The Personal Research Project Animation Essay

The Personal Research Project Animation establishThis research document was undertaken to disc over and analyse voice performing in energy, and the different tack togethers used to pronounce sensation and archetype emergence. The document is center around how an ear whirl is influenced by techniques of personality playing, and what elements contribute to its believability. Research of non-homogeneous writings, articles and online sources have been ventured to aid the analysis and conclusion.The evidence researched, suggests that sentiment play moldiness occur in the beginning an proceeding takes place by the office. Developing a parting with empathy by dint of their ruleings helps the earshot relate to them, contributing to a richer, to a greater extent alikely outcome. Various techniques atomic number 18 used to express conceit border and emotion, how constantly, disco precise has led to the agniseing that carcass langu date behind be just as express ive without communication. Internal concept process is take up evince with a pieces eye movements in conjunction with form linguistic process.IntroductionThe aim of this research document is to gain a deeper familiarity and earning of how performing methods in geek vitality stub be utilised and articulated to express emotions done and through the display of internal thought processes in a section. This research bequeath explore the methods used by energizers to create the illusion of life and discover how it can become presumptive and amiable for the auditory sense.Acting is defined as the art of performance of representing a character on a item or before cameras and derives from the Latin word agere, meaning to do an obsolete meaning for the word playacting is animate. (John Kundert-Gibbs, 2009, p4)Research allow for be applied to particular proposition methods of strong/stage acting to develop an understanding of acting in character animation.setting to t he ResearchAnimate verb /annimayt/ 1. guide to life or activity. 2 pass on (a moving picture or character) the appearance of movement using animation. adjective /annimt/ viable having life. Derives, animator noun. Origin, Latin anim be, from anima life, soul. (Oxford English Dictionary)Animation has been thought to have originated over 35,000 years ago, after the disco actually of ancient w wholly paintings in places like Altamira and Lascaux which depicted various types of human races, objects and animals as Richard Williams (2001, p13) explains, sometimes with four pairs of legs to show motion. In the early 1800s, Williams shows (2001, p14-15) that at that place were various different devices certain for the sole primaling of creating an illusion of movement such as the Thaumatrope, the Phenakistoscope, the Zoetrope, the Paxinoscope and the Flipper book. All these devices were found on the redisco really, in 1824, of The persistence of vision by Peter brand name Roget. The principle of this comforts, on the fact that our expect temporarily retain the cast of eitherthing theyve just seen. (Williams, 2001, p13)In 1896, this sparked the amuse of Thomas Edison, who ended up publically releasing a combination of drawings, drawn by James Stuart Blackton, in sequence called Humorous Phases of Funny Faces.Since wherefore, we have seen many different onsetes to the writing style of animation. With the rise of Disney animation studios, in 1928, Steamboat Willie was introduced with synchronised sound and a crude character, paddy field Mouse. By 1936, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released which received awed success. This was the starting principal of the Golden Age of animation which was shortly followed by the popular Disney titles Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi and Fantasia.It wasnt until November, 1995 that Toy novel, the first full-length computer lively read was released by Pixar Animation Studios. This sparked a nonher new er a of animation. Studios like Dreamworks and deplorable Sky soon followed.Acting in animation has been adopted as the key element for creating believability in an stir sequence, But to give rise these designs work, the movements have to be thinkable which headliners back to realism What we want to procure isnt realism, its believability. (Williams, 2001, p.34)All animated acting is designed to give a character personality and believability. Just like in stage acting. Doron Meir (2008) explains that believable acting is a result of the audience feeling a characters follow throughs of its possess familiar motives. Williams (2001) notes that animation principles that were developed by Disney Studios actually early on, are stable being used today in all types of animation to bring characters to life.Research QuestionHow are emotions and internal thought processes expressed through techniques of acting in character animation to shew characters believable and engaging to the a udience?Survey of Literature