Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
The pacing of a film is based on the script, but it is ultimately determined by
the director and his or her individual approach to storytelling. Naturally this
varies from film to film and from director to director. However, it is ultimately
the animator who creates the performance in animation, rather like the actor
who creates the performance in front of the camera. There is only so much a
director can do; ultimately creating a performance is down to the animator's
acting and performance skills.
Action Analysis and Acting
We have covered many of the issues related to analyzing action elsewhere in
this text; now let's give some consideration to the analysis of acting and the
physicality of performance. Action analysis, as we have considered it so far,
has been limited to a figure's dynamics that have largely been based around
the physicality of the subject and the actions that are undertaken simply
for locomotion or those other task-based actions that have little to do with
performance. This study has been relatively straightforward; our attention has
been placed on the action alone and far less on the motivation behind that
action. The difficulty we face in analyzing action in acting and performance
is the contextualization of that action. The important aspect of the analysis
of action in acting is emotional engagement and the personality of the
protagonists associated with the action.
In analyzing acting, the reasons behind an action, the motivating factors, and
the way actions are determined by relationships, the interactivity between
individuals and the response to changing emotional states of the protagonists
are more important than the actions themselves. Studying and understanding
the reasons behind the action will enhance your own acting and performance
skills. A simple action such as placing a cup on a table, when seen as an
animated action, focuses on issues such as weight, timing, overlapping action,
drag, squash and stretch, and so on. However, even such an innocuous action
as putting a cup down can be laden with meaning. It may be done gently,
with love, or in anger or fear, or any one of a hundred other emotional states.
But the general action remains the same: the cup is placed on a table, but the
small telltale signs—hesitation, speed, tension in the grip of the hand on the
handle—all make visible those otherwise invisible emotional states.
To analyze acting and performance, we need to consider the story or the
reasons behind the movements. Tapping into the reasons and motivation
behind movements creates acting. Insight into the motivation of the action
of a given shot is not necessarily evident from the shot itself; we gain a
benefit from viewing the shot within the broader context of the scene or the
extended sequence. Seen in isolation, actions rarely reveal the true context.
Film can provide a great source of inspiration for the aspiring animator, but
you must look beyond the timing and dynamic. In learning your craft as
an animator—and I strongly suspect the same can be said of any creative
