For me, one of the most wonderful things about animation is that we can create a character from pencil, paint, clay, or pixels and then make an audience believe in him to the point where they laugh and cry along with him. As with any art, we hope to touch our fellow humans and to do that we have to convince them of the reality of our characters. Where does that reality reside? Obviously, we are going to be talking about acting and the way the characters perform on screen and making an engaging personality is essential, whether that personality is a hero or a villain, but how can we construct a living being that is more than a puppet controlled by our off-screen hand? It is easy to see how an actor on stage is an independent person because, even when playing a set role, the hand of the director is not obviously present, unless the production is over-burdened with an overwhelming set or odd staging, and the actor seems free to vary the performance. There is an opportunity to react to the audience, to allow for a response like laughter, for example, and there is the unacknowledged possibility that something might go wrong every time the play is performed. In live-action, we are watching actors again, but there is little that can go wrong here, at least within the film itself, but we still feel that the characters have a life of their own. As long as the script and direction don’t hem them in with too many implausible moments that challenge our suspension of disbelief, we will continue to believe in the characters within the film story.
With animation it is sometimes harder to get an audience to buy in to the reality of the players, even though they are very willing to try, because we are starting with figures they know to be constructed, so we have to be clever in the way we deploy the tricks of our trade to help create a believable character in a believable world.
Animation Principles
When students start to learn to animate, they will often begin with classic exercises like the Bouncing Ball and the character walk. They will, at some point, come into contact with the idea of the 12 Animation Principles, developed at the Disney studios and still in use throughout the animation industry from Pixar to Aardman as well as in the 2D studios where we might expect to find them.
The 12 principles are
- Squash and Stretch
- Anticipation
- Staging
- Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose
- Follow Through and Overlapping Action
- Slow In and Slow Out
- Arcs
- Secondary Action
- Timing
- Exaggeration
- Solid Drawing
- Appeal
Apart from the final one, Appeal, which is based on the idea that characters be well designed, with interesting and distinct personalities, the Principles tend toward the functional, the purely technical (in a movement rather than a technological sense). They are all essential to the creation of a well animated character, but a too tight focus on technique can lead to characters that move well while being inexpressive, that go through the motions while failing to connect with the audience as believable personalities. Without a good performance, the animation will have less impact and the idea will fall flat. For John Kricfalusi, even “stock animation acting” can be missing from many animated films and TV shows.
I believe the key to creating a real, living character lies in the word autonomy , from the Greek, “one who gives himself his own law,” or self-government. For me, this means that the characters must appear to be independent of the film maker’s control, able to make their own decisions, and not entirely predictable; they should appear to have an interior life and appear capable of thinking and feeling.
In this book, we work through all the ways a good, and appropriate, performance can be achieved, from the use of the camera to follow rather than lead the character to the ability to perceive the thought process at work in a moment of silence.
Becoming an Animator
The road to becoming an animator is a long and convoluted affair and as varied as the individual animators travelling along it. It would be impossible and a complete waste of time for us to attempt to define exactly what it means to be an animator, as “being an animator” means so many different things to each and every one of us. While we may have reached different destinations, but interestingly many of us may share a common starting point.
We usually begin, at a very early age, scribbling simple shapes with crayons. These scribbles and simple shapes usually start offas little more than irregular circles or a series of wobbly lines, and soon enough they begin to be arranged into loose forms that become “mummy and daddy” or “dog” or “house.” Each step of the way, we are not only learning more and more about our environment, but through this form of play, we are also learning how to use tools and, just as importantly not simply, how to express ourselves creatively, but we begin to recognize that we can express ourselves creatively.
What form this creativity takes and in which direction we apply it varies from individual to individual, drawing, singing, dancing, storytelling, model making, or one of a thousand different activities including areas of science and business (creativity is clearly not limited to those within the arts). This may result in an individual initially being drawn toward one area or another for a variety of reasons, though many creative individuals are likely to express their creativity in various ways and through more than one medium. No doubt had the technology existed Leonardo de Vinci and Michelangelo would both have been first rate animators.
