Use of the principles

In this lesson we will review the principles of the last lesson, doing activities to reinforce concepts and explore the new principles.

Objectives:

1. Understand and memorize the 12 basic principles of Disney animation.
2. Perform software exercises that meet the 12 principles of animation.
3. Understand how staging and composition can help give a more correct message.

Through the knowledge we have acquired:

What are the 12 principles of animation and what are they all about?

1. Stretch and shrink: objects deform with respect to their volume, material and amount of applied force. They deform without losing their volume, stretch and shrink.

2. Anticipation and recovery: actions have an action that anticipates it to give clarity about the main action, speaks about the strength and intention of the beginning, in the same way the actions recover to give the feeling of returning to calm.

3. Staging: it is one of the most complex principles, it constitutes that all actions must be well composed and clear within the shot. This is done through performances, time, camera, and stage to give the viewer clarity.

4. Direct animation and pose by pose animation: it is a principle of animation that tells us about the creation of animation, in this way, direct animation is an animation that is done frame by frame and pose by pose animation an animation that is analyzed first in main poses in order to have a better conception of time. Pose-to-pose animation is used for characters and direct animation is used for natural elements and appendixes that are added to objects.

5. Superimposed animation and complementary animation: this principle tells us about the appendixes that we have tied to a body that moves, in this way we understand that the tied bodies have a hint, which is the applied force that tells us about volume and rigidity. It is divided into two, the superimposed animation is with objects that are not part of the body, such as clothes and chains, and the complementary animation with attachments tied to the body such as wings or caps.

6. Acceleration and deceleration: Objects naturally tend to start slower and finish slower. They do not have constant accelerated movements to make them more alive.

7. Arcs: the natural movements of objects move in arcs.

8. Secondary action: It is an action that tells us about the main action, the intention without interfering with the main action.

9. Timing: The most important principle, the basis of animation. It is the principle that tells us about how long each frame lasts on the screen to generate the sensation of movement.

10. Exaggeration: The movements should be as exaggerated as the understanding allows.

11. Solid drawing: The sensation of three-dimensionality should be generated despite working on animations in two dimensions. (this principle does not apply to 3d animation because all animation already has it)

12. Attractive: characters, movements and backgrounds must have a distinctive appeal to make it beautiful and aesthetic for viewers. (it is quite a subjective principle, like beauty)

How do you use the staging principle correctly in an animated scene?

When defining how the actions of our characters or objects put into composition will be, time must be understood and how each action must respect a correct dramaturgical conception so that the viewer understands that the characters that act in my scene are real, in the same way as each action must have its temporary space so that the times and movements of the characters do not overlap.

By having a temporal clarity, we can help ourselves with the level of the shot that we can put in our scene and thus help us through a camera and the type of shot to be made to give a better understanding of the action.

Finally, we must consider the background, the costumes and the objects that we have on the screen to give our viewer even more clarity.

Conclusions

The principles of animation are the basis of the construction of animation, it is important to memorize them, identify them and use them correctly in simple animations.

Reference:

The illusion of life:Disney animation (1981) Thomas, Frank; Ollie Johnston.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDqjIdI4bF4

Here you have the contents of the lesson in PDF: