A simple blog post from an Animation Mentor student Adam Levin, that reads like an essay all could possibly benefit from reading:
[I]Part of chaos theory is that a simple system or set of equations can produce results so complex that they appear chaotic.
Looking at life I used to just see chaos. I'd heard the principles, but until recently I didn't understand the connection. Not really. I thought of them as something that appeared in the results, not something that appears in the foundation of the construction of movement. I'm starting to learn the order of things. Before, I didn't have any knowledge of the process that you go through to put them into your work. Didn't understand how necessary they were. I'd think about them one at a time...not realizing you have to have everyone all of the time in mind.
I'm beginning to realize even in the very simple characters they've given us (right now, a bouncing ball with a tail) things can get very complex, very quickly. And its only because we're dealing with such simple characters that we can see and learn the order that holds together what we're doing.
I'd never have had the necessary motivation to start and stay simple on my own. Even the week before we started class, okay, yes, I was in the mindset that I'd put away my human characters and I'd work on a bouncing ball...but I decided to give the bouncing ball a personality and a complex story to run through. I didn't worry about physics or the principles.
Now I realize, its all there in these simple characters; and while it may get complex quickly, and very complex in human characters; the principles are there and if you don't understand the principles, the order behind things, you'll have your character moving in a chaotic and bizarre way.
What's this have to do with acting and telling a story? It makes it so you can be heard. Its learning how to speak. You have to know how to say a word before you can tell a story.
If your characters hair and clothes are doing jumping jacks and your charter arm is moving in a way only seen in the funky chicken, you aren't going to get across your subtle and sad emotion you are trying to portray. And without understanding every principle of animation your character's going to move that way.
In fact, for good acting you ironically can't be thinking about the principles. But rather you have to know the principles so well that you can do them automatically while you concentrate on being your character (although I'm sure you have to think about them consciously when you check your work for problems).
Besides working on animation, we've been working on sketching and posing. I also now realize that its worth while to spend hours posing out a character. And that exact pose may just be up there for a 1/24th of a second. But its worth that time because its through meaningful poses that we tell the story.[/I]
[Courtesy of Adam Levin]
Animation is serious business..I would had never thought of it if I didn't go to an animation school. I used to think that I was a good drawer,until I was told to make a hundreds of drawings of one thing..Now that I know how much work it takes for animators to make a great animation.
Interesting thread Scattered. I think it's like all things in life in order to communicate you have to have a shared language or system of symbols in order to do it meaningfully.
But that doesn't mean all things need to sound or look the same, but there should be an understanding by the artist of how the rest of the world perceives certain things. An artist can try and breach these perceptions, but I think on a certain level they should be aware that their concept may be misinterpretted.
Your last comments about posing reinforces how important life drawing and learning to observe are, they also expand your point of reference as to the basics of shared symbolism.
Pat
Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.
I only wish I had written it. But I agree with much of it. I also agree that it doesn't condemn all things to look and sound the same. I think moreso they act as guides, a means to the end product, almost like a filter you put your work through. Like any "visual vocabulary," or any vocabulary for that matter, the more eloquent and refined your "speech" gets, the more understood you get and the more we get to see your charm and your mastery over the "word."
I'm personally giving myself a kick in the butt to stick at really reinforcing my life-drawing skills. It makes such a huge difference.
Life drawing is especially important for young people. I took my first life drawing class at 18, and was offended when my instructor said that most of us lacked life experience. But it was true. At that point in my life most of my experiences and observations revolved around myself. By teaching me to observe others on a candid basis, it made me think more about their motivations and reactions to the world around them. In a way I think it made me a more caring person also. It definitely tunes you into the world around you.
Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.