Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
It is as well to state the obvious here: that all the actions, emotions, and
displays of mood and temperament that make up a performance come from
the animator and the skills he or she possesses as an animator and as an actor .
Animators are not just technicians, artists, and filmmakers; above all else they
are actors. They simply send their drawings or models onto the screen instead
of treading the boards themselves. The animated characters do not possess
this skill themselves; they are just puppets, drawings, or pixels, and without
the animator's highly developed acting skills they will be little more than the
walking dead.
Looking at great animated performances we can see that the great animators'
acting abilities easily equal the very best stage or screen actors, unlike
some live action actors who become renowned for one particular type of
performance or, worse, become typecast. Most animators specializing in
performance-based animation need to be far more versatile. Not only do
animators need to be able to portray a broad range of human subjects (male
and female), animals, and inanimate objects, they need to portray animals and
inanimate objects with personality .
Characters with distinct personalities, along with their mood and
temperament, are generated in a script, but it is in the animation that they
become central to the animated performance. The problem animators face is
the replication of those issues that appear in the script, and it is the animation
of the character that brings these to the forefront.
Let's start by considering an everyday action such as walking. The principle
of a walk for all individuals remains the same, involving the stride and the
passing position, the swinging arms, the rise and fall of the figure, and the
shifting balance throughout. There will naturally be variations that are a result
of both internal and external physical elements. However, other variations
will be a result of the personality, mood, or temperament displayed by that
individual.
A happy walk, a sad walk, an angry walk, a frightened walk, a joyful walk—all
conform to the principle we've set out, and any variations are not due to the
individual's physiognomy but because of the character's emotion, mood, and
psychological state. This concept is covered in more detail in the chapter on
figures in motion.
These variations, which are a result of psychological conditions, may be
extended to all manner of actions. Take, for example, the manner in which an
individual eats a plate of food. This might not only depend on the character;
it might also depend on the type of food that person is eating and the
circumstances in which it is being eaten. We would expect that there would
be a very different approach to eating an ice cream cone on a beach during
a sunny day in summer than eating a plate of unappetizing prison food in
a communal and perhaps even dangerous environment. If we take these
two very extreme examples, we can establish that the manner in which
they are animated will vary from individual to individual. The animation
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