Animation Planning Assessment 1 : 12 Principles of Animation

Timing

Timing is an important fundamental when animating and is used to determine the rhythm of where things happen.



Squash and Stretch

Squash and stretch is a technique used to elongate or flatten the object which is being animated, creating the illusion of flexibility and weight, like a bouncing ball. It is important that the mass of the object stays the same for continuity and realism. This principle does not apply to objects which are naturally solid and have no flexibility.





Anticipation

Anticipation makes an action more realistic as it is used to prepare the audience that an action is about to take place. E.g. When someone rises out of a chair their body arches forward and pressure is applied to their feet, a pose which indicates that they are about to ascend from their seat.


Staging

This principle is used to direct the audience’s attention to important aspects within a scene, making clear what is happening and what is about to happen. This can be achieved through various elements which can alter the atmosphere of a scene, such as; contrast between light and dark, camera angles or character placement.





Follow Through and Overlapping Action

This technique helps make a character’s movement look more natural and realistic. Follow Through is when separate parts of the body continue to move after a character has stopped. Whereas Overlapping Action focuses on different parts of the body which move at different rates e.g. If a head is moving the timing will differ to the timing of moving arms or legs.


Straight Ahead Action

Straight Ahead Action means drawing out a scene frame by frame from start to finish. This technique creates a more fluid illusion of movement and is beneficial for producing realistic action sequences. However, it is difficult to maintain proportions and to create convincing poses.


Pose to Pose

This involves starting an animation with several key frames then completing the frames in-between later. Pose to Pose is effective for creating dramatic of emotional scenes where composition and relation to the scenes surroundings are more important.
Pose to Pose and Straight Ahead Action are two techniques which are often combined for better results.

Slow in and out

This focuses on the time needed for a character or object to accelerate or slow down. An animation looks more realistic if there are more frames near the beginning and end of a movement rather than the middle. This principle applies to a character moving between key poses e.g. from sitting down to standing up. It also applies to inanimate objects like a bouncing ball.

Arcs

This principle applies to the natural movements made be a character or inanimate object e.g. a head moving from left to right.

This movement would look unnatural if is followed a perfectly straight line and did not curve.

Exaggeration

The level of exaggeration varies depending on the desired outcome i.e. whether you have a realistic approach or a surreal approach to your animation. It is useful when applied to an animation which depicts a perfect imitation of reality, animations like this can become static and dull but when exaggeration is applied it can become more appealing and to an extent is can be comical. It is important to apply some boundaries when using exaggeration as an over exaggerated animation could confuse and loose the audience’s interest.

Secondary Action

Adding secondary actions to a main action in a scene gives it more life and can even emphasise the main action. For example, a character walking could also be simultaneously speaking, singing, swinging their arms or expressing their mood through facial expressions.
Secondary Actions are more effective when used at the beginning or end of a movement as they can sometimes go unnoticed, especially facial expressions.

Appeal

Appeal is very important with cartoon characters as they capture the audience’s attention. It is important that the audience connect with your character and are convinced that the character could be real or find the interesting. Characters can be appealing through their appearance and/or their personality. An animation can also capture an audience through the story or movements which people want to see and find appealing.