And very few of them get recruited at the dream animation studios like Dreamworks & Pixar. It is very hard to find ‘How things work in animation ? – Workflow, Approach, Posing, tools and much more…’

We have a very special guest today for you – Mr. Alexis Wanneroy, who is a lead animator at Dreamworks Animation & he has answered us very awesome question through this exclusive interview, about which all animation students are curious about.

Alexis is from France & Graduate of Gobelins School in 2003. He has worked on Dreamworks Blockbuster movies like How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, Flushed Away & Bee Movie.

He is appearing online for the first time & Its pleasure of our team & website Bramhaa that he has answered every question we have asked for & helped all the students who wish to know more about Professional Animation Workflow.

More about Alexis in his own words & his Career in Animation…

Q. `How did the Journey begin for your Career in Animation? What inspired you to choose the Career?

I was in school studying industrial Design but I kept drawing characters and I wanted to do comics book.
And I went to the Gobelins open school day, where I was blown away by the work of animation and quality of the school …

I decided then that it was what I wanted to do .

Q. What is the one thing that really made huge difference in your Career path? I mean the thing you
think helped a lot for making it to your dream job (habit, skill, belief )

It’s clearly the support of my family at that time.
Before going to Gobelins school I was working at BUF compagnie ( matrix, fight club…)and I was not sure if I should go to Gobelins or not since I was lucky enough to work for a such well renown VFX company.
I wanted to push my animation skills further and I knew the Gobelins school was the right place for that.

Every year there is a jury at Gobelins with some professional from very important studios. One of them is Shelley Page, she is the one that recruited me after school to work at Dreamworks animation.
Gobelins school helped me develop my skills to a point where one of the biggest animation studio would be interested in hiring me.

Q. What are the most important things about Character Animation you learned at Gobelins

At Gobelins we have very good teachers. each of them with a different  professional background and approach.
I guess it’s the diversity of the teachers at Gobelins that makes us learn about all the animation principle like spacing arcs, etc. But also it helps the students to actually find their own way of approaching animation and develop their own style.

Q. How did you approach for your first Job and What would you like to say about it? Was it exactly
like you expected or some surprises? What you important things you learned on that Job?

My first job after school was a character animator on Valiant , an animated movie about pigeons during world war II. The atmosphere was really cool because the studio was new, the artists were coming from all around the world, there was this great energy around ideas and creativity which was really motivating.
I thought i was going to be a junior animator and would have just regular shots, but it turned out that my work seams to be appreciated and I was given some good shot to animate.

I learned how big studios worked, with all the departments being dependent of one another, and how teamwork can make an animation feature film possible.

I also learned how freezing London can be during winter time

Q. Can you tell us typical day at DreamWorks

“I usually arrive at 8 and take my breakfast over there, That’s a good way to start a day having your coffee with your coworkers and being able to discuss the different projects in a really relaxed atmosphere, The campus is gorgeous and I think it’s one of the best place in the world to work for.
Usually at 9 we have dailies, it’s where animators show their work to the director to be approved, it’s a really good opportunity to see and be inspired by the work of others but also to ear the comments peoples have to say about your shots is very constructive and help you to adjust your regard on your own work..
After I work until lunch, it’s either I animate or have meetings with other departments concerning the sequences I’m working on, sometimes we’re shooting our own references to help us visualize actions on the shots we’re working.

At 12 it’s lunch time, We are a bunch of Gobelins people at Dreamworks and we usually like to have lunch together. And after that I animate the all afternoon, sometimes I take a break for a coffee or a foosball game etc…

before I go back home I show to some of my coworkers my work to have their opinion, it’s a great way to have a fresh eye on the morning with their comments in mind.
finally at 7, I leave to go back to my family.”

Q. Who do you think as of your Mentor in Animation? Why?

I would say it’s Kyle Balda, he was one of my teachers at Gobelins,  he really changed my way of animating, and even since then my way of working have changed a lot and matured, I still think he made me go though one of the biggest step I took.

Q .What are the projects you are currently working on and worked on?

