Blog 4: 12 Principles of Animation

The twelve principles of animation are:
1. Squash and Stretch- when animations are squashed or stretched to give a more life-like appeal to the cartoon.
There seems to be a good use of squash and stretch in this cartoon.
2. Anticipation- when you move an animation ahead of time or backwards to anticipate a new movement
I think that anticipation was definitely used in this animation.
3. Staging- the clear presentation of an idea for the cartoon sequence, a part of the sequence
I can tell this was carefully planned out.
4. Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose- Straight ahead is when you go through an entire sequence with new poses and allows for more creative expression, pose to pose is where there is clarity because the scene is planned out
Oktapodi looked more like Pose to Pose

5. Follow through and Overlapping action- This is when weight and parts of the character still move even after the character has stopped.
There is use of this in the animation.
6. Slow in Slow out- this is about timing the animation so that there are different points where extremes are present and other points where time is slower
Towards the middle to the end there is a faster pace.
7. Arcs- guides for characters along paths
I'm not sure if this was used or not.
8. Secondary Action- the next pose or action in a sequence
9. Timing- the pace and movements that portray different spacial and time elements
10. Exaggeration-  when a character is portrayed with traits that go beyond the ordinary
11. solid drawing- the Disney animation process where each picture was individually drawn and colored
12. Appeal- what level of interest your audience will have, and what will capture people's attention
This would probably appeal to a younger audience.

Animation Blog # 3 Realism

Ch. 4. Walt Disney said, “I definitely feel that we cannot do the fantastic things based on the real, unless we first know the real.” What does he mean? Is there a contradiction here with arguments made in chapter 2? Think deeply. How can you reconcile chapters 2 and 4; look to your selection for answers and examples.

Walt Disney wanted cartoon characters that were larger than life. The characters he envisioned had personalities based on reality, yet were made comical and exaggerated to create a mood. What Walt Disney means is: we cannot make a cartoon based on reality if we don't study and analyze reality enough to get the whole picture.

The animators were also story-tellers, and they would devote themselves to creating characters that Walt Disney thought worked. I think that the quote makes a lot of sense. This can apply to anything you do: the more you practice the technique the more it will improve, but you can't make anything work without a solid foundation.

The animators created a foundation for their characters to come to life. Walt's characters had so much depth on the screen. This proves how much work he put into making cartoons to appeal to viewers' ideas, emotions, and imagination. Over-all, Walt Disney's ideals are consistent throughout the book.

Animation Blog #2

Ch. 2. What is caricature? What is more true, caricature or realism? Why? Does your selection rely on realism or caricature or both? How so, or not?

Caricature is when you exaggerate a characteristic or feature of someone to give them larger than life attributes. Caricature in animation can also refer to applying exaggerated personalities to the characters or living things. When we think of caricature, usually we envision the artist drawing an over-expressive sketch of someone, especially celebrities. That is a form of caricature, but it doesn't merely apply to drawings. It can also be shown in animation and often cartoons.

The animation I chose, Octopodi, appeals to caricature more-so than realism. It is an account of an octopus who is given life-like personality. The octopus is personified and exaggerated to appeal to the emotions of his character. The other character, a person, is also exaggerated. A lot of the animation is based on the expressions of the characters, because there is no dialogue. It is mostly based on what you see, not what you hear. Realism is more true to real-life and the world we live in, where-as in this animation caricature conveys a more inter-active reality. Usually we don't attribute life-like emotions to an octopus. This animation relies heavily on caricature and pulls it off well.

Animation Blog #1

Between Bears from Eran Hilleli on Vimeo.

This animation, while intruiging, did not communicate a complete message to me. It was done using adobe after effects and maya 3d to acheive a 3d cartoon effect. It is hard to understand the story because of the flat characters and very subtle yet abstract imagery. The animator describes it as referring to his childhood hopes and dreams.

To me, it seemed to accomplish a mood of searching through life's mystery for answers. In the beginning there is a bear that is shaving off all his fur, and perhaps that signifies growing up. Although it was very beautiful and inspiring, I got lost as to the meaning of the story. Unlike in Disney Animation, the characters were dull, triangular animations. They hardly gave the illusion of life. This seems very intentional. I think this was to acheive a more dream-like quality. Their life was more-so in the surreal territory the characters inhabited, along with the actions they took.

Over-all, the clip communicated a sort of cut off feeling, and the sense of being isolated from a hidden secret. I came to the conclusion that it was about parallels and hidden meanings. The people were constantly chasing black butterflies, which had floated off the bear when he shaved his fur.  The butterflies then appeared to be related to the people themselves, and it seemed as though they were chasing figments of themselves in a different space.

In the end the bear was attracting the butterflies, when the camera went underwater to a white and black bear. Then when it came back up, the bear was black. This animation was very different from the ones in the book, but in some ways it did have some Disney style elements. The trees, for instance, appeared to be on many planes like the Multiplane Camera. I also thought the technique was innovative, but I found myself wanted more character and plot development.