Beyond the World of Words

There is something I've always tried to tap into and internalize when I watch a movie or especially when I observe people in life as they go through the motions, and that is everything that they're saying by not saying anything at all. Now before you get that Ronan Keating song stuck in your head, just think about just how much we can tell about a what a person is feeling,thinking or intending by simply looking at them.

Without even interacting with someone we read their body language, facial expression, where their eyes are and we can deduce (to a degree) what kind of day that person has had or even what sort of indivdual that person is. As a good friend of mine aptly put, if he doesn't want someone to sit next to him on the bus he doesn't need to say a word. He can close off himself  by folding his arms, make himself more dominant by taking up more space than he needs (gotta love the nature channel) and he can look them dead in the eye as to show his dominance even more. I know what you're thinking, but he's actually a super nice guy:P

It's  amazing that we can tell the difference between just a look and a "I'm in love with you"- look, that we can feel safe walking up to one person and terrified of another without having met either of them! Where this becomes even more interesting and certainly relevant to animation (I'm slowly learning that nothing isn't) is that this language of the body can be unique to a particular character.
I for instance used to scratch my thumb when I was nervous, or tense up my stomach muscles the same way people generally hold their breath. And when I get agitated my head starts to itch.

Taking note of all these things can open up a whole new dimension, one that shows what's going on in the real world and not just the world of words. Here's a fun example from The Office where Jim gets jinxed by Pam. The only background you need is that Jim is in love with her, and the last bit is wonderful and real.

"You say it best
When you say nothing at aaall"

Look it's Stu!

Heyo!

So I ended last week by posing out some of the sketches I did using Stu and narrowing it down to one I felt I should submit. An interesting challenge was playing around with Stu's head, which is....well....huge and round like a medicine ball. In the end it simply adds character, and knowing your weakness can be your greatest strength.  So I tried to use it to an advantage. Here's what I came up with the end

Having worked on it, it will never feel perfect. But I learned a great deal by exercising and experimenting through this one and the others I posed out, which I will revise and also render out for your and my benefit soon:)
I'll leave you with this final thought..

"A work of art is never perfect or completed, it is only abandoned"

Week 2 Poses

Greetings!

As promised this week is all about posing characters. Some of the things that you look for in a pose (that you might not even know that you did) is

- a clear line of action through the pose
-something simple and clear
-believable balance
-some exaggeration when looking at animation

and lastly, a pose or gesture that shows character. Something that tells a story and communicates something. As with animation or any form, you want people to relate to it as easily as possible.
So without further delay here are 15 poses I came up with.

After gaining some feedback feedback from my mentor, fellow students and basically anyone I can grab and go "Hey you!! look at this, tell me the good news and then the bad" I'll then be picking a favorite, refining it and posing it in 3D using AM's Stu character.

Greetings!

and a happy new year to everyone stopping by. I'm certain 2012 has a whole lot of excitement and wonderful experiences in store for us all individually and collectively.

Some resolutions that I'm going to keep in mind this year:

• Go outside more. Ride my bike,swim, go for a walk and just feel the sun and air (I was much like a vampire last year ^_^)

• Read more books, and not just fiction

• Be more in tune to current events and news

• Stress less about things out of my control and just work hard and have fun

But anyway, back to my adventure!
This week I found out who my mentor is and had my first Q&A with Bryan Engram, who is Director of Studio Animation at Reel FX in Dallas, Texas. He introduced himself and gave his backstory of how he got into the craft and the industry, and myself and the other students had the chance to do the same over webcam. He seems very down to earth and easy to talk to and most of all loves,cares and takes animation seriously. So I'll be doing my best to tap into his experience and knowledge as much as possible. If you want to check out Bryan's site here, there's some great content of what he and Reel FX have worked on.

This weeks assignment was just to set up my profile on the site and introduce myself to Bryan, so nothing too pressing yet. Next week however I will be getting into sketching out some poses and picking out a favorite. So get ready for some drawings.

My first lecture was also very inspiring and was a great introduction to the life of animation by Shawn Kelley (one of the three founders of AM) and a whole bunch of other great animators.

I think the biggest thing that I took away this week from both the lecture and the Q&A was that when working in animation no past experience is a wasted one, as you are always going to find yourself applying certain things that you've done and internalized at one time or another. From the same vein as this fact it's also good to know that you can use each of your personality traits to your advantage to create something that is unique and conveys something that is real and human when bringing a character to life. No need to be ashamed of who you are and what you're about! And so observing and taking note of life around me is what I am going to use to inspire and drive my work.

Thanks for stopping by once more,
Here's a short that Reel FX did for Warner Bros. It should look familiar:)



Looney Tunes - Coyote Falls [HD 720P] by Mister3ZE