Research: The 12 principals of animation

Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas introduced the twelve principles of animation. The twelve principles have now become widely recognized as a theoretical bedrock for all artists working on any type of animation video production. Beside each principal will have a reference showing what each principal looks like in practising animation.

 

The first of the twelve is squash and stretch. Squash and stretch is debatably the most fundamental principle. The force of a motion of a ball when it hits a ground squashes flat, but because an object needs to maintain its volume, it also widens on impact. This effect gives animation an elastic life-like quality because although it may not seem like it and when the motion brings a ball up in the air it elongates to show the impression of speed.

 

 

 

The second of the twelve is anticipation. Anticipation is the preparation for the main action. Such as a person going to jump in the air, they their legs in to jump high; the bending of the legs is the anticipation.

 

 

The third of the twelve is staging. Staging is one of the most overlooked principles. It directs the audience’s attention toward the most important elements in a scene in a way that effectively advances the story. It builds from problem to realization to shared understanding, to the beginning of a solution, all in a visual telling.

 

 

 

The fourth of the twelve is straight head action and pose to pose. Straight ahead action is where you draw each frame of an action one after another as you go along and is a less planned method.  Pose-to-pose gives you more control over the action as it is completed early on where your character is going to be at the beginning and end instead of hoping you’re getting the timing right. By doing the main poses first, it allows you to catch any major mistakes early. Mastering both techniques and combining them is the best approach to being a successful animator because then you can get both structure and spontaneity.

 

 

 

The fifth of the twelve is follow through and overlapping action. The secondary elements (these parts might be hair, clothing, jowls, or jiggling flesh of an overweight person) are following-through on the primary element, and overlapping its action. Such as a person coming to a stop and parts continue to move in the same direction because of the force of forward momentum.

 

 

 

The sixth of the twelve is ease in and ease out, otherwise known as slow in and slow out. This principal apply as for an object about to move, the object starts slowly moving then accelerates and finally stops by slowing down to a complete stop. Carefully controlling the changing speeds of objects creates an animation that has a superior believability.

 

 

The seventh of the twelve is arcs. Arcs operate along a curved trajectory that adds the illusion of life to an animated object in action. Without arcs, your animation would be stiff and mechanical. The speed and timing of an arc are crucial. Sometimes an arc is so fast that it blurs beyond recognition.

 

 

 

The eighth of the twelve is secondary action. Secondary actions are gestures that support the main action to add more dimension to character animation. They can give more personality and insight to what the character is doing or thinking. Such as a deer taking a bite of a leaf sprayed with repellent. The primary action is the deer spitting out the leaf when he realizes it’s no good. The secondary action is the slight tail wag that shows the deer’s relief to have the awful taste out of his mouth.

 

 

The ninth of the twelve is timing. Timing is about where on a timeline you put each frame of action. As the ball falls from its peak it and accelerates, the spacing starts becoming wider. As the momentum of the ball diminishes, the bounces become shorter and more frequent.

 

 

 

The tenth of the twelve is exaggeration. Exaggeration presents a character’s features and actions in an extreme form for comedic or dramatic effect. This can include distortions in facial features, body types, and expressions, but also the character’s movement. Exaggeration is a great way for an animator to increase the appeal of a character, and enhance the storytelling.

 

 

 

The eleventh of the twelve is solid drawing. Solid drawing is all about making sure that animated forms feel like they’re in three-dimensional space. This character design by Robert Kopecky is a good example of solid drawing (reference to the left). Kopecky is creating a character that will live through various iterations of history in the video. He starts by defining the volume of the character, which he describes in this character sheet at a teardrop/bowling pin. Then he adds different clothing, hair, and accessories to the character to take him to various parts of history.

 

 

The final of the twelve is appeal.  Animated characters should be pleasing to look at and have a charismatic aspect to them; this even applies to the antagonists of the story. Play around with different shapes and proportions of characters to keep things fresh. Enlarging the most defining feature of a character can go a long way to giving the character personality. Strive for a good balance between detail and simplicity.

 

 

Practice drawing loose techniques

Below shows circle and line drawings practice in photoshop to practice for hand drawn animation.

