Friday, December 25, 2009

Pathos

Definition: That quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions and passions.

Ahhhhh, to be moved ( feel ). The goal I always strive for is to strike emotion to the audience and myself with the character I'm animating in the shot, to empathize with the situation. If you can pull this off, It is very rewarding.

This can be achieved with practice, translating simple ones in front of mirror act out sad, mad, happy, etc. Make note, sketch thumbnails, copy poses to 3d and see, push the pose and check if you feel affected by it.
Posture, attitudes, acting it out and coming up with subtle to broad ideas, be on the look out in public on tv for examples too .. Just have a go at it and have fun..

A great example of this in action check out a cool Demoreel, I stumbled upon from " Jennifer Hager" . Some wonderful heartfelt Pencil test form pieces that are in sequences connecting. Indeed very inspiring to strive for, this quality and momentum she has. See for yourself..



Bear in mind, these are only "Line drawings" so why and how does this make you feel this way?
When you forget about the animation itself and believe , that is truly gold..

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

"Get ahead while others waste time"

Okay, back to business. Today I'd like to share a clip from a great inspiring artist, Stephen Silver. He is truly an example of a dedicated person that has reached his dreams and still pushing forward. Self -Motivation is definitely the key on any project. I got a couple of questions in, on how to get motivated and another that got answered, thanks Stephen.. Let the work and the man speak for himself..and you be the judge.

His blog as well of rockin work no doubt.- http://stephensilver.blogspot.com/

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Inflection

A good concept for dialogue in animation is " Inflection". The back & forth, forward-side, swivel-swivel, or side to side, Emphasis or comfortable speaking we all do most of the time. The best example for this, of a broad effective type is in "Jim Henson's Muppets". Here is a fantastic skit of this idea in action from the masters, w/ Fozzie (Frank Oz), & Rolf (Jim Henson).
They get in their character so much, that the acting, fun of discovery, it's 2nd nature( done w/o thought) and just looks natural. There is no actual piano there in front of them, yet pretending to hit the keys, in sync as if it was them. Them same applies to them speaking to the very simplified, to just the mouth opening and closing, head tilts to get the point across. Very entertaining.

- Also side note: I was fortunate to see, that all though the muppets franchise has been sold to Disney. The tradition of real puppetry lives on with Hensons actual Troupe still staying strong on stage, doing shows( too bad they cant use Kermit and others) but what I noticed was the skill and quality that definitely shows through. Here is more info http://www.henson.com/alternative.php?content=puppetup

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Milt Kahl Tribute




Found @ Carlos Baena blog, Pretty cool event happening in Los Angeles Area At April 27 , for just $5 bucks for those who dont know he rocks , and worked on these 2 characters to name a few. Also Living legends( not the band) are at attendance, Just to Trip you out.. I wont miss it. Check it.
http://www.oscars.org/events-exhibitions/events/2009/kahl.html

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Drama

Ok, Hello all. Welcome! We are gonna have a blast learning about new and great things. I hope to inspire and be also from others. So for the 1st is a good one on " what not to marry" , Nah just kidding Seriously, watch out for these.



Check out the pauses she gives and tension it creates kinda overacting or serious still entertaining. And the Family reaction, it seems they are in this bubble of religiousness of hell out there, it looks like it too late for the older kids and the youngest one is horrified, not even cool.

The Big lady Hits these Beats in a strange way medium to hard in the middle, I like how she creates an air of horrible Tension a soon as she gets in and involves everybody by playing the Victim but still running the show. And my favorite part is "She Tampered in dark sided stuff" or " She's not a Christianah- hah - "