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Filip Stojanovski
Contemporary Storytelling: Comics and Animation
Making an Animation
Character Development
The act of watching an animation (or a movie, or
reading a book, or participating in any storytelling activity), implies
agreement by the viewer with the assumption that, while the projection
lasts, this artificially created world exists. No matter how different
this world is from reality, it has to be true to its own rules.
Otherwise the viewer feels cheated, unsatisfied and uninvolved.
Consistency is of great concern to animators, once
the rules are set. The rules may be as diverse as the character’s body
becoming twice the size of the head, that the character can talk or that
the law of gravity is not working, but once established, they have to be
obeyed. In order to preserve the consistency, the maker of an animation
documents all the relevant data about the character. This data comes in
two forms. The first is the description of character’s properties and
behavior in different situations, including "biographical"
elements. The second form of data is visual: the artist draws the
characters in every position possible, thus learning about the
capabilities and in a way, interacting with it. The compilation of such
information is called "character analysis" (Thomas &
Johnston, 1981, pp.551-561).
When drawing a character, great attention is placed
on avoiding the Gemini Syndrome (Culhane, 1990, p.156). The Gemini
Syndrome occurs when too much symmetry is used in drawing a character.
This makes it look fake, "wooden" (Thomas & Johnston,
1981, p.61) and contributes to loss of interest. Although symmetry is
appreciated as an aesthetic concept, it is not often observed in nature.
So, it is easier to persuade the viewer that something is real if that
something is a bit skewed, asymmetrical and imperfect in this regard.
Another element in creation of believable characters
is learning from nature. Disney has made this a must for his crew,
especially when animations involving animals are concerned. He once
said: "I definitely feel that we cannot do fantastic things based
on the real, unless we first know the real" (Thomas & Johnston,
1981, p.71). The point was to learn how the actions are done in nature,
and then expand on that knowledge by adding capabilities to the
characters. It was not unusual to use live animals as models in the
process of character development (Thomas & Johnston, 1981, pp. 339).
Disney animators observe live fawn while
working on "Bambi."
The height of the learning from nature trend is when
the technology is used to get as much information as possible. In this
regard, Muybridge's efforts come to mind. The animators often use the
technique of filming live action footage, in order to examine it later
frame by frame, thus improving understanding about the conduct of the
participants in the scene (Thomas & Johnston, 1981, pp. 319-345).
 The bottom line is that characters have to provide
emotional involvement for the viewers. Even to those people who take
pride in the power of reason, an activity that is not connected with
emotions seems artificial and unreal. It is not unusual for humans to
often attribute human emotions to objects and occurrences that do not
posses them: the weather phenomena, rocks, plants and
animals. They
simply consider emotions essential element of the process of
communication (Lumsden & Lumsden, 1996, pp. 456-458), even if the
communication is not mutual. So, the animators have to play along to
this tune if they want their work to be successful.
One of the elements in creating the emotional effect
relies on the ability of humans to mirror other people’s emotions.
That is why the characters are supposed to express emotions in a way
understandable to the humans. This is often done through subtle use of
non-verbal behavior, which seems more believable than direct declaration
of a certain emotional state (Lumsden & Lumsden, 1996, pp.145-148).
Use of the eye movements, facial expressions and bodily positions comes
to the forefront. The same is valid about the ways that the character
moves, gestures and occupies space. Once the characters are sufficiently
developed, its time for the storyboard.
Contents
| Foreword |
Glossary |
Works Cited
Comics: Bits of History |
Modern Age |
Great Adventurers |
Vocabulary
| Grammar: Closure
Animation: Origins |
An Early Animator |
Classical Animation |
Making an Animation
| Epilogue
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