WorksActing is a very broad dependant, and can be applied to many different genres of acting for stage and camera. Animation has had a comport influence by the techniques and discoveries on how to render a character through movement. This is why To the Actor On the Technique of Acting by Michael Chekhov is an i muckle choice that links straight off to acting. Chekhov is illustriously known for his in-depth acting methods, and has stood as an iconic teacher for famous actors of today. Chekhov take a hops on the methods used to call up emotions, develop characters and strengthen knowingness as an actor. All these things help to develop unique(predicate) Psychological Gestures that he explains in spite of appearance the book, that show the audience what the character is trying to express through body actors line, which is also the key to a characters believability in an animated sequence.To get a much specific understanding of how characters move , and the principles surrounding character animation as an art, The Animators Survival Guide by Richard Williams is an in-depth manual on the style and techniques of hand-drawn animation. Containing the specific principles used by animators to achieve believable movement.Williams has been integrity of the true innovators, and serves as a link between the golden age of animation by hand and new computer animation successes. (Williams, 2001, blurb)Everything in this book relates to the overall aim of producing a character that moves in a believable bureau. Acting relies on these techniques that are shown through drawing methods of chuck by frame animation. By adopting these techniques, animators can be taught to study the variety of the human body to move on understand how to produce successful animated characters.The analysis of how characters display emotion acquires to be taken into vizor throughout this research. Acting for Animators by Ed maulers explains the tried and tes ted methods in acting that reflect personality and feeling within a character. This book takes us through maulers lessons on acting and the suppositious approach behind his techniques. Empathy occurs a lot in this book, answering the guide to create characters with feeling, for the audience to empathise with.Analysis into character movement and acting by expressive style model exit allow the discovery of techniques used in popular film. Acting in Animation A Look at 12 Films is a second book by Ed Hooks, where he analyses twelve different animated films, going through chapter by chapter, describing the expressive and emotive methods used in each scene. Led by these film examples, the techniques discovered through research, can be firmly rein suckd.Theoretical climb for Selecting DataData will be collected, analysed and displayed from a variety of make secondary sources including books, articles, web articles, web blogs and conferences. All data and necessary schooling will b e collected for the purpose of research, but will not all be related to the analysis of animation. Acting technique and method will be the master(prenominal) subject source of research, which will give a broader context to storey opinions, ideas and thoughts discovered in secondary literature sources by other people in the industry. Literature sources jibeing examples of proven practise will be used to further enforce the topic of research.verbal description of Proposed PractiseBy an extended discovery and analysis on the subject of character acting in animation, I plan to produce at least sestet evoke and achievable artefacts that reflect the knowledge gained through this research document, that will provide further understanding about how emotion can allow an audience to empathise with an animated character. The preliminary design practise will include the development of key character poses to accentuate specific emotions directly influenced by an internal thought process. This will then indicate how a character can be developed further into a collection of believable animation sequences. Each artefact plans to contain one of the six basic emotions, as stated by Ed Hooks, happiness, surprise, fear, anger, disgust and sadness (2000, p.36)Characters used will be designed and cheat by a secondary source, which will provide a simple, detention- squander to use marionette for the purpose of animation. Dialogue will not be used, as this may stand as a distr treat from the emotions that are aimed to be expressed through body phrase and facial secernates. These artefacts will provide a clearer understanding of subconscious body movements that are oft overlooked.DiscussionCharacter animation can take many forms within the context of animation in both the traditional sense as well as in modern computer animation.The following principles were developed and named1. Squash and Stretch 2. Timing and Motion 3. Anticipation 4. Staging 5. notice out Through an d Overlapping 6. Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose 7. Slow In and Out 8. Arcs 9. Exaggeration 10. Secondary Action 11. AppealPersonality in character animation is the goal of all of the above. (John Lasseter, 1987, pp. 35-44, 214)Lasseter explains that these specific traditional animation principles and techniques developed in the 1930s by Walt Disney Studios should be incorporated into all animated media especially character animation to develop characters look to make them more(prenominal) realistic and entertaining (Lasseter, 1987, pp. 35-44)Richard Williams explains, The old knowledge applies to any style of approach to the medium no matter what the advances in technology. (2001, p. 20)This shows that successful, believable animation of all types have spawned on the basis and influence of these traditional principles and techniques. Richard Williams also tells us that, in relation to classical and computer animation, Both share the uniform problems of how to give a perf ormance with movement, weight, timing and empathy. (2001, p. 20)This underlines a key point into the advances of technology in animation, demo that 3D animation bundle packages simply act as a technique of animating and not an easier route to influence believable movement.Lasseter explains, To make a characters personality seem real to an audience, he must be different than the other characters on the screen. A simple mood to distinguish the personalities of your characters is through contrast of movement. No deuce characters would do the very(prenominal) action in the same way. (1994)Creating a anomalous character, develops its personality. John Kricfalusi (2006) reminisced of how he got drawn in by Chuck Jones cartoons, noticing the uncommon expressions he drew. Specifically as an example, the way he draws two whites of the eyeball joined together, one bigger than the other to form a D-uh expression.We can see that identity operator is very important when introducing p ersonality to a character, Chekhov (1953, p.83) explains on the subject of characterisation, that particular features indigenous to a character like a typical movement, manner of speech, recurrent ha endorsement, odd way of walking and so on, expresses the finishing touches to a character. Characters become more alive and more human with this small feature. Hooks (2000, p.36) explains, When we speak of creating the illusion of life in animation, it boils see not to mannerisms and naturalistic movement, but to emotion. Hooks continues to state that theoretically speaking, emotion is the prerequisite element of acting as the point of empathy for the audience. Hooks, Empathy is as essential to dynamic acting as oxygen is to water. (2000, p.9)Characters of all descriptions, in an move to make them believable to an audience, need to have a particular personality. The audience needs to be directly affected by a characters on-screen emotion, to genuinely feel a sense of empathy. Witho ut, the audience will lose interest easily and the butts within the storyline can diminish.Hooks (2000, p.41), reflects on Charlie Chaplin as one of the most influential comedians that used a great deal of empathy in his work to touch the audiences emotions. He explains that his innovation as a performer has had a huge influence on the world of comics and animation. As Chuck Jones has said I admire Chaplin very much because you could see him think, and plan, and you cared for him. (Hooks, 2000, p.40)Chaplins unique relationship with the audience has seen a great influence on character animation from the set out of Walt Disneys profession. Dick Huemer (Hooks, 2000, p.40), Disney storyman, tells us Walt had an image of Mickey Mouse as a little Chaplin.In order to successfully accomplish empathy within a character, there needs to be elements of individuality to open fire emotions. These can be developed through simple hap mannerisms that correlate with the characters thoughts and actions. In both respect, the audience needs to be the briny influence when deciding a characters actions.Hooks states humans express six basic emotions, happiness, surprise, fear, anger, disgust and sadness (2000, p.36)He also tells us that there is disagreement on whether facial expression is primarily a verbalism of the inner emotional state, or if it is simply a social display. Hooks concludes that it could be either, depending on the situation. emotion can be expressed through both facial expression and body language, although the influence of each method can be different. Williams (2001, p. 324) believes that words should be kept to a unembellished minimum and as an animator, make everything as clear as affirmable through pantomime using exclusively(prenominal) the body to tell the story. The movements of the body are thought about a lot more by animators than real actors, as animators have to create it rather than do it, although the personal expressive nature of emot ions are identical. Different types of feelings can be expressed easily as Chekhov shows, grasping or