thoughts on storytelling

In this series I've already explained how animation is the art of giving life and how this is done by using three tools . I've gone through the basics of the first two tools: the posing and the timing , and now it's time for the last of the tools: the spacing. Compared to the pose and the timing the spacing probably is the tool that is the hardest to understand how to use efficiently.

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.

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.

Animation = to give life, as I wrote about in my last article . Saying this is one thing, doing it is a whole other matter. This article will cover the basics about how animation is done. When we first get in to animation, and have learned how to make things move, I think we all always try to take a too big leap forward. Instead of mastering the basics of our craft we start looking at small technicalities, like worrying about if the inner or outer part of an eyelid that moves first in a blink. Although we theoretically may know that we need to learn the basics, we yet often need to take these leaps to learn this on a deeper level and understand that we need to take a step back. But at times, instead of admitting that we need to learn the basics, we continue to work on things out of our reach. The irony here is that it is our fear of looking incompetent that keeps us incompetent. To develop as animators, and as people, we need to develop humility to see that we always have a lot m...

People often misunderstand animation as making characters move although proper translation of the word "animation" is "to give life". Movement does not equal life. We don't see life in characters that only behave as robots controlled by the animator. For us to interpret life in the character her movements need to be motivated by the character herself, her psychology, her emotions, wants and needs. Movements not motivated by the character herself is bad animation.

The storyboard is a universally accepted step in the process of making an animated film. But how often do we question why we actually make the storyboard? Generally the answer is that the storyboard is a tool to make the plot of the screenplay visual. In my opinion this is not a good reason. Everything in a film, from the screenplay down to each individual shot or sound, should be there to help convey a message or theme. If we, while storyboarding, focus on the plot, which itself also is a tool to convey the message, we're only focused on illustrating a tool that tries to convey the message and not on illustrating the message itself. This may seem like nit-picking, but in my opinion, if we want to make a film that really moves our audience, we need to use every possible chance to improve on the how the message is conveyed. If we only storyboard the plot of the screenplay, we don't take the storyboard as a chance to improve.

We value knowledge. As group living animals we feel that knowledge moves us up the hierarchy. But what we fail to see that our knowledge often makes us narrow-minded. We may say that we seek to learn more, but we mainly seek to strengthen our opinion and seldom to disprove it, fearing that disproving it may make us seem stupid. We act as solid rock instead as moldable clay and by doing this we stop to develop, stop moving forward. To develop as people we should learn from those around us that are wiser. Those who accept that they don't know everything and those who aren't afraid asking questions will make them look stupid. Those who allow themselves to develop. We should learn from children.