On the Set - Stop Motion: Passion, Process and Performance - page 223

up during a turn, and if the eyes follow a clean line, the turn will be easy to read. The eyes in
particular will want to follow neat clean lines; if a puppet wobbles its head about too much, it
is clearly not focusing on anything. If a head wants to focus on something, it will i nd the most
direct route there, without bobbing about. It is particularly useful to plot the movement of
the eyes in a walk, as we usually focus on something, either a set distance in front of us or the
pavement, or on the door we're going through. I would draw a very gently undulating, almost
straight line through the eyes, and have them follow along this path as the character walks. This
is not real life, but it will give a controlled shape to the movement of the head which, left to
its own devices, can be thrown all over the place. As the dancer i nds a spot to lock onto when
she is spinning, you could make an X on the screen, the focus of the character's walk. Walk the
puppet, making adjustments to keep the puppet focused on that spot. It will make things very
clear.
Think of a swan with a beautiful long curving neck. As it bobs about, much of the rise and fall is
absorbed by the curvature of the neck, keeping the head on a level plane the whole time, and
the head focused.
In your exhilaration at things moving was your early work overanimated?
JD - I am more disciplined now.
DC - Well yes, of course.
AW - Yes, defi nitely, everything moved too much. I try to make gestures read more now, yes.
JC - When I fi rst started animating I was both exhilarated and disappointed by what I produced.
My fi rst attempts to create movement were jerky and much too fast. There was no sense of timing
or balance. I was disappointed and felt that I could produce much better. I've learnt to control the
puppet and myself. Often the pauses and held poses are more important than the movement. As Barry
says, 'give the audience time to read a pose'. I now produce good work but it rarely lives up to my
imagined end result - a common feeling among animators. We're always striving to improve and
reach perfection.
Physical quirks
Working in stop motion is a surprisingly physical job and with it comes problems, although I'm
sure that sitting at a keyboard for the same period every day or bent over a lightbox brings its
equal share of physical problems.
Stop motion animators are usually on their feet for at least nine hours a day,
working in hot, bright, necessarily airless conditions; concentration often gets in
the way of noticing this too much, but you will see animators standing on a carpet
square. Most studios, to stop any external vibrations, have an unremitting concrete
l oor, so anything that can ease the standing has to help, whether it is carpet,
slippers or bare feet. Nearly thirty years of animating seems to have given me calves
that a carthorse would be proud of.