Previously in this series on the basics of animation I've talked about how animation is about revealing character and how the animator only has three tools to do this. In the last article I talked about the first to: the pose, and now I will get in to the second tool: The timing.
The timing is the time, or amount of pictures/poses between two key poses, or two breakdowns. The timing can also be the time the character takes to react to something. Or a simpler way of putting it: The timing is what creates the rhythm of the scene.
That there is a timing, or rhythm, of animation is simple to understand. Animators often spend a lot of time looking at the timing and tweaking it, trying to make it look good. The problem is that just because something looks good, it doesn't mean that it helps reveal character, helps showing who the character is and what he's thinking and feeling.
In real life we all move with our own rhythm, some fast and some slow, and this rhythm changes, both depending on how we're feeling and as we develop as human beings. As animators, if we do not specifically think about what rhythm is right for the characters personality, and how this rhythm changes depending on what she's thinking and feeling, everything in the scene ends up moving with one rhythm, the animators personal rhythm.
Everything moves with the animators rhythm is the reason to why it often, when watching short-films (features generally have several animators) is possible to clap your hands to the rhythm of the animation of the film.
Everything moving with the same rhythm is, as you understand, neither good from a character point of view (they have less personality), nor due to that the lack of variance and texture in the rhythm will decreases contrast. This means less clarity.
Animators often confuse character design with just "how the character looks", but you can't judge a person by her looks. We are more than our looks. What a character does, how he does it and why defines who he is, not his looks.
One of the ways of giving a character a personal movement pattern is by giving her a rhythm that is suitable for her personality. This rhythm can change during the course of the film to help reveal her character change as she learns more.
By giving characters their own rhythms you not only help reveal their characters you also make them contrast with each other characters. The contrast in character rhythm is especially important in more realistic animation where the poses are more subtle.
If you have established a rhythm for a character you can by temporarily breaking that rhythm create a contrast that can make an important pose clearer without making the pose itself exaggerated. With other words, you create more subtle acting.
As the characters mood changes so should his rhythm. He gets slower when he's sad, quicker when happy and more staccato when angry. But the characters timing also changes as he develops as a person. With maturity also comes slower, more confident movements.
What you need to remember is that there is a timing, or rhythm, to not moving, how fast a character reacts and how long she takes to think about something before making a decision. If a characters reaction time is slow, it's generally a sign that the character isn't paying attention, that she is occupied with something else in her mind.
The time it takes us to make a decision also influences how we are perceived. Uncertainty and lack of confidence about something makes us take a longer time to decide what to do about it. On the other hand, a character never taking time to think will generally come across as being stupid.
Always keep in mind what a character is feeling and thinking in a scene. How will her mental state influence her reaction to external influences? How will her emotions influence her decision-making?
The timing is a tool all animators use. It is impossible to animate without timing, yet a lot of animators seldom think about timing from a character point of view or from what the character needs to communicate to the audience. The timing is a powerful tool, but only when used wisely. When used without reason or thought it often makes the animation worse.
Hope you've enjoyed this article!
Peter Hertzberg
The timing is the time, or amount of pictures/poses between two key poses, or two breakdowns. The timing can also be the time the character takes to react to something. Or a simpler way of putting it: The timing is what creates the rhythm of the scene.
That there is a timing, or rhythm, of animation is simple to understand. Animators often spend a lot of time looking at the timing and tweaking it, trying to make it look good. The problem is that just because something looks good, it doesn't mean that it helps reveal character, helps showing who the character is and what he's thinking and feeling.
In real life we all move with our own rhythm, some fast and some slow, and this rhythm changes, both depending on how we're feeling and as we develop as human beings. As animators, if we do not specifically think about what rhythm is right for the characters personality, and how this rhythm changes depending on what she's thinking and feeling, everything in the scene ends up moving with one rhythm, the animators personal rhythm.
Everything moves with the animators rhythm is the reason to why it often, when watching short-films (features generally have several animators) is possible to clap your hands to the rhythm of the animation of the film.
Everything moving with the same rhythm is, as you understand, neither good from a character point of view (they have less personality), nor due to that the lack of variance and texture in the rhythm will decreases contrast. This means less clarity.
Animators often confuse character design with just "how the character looks", but you can't judge a person by her looks. We are more than our looks. What a character does, how he does it and why defines who he is, not his looks.
One of the ways of giving a character a personal movement pattern is by giving her a rhythm that is suitable for her personality. This rhythm can change during the course of the film to help reveal her character change as she learns more.
By giving characters their own rhythms you not only help reveal their characters you also make them contrast with each other characters. The contrast in character rhythm is especially important in more realistic animation where the poses are more subtle.
If you have established a rhythm for a character you can by temporarily breaking that rhythm create a contrast that can make an important pose clearer without making the pose itself exaggerated. With other words, you create more subtle acting.
As the characters mood changes so should his rhythm. He gets slower when he's sad, quicker when happy and more staccato when angry. But the characters timing also changes as he develops as a person. With maturity also comes slower, more confident movements.
What you need to remember is that there is a timing, or rhythm, to not moving, how fast a character reacts and how long she takes to think about something before making a decision. If a characters reaction time is slow, it's generally a sign that the character isn't paying attention, that she is occupied with something else in her mind.
The time it takes us to make a decision also influences how we are perceived. Uncertainty and lack of confidence about something makes us take a longer time to decide what to do about it. On the other hand, a character never taking time to think will generally come across as being stupid.
Always keep in mind what a character is feeling and thinking in a scene. How will her mental state influence her reaction to external influences? How will her emotions influence her decision-making?
The timing is a tool all animators use. It is impossible to animate without timing, yet a lot of animators seldom think about timing from a character point of view or from what the character needs to communicate to the audience. The timing is a powerful tool, but only when used wisely. When used without reason or thought it often makes the animation worse.
Hope you've enjoyed this article!
Peter Hertzberg
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