Now I am working on Guardians, the movie is released in November 2012 so now it’s character development work, it’s my first time being so early on a project so it’s very exciting.
Before that I worked on Flushed Away, Bee Movie, Kung Fu Panda and How To Train Your Dragon

Q. Where can we see your Demo or character animation Reel?

You can see it on my Vimeo page at: http://vimeo.com/16314825

Q. At Gobelins , they have Started CG course for Animation recently, so were you doing Classical
Animation or CG ?

I was in the First class at Gobelins to do CG course. I never had the chance to study Classical animation and It’s still something I regret…

Q. Can you describe shortly how you got into Dreamworks ?

Every year in Gobelins there is a jury at the end of the year. They give you notes on your exercises that you did during the year and also notes on your graduation movie.
I finished first of my class and the recruiter for Dreamworks was there. I told her after the graduation that I would love to work for Dreamworks and 2 years later she called me back saying that they had openings!!!

3 month after this phone call I was working there

Q. How was the experience while working with Chris and Dean for How to Train Your Dragon?

They are for me the Best directors I have worked with. They have a sense of animation like no other and they really know how to direct animators. “They always think of the story before everything else.”

Q. What is a scope for animator for animating a sequence? In what way it is preplanned & where is
freedom where you can make changes.

This all depends on the directors some will let you have a lot more freedom and bring your own idea.
For that it’s always during the launch of a sequence that you can speak about your ideas for your specific shots or for the sequence.
That was really the case on dragons!!! to me, part of being a good director is also to know when to trust your artists.

Q. While Animating Dragons, Each and every dragon has its different own mannerism, how did you
plan or reference for their motions? Did you have rules like Toothless has mannerism of Cat and Dog
something like that?

For each Dragons we took reference from ‘Real Animals’ :

Toothless reference were mainly the cat and bat for the motion of his wing
The Nadder was a mix of a parrot and a t-rex.
The Nightmares took also from bat and snake.
and the Gronkle was more from hummingbird and bumblebee.
All this was done before the movie started and some animators were character lead on those dragons making sure they moved according to their anatomy and reference

Q. From student to the professional animator, in this journey, what one thing that pushed your work really further, the thing you never considered in the Student Stage, but clicked while working on
actual projects?

‘Video reference’
Use video reference as much as you  can !!!!
It really has to be used a certain way I think, for example never animate the movement you do while you film yourself make it as real as possible
and then when you use the reference push everything while animating.

Following is something we think, as the most important part every student should read about is – Experience of Alexis’s in Animation & Overall Workflow animation.(  It is hardly known to students how professional animator approaches a Shot )

Q. How will you describe difference between Good Animator and Great Animator?

A good animator always does what he’s been asked when a great animator always try to push stuff further, comes with new ideas and good acting choices
I would say that a good animator is a  skilled craftsman while a great animator is a real artist.

Q. How do you think of Weight, where it’s coming from and where its going to? I mean do you think
of it on every Golden Pose, Extreme or Breakdowns. Your show reel has shots where character
is dealing with weight , resistance with something for ex Dad dragging Hiccup or Fishleg holding
bucket ,or the last shot where hanging opening the door knob etc and characters are also talking ,
so how do you execute the Weight properly?

Weight is a tricky thing to achieve in animation, I tried to study it a lot by using video reference, For all those shots I actually used references

Q. How do you usually plan for Shots? Thumbnails, Reference, Acting out, Do you use any planning
software like Flipbook or Pencil for initial blocking?

I usually think about my shot for a day or two before starting any video references or thumbnails.
Thinking about the beat of the acting and what’s the character thinking at that moment is the most important thing
Every gesture, Every attitude needs to have a purpose. After I do video references and record lots of takes before finding the right one. Also, I like to use the lipstick cam. lipstick cam is when they record the voices of the artists they film it so we can use them as a references

Q. How do you break out of the cliché’s in Animation, especially Hand Gestures?

To me that was the hardest part… I think it comes with the habit of analyzing & acting. The problem is in school we are taught of basics principles of animation, but after I think it’s good to distance yourself from it. Because principles will just makes things move without a purpose where reference study will actually determine why the body moves like that and the purpose behind it.

Q . While posing character specially for Golden Poses what things you consider Line of action, Force,Weight, Center of attraction, silhouette?

I start by using my reference and then actually think of my poses as drawings. I try to push them to make them really appealing. Sometimes I draw over my cg poses to push up the dynamic or attitudes of it and then match the cg to the drawing

Q .What you usually do when you struggle for any Shot?