catching (greed, avarice, cupidity, miserliness) roughly with palms dour earthward lusts to overpower, to possess. (1953, p.67)Equally, Chekhov (1953, p.73) explains here that in order to build up your characters expressive nature, hand and arms should act first for example hands up close the chin expresses unavoidability and loneliness, palms turned outward displays self-defence and slight brain is evoked when bending the three middle fingers of each hand. Hooks agrees, The integrity is that our hands and arms are the most expressive parts of our bodies. (2000, p.60)An example to this, Hooks demonstrates, Arms folded across the chest indicate that the person is closed, disobedient When you are embarrassed, you tend to shrink in space. (2000, p.62)This reveals that many body language patterns in human figures are fiercenessed through the movement of hands and arms. Willia ms (2001, p. 324) explains a method called Twinning where arms and hands are doing the same thing, symmetrically. He teaches that this is used to show authority by preachers, lead-iners, politicians and so forth. Kevan Shorey agrees that, correspondence is a good way of adding force to an action to get a point across (2008)Both animators, believe that twinning should be crushed up to avoid an exact mirror image of movements that would produce marvelous messages to the audience. Jeff Lew (2004) explains that to make twinning animation look more interesting, the perspective of shot needs to be changed so they dont physically look identical at a particular camera angle.Walt Disney in 1930s found that expression is better when the whole body is involved and not only the cheek, social movement begins in the area of your navel and radiates outwards into your limbs. (Hooks, 2000, p.60)John Kricfalusi (2006) explains that animators have evolved a style that has become more stagy tha n live action by nurture characters emotions through body language and poses. Evidentially, facial expressions arent enough to provoke a meaningful emotion, and that the whole body needs to be articulating through hand gestures and arm movements to compliment facial expressions, to achieve a believable emotion through a character.In an example from Toy Story 2, Hooks notes, She (Jessie) doesnt simply greet Woody enthusiastically, she turns him over and gives him nuggies She tosses him this way and that. Her emotion is leading her to energetically celebrate. (2005, p.90)This is a specific example of how body language is reflecting emotion successfully. If this same bit of acting was acted on the stage, or in front of a camera with real actors it would have a very different outcome. The emotion may be similar, but another way of emphasising actions used in animation is through exaggeration. Shawn Kelly (2009) informs us that he was taught to hyperbolize something more than it shoul d be, then double it. Exaggeration is one of the lord animation principles. Lasseter (1987, pp. 35-44, 214) suggests exaggeration of characters by the animator must be very carefully chosen. If there is too much distortion it could result in an unrealistic look.Looking back much earlier, to 1927, the classic film aurora A Song of Two Humans was released. Without synchronised dialogue, films of this era had to imprecate on the characters acting and the backing compositions as the two main elements for the story. aurora is considered one of the finest films of the silent era, and Janets Gaynors performance is one its greatest virtues Her supple face and soulful eyes convey a range of thoughts and emotions that pages of dialogue could only suggest. (DeFreitas, 2009)Later, DeFreitas (2009) tells us that Sunrise became a winner of the 1929 Best Picture Oscar for grotesque and Artistic Production. This film sets as an evidential example of how acting without dialogue can influence and empathise with an audience just as good, if not more so.Often in animation, Lasseter (1987, pp. 35-44) explains that the eye can easily fragmentise up when the motion of a character seems to die, which can come across as looking particularly fake and unbelievable. To overcome this loss of motion, Lasseter uses a moving hold which is a technique used that continues the motion of a body part after an action. This breaks up the animation and results in a smoother and more believable sequence. Preston Blair (Hooks, 2001, p.60), states that an actor should never pause without a specific reason, and when a pause occurs, it should be shown for long enough so the audience can register it. These are both techniques that engage the audience into what the character is acting out.Before a movement of any sort can occur, thought processes need to become apparent through the character. Hooks outlines, Thinking tends to lead to conclusions emotion tends to lead to action. (2000, p.1)Hooks defi nes a thought process as a method in discovering a conclusion. Lasseter (1994) mentions that every movement of a particular character must