Anim 345 Blog #4 "Master Tech"

During the early stages of Walt Disney the lead animators at the time were still learning their trade they developed 12 techniques that make animation more interesting to look at. They tried to use these techniques in every animation and they have become the basics for animators everywhere. I'll attempt to explain these techniques as in comparison to the video Crash Test.

Squash and Stretch:

A critical staple of animation, Squash and Stretch is used in animation to emphasis motion. The object stretches itself while moving and squashes one it makes contact or stops. The most obvious use of Squash and Stretch in Crash Test is when the large test dummies head butt each other. There heads are smashed back into their bodies and then the head pops back out further than it was originally and snaps back to normal.

Anticipation:

Anticipation prepares the audience for the action that's about to take place. A small motion or action can be used to signify the motion that's about to take place. A character swirling a baseball bat sets up anticipation because it tells the audience that they are about to swing it. Johnny Crash's heavy breathing in the car tells the audience that he is nervous but also says that the car is about to move fast and crash. Otherwise why would he be nervous?

Staging:

Staging in animation is about presenting an idea in such a manner that it is completely clear. Staging could refer to the background, the lights, anything that helps promote an idea. The scientists waiting for Johnny are moving frantically, their faces are twisted in permanent grimaces of anger and frustration. It's clear that they are not happy people.

Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose:

These two techniques refer to the process in which the animation is drawn. Straight Ahead Action is when an animator starts with a drawing and just adds the frames to that, coming up with each frame as they make it. Pose to Pose is when an animator makes two key poses and animates the action in between. For example, the animator may draw a frame of a character standing and one of him sitting down, then animate the action between the frames. It's impossible to tell which technique was used in the Crash Test animation without seeing the animators work.

Follow Through and Overlapping Action:

The animators found that once an action was done, the character would come to a complete stop before the next action. These techniques addressed the problem of what to do once a character's action is finished. Follow Through was the act of moving parts of the character after a stop, for example a character's clothes or tail might continue to move forward even if the character stopped walking. Overlapping Action is about connecting two actions and making one overlapping movement. If a character jumps and breaks into a run, then the scene should come immediately after another. They shouldn't jump, stand up straight and then start running, it looks unnatural. My favorite Follow Through in Crash Test is when Johnny steals away the managers cigar, inhales and smiles. He stops moving on the smile but then cigar smoke comes steaming out his ears.

Slow In and Slow Out:

Slow In and Slow Out is a focus on the key poses, with the action happening very fast in between the frames. It is a technique to be used sparingly. When Johnny is in the cannon there is a slow down as they pull away from his face, then they zip through all the obstacles before slowing down at the end so the audience can see all the traps.

Arcs:

Arcs are paths used by animators to help keep track of specific motions in an animation. Usually used in the draft stage it is hard to identify where they were used in the Crash Test animation.

Secondary Action:

A secondary movement used along with the primary motion to reinstate the emotion or message of the animation. The manager stroking his chin and nodding illustrates secondary motion as both actions are used to show his approval.

Timing:

Timing is determined by how many frames lie between the start and end of an action. The less in between frames there are, the faster the action, while more in between frames slows the motion down. Johnny Crash's sleight of hand magic happens very quickly, even when he himself is moving slowly.

Exaggeration:

Exaggeration doesn't mean distorting a drawing or extreme takes, instead it means exaggerating the emotion so that it is clear what the character is feeling. Don't just have the character smile, make their entire body happy to the extreme! When Johnny is fed up his whole posture is changed. He tears off the sticker on his chest in rage and slams it onto the floor, it is clear that he has had all he can take of being a crash test dummy.

Solid Drawing:

Drawing skills are an absolute in hand drawn animation, the animator must be able to draw a character in any pose and from different angles is they are to be able to animate easily. The most impressive example of solid drawing in Crash Test is at the end when they rotate Johnny 360 degrees as he appreciates his audience.

Appeal:

Appeal refers more to character design and personality more than motion. Appeal is about having the audience stop on the character and want to appreciate the art more, to keep their attention on the film. The squat manager had a strange appeal. His outrageously tall hair and even taller chair said a lot of his personality. While the rest of him was lush and seedy, his entire communication was non-verbal but you knew him instantly.

As time moves on some of these techniques become obsolete, but with any evolving art form new techniques are developed in the wake of the old. Solid drawing skills may be replaced with solid programming skills, while techniques such as Appeal are resilient. I would like to see what kind of techniques I discover when I pursue my own career in communications.

Works Cited

Gobelins. "Crash Test." YouTube. Talantis, 18 Apr. 2008. Web. 14 Sept. 2010. .