I usually go back and reshoot reference because when there is something wrong with a shot I find it easier to redo a shot than to struggle fixing something that is not working

Q. What’s your animation checklist? (Contrast, Overlap, etc)

I really try to avoid that !!!
I’ve been taught in school to do that , but I really think it came to different step of animation. I start with reference , I study the reference start animating, I then use my poses, then push my timings a bit, then I polish my curves and then I make nice arc and spacing.

I don’t do overlap, I don’t do breakdowns etc. I try to study what does the body do and why and if there is overlap it’s because there is a reason behind it.

Q. The exact steps while approaching any shot, so that one can model the steps, more of re-
engineering the syntax and the tiny things that make huge difference in workflow

1- Think about your shot and the purpose of the character in that shot, never rush into animating .
2- Shoot video reference the more natural you can. Do a lot of takes so you can choose the best afterward. You can also do thumbnail as a base for your video reference.
3- Study what’s moving and why. Try to stay true to the video reference.
4- Push your poses and make them appealing.
5-Push your timings
6-Start cleaning your curves and start from your body and go up the hierarchy( body, spine, neck, head etc…)
7- look at your arcs, and spacings, polish all your little details like fingers etc…

Q. As an Animator what skills one must develop in early stages?

‘The study of movements’

I look at people in the street and I can recognize someone that i know just by the way he walk or behave.

It’s very important to study the movements everywhere.

Q. Today, there are now awesome online schools like Animation Mentor and iAnimate , but for the
guys who cant afford good mentors and guidance , How should they learn and approach for their
dream job? What should be their initial milestones?

There is some very good and free tutorials online, some good rigs too, then observe, analyze, shot references and study them. I know you can learn a lot from yourself already

Q. You must have gone through many Show Reels: What kind of shots one Must include in the Show
Reel according to you?

Always start with your best work, big companies received tons of reels and the 10 first seconds are the ones which will make them decide to look further or not.
as an animator the most important thing to show is acting, but also physical shots.

Q. What was the most crucial advice you ever got in your Animation Career?

On dragon, my supervisor, Jakob Jensen is the one who showed me how to use correctly video references, and it changed completely my way of looking at it

Q. Do you see any common mistake in student show reels or Poor animation?

For me a lot of time it seemed like it’s overanimated to hide the lack of acting choices or proper weight etc…

Q. We always got asked this Question on our blog, but we think the answer from you will be crucial
How much the Degree (graduation) has importance while getting job in Animation Industry?

Sure it can help, especially when you’ve got no experience and no concrete showreel at the beginning, it can help to open some doors, but in the end it’s doesn’t really, your talent only is going to give you openings to the “good” jobs, but even if this industry it’s your talent which count, degrees are a very important thing to have when it comes to visa applications to work abroad.

Q. What you do consistently for staying Fresh, Creative, Passionate ?

I do some personal work like filming or editing.

Q. What’s the coolest thing in being an Animator?

Giving life

Q. What’s your favorite Character and Shot you worked on?

Fishleg for character and the shot of stoick screaming at his son.

Q. What’s your favorite scene from animated movie?

The whole sequence in Tangled when she meet the horse for the first time
I saw that sequence three weeks ago and I was blown away by the animation.

Q. How do you maintain balance between Job and Health/Fitness?

LOL … I don’t

Q. Are you mentoring students now? Do you have any future plans for AM or iAnimate? or any DVD
Training Program or Book ?

I would love to actually mentor students from Animation Mentor or iAanimate but I am not allowed to because of my visa .

Q. What was the most challenging shot you ever worked on?

It’s the last shot of HTTYD where all the kids and all the dragons are in the shot.
To animate all of them was very long and very hard to choreograph.

Q. You enjoy at home when you are not animating?

My family is my life

We hope you find this Interview very very valuable because its not something like you can find every day. Its years of Experience of  Passion, Knowledge, Hardwork & Struggle in Animation.We are very thankful of him for taking time for this interview&  for helping students.

Here is the link to Alexis Character Animation Reel Video where you can see more of his work : http://vimeo.com/16314825

We would like to here comments from you or any question you have regarding animation or career in animation you can reach us by commenting below.

Welcome to the second tutorial on learn to draw with me, Mitali P.

