Generic vs. Specific.... Animation Performance....

Some of you hopefully were able to attend Simon Otto from Dreamworks' Lecture in 2008 when he visited Ringling... He showed a clip from the Movie "Moliere" where the Acting teacher asks his student to act like a Horse. The student proceeds to do so, and afterwards, his teacher grills him as to "What kind of horse was that? Are you all horses in one?" Ah the French. :) The point of the clip though is to think about your animations....specifically your performances....How can you push your performance from Generic into something Specific? Like a walk for example... Your character....when he/she walks... How does he walk? does he just put one foot in front of the other like the song says? Or does he tell you something about himself in the manner that he walks? Is he tired, has he had a bad day, is he sick, is he overjoyed, has he eaten too much for lunch, is he lost? When your character tells the viewer these things in the way he moves, your character becomes Specific, and your viewer connects with him on a much deeper level then if he is just moving Generically. Every single keyframe you set should tell a story. Deep...I know.... but think about it as you're working on your Next pose.

James Baxter is the Man....

Yes indeed. James Baxter is the man. And not in the "Man is trying to keep you down" sense of the word. He's the Man as in, "This guy can freakin animate." He's one of those animators that makes it look effortless.... Really has such a grasp of technique and performance that you're often sucked into the scene so much you forget you're looking at drawings or 3D rendered frames....you just see it as a living, breathing, emoting character... Here's some clips of some Line Tests of his work at Disney Studios...and a promotional clip from James Baxter's own Animation Studio. His Studio Animated the 2D Opening Credits to Kung Fu Panda.

Whiplash the Dog riding Rodeo Monkey

Goofy!

This is just a really fun clip of Goofy... I never really liked Goofy as a kid.... I didn't like the Beatles as a kid either....what did I know. Wasn't until I was older that really came to appreciate them both... Beatles first....Goofy much later. Anyway..."On with the Show"

Animation Stopwatch on IPHONE

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/internet-blogs/an-iphone-stopwatch-for-animators.html

This is Brilliant! One of my coworkers already bought and installed this on his Iphone and showed it to me this morning... Its designed by Randy Cartwright, animator at Disney. Its so easy a monkey could run it! Simply turn it on, Shake or tap the phone to start the Clock.. Then tap or shake the phone at any time to add a marker to the Timeline. After you're done recording your timing....you can view it in Frames, Seconds, or Footage... I've always hated footage...never did like doing the math. :)
For 2 dollars, 99 cents, you cant beat this. All I need now is an Iphone.