Reading & Writing
Chapter 9 of Liz Blazer’s Animated Storytelling is short but tackles the idea of technique. In the chapter she discusses finding and choosing a style that fits your story. During your find Blazer encourages you to consider the format that will best showcase your story. Will the audience view it on the big screen? Or will they consume it on a portable device, like a mobile phone or tablet? Is your story designed for the small screen? Once you know how your audience will view the story then it’s onto technique and style.
Technique and Style consists of hand drawn and handmade animations or motion graphics, 2D or 3D, fluid, vector, etc. If your story lends itself to 2D or 3D will you employ stop-motion or computer-generated-imagery (CGI)? How do you want your story to be felt and viewed? All of these according to Blazer are important decisions when deciding your technique and style. However, you’re not stuck with just one form. According to Blazer, if there’s a technique and style that would work better that aren’t in the traditional use…go for it. She says when done well, sometimes adapting multiple techniques and styles can produce some award winning results.
Research to Inform
In this weeks “research to inform” we’re looking at examples of animation which employ some aspect of the 12 principles of animation described legendary Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Finding examples for me was easy…it’s animation after all. However, not so easy is whether or not I have the right principle assigned. Well here’s my attempt. Enjoy!
1. Follow Through & Overlapping Action
Movie: Tangled, Scene: Flynn Ryder using a frying pan in a fight
I chose this movie and scene because it’s a great example of follow through action. During the fight scene at time stamp 00:41 you can see Flynn Ryder swinging the frying pan which hits one of the guards and knocks them out. You see the frying pan and Flynn’s arms are extended making the action more believable. One could also say this is an example of exaggeration.
2. Staging
Movie: Moana, Scene: Moana meets Maui
I chose this scene as it demonstrates staging. In the opening part of the scene where Maui “Demi-God” thinks the God’s have found favor on him and sent him a boat, we see his surprised look when we hear Moana clear her throat to get his attention. This sets us as the audience up for how they will interact with each other.
3. Anticipation
Show: Looney Tunes – Speedy Gonzales
The next example I’ll share is from one of my favorite shows growing up. Looney Tunes had plenty of animations that followed the 12 principles of animation. However, Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester the cat had great use of anticipation. In the scene below at about 00:55 Speedy leans all the way back to get ready to run as fast as he can to get past Sylvester and get the cheese for the waiting spectator mice.
4. Appeal
Show: Animaniacs
I chose this one…well…because you can’t have a discussion of animation without the Warner Brothers and their sister Dot! Seriously though, this animation series makes use of the principle appeal. The appeal to each of the characters used is that different shapes are applied thus even Dr. Otto is likeable.
5. Arcs
Movie: How to Train Your Dragon
I chose this last example to demonstrate the arc principle. The “How to Train Your Dragon” movies and TV series are all about riding or “flying” their dragons. During flight whether in an airplane or glider or any other flying contraption there are natural arcs. A plane doesn’t go straight up to it’s flying altitude or abruptly turn at a 90-degree angle. Instead the movements are steady arc movements. In the scene below Hiccup is learning how to fly a dragon he named “Toothless.” At around 00:23 seconds into the clip is a beautiful demonstration of the arc principle as Toothless, with Hiccup on his back, make a banked turn.
Create
I’ve had my RoseMarc Stuidos logo for about 10 years now. I’ve been using an After Effects template which I modified to work until I could get a chance to spend time and do my logo the way I have seen so many years ago. The logo below is more of what I envisioned so many years ago.
The animation was all done in After Effects (AE). The only assets I brought in were the projector movie in the beginning, projector sound effect, filmstrip image(s), wax stamp, and the music. They were gotten from Envato Elements. The parchment paper and wax seal were created as compositions in AE. This project was time consuming but fun.
During the development of this logo stinger I experimented with using 3D cameras and Null Objects to control the 3D space. I even used multiple Null Objects on the camera to allow more precise control of the X, Y, and Z axis. Another method I used was applying Outline stroke to the RoseMarc Studios text to give the text animation and then wipe text center for the tag line. After viewing several YouTube tutorials and playing around I landed on something I’m proud to use.