This tutorial will mostly cover the basics in one point perspective…

so-

What is perspective, actually?

Ehm, ehm.. ”the theory or art of suggesting three dimensions on a two-dimensional surface, in order to recreate the appearance and spatial relationships that objects or a scene in recession present to the eye

OR

the appearance of objects, buildings, etc., relative to each other, as determined by their distance from the viewer, or the effects of this distance on their appearance”

There are three kinds that will help you put magic into your scene…

One point perspective

Two point perspective  and

Three point perspective.

blah, blah, blah everyone knows the things that are far from the eye appear smaller.. so when we copy this into a 2d paper.. it re creates a feeling of depth to the scene.
You may find hundreds and thousands of books on perspective all ready to confuse your already confused mind..
I was too, but the thing is perspective is really easy to understand, just shed all your fear that comes with it…

You’ll need:

A paper sheet

A good pencil

Eraser [obviously]

ruler [I strongly recommend scribbling so that you don't have to use the ruler to rule out everything]

So we begin with the horizon..

The horizon is nothing but the line that we see where the earth/sea meets the sky.. even if it is not visible in your drawings.. there is a horizon line… you can draw it up or low as you want

Tip: place the ruler’s edge perpendicular to the papers’ edge to get a straight line

Make a vanishing point…
This the the point where your buildings, rails, roads seem to converge into one single point on the horizon.

Draw the size accordingly of the part of the block facing you, the height and the width,

Connect an imaginary line called as orthogonal to the vanishing point and the sides of the block  there’ll be four in total but three visible in this case.. Draw horizontal lines where you want your block to end [parallel to the horizon]
and vertical line where you want the side of the block to end [perpendicular to the horizon]

PHEW!

Now you’re pretty much done there! just erase the orathgonals and Bingo! you have a 3d real looking block which you can convert into anything

Just be sure to use a single point for all the objects

Tips:

1. Draw the orthogonal lightly so that you can erase them easily.

2. Google the word ”One point perspective” and find out more techniques and images, try to draw the scene on your paper… try to figure out the vanishing point in the given scene

3. Add details to your drawings, like windows, sills, telephone poles and people..  just follow the orthogonal to decide the height or width of the object/person/creature.

Here are some random examples from the net that can help you to get started

That’s it for today, meet you in the next tutorial, which is two point perspective.

Enjoy making your own worlds!

Please feel free to add any comments and critiques.. this is a way of showing that it has helped you in some way…

You can check Mitali’s Blog and her works here

“We are committed to CAN! ” click here

To get latest news , professional interviews, articles , works of professionals , free online webinars ,podcasts ,job openings, upcoming movies , games , inspirational videos,inspirational articles and so much.

Join Bramhaa Animation Blog facebook page

Click Here to Join

It has been a long and tedious way till here, but let me tell you this… every result is worth it, so pack your backpacks and join me on the adventures we’re gonna have!

… Now,   Did you ever have this idea/character roaming in your head for too long, how you wish you could only draw it to life? but only if you had this secret ingredient to make it…
I searched far and wide for this secret ingredient until I saw Kung fu Panda.. [there is no secret ingredient to it]  it’s just practice and perseverance!

So long Miss talk it…. where to start? ?

#1 Passion…
”B- But I thought….”      I can almost see your faces in amazement.. Yupp! neglected and left aside… a fuel that’s gonna light your fire when you’re down.. you have to burn for it, you have to crave for it!  you can’t sleep without it!

#2 Exposure…
Read, see, observe.. what’s worth taking.. what’s around you.. what’s in you. Watching blogs and sites such as deviant art.com can really start you up and start with a strong basic foundation of what you wanna do, you have to know where you want to reach up to…

Tip: make folders.. like guns, girls, armor, villain etc for references
Tip: make an deviant art account.

#3 Practice and dedication…
So you’re ready, eh?  Are you? Then be ready to take hundreds and thousands of critiques and be able to carry on… be there to practice.. nothing comes easy especially art, be ready to be criticized till the point that you crave for critics… so you thought criticism was a bad word, eh?
But there are certain myths that I’d like to bust before I move on..

You can draw if it’s in your genetics… duhh
Many a times I hear people saying, ” Oh she can draw well , you see her father and grandfather’s an artist…”  I have never heard such a thing being an obstacle for anyone, sometimes being able to see someone draw can be helpful but it’s almost helpful as watching a fire miles away and getting warmth from it.. remember Birbal kids?