While we may be attracted to working in different medium and using different processes and expressing our creativity in different ways, I believe that we all have something fundamental in common. We share a creative “urge” to which we demonstrate a primary response to those creative challenges that may also be shared but at the same time are distinctive to the individual practitioner. We also share the very real pleasure that meeting these creative challenges brings. It is this never ending challenge and the pleasurable pain (often accompanied by frustration) that this brings that keeps the enthusiasm keen and the creative spark shining bright.
Whichever route we took to become animators and regardless of the disciplines we work in, as animators we now face many of the same concerns, difficulties, and creative challenges. When we first set out to become an animator, the development of craft skills and all of those issues that are related to the simple task of actually getting things to move on screen were probably uppermost in our mind. And let’s face it there are a great many of these challenges. For some of the lucky ones, the technology of animation presented little difficulty and that may even have been what first attracted them to animation. For them, the technology may be more of a route to creativity, rather than a barrier. For others (I count myself amongst their numbers), technology may seem to be much more than a challenge and more like a curse, an obstacle to overcome at best and at worse a necessary evil we need to face down in order for us to achieve our creative goals. But the technology associated with film and animation is only one of many areas that we need to deal with.
Animation is more often than not dependent upon quite a broad range of skills and techniques. One mistake that students of animation make is in believing they must become experts in absolutely every aspect of animation production. Well we are here to tell you right here and right now that this just isn’t so. Let’s consider for a moment just a few of the processes that may be involved in creating even the most modest animated films. Naturally enough, some of these processes will vary depending on technique and discipline, but many of them are common to all forms of animation. Working through in no particular order: concept design, script writing, script editing, directing, storyboarding and cinematography, art direction and concept art, character design, sound design, backgrounds and set design, production, production management, sound recording, sound editing, animatics, model making, rigging, texturing, blocking animation, editing. Oh yes, and then there is the little problem of animation.
It’s quite a list isn’t it, and what is excluded from the list are any of the related technical requirements such as color grading, sound dub, sound effects, music, rendering, exporting to different formats. The list goes on. I won’t even attempt to list all of the other very important roles associated with commissioning, financing, and distribution of the films.
If we consider for a moment the process of live action film making, no one would expect an individual to become an expert in all of these different areas, yet many of the animation students we meet get the idea into their heads that it is not only necessary for them to become expert in all of these but it is VITAL if they are to become a professional. It isn’t. This misconception can prove to be very stressful particularly for young animators when they first begin to study animation and discover for the first time all that animation production entails. True, they will benefit from an understanding of these processes and how they relate to one another within a production, particularly when they are considering their career options, but they don’t need to know everything let alone become an expert in every process. Perhaps this misguided notion stems from the way that some animators are seen to work as artists, and as artists are entirely responsible (or appear to be entirely responsible) for all aspects of their work. Clearly a small number of them are; many more are not.
Animation is a very broad church, and within it there are many different disciplines each involving a different set of techniques, methodologies, and processes. Not all animation involves performance-based character animation of course, but a great deal of animation product does. Acting is a critical part of those productions, while for other forms of animation, it is not at all appropriate. This text is aimed at helping in a very practical way with the issues related to acting and performance.
Becoming an Actor
This book takes a look at the issues around acting and performance from the perspective of the animator. Animators do not get out on stage in front of an audience or stand in front of the camera alongside other actors. Instead, we send our puppets, drawings, or pixels out into the wide world to do the job for us.
Despite the fact that they do not perform directly for an audience, animators working with character-based performance animation ARE actors. Unlike the many actors of stage and screen that become well known, the vast majority of animators remain quite anonymous though the characters that we play and even some of our individual performances may actually be better known than our “real life” counterparts. Many millions of people around the world are familiar with Mickey Mouse and many of these will remember his performance in Steamboat Willy (1928), yet how many are familiar with the name Ub Iwerks? How many of us will remember key moments in animation history that made such an impact on our lives, moments such as when Mowgli left the jungle to join the “man village” in Jungle Book (1967), or the occasion when Buzz Lightyear first meets Woody in Toy Story (1995). The fiery relationship between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck or the mad antics of Ren and Stimpy and any one of a thousand moments in the Simpsons demonstrate the very real and tangible nature of these characters. These characters are not only believable they are real, we know them, we recognize them for who they are, and maybe we even recognize something of ourselves in them.