exist for a reason, and, ultimately, develop feelings in a character through their thought processes. As an observation, before a human being puts his body into action, a thought process must occur. In animation, this thought process must be shown to the audience to illustrate believability of an action that has just been revealed. To show a thought process in a character, Disney animator/teacher Eric Larson shows a technique, in Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnsons Illusion of Life, The subject gradually move his brows into a frown paused and then lifted one brow and glanced to the side, you now would sense a change from one thought to another (Richard Williams, 2001, p.320)This action was discovered when the first Mickey Mouse shorts were being created, and stands as a key element into how change of expression can reflect a meaningful thought pr ocess. Shawn Kelly (2009) expresses his ideas, explaining that there isnt anything more important than showing a characters thought process and changes which occur within it to provoke emotions and actions. It is down to these thought processes, he concludes, that drives everything we do. Looking at character animation in Toy Story 2, Hooks (2005, p.87) explains how Woodys realisation that Andy has gone to camp without him, leads him to his express sadness (emotion) which then leads him to withdraw to the back shelf, out of sight. He adds that, The more specific the characters thought process, the better the performance. (2005, p.87)Thought process in character animation, as mentioned, is very important for believability. This has been true for many years since the beginning of Disneys Golden Age in animation. Walt Disney said, In most instances, the parkway force behind the action is the mood, the personality, the attitude of the character-or all three. Therefore, the mind is the pilot. We think of things before the body does them. (Lasseter, 1987, pp. 35-44, 214)It is widely agreed that thought process is the main building block that needs to be perfected and shown successfully in any animated character. Bill Tytla (Hooks, 2005, p.3), concluded that the pose is a reception to something. Hooks refers to Aristotle, Aristotle referred to this as a unity of action small actions that lead to a bigger action, or objective. This simple rule lies at the base of all acting theory. An action without a thought is impossible, and action without an objective is just a mechanical thing, moving body parts. (Hooks, 2005, p.4-5)Aristotle finds that the thought process of a character separates a character with life to a robotic, dead machine.As mentioned earlier, Eric Larsons technique of showing a thought process in a character is very believable. But more specifically, it has been discovered that the eyes are the most important parts of the character to express and emp hasis these thoughts. Williams (2001, p.325) advises on how the eyes are the focal point that people watch in a character. As an example, he notes, When listening on the cry the eyes flicker around in a Staccato fashion reflecting the listeners shifting thoughts in reaction our eyes are rarely still. (2001, p.326)The eyes, the driving force behind a characters actions. Kelly agrees that decisions can be reflected successfully with the eyes, They will very often dart their eyes around a bit as they consider and weigh their options. Its almost as if they are reading an imaginary list of possible choices (2009)Lasseter (1987), explains that eyes lead before the action, and that the only time they wouldnt lead, would be if there was an external force acting upon the character. He mentions further, that the trick to showing thought process through the eyes of a character is with anticipation. The eyes should move first, followed by the head and then the rest of the body. The eyes of a c haracter are the windows to its thoughts the characters thoughts are conveyed through the actions of its eyes. (Lasseter, 1987)As well as eye movements, the timing and speed of a characters act involuntarily can also affect the outcome of what is portrayed as a thought process. Kelly (2009), explains that different blinks can offer up our own different perceptions of what the character is thinking. A ton of blinks will feel as though the character is going to cry, is nervous, uncomfortable, shy, or possibly relieve after a big build up while very little to no blinking will either feel dead, stoned worried, angry, or just very intense. (Kelly, 2009)Kelly teaches that blinks should be there for a reason to further enhance a particular emotion. Before an animator can even start to animate a particular thought process, they need to know about the character to be able to understand what they would be feeling at a certain moment, in an onrush to achieve a believable outcome.The most i mportant foundation of believable character acting starts with finding out about a specific character. Williams states, Got to get inside the character. What does he/she/it want? and even more interesting why does the character want it? (2001, p.20)To develop our understanding of what a character is thinking, and in order to provoke emotion in a character, these questions need to be posed. Ed Hooks also explains to us that, Every character in a scene should be able to answer the question. What am I doing? in a theatrical sense. In other words, what action am I playing in pursuit of what objective? And what is the obstructer/conflict? (2005, p.89)Just like this, in the context of acting for an audience, Michael Chekhov suggests to, expect yourself what the main desires of the character might be (1953, p.67)This approach sets the scene for any character in order to discover what the characters personality is trying to portray in what they are thinking or doing. Hooks notes, If y ou want to understand what a character is feeling, it is lift out to start by asking what the character is thinking and what his value system is. (2000, p.2)To understand how a character must move, the animator needs to discover the atmosphere and influence of the obstacle that the character is being confronted with. Only then can a thought process occur, and a feeling be evoked by a specific situation or conflict. Jeff Lew (2004) , expresses his thoughts on the development of a characters bio before acquisition how a character will react in any animated scene. This develops further understanding of a characters background that could be significant in influencing the way their emotions are expressed.This evidence shows us that there are a lot of elements contributing to developing a characters emotional state and to make it believable to the audience. To develop his understanding of a character and what they are thinking, Ed Hooks uses a definition coined by Michael Chekhov called a Psychological Gesture, which, Chekhov explains as the psychology of a character containing thoughts, feelings and a human free will which is expressed physically through external feelings, thoughts and desires. Hooks gives the example, Have you ever noticed someone who wrings his hands a lot while hes public lecture? A Bully punches someone in the chest with his finger. That is a mental gesture. (2000, p.66)A psychological gesture is an internal thought process, manifesting itself into an external action to express an emotion. Chekhov gives an acting example, The qualities which fill and permeate each muscle of the perfect body, will provoke within you feelings of hatred and disgust. (1953, p.64)The above, is very similar to the way animators approach the discovery of a characters psychological gesture by craft up ideas of how thoughts can influence the emotions that are displayed.ConclusionCharacter animation, in both the traditional and computer medium, rely heavily on th e original animation principles that were discovered by Disney Studios. This emphasises how improvements in 3D animated software are used as only as a gibe for the creation of animation, and does not rely on the computer to make things look believable by itself.Analysis has shown that acting techniques in animation are almost identical to stage and film acting. It is the exaggeration of body language and the ability to adapt a character in specific position that sets it apart.It is evident that the emotional state of a character is a direct influence of its thought process. Thought process can be best expressed through body language to enhance an emotion. This research has lead to discover that eye movements are one of the focal points that enhance a characters thought. Emotions need to be manifested into an external, physical body movement, however slight, in order to engage an audience.The conclusion to the discussion has shown that creating empathy as a result of expressing an emotion, is the key element for engaging any audience. A characters believability is successful when an audience can relate to it in some way or another. This can be done by giving a character a personality through mannerisms and specific body language.Bibliography and List of WorksCHEKHOV, M., CALLOW, S To The Actor on the technique of acting, Oxon Routledge, 2002DEFREITAS, J MOVING PICTURES Motion and Emotion in F.W. Murnaus Sunrise, 2009, http//www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2009-0212/article/32219?headline=MOVING-PICTURES-Motion-and-Emotion-in-F.W.-Murnaus-Sunrise-HOOKS, E., BIRD, B Acting for Animators, Portsmouth Heinemann 2000HOOKS, E Acting in Animation A Look at 12 Films, Portsmouth Heinemann 2005KUNDERT- GIBBS, J, Action Lessons for CG Animators, Oxford John Wiley Sons, 2009KRICFALUSI, J Personal Blog, 2006, http//johnkstuff.blogspot.comKELLY, S Animation wise man Blog, 2009, http//www.animationtipsandtricks.comLASSETER, J Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation, Siggraph, 1987, http//www.siggraph.org/ development/materials/HyperGraph/animation/character_animation/principles/prin_trad_anim.htm