Reading Write-up #1

To tell you the truth, I thought animation was all about creativity. I never put much thought into the strategies or principles to make my animation more realistic. This was not until I took this class, it opened my eyes. The Animation Principles helped me understand how objects are supposed to be drawn whether they are bouncing, falling down, etc. There is a specific way to every item which I didn’t realize. The readings on arcs, timing, squash & stretch, and spacing helped me the most through the animation process. 

From the beginning of class, I learned that timing really matters in animation. The Timing article (Timing.pdf) states, “Neither acting nor attitude could be portrayed without paying attention to Timing.” It helps to understand the characters emotions whether they are excited, lethargic, etc. It also helps with speeding or slowing down object to make them look realistic. Like the rollercoaster assignment. I learned that the rollercoaster is slowing down as it reaches the top so it’s slowly getting pulled up. When it goes down, it speeds up which takes less frames compared to it going up. This will help me understand how many frames I need for each future animation project I do and hopefully it makes sense like the objects seen in this world.

In the article on Arcs (Arcs.pdf), it talks about how everything in the world moves in an arch. There are some exceptions but majority move in a slight circular path. “The animator charts the position of his drawings along this arc… makes key drawings, indicating where in-betweens should be placed to keep the line of action.” This will be helpful for me in the future because my animations will move more naturally. I remember creating a short animation about two boys fighting for a girl’s attention. Everything in that clip looked extremely stiff and I was embarrassed because I had to present it in my art class. Reading this article made me understand what I was doing wrong.

In the Squash and Stretch article (SqshNdStrch.pdf), it talks about how all fleshy objects go through that action. “Anything composed of living flesh, no matter how bony, will show considerable movement within its shape in progressing through an action.” This reading is useful to me because I can make my characters/objects look less stiff when they bounce or other motions incorporated with that. 

In the article about line of action (P_Blair_01.pdf), it talks about how each main action of a character is in a curve which strengthens the dramatic effect of the action. It also sets the attitude to make the character more believable. “And when he acts, the audience emotionally responds.” Before reading this article, I never put much though into the line of action. The drawings from the article especially help me understand how to make an action run more smoothly. Now I know why my characters look extremely strange when they are doing an action. This will help me create animations that follow better and hopefully make my characters more believable.