We could go as far as to suggest that the greatest performances of the animator easily match those created by any of the finest “real” actors. If flexibility can be used as one criterion for defining a good actor, then surely the demands placed on the animator offer them the opportunity to show their acting abilities. How many “real” actors are regularly required to undertake roles that cross gender or race, or cover age ranges from 1 to 101, let alone creating a performance across species . Animators are also asked to create character-based performances using inorganic objects and even abstract shapes that not only imbues them with a personality but makes them completely believable. Chuck Jones did exactly that with the film The Dot and the Line (1965).
Acting and performance is such a large topic with many different disciplines that we could not hope to cover it fully within this text. We will, therefore, be concentrating on acting as it relates to animation and different animated forms, though even this is a major undertaking. The practical aspects of animation may differ within each discipline, and the constraints placed on the stopframe animator are very different from those working in CG animation. However, many of the issues that relate to performance and acting are common to all animation techniques. We will not be telling you how to make a humorous performance by altering slider controls within a software package or recommending a particular type of pencil to make your characters more engaging. There are NO shortcuts to developing your craft, and there are NO formulas to follow. There is no technology that will provide you with the acting skills; they come from within. However, as with animation timing skills, performance and acting skills are completely transferable. Good acting is good acting regardless of the animation process.
We will be taking a look at many practical aspects of acting and performance. We hope it provides some very real and useful tools for the aspiring animator / actor backed up with real examples and case studies. The text will provide you with some very thought provoking issues that will encourage a deeper exploration and development of the art from we love. We do not expect you to agree with everything we say or propose; you will have your own ideas on these topics and that is the entire point. We are not trying to lay down rules or principles here, but what we do want to achieve is a text that helps the animator move forward in their own way as an animator and performer and actor.
It seems to us that there is very little difference between what we do as animators and what our ancestors did when they gathered around a fire in family groups. They told one another stories. They built mythologies, created legends, passed on vital information, gave instruction, and entertained. It became a vital part of all our different races, passing down traditions and histories through which we began to build a group identity, create societies, and develop cultures. We are still doing that to this very day.
Much of animation production, certainly performance-based animation, is first and foremost a form of entertainment, and central to most animation entertainment is storytelling. While action has a vital role to play in animation and in storytelling, entertainment and action are not necessarily the same things. Action alone may be considered as entertaining; consider for a moment the spectacle of a fireworks display or the beautiful abstract animation of Oscar Fischinger, both are highly entertaining though neither necessarily constitute a story. Naturally, all animation depends on the movement of characters and objects, but it does not necessarily depend on the use of movement in just one way. Action, in its simplest form, may be nothing more than the movement of objects through time and space without any need at all for an emotional engagement on the part of the audience. This is not acting. It is the engagement of the audience on an emotional level that underpins storytelling and is the foundation of acting and performance.
In order for a character to become interesting, we need at least to understand them, not necessarily to like them, and actually in some instances, it is vital that we don’t like the characters. We will be covering this at some length. Let’s face it the reason that millions of people go to the movies to watch animated feature films every year is not because of the great animation or even the eye watering technology being used. It’s for one thing and one thing alone: story. This is timeless and regardless of the advances in technology, the ways in which we make animation and despite the ways in which we consume animation, audiences will continue to be drawn to animation for the same reasons they have always been drawn to it: stories. Interesting stories full of interesting people doing interesting things.
There is a reasonable illustration of this that I have written elsewhere but still hold good for the purpose of this text and demonstrates simply how storytelling determines the success of an animated film.
