Reading Assignment Write-up 3

The readings for week 13 were about creating walk cycles and the animation process. I found the handout on walk cycles to be really helpful. The most helpful tips were the circular motion of the hips and the backward slide of the feet. When creating the 2D walk cycle, I made sure to move the hips and head in a circular motion (although I should have made it more pronounced). I also learned the importance of the overlapping action of the 3 body masses. In my 2D walk cycle, I left out the motion of the chest. I can see how important it is for all 3 masses to move with each other in order to create a more natural movement. I also found the Ollie Johnston article to be interesting. This article has 30 useful notes on animation. I thought that note 2, “Squash and stretch the entire body for attitude,” was kind of unusual (Johnston). I thought that only the most cartoony of cartoons squashed and stretched the entire body (ex. - Ed, Edd, n Eddy and Courage the Cowardly Dog). Although there is squash and stretch in more realistic cartoons, like Disney films, I don’t see the character’s entire body squashing and stretching; unless it means a more subtle type of squashing and stretching. I thought that note 12, “Everything has a function. Don’t draw it before knowing why,” was good advice (Johnston). I tend to draw before completely thinking it through, then adjusting my drawing to fit better. I also thought that note 13, “The facial expression should not be contradicted by the body. The entire pose should express the thought,” was good advice (Johnston). I still have some difficulty making the facial expression completely fit the body pose, but I guess that acting it out would help.

The reading for week 14 was about animation steps. I thought that the article on animation steps was interesting. I’ve never read about the actual steps of animating a scene. I thought that some things made a lot of sense, like thumbnailing everything and then creating rough key drawings, breakdowns, and in-betweens. However, I don’t really understand how to apply dialog to a scene. It seems like getting the timing right for dialogue might be harder than for action.

The reading for week 15 was about animating a scene. I found the Frank and Ollie article to be both informative and entertaining. The article starts out with the process of making layouts: thumbnails, traditional, multiple choice, and long shot/establishing shot. It then describes the steps of animating a scene: handout, pose test, and work reel; along with the jobs of the: supervising animator, animator, and assistant animator. I found it interesting that the animators, “…never made a picture starting at the beginning and working straight through to the end. We began with the section that gave the best opportunity to get hold of the characters, then moved on to a sequence that either had the greatest entertainment potential, or was needed most for the development of other phases of the picture” (Frank & Ollie). I knew that the scenes in a film weren’t animated in order, but it makes sense that the scenes that allow the animators to better connect with the characters would be animated first, so they have that understanding when animating the character in other scenes.

I think that the tips given for the walk cycle will be really useful in the future. Although my first walk cycle was pretty generic and has no real emotion to it, I look for ward to making more with a range of characters, emotions, and styles.