Week 3 - 7th Oct 19 (P.a.C.):
Reflection Evaluation
We were asked to animate three different types of walks which included a rejected or thoughtful lover. I initially chose to animate the rejected lover because I was unsure how a thoughtful lover would look. For this animation I used the Buckid Rig. It soon became clear that the main issue that I encountered when doing this animation related to my visualisation of how the character would look when portraying specific emotions – in this case a rejected lover.Similarly, to the feelings I experienced when animating the other character walks, I felt physically uncomfortable in my chair which made me feel stressed and unable to concentrate. However, I managed to bear with this and focus on my work. I found it difficult to begin on the animation and felt trepidation on starting the animation due to feeling unable to visualise my character fully.
On evaluation I feel that by asking my mum for her input with regards to how a rejected lover may look initially helped me begin the visualisation process. Also, by revisiting past students works which I found on YouTube also helped me gain more awareness of the basic movement around how a rejected lover may look (Kharn141, 2016) (Cunningham, 2018). Richard (Williams, 2001[P.110]) also suggests that we act our walking ourselves and also perhaps use a metronome to time ourselves.
As recognised previously I have learnt that I need to ensure that I have a good mental depiction of how I want my character to look, such as, including characteristics in my animation like my character slumping, as this awareness would assist me in the process of creating my characters within animation and would help direct me in my choice of appropriate software to use. Richard (Williams, 2001 [P.102&104]) highlights that walks are the most difficult part of animation and advocates the observation of others walking a variety of situations.
On reflecting on the animation, I produced, the character appeared to be slumping with rejected love, which was not as natural as I would have liked. Therefore, analysing this aspect of my character I now recognise that I need to incorporate not only how the character looks on the surface, but I also need to try to bring in the emotional aspects related to the character. Consequently, I now recognise that the facial expression of the character did not show enough emotion such as depression or low mood, which highlights the need to consider this for future animations.
Caroline suggested when the arms fall forward at the start of the walk, they are a bit stiff making Buckid "kinda look like a scarecrow." However, I do not fully understand why she thinks that Buckid looks like this as I personally cannot see this aspect within the animation.
Johny recommended that "the arms should be really hanging from the shoulders, in a walk like that, for them to be out. Think of the gravity pulling the hands down, pulling the arms down." I agree with this statement and as mentioned earlier, by doing this, this would link the physical aspects of the character to the emotions I am trying to depict.
Nicky liked that Buckid started in a neutral position then went into the slump more. Nicky stated "I like how it starts at a neutral set position and goes into the position of the walk like it starts like that then it goes into how it is and then start walking rather than it starting. It’s kind of emphasises how much body language is there." I found this feedback positive and reassuring that I had managed to portray some of the body language I wanted to.
Johny also highlighted that "we're seeing that start contrast and upright and proper to... now we’re going from one emotional state that seems to be neutral to an emotional state. It looks like it needs a little bit more weight and the weight is not being thrown into the steps, that would be changing the moving of the pelvis." This statement appears to back up my recognition that I need to focus more on visualisation of my characters movements when animating.
Joe stated "You know, if you can imagine your character having two heavy buckets in his hands and begrudgingly having then taken out like slopping out or something. I can actually see that there is, that the arms look as if they are carrying something. So, there's a lot of things going for that animation." I found this feedback positive and uplifting, as I now feel more confident in moving forward in relation to character movement and visualisation, of this, in future projects.
After evaluation and analysis and taking into consideration the class feedback received, for future animations requiring a slumping rejected lover character, I would record myself walking very upset because I was just rejected by someone I loved in order to mentally visualise how this looks and to help direct my animation strategies. I could also look for further resources such as romantic movies which depict rejected lovers so that I could translate and analyse this movement into my future animations.
Therefore, I would now scope out additional resources prior to beginning my animation work, to ensure that I have a much clearer visual image of the body language and emotional state of my characters and what I want to portray. Carrying out additional research would also strengthen my research skills.
References
Cunningham,
A. (2018, 11 Jan). Rejected Lover Walk (SUBMISSION) [Video file].
Retrieved from https://youtu.be/G0Neikrc_Ng
Kharn141, (2016,
16 May). Second year animation - Rejected lover [Video file]. Retrieved
from https://youtu.be/akzzB9rkhXw
Williams, R. (2001). The Animator's Survival Kit: A Manual of
Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion
and Internet Animators (pp. 346). Retrieved from http://index-of.co.uk/Animation/The%20_Animator%27s_Survival_Kit.pdf
