Blog 10 - Animation and Communication

For me, the words "animation" and "communication" mean a lot. Separately, they don't seem to have a lot in common, but with a closer look, communication plays a pivotal role in animation. In fact, animation wouldn't be possible without key elements of communication. It simply wouldn't work.

In animation, communicating to the audience is key to making it seem "real." Without body language and movement and an understanding of basic emotions, animation would appear flat and boring, incapable of appealing to an audience. However, with communication and the ability to talk to an audience through body language and movement, the audience becomes interested and emotional involved in the animation, the characters, and the scenes.

Blog 9 - The Illusion of Life

The authors of the book "The Illusion of Life" use animation as a means of imitating reality to create something other than reality. The Illusion of Life is the ability of animators to draw characters and scenes wherein the audience believes it is or could really happen, despite it not being live action. This comes about through different elements of animation, shortcuts and rules that dictate how best to create the illusion of life.

The metaphors of "illusion" and "life" seem apt given what is happening in animation. "Illusion" indicates the "trickery" that is happening within animation - it is giving off the impression of life, but nothing is actually alive. "Life," likewise, is apt because it is movement, emotion, and language (vocal and bodily) that define "life." The animators create all of these things in their characters.

Blog 8 - Building Emotion

There are nine economical ways that animation can build emotion in the imagination of the audience.

1. Rear View - Here, the audience gets to fill in what they believe the characters are feeling, taking the pressure off of the animator. Mufasa and Simba sit and study the African landscape.

2. Shadows - By only showing the shadow of a character, the animator saves time showing detail to the audience while still evoking emotions - usually of suspense. Peter Pan sneaks around Wendy's house.

3. Shadows over the character - Having the main action be conveyed in the shadows over another character who reacts is a good way to show emotion economically.

4. Overlays - Having characters covered by debris or leafy brush during a scene can portray just as much emotion as drawing the character alone.

5. Dramatic layout - Sometimes the background can show more emotion or set the tone for a small character in a large setting. Belle and the beast dance around his castle, his castle taking up most of the frame in its elegance and class.

6. Pictorial shot - Along the same lines as number five, showing a desired goal in the background can show a character's emotion better than the character itself. The adventurers study Atlantis.

7. Effects animation - Showing nature moving instead of the characters can evoke emotion - either what the character sees or what the audience should feel.

8. Held drawing with camera moves - Zooming in or out or panning with the camera can create emotion rather than animating the character itself.

9. Offstage sounds - A simple background with relevant sounds are enough to create emotion.