Principles that affect my character

In this lesson we understand how the animated image has been theorized by the wise men of animation. The very forerunners of contemporary animation. Here we will review the 12 principles of Disney animation and how Warner Bros has applied them differently over time, making a clear comparison and differentiation. In addition to doing simple software activities on some of the basic principles of animation.

In this specific lesson we will observe how the principles we discuss affect our characters and more importantly, their movements.

Objectives:

1. Understand and memorize the 12 basic principles of Disney animation.
2. Conceptualize an invented animated character that meets the principles of Disney animation.
3. Create key poses for the previous objective character to convey their movement.
4. Make a parallel between the movements of my created character and an animal or real being.

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 principles regarding a character?

The character must be created on the premise of the movement. How does our character move? It should be the most important question within the conceptualization, in this way we must create a character that meets all the principles, taking into account the appendixes, anticipation and acceleration, principles seen in previous lessons. The principles that we must comply with in design must be those of attractiveness, exaggeration, arches and solid drawing so that in this way we make our character a credible, alive being with a design according to the created universe.

What should I keep in mind for my character's key poses and movements?

The key poses and movements of my character should always try to be referential, there is a belief that beings understand their own movement but this is not the case, we must analyze based on other animated works, audiovisual works, dramaturgies and videos of real life how are the movements, expressions and actions of our characters. In case of not finding, we must register or create them.

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. Within character animation it is very important to take into account references of all kinds to understand correct movements and give a feeling of vitality to my character.

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: