Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Arcs
Mechanical things such as cars and rockets are distinguished by the fact that they appear
to travel in a straight path. However, when most things, especially organic forms, move
through space they move in arcs. When a character swings his arm or lifts his head or
jumps off a box, the path of action will most always be an arc. If you are showing speed
lines, they should refl ect the curved movement.
Follow Through and Overlapping Action
Follow through suggests that something will keep moving in the direction of its force until
some resistance causes it to stop. When a baseball player hits a ball his bat keeps swinging
around in its arc until it stops behind his head. If a rider's horse stops suddenly the rider
may go fl ying over the top of the horse. This is closely related to overlapping action, which
suggests that different parts of the main body of a character or an object will move or stop
at different times. If a character jumps off a box his coattail may not come down until after
his feet have hit and perhaps not until he is starting to stand upright. Follow through explains
that a form keeps moving in its designated path until something stops it, like friction or hitting
another object. Overlapping action describes the way these different parts may move at
different times. So if you draw a character landing from a jump, his knees may be bending
from the squash but his coattail may still be up in the air.
Multiple Images
If a character needs to move through a scene in a particular way, the storyboard artist can
either show several panels that represent different stages of the action or one shot that shows
multiple, staggered images to describe different positions. The choice is determined by the
