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.