      

 

Contextual research: Studio Ghibli

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation powerhouse known for their high quality of its filmmaking and its artistry, that has held the love over wide-eyed anime audiences across four decades. The acclaimed Japanese animation film studio that was founded in 1985 (and it is still active to today) by animators and directors Miyazaki Hayao and Takahata Isao, and producer Suzuki Toshio. I personally love the Studio Ghibli films as I grew up watching them;I fell in love with the art direction and narratives. Common themes and artistic styles show up throughout the Ghibli universes; environmentalism, flight, childhood, metamorphosis, weather, worlds within worlds, community and mythology from both Japan and Europe. Whilst every story takes places in seemingly different worlds, these common thematic threads often tie them together into something unmistakable. Colour matching is a very important key to conveying meaning and is used to reinforce time. In a new interview with an online magazine called Najinsan, ex Studio Ghibli producer, Hirokatsu Kihara, who worked at the Japanese animation film company between 1985 – 1989, talked to the site about the amount of work that goes into creating the animations. “It is often said that using different colours is something that Japanese people are good at,” explained Kihara. “We use different colours for the same things: colours for morning, sunset and twilight. We create time by changing the colours for different times of the day. It sounds obvious, but it has almost never been explained with the actual frames.” Kihara has previously worked on film such as “Castle in the Sky” in 1986, “My Neighbour Totoro” in 1988 and “Kiki’s Delivery Service” in 1989; some of the most popular and well-known films from this studio. However its most known film is “Spirited Away” released in 2001 as it won several awards, notably the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival and the 2003 Academy Award for best animated feature.

Below shows references of some of the colour timing that Kihara talked about. In order left to right below “My Neighbour Totoro” with morning colour, “Tales From Earthsea” with sunset colour, “Spirited Away” with twilight and “My Neighbour Totoro” with night.

 

 

Also inspired by narrative, I examine “Spirted away” and “My Neighbour Totoro”; my two favourite Studio Ghibli films (narrative research from highsnobiety website).

Widely regarded as Miyazaki’s masterpiece, “Spirited Away” is an incredible achievement in animated cinema. A coming-of-age story with hints of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “The Wizard of Oz” thrown in with the trademark of Ghibli whimsy, wisdom and imagination. It tells the story of Chihiro, a young girl moving house with her parents. They get lost and stumble upon what they believe to be an abandoned theme park that turns out to be a realm where the spirits dwell. With her parents cursed and Chihiro trapped in this mysterious place, she has no choice but to take a job at a mysterious bathhouse where the clientele is predominantly made up of wandering  spirits. For over two hours we watch a young girl grapple with the responsibilities of maturing in a world that operates secretly within her own.

 

One of the earliest Ghibli films, and featuring a titular character that would go on to be the company’s mascot, “My Neighbour Totoro” is a thematically similar film to “Spirited Away”, but with an entirely different outlook. The film explores the two sisters girls, Mei and Satsuki and their father moving to a new home and discovering a secret world within it, as they adjust to life in the countryside. Their mother is seriously ill in a nearby hospital and the sweet, subtle movements of the film’s narrative are a celebration of the imagination of children, as well as a supportive father. Where “Spirited Away” curses parents’ greed, “My Neighbour Totoro” rewards the perseverance of a close-knit family.  A group of adorable monsters with there large rabbit like leader named Totoro helps the girls to cope and familiarize themselves with the incredible enchanted environment that surrounds their new home.

 

 

My animation brainstorm

Inspired by Studio Ghibli innocent childhood characters who do on life changing adventures.

 

Upon reflection of my character I am happy with my character design. Daisy’s appearance and wardrobe are functional for her journey as well be environmentally inspired by nature/ Daisy’s home surrounding as she is flower. Everything about her design identifies who she is, a flower who is normally happy; audiences can tell this by her petal head, leaf arms and green stem body. It is also appropriate for audiences who can tell Daisy’s bubbly personality. I would include additional characters if I were to develop Daisy’s story, like her mother or siblings, characters who she meets on her adventures. A mother who wants her to stay planted for all her life, ensuring that Daisy never gets hurt. Siblings who judge her for wanting a look at the garden world that they live in. Friends who help shape her to be the daisy flower that she is. These friends could look like Daisy by have their own wardrobe based on their personality and flower type, like different coloured roses, violets, sunflower or other flowers/plants. I am also happy with her back story and how this will help her character development.

 

 

Stop motion practice

First, I experimented with simple stop motion in a straight line. Click on ‘basic stop motion‘ to see mov. Each line if stop motion explores ease-in and ease- out with timing.

For my second stop motion exercise I experimented with curved lines with timing and motion. Click on ‘more developed stop motion‘ to see mov. I used to the same objects from my first stop motion and created a more fun/ lively stop motion.

 

Hand drawn animation

Click on ‘ball rolling‘ to see my hand drawn animation on krita.