his scarf.

My (not necessarily THE) Principles

What is it about animation that moves us so much? Why do I love one scene in a movie and feel less strongly about the next? What is it about the animation of those scenes that speaks to me, and how can I incorporate those things into my work?

Some time ago I decided I’d try to boil down my process into a simple set of broad principles. And while these aren’t as specific as the fabled 12 or 20 or however however many principles from whatever list you subscribe to, I feel that for myself, they’re a pretty good start at understanding what I look for in animation. Everyone needs their own set of criteria; these are mine. It’s by no means a complete list, but anything else I can think up thus far I’ve found I can slip under one of these umbrella categories.

My five in order of importance, least to greatest (at this point in my education anyway):

DESIGN — or perhaps another word for appeal. I hate putting this guy at the bottom of the list, really I do. But in the shower this morning I decided that’s just how the cookie crumbles. Imbuing a character’s image or motion with a solid sense of graphic design, making it appealing, is no doubt of great importance. It makes the scene easy on the eyes and intriguing to look at. It’s also one of the hardest things to put your finger on in any graphic medium. What makes a Milt Kahl drawing so damned appealing? You can go into lengthy mathematical discussions about proportion, straights against curves, arcs and arrows, you name it. But I defy anyone to come up with a formula that explains how to draw (or pose) appealing dogs, or apes, or puppets, the way Milt, or any other great animator can. As important as design is though, it comes in behind:

PHYSICALITY — The audience’s belief that a character lives and breathes starts in the belief that a character moves right. Every great animated film or scene conveys a set of rules that govern the characters and objects which reside within it. The world of My Neighbor Totoro has different rules than Pinnochio’s, which has different rules than that of The Incredibles. But each film’s characters move and behave in a way that’s consistent with their peers. This is not to say they all move the same (cardinal sin, if you ask me), but that in their own way they obey the rules of the same world. It’s important, no doubt. But not most important. Next up is:

ENTERTAINMENT — Even if an animated character lacks a sophistication in design or a sense of weight in his surroundings, you can get away with it if it’s entertaining. It’s another hard one that’s hard to explain in simple formulas. And one that many artists and studios are only too often seduced by. These scenes and films seem to cry out, “love me! I’m gonna entertain you!” You know the animation I’m talking about. The stuff that leaves a sour taste in your mouth, and a sense in your gut that you’ve been taken advantage of. Nevertheless, a scene that’s entertaining will linger in one’s memory longer than the next. That’s important, and not just to your reel, but to the audience’s sense of satisfaction after having sat through your film. The right balance is key. Pick your battles, but do not under any circumstances allow it to supersede:

CHARACTER — The illusion of life, as it were. And only #2 on the list? Sit tight. By this I mean, are the thoughts going through your character’s head consistent with their place on that character’s arc in the film? If I, the audience can’t make out what exactly is going on in that character’s head, and understand why he or she feels that way, forget it. You’ve lost me. Will an impartial audience member be shaken out of their suspension of disbelief by your scene? Are you substituting cliche for subtext? This is the point where “entertainment” will start to elbow its way to center stage if you let it. It’s so tempting to squeeze as much out of a scene as you can, but you cannot let it get in the way of your character’s clear, rational thought process, and you certainly can’t let it interrupt numero uno:

STORY — no surprises there. The single most important criterion that you must not let suffer under any circumstances. More important than any character’s consistency, more important than any scene’s entertainment value or appeal, if you fail to convey the story point of a scene, you fail to tell the story. And that’s really what this medium is all about: telling a relevant story that will affect an audience. It’s the whole reason animation and indeed movies themselves were invented in the first place. An audience must be able to follow the story. And this is where showing your animation to your peers is vital. You can find ten different people that will give you ten different opinions on your animation’s appeal, but if half of them can’t understand what’s going on, you’ve got a problem on your hands.

So I’m sure many of you disagree with the set of criteria here, and probably with the order of importance I’ve decided upon, but hey, that’s what the comments section’s for! Happy animating….

Dr. Hathaway

Anticipation, Arcs and Overlap Oh My!

I had this posted on another blog, but now that a new school semester is about to start I thought I would repost it here.

As a teacher your always getting asked questions about what the secret is, the formula or the answer to creating good animation. Many times I would say there aren’t any formulas or secrets just the principles of animation. I was wrong, and I think I’ve figured it out; the secret formula is the principles of animation. I’ll break it down to the most important ones for me, keep in mind all twelve are important to creating great animation. Here’s my short list Timing, Anticipation, Arcs, Posing, Squash and Stretch and Overlap. Without these you got nothing with them you might have something. I see too many assignments that generally don’t include any of these. My question is why don’t people use these principles or think to use them? It’s rather simple I make a checklist starting with Timing; I make sure that the scene isn’t even, and then I start analyzing my individual motions making sure they are not even also. Posing is next, looking for tangents, silhouette, attitude, complex shapes, awkward shapes, balance, etc. Then I make sure I’m using anticipation before my major moves, gestures or actions. Next on the list is Arcs, checking the wrists, nose, fingertips, root, shoulders, etc. I’m checking all of these parts to main camera in my shot. Finally I think about the overlap, you might say your character doesn’t have a tail or floppy hat so what is there to overlap? The whole body is made up of elements that can drag, overlap, and follow through. The arms are a huge element that you can apply the principle of overlap too. Fingers, legs, eyebrows, jaws, eyelids and many more elements can also all overlap depending on the action. So next time your animating a shot or a test maybe think about using a checklist. It works for me.

One last thing no matter what you do, above all everything you do should support the acting and storytelling of the shot or test.

–Dr. Stephen G.

Why We Animate…

I was listening to a great interview with Woody Allen on NPR radio today. It was about a new film he is coming out with. The interviewer asked him why he does what he does. His answer was “To escape everyday life.” Ultimately he wants to go into another world and leave the regular life behind. I guess for me, animating is similar. I’m trying to create this performance that takes place in a virtual world. When I’m animating, I am trying to get into the characters skin and really feel what they are feeling. Animation is different from live action in that its not improvisational. It takes alot of sweat to recreate a performance that looks natural. What I found interesting about the Woody Allen interview is that he, with all his stardom, still wants to escape every day life. He also said he does not have many friends. Work is his ultimate passion. At 72 he still has the same drive. I ask myself… will I be able to animate with the same passion in another 10 to 20 years, much less 30 or 40? I think it comes down to alot of factors. One, is never feeling like you have arrived. One thing that Woody said was “Don’t listen to them when they tell you are great, and don’t worry what they say if they don’t like your work. Just shut up and work.” I think that egos can get in the way of good work. I think its so important to try different things. If you are an animator, you have to challenge yourself to do different characters and scenes. I think what I find most difficult these days is putting the grease and polish back into the shots. Some of my students that work here now, have polish that blows me away. I love asking them what they are doing to get that. You really always need to be a student in order to keep up. Sometimes, when I’m sitting in my office, I forget to pull in a buddy to get their opinion on a shot. Its so important to do. I guess the point of all this is to stay hungry and understand why we love what we do. Its very easy to get jaded in this industry, but ultimately, animating, and creating character is one of the best jobs out there. Take a listen to the interview. If you take one thing away from it that you can use, it was worth it.

-Andrew

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a great New Year. We hope this year will be a good year for animation and the Spline Doctors Blog. This year we will have a new site with new articles and lots of new Spline Casts. We really want you to post who you want to be interviewed. Also, please send us any topics of interest you want to see on the blog.

Happy New Year.

Andrew