thoughts on storytelling

In the previous parts of this series I have first written about how animation isn't about creating movement but about creating life , how as an animator you achieve this by using only three tools and the basics of how these three tools, the pose , the timing and the spacing , work. But knowledge is worth nothing without experience. It is by combining knowledge and experience that we get the wisdom that we need to be able to start to master the basics of our craft. As always, saying this is one thing, doing it another. Although the animator only uses three tools, the usage of these tools gets complex. Not only can they be used in several ways on their own, they also always influence each other. Change one and you chance the rest.

Previously in this series I've covered that we as animators always need to remember that our job is not to create movement, but to create life , and that we only have three tools to get the job done . In the animators toolbox the tool that is the easiest to grasp probably is the pose. The poses are the individualpictures in the animation. There are the "key-poses" (sometimes called "storytelling-poses") which are the poses that are the most important to communicate the message of the scene or WHY the scene is in the film, then there are the breakdown poses which are the most important poses needed to communicate HOW the character gets from key-pose to key-pose. Last but not least are the inbetweens, the poses in-between the others, the poses that creates fluidity in WHAT the character is doing. Although the inbetweens often are seen as the key-poses illegitimate younger brother, they are just as important as the key-poses and breakdowns.