Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
When you're an artist, you have to feel and experience what you're trying
to draw.
For example, if I'm drawing a fi gure, I need to feel the weight of her hip on the chair.
I need to feel the pull of her waist as she twists. It has nothing to do with the external
shape; it has to do with sympathy for what the model is doing and feeling and how
that affects the line that comes out of my hand.
In animation, it's all about getting the audience to feel a certain way. We do this
in every department, through music, lighting, color, and line. The animator has
us in his powerful grip. If he can
Feel
what his character is feeling, he will
communicate that through even the smallest movements his character performs. He
quite literally becomes the actor portraying the role. The more fl uent he becomes
at acting himself, the better his character will communicate to us, the audience,
and the more we will feel what we are supposed to feel at any given moment in
the fi lm.
An actor is trained to “feel what the character is feeling,” and then authentically convey
that through the character's expressions and gestures. It is this authenticity that separates
good actors from the rest, and good animators from the mediocre. Instead of merely
representing
emotion by playing an idea of “fear,” “happy,” or “'sad,” as a new or
amateur actor might, the good actor
recreates
the emotional feeling. Like an actor, in this
chapter you will study the art of acting. You will learn a simple acting technique that will
teach you:
• How to build a character by:
• Developing the
inner
life—the emotional state of being that is conveyed through
expression and gesture
• How thought creates emotion
• How emotion creates gesture
• Developing the
outer
life
• How a character is further defi ned in the scene by specifi cally identifying the
goals, tactics, and actions
Additionally, by studying the art of acting you will learn to:
• Use the tools of
emotional recall
and
empathy
to “get inside” your character and avoid
creating cliché expressions and gestures
• Understand and create characters that are different from you, the animator
Ultimately, by learning and using an acting technique during the animation process, you
will be able to create believable characters that capture and move your audience during
every moment of your fi lm.