It’s too hard
Yeah, it’s not hard but little by little, everyday you will do it.. don’t let go.. if I post some of my earlier works.. you’ll all gather round and laugh at me! [so I'll not post it]

You see, I’m not creative kind of person…
Do you remember scribbling away happily when you were a kid.. but something happened.. at some point your logical brain said.. it doesn’t look like I want it to be… I won’t draw anymore!! yeah that’s what happened…Grab the pencil/eraser, bring back the child within you and start with us!
————————————————————————————————-

The numero Uno!
Scribble your way to top!

Start with some paper and pencil sit in a comfortable position and get ready to scribble!!

Scribbling is something like doodling.. but with more concentration and defined shapes.

All you have to do is free your hand on paper and get used to the pencil..most of the times my hands and wrists would hurt , so I think this strengthens the hands, wrists and fingers as well draw anything.. shapes, sizes, and curves and straight lines, of course!

Avoid doing this..

Avoid scratching...

Avoid anything that is not rhythmic… I know this is obvious but many of them do it..

Your pad should look something like this..
circles, curves, lines, rhythm, ovals..and curls

something like this.. but you can add your shapes as you like...

Not only you enjoy this... it's a good exercise

This is more like a warm up before an exercise, and it will get better.. try to get those circles as circly as possible… exact and of same shape.. these dudes are gonna do magic for us later..

As I know.. this exercise is to be continued till the end of your life if you’re an animator..don’t get disappointed, just imagine your idol such as Jackie Chan or Rocky Balboa training, this is your training…

Remember to warm up before every drawing that you make… it will improve your quality and confidence in drawing strokes …

Now try varying the stroke pressures as you move on…
something like this:

Try to get control over your strokes and imagine the stroke on paper before drawing

try with lines.. try with curves..

Tip : try not to get carried away with other thoughts and let your circle become misshapen lumps or whatever!

Oh you like it, don’t you!

That’s it for today, the most basic but a magic ingredient for a strong foundation in drawing!
Hope to see you scribbling, guys!

Please feel free to add any comments and critiques.. this is a way of showing that it has helped you in some way…

You can check Mitali’s Blog and her works here

“We are committed to CANI! ” click here

To get latest news , professional interviews, articles , works of professionals , free online webinars ,podcasts ,job openings, upcoming movies , games , inspirational videos,inspirational articles and so much.

Join Bramhaa Animation Blog facebook page

Click Here to Join

“ She knew that tomorrow he is going to come for her , finally its her turn , she will get eaten by the Devil Dragon … there’s no way to stop.. she was crying … sometimes tears bring nothing but the tears … it’s her last night in the castle .. after all to save the kingdom she has to die , like her other 6 beautiful sisters..

He is at huge entrance of kingdom … now the wait is over … he is shocked … he sees the knight in front him …. As the knight comes closer … he cant believe his eyes … it’s the 7^th princess!!! He laughs (thinking at least … there is MAN in this kingdom, he almost traveled through 100s of kingdoms , but every kingdom sacrificed their prince or princess , all gutless creatures … FINALLY I WILL ABLE TO TASTE THE WARRIORS BLOOD .. and I’m thirsty …)

Princess is looking like a beautiful storm , on white horse … she thrust forward … her horse jumps … jumps higher … princess aim the neck of Dragon …. Blood is coming through neck… he screams … (without even talking a word she clears her intension)

He turns toward her .. she is coming back … but this time dragon .. fires up through his giant mouth …. Aiming the princess .. she jumps from horse … she’s on ground … she picks of sword … dragon is coming towards her …she thrusts forward … making grip even tight .. she throws the sword like a spear aiming the eye of dragon… misses the target… she is weapon less … she is trying to run … dragon is very close to her .. she is going towards the huge entrance … the dragon sets the walls and entrance on fire … now no place to run… he picks up her like a tiny stone … he enters in kingdom… roars setting everything on fire … still no sign of life … finally a small kid comes from nowhere , and throws small stone at dragon .. dragon turns towards the kid … princess trying to escape… kid is gone … no he is isn’t he is trying to pick up the sword … but he cant .. how could he ? dragon picks up the kid in his other hand.. he is about to eat the kid ….”

