Animation Mechanics of Motion & Researching Techniques

Animation Mechanics of Motion & The Art of 3D Computer Animation and Effects

Spent the day going through the Two of the books I picked up from the library yesterday. Needless to say they have help broadened my considerations on how to achieve aspects of my project. "Animation Mechanics of Motion"  by Chris Webster has helped clarify why all the acting books(for an animator) I have read mostly emphasize emotion and not as much toward creating personality.  His view on the subject is that in acting they are not focusing toward believability but to express emotion and take the audience on an emotional journey. Though this may seem obvious as acting books focus on emotion this is the first time it has been clearly stated by any of the books I have read. However, saying that their aim was is not to be believable does seem like a slap to the face as I am continuously coming across "The Suspension of Disbelief" which I can now identify in movies when scenes break me out of the immersion of the story which I have linked toward Bullet time and 3D effects.

Another topic that has come up are toward more types of acting, I have previously encountered were Improv (Improvisational Acting/ Thearte),  Method Acting ( thought of the construction of a character from the inside out) and Theatrical Acting (thought of the construction of a character from the outside in).  Chris brings in Physical Acting and Psychological Acting, the way these are talked about makes them seem different from the previous methods as Chris relates physical acting toward pantomime and Charlie Chaplin. While psychological acting has less dynamic movement but more carefully timed and controlled to express emotion and thought using Disney's Bambi(1942) as an example. Though the principle of psychological does seem related or has traits similar to the concepts of Method Acting.

"Bambi" (1942) [After mothers death]

 "The Art of 3D Computer Animation and Effects" by Isaac V. Kerlow  had already made a impression on me when using this book to find out the development of animation and computer technology last year. Though this time around I was focused on character development and personality. The way he writes feel different from other books I had read regarding Animation and Acting. I would say he takes a more simplistic approach which clearly conveys his message. and because of this he has helped identify useful principles that will help me convey character personality. Timing, Tempo, Speed and Rhythm are all terms I have come across before but haven't read too much into them as I already need more practice in timing but the thought of using them to help create personality in quiet inspirational especially when I'm trying to associate songs to the characters I'm currently working on.

Researching Techniques

While continuing to read I'm become more aware toward keeping detailed notes of what I'm reading as book marking the pages isn't useful at all as I have to reread each book to remember what I've read in order to combat this I have started taking Paragraphs or topics directly out of the books and then highlighting the parts which provide useful information and references. This allows me to quickly pull out a quote or be able to paraphrase in the right context.