Subject: Animation
Topic: 2D animation, character animation, creature animation
Things I’d need to Consider Studying/Researching:
- 12 principles of Animation
- Disney Renaissance Movies
- Creature Artists (i.e. Aaron Blaise)
- 2D animation techniques (different mediums? software? platforms?)
- People who understand the Fundamentals of World Building (I.e. Irene Strychalski)
In Regards to Historical Reference/Study:
- I want to do more of a traditional style animation, now how should I go about it?
There are different types of animation, and there’s different techniques within each type that constitute to how those animations are made. In the instance of 2D animation, two of the more prominent mediums used are found in traditional and digital, both with different subdivisions that blend the boundaries between them. The kind of animation I’ve mostly done I believe is loosely referred to as “tradigital,” where the sequence itself is still done by hand, frame-by-frame as using a paper/celluloid product, but is transitioned onto a digital platform where it can be assisted with tool like tweening and other effects that can help ease the workload and work a bit faster compared to drawing everything on pencil. The extent in which I’d like to animate my project, if I decided to do it the rawest, traditional manner by animating on pencil/paper, would probably take a year or more to accomplish at the level of quality I’d want to achieve, so using this digital software already helps save some time. However, there’s always new ways to learn how to more the production process even more efficient and streamlined.
The type of animation I’d like to do leans more so to the traditional side, like how the classical animated movies during the Disney Renaissance. With potential access to applications like Adobe Animate, Toon Boom, and other software to explore, I should already be able to work faster than I would if I had to draw everything on paper (I’d at least be confident I’d have more than enough time to finish my project in the timespan we have between now and the showcase in April/May). By this I mean I’d hope to capture the realism, fluidity, and believability in the movements of my characters and environments, so I think it would be beneficial for me to observe some of these classical movies to get a sense of how to capture that fluidity in a similar fashion. I’d definitely need to brush up on analyzing the 12 principles of animation, since I may need to refresh my understanding on some of the principles.
Visual Preference Study – Stylistic Decisions and Staples in the Field:
As said before, my preference of animating identifies closer to more traditional, or I suppose in my case, tradigital. Technology for 2D animation has gotten better over the years, but it’s taken a step back from what it used to be. Aside from the rise of 3D animation, 2D animation has also become rather digitized. It’s not bad, but sometimes I feel like there is an overreliance on rigging and tweening frames. It saves massive amounts of time, but it can really make characters feel robotic and fixed to a flat plane if not done properly. I’ve animated this way before and its helpful, but it doesn’t bring the same level of emotion when a character is drawn out rather and posed out in a scene (also the fact that everyone is animating this way now in various media platforms, it gives a sense of oversaturation. Its cool to have this stuff out there, cause everyone in the end is just telling their story, but it can’t hurt to have some more variety as to how you do it, right?).
- I’m going to need to understand and internalize animal movement. Are there artists/sources out there I can learn from?
My project would feature several animal characters, so aside from observe some classical era animators, I’d also take into account of specific movies and people who worked on projects with animals as the focus (i.e. Aaron Blaise is a good candidate, he worked on films like The Lion King and Brother Bear, both animal centric films) and learn how they made these characters move and express, so that I can apply that knowledge to breathe life into my own characters.
Creative Writing – Studying the Functionality of Storytelling:
- My story is too big alone to track in this project, and I’m going to need to condense it, but i still want to elaborate this world. How should I do that?
My project is based off a piece of fiction I wrote, but the scale of that fiction would be too grand to cover in the smaller scope of the project I’m aiming to produce. There’s a whole world with systemics and societal functions and languages, but it would be too much to try to explain in X amount of time. For this project, since it would be a pilot pitch, I want to condense the story in a way that it doesn’t give away much of the story and lore of the world, but is introduced in a limited fraction that’s enough to still gauge interest for the audience to want to engage and explore the functionality of this world further. I have the story conceptualized, but I’d definitely need to revisit it for revisions and to section off a portion to used as a draft for this pilot pitch.
This world is big, and I’m going to need it to make sense while staying consistent with the smaller sub-plot I’d be aiming to create for this pilot pitch. To do this, I’d need to find ways to establish this grandeur world into one more manageable for a freshly introduced audience to be able to digest feasibly. Brushing on tips and ideas for world building would probably be best, and I can look to certain people in the industry who’ve developed a sort of fundamentals to consider when going into worldbuilding (i.e. a storyboard artist named Irene Strychalski who has a good grasp on the concept of worldbuilding.
In regards to creature animation and using animal characters in my project:
- Animals are highly flexible for storytelling and offer a lot of potential in my project.
In short, I just like animals! They’re fun to draw and are easy to differentiate as character as they can already be distinguished by individual species. I’m fascinated by how they interact with the natural world and subconsciously lend us a kind knowledge that we can internalize and apply to our own lives. In that sense, they are a limitless potential for storytelling, as everyone has experienced animals in some way (since they are everywhere and were quite influential throughout human history) and can identify with them without the need of a physical human element. What makes them so great is that animals inherently possess a level of exposition that’s highly flexible, as opposed to building one from scratch in a human character. We already associated specifics traits for specific species, as animals are often used as the literal, physical embodiments/interpretations to explain different human experiences in film and media.
I’d definitely need to look more into this, being that there must be some sort of in-depth lesson to learn in the art of storytelling with animals, and would help me regardless, since this is what I’m primarily looking to specialize in with animation. As of what I currently understand, animals are a highly versatile and interpretive subject that can be used for virtually anything. You can use them to express certain caricatures, analyze particular morals/themes, and lend insight for conversation on specific issues/events/discussion that have happened or are happening now. Animals in film and media are essentially a treasure trove of endless opportunity to explore any theme or idea.