Hi there , I thought I should start with bang for a topic(as usual ) ….

In this series of Story writing ,Up to this article we have finished the conflict stage , my aim with this story is,

1. whatever we have learned from throughout the series of Story Writing , is not just for 3 hrs film , it can be applied to short like say 6 -7 minutes
2. I have purposely left the story incomplete , cause we have to still learn the last stage “Resolution”
3. Look at the first paragraph Its Set-up

Where indirectly I’v introduce so many things , RULES,WORLD,BACKSTORY,SEEDS OF CONFLICT,CHARACTER/s, Exploring the character through SITUATION,MOTIVATION and GOAL

When you look at the second paragraph those things become more clear and clear , even you learn about both characters Dragon and Princess

4. The most important parts ..

1.THE PROGRESSION OF CONFLICT

AND

2.INTENSITY OF CONFLICT

See from third paragraph , there is “Progression of conflict”

Its extremely important Part of story , which decides that the story is Exciting , Boring or Confusing

Just setting the big conflict, does not mean that you’re done with story conflict , you have to consider the two important parts one its “progression of conflict ” and “ intensiy of conflict ”

So here are types for Progression of Conflict

1. Compound Conflicts

1.1 Domino effect

1.2 Cascade effect#1

1. Accumulated Conflicts

2.1 Cascade effect#2

2.2 Ripple effect

2.3 Butterfly effect

Don’t get frustrated , only names are slight burdening , but learning it will be fun.

I learned this types from book “Finding And Building Stories- ideas for animated short by Karen Sullivan , Gary Schumer, Kate Alexander”

This is must have book. An incredible for student short films .

Anyway if you cant wait for next article , study that Progression of Conflict from the book ,

But come back, because I’m gonna discuss the OUTCOME OF EACH TYPE OF PROGRESSION which is not in book

And try this assignment

Go through today’s story of Princess and Dragon , and write down all the elements that we have discussed through all previous articles , please do this it will be really helpful for you as You will recognize

1. how all basic elements of story rendered together ?
2. how perfect SET-Up is created ?
3. How conflict is introduce ?
4. We’ve learned every element with its ultimate OUTCOME , like what is the OUTCOME of SETUP , CONFLICT , How it can be achieved ?

Study the story with this point of view

Thank you so much see you in next article …

For All Story Writing Animation Lessons click here

“We are committed to CANI! ” click here

Its journey of  a cute Robot Wall-E left alone on earth ,who falls in love with some one for Space.

The moment when they start dancing in the space is awesome, I think this the Best Romantic Couple in the history.

The best thing in the movie is in first half  of movie no speaks in anything and its amazing that it doesn’t feel like pantomime at all , else we realize we are so involved in story that now we want to know what will happen with Wall- E

The way emotions are delivered through eyes and movements of  Wall – E and Eva , Pixar made us falling in love with the Cute Couple ever!

This year Wall-E, has won the Oscar for best animated feature film prize.

Now we are desperately waiting Pixar’s new Best Movies , don’t we ?

WALL-E’s Wall of Accomplishments

http://walleforum.com/index.php?topic=978.0

“We are committed to CANI! ” click here

Just imagine for second that I’m representative of PIXAR Studio (it feels awesome!).  I approach to you, “Sir, tell me any date, I’ll give you 3 minutes, hit me with your best, doesn’t matter you come today, after months or a year! Show me what you got?  All the best. Thank You!”

How does it feel? What will be your steps? Are you thinking or not? Let me tell you one thing, its not hypothetical situation, this day will come. But here is the question; don’t you think that we should be prepared for this day? Start from right now. Think that you already have got a call and you have to prepare.

[If you are just starting in Animation, your first response will be “3 minutes, are you kidding?”

But I’m not, believe me! Every year there are Global Competitions for 2 to 8 minutes short animated movies. Some of us call it “Demo Reel” or “Show Reel”.]

So here is magic formula . . . Don’t get excited, (There is no magic formula, like a Secret Ingredient in Kung fu Panda.) But will make A Magic Formula.
For that we will start with First and Most important variable. (Ya this is the magic ingredient.)

What makes the best?  Let’s find out. You must have seen many best movies of Best studios Like Disney, PIXAR, Warner Brothers, DreamWorks… As an audience you loved that movies don’t you? So what’s that which makes you fall in love with them?