Good Idea + Poor Animation = Good Film
Poor Idea + Good Animation = Poor Film
Poor Idea + Poor Animation = Stinker
Good Idea + Good Animation = Award Winner
I hasten to add here that this is not a formula for making a successful thing. Of course, the one thing missing from the illustration is acting and performance. Without a good acting performance, the idea, no matter how good, is likely to be left dead in the water or, at the very least, it will not reach its full potential. It remains necessary that the animation is delivered through a good performance.
Now what exactly creates a good performance is open to interpretation and discussion. Rather than categorizing a performance in a way that dictates certain traits that equate to a good performance, it would perhaps be better to look at appropriate performances. Drama is often very different from comedy and not all dramas or comedies are the same. Rather like animation timing, a certain approach to acting will prove to be more suitable to one film than another. Let’s compare the rather simplistic animation performances within South Park to the far more elaborate performance used in The Incredibles. The simplicity of the animation seen in South Park may not be suited to bringing out all of the complexity of story and characterization we see in The Incredibles. Likewise, the highly crafted and subtle timing and acting of The Incredibles would probably subvert the almost anarchic and stripped back designs in South Park ; it just wouldn’t be as funny. South Park is brilliant because the animation performance is simple not despite it.
Becoming a Creative Practitioner
Millions of people spend billions of dollars each year to enjoy feature films and other media. By and large they do not do this because of the technology; they do it because they enjoy storytelling and because they enjoy things that are new and intriguing. As a result, we see trends take shape after the success of a forerunner. For example, the use (or should I say reuse) of 3D projection in James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) and the many more 3D films in its wake.
But audiences will quickly tire of or accept as normal the latest whiz-bang trend. The developments in technology are transient; the real value is to be seen in creativity.
If you are to achieve your full potential as an animator, it is important that you remember how you got here, along the path of creative play and investigation. Perhaps it’s as well to consider yourself first and foremost as a creative practitioner and not as an animator. In doing that, it is vital that you look beyond animation for your inspiration. The great Czech animator Jan Svankmajer is highly regarded throughout the world for his very particular and distinctive work. It has been said that he considers himself first and foremost an artist, then as a surrealist, then as a filmmaker, then as an animator. It is evident that his creativity cannot be constrained by or confined to the boundaries of animation nor is his creativity limited to animation for its source of inspiration.
We wish to encourage you to look beyond your discipline for influence. Look beyond animation for inspiration. Using only animation for your inspiration will limit your creative development and the work you produce. There is absolutely no point simply trying to imitate Tim Burton no matter how good you think he is (and he is). This will only result in you becoming a second rate Tim Burton. The world doesn’t need one of these — we already have a first rate Tim Burton. Far better to strive to become a first rate “you.” By using animation as your starting point for your studies, you are in very real danger of producing much less interesting work.
Look beyond animation, toward live action film, television, theatre, music, opera, dance, literature, fine art, games and play, sport, photography, politics, the environment, wildlife, science. Nothing should be offlimits. Above all as animators that engage in performance-based work, we need to have a good understand of people and what makes them tick. In developing your practice, the act of “people watching” is as good a place to start as anywhere. You should still use animation for inspiration, but it should not be your primary or only source of investigation.
Finally, we urge you to not place yourself in any particular creative box or category. Allow yourself to grow and to be open to different influences beyond the boundaries of animation, engage in serious study (both within and beyond animation), and finally be interested, really interested in something. Almost anything will do as long as you are REALLY interested in it. If you are interested, you will be interesting. If YOU are interesting, your WORK is likely to be interesting.
The world is a wonderful place. Let’s celebrate it.
So what exactly can you expect to gain from this book and how can you get the best from it? You can to dip in and out of each of the chapters as and when you find them most appropriate to the issues you are currently addressing. The case studies on our website provide useful real life illustrations of how other animators have dealt with the self-same issues you are dealing with.
There are practical tips and some technical information that are intended to be of direct benefit to your own work. You will find plenty of practical advice on working with actors, the nature of audiences, hits and tips on how to develop characters, and how to prepare for and make a performance. All of this is backed up with the firsthand experience of practicing animators and directors and relevant illustrations.