In that movies we sing with characters, they made us laugh, sometimes excited, some times when shark comes we think he is coming after us, we care for the heroes. Sometimes we feel, “I wish I could help him”

Are you realizing the Magic Variable? It’s our involvement…

Ya “Audience Involvement”  is the magic ingredient.  You can see that in every best Animation Movie.  No matter its Toy Story, A bug’s Life, All Disney Movies, Kung Fu Panda, Ratatouille and All (that we loved).  Audience Involvement comes with three Basic Parts.

1.    Story
2.    Character
3.    Emotions

I know that what are you thinking, that what about Motions then?  Remember this, audience believe that whatever way the character moves it suppose to be moved this way.

Let me simplify, whatever the animator do for walking, jumping… and all actions the viewer considers that they are normal (how insane is that?). They don’t know it’s so much difficult to animate running horse, but they wonder that what beautiful horse is doing in story. , how does he feel? what  is his motive behind the motion?   And human eye easily find faults in motion, for that one need not to be an expert.

For Audience Involvement, motion should be clean so that it won’t distract their common sense.

Let’s look at the Story part; the story must be entertaining and simple with traditional approach.

(The Setup – Conflict – Resolution)

Always remember that “Bad story can not be survived by the Best Animation and Bad Animation can not be survived by Best story”.

For holding audience it does not mean that your story should be suspense.  And similarly most of the time people get misunderstood that Entertaining means the one which is Comic, no way!  We don’t need to create forced Comedy sequence if it’s not the part of the script.

Don’t create circus either.

Now look at the Characters, on the stage, character become alive when it moves the way it should and makes his decisions himself.

The personality is important part of it.  The most important part is that it should be like human i.e. it should have some human characteristics (emotions, physics etc).

That makes easier for him to be with audience.

There are presumptions about some animals or type of caricature already in audience’s mind. They are generalizations use them effectively. (Like wolf is mean, rabbit is helpless, etc). There can exceptions too. That is creating a scorpion as kind creature, it will be challenging but it’s possible.
Like they have done in Shrek, the lead character looks slight ugly but they made him Hero (awesome!)

Finally Emotions, it’s very important, the physiology, facial expressions and dialogs, constitute emotions of character on screen. You must find out the kind of message character wants to deliver through his emotions. The mean character is mean when he does, speaks, behaves mean. The stupid character is stupid because his way of behaving through his actions, words and expressions.

You have to master all these skills of emotions; you are the one who brings them to life.

Finally at the end lets see what we have learned about Magic Ingredient “Audience Involvement” , It consists three things that must be best and that are “ Good Story”, “Characters”, “Emotions” and one that is hidden “Clean Motions”

I’ll discuss in detail all the three things that are essential for “Audience Involvement” and   in upcoming articles.

In next article I’ll discuss about the “Story”

Stay with me, we will definitely make the Magic formula for Best Animation Movie (It may be of 2 minutes or of 2 Hours) don’t we?
Thank You… 

Mahesh

For All Animation Story Writing Lessons click here

“We are committed to CANI! ” click here

In nature every species that exists have to struggle for its survival. During its existence  of its herd/community , the herd goes through some development period some downfalls , some period of growth. . . but still finally  it becomes  an  “endangered species “ .

All the periods define some golden history that guides the new generation . Same is true for our Animation herd .

The movie starts with  humble beginning “In the memory of Walt ( Disney ) “ ( Just in case he is still watching ).

The  movie describes all the story from   first generation of Animation (Classical Animation) to Our generation .  It refers First Generation Animator as  “ ANIMATICUS DRAWERSAURUS ” .

Drawing was the base of Animation , slowly the drawing was used for motion of objects .  Thoughts became things and finally things came alive.  The Animation herd was growing . At first it was believed that sound was not necessary for Animation and Animator should not need the knowledge of sound . But with time period sound was used very effectively . Music and words from things , characters made Animation a magic stick that would give  Life to any thing . During this  development period the Greatest Powerful Leader  (Walt Disney) was introduced who guided the Animators throughout their work . Many breakthroughs were achieved by the Animation Community. Unique style of Animation, storytelling methods, basic principals were developed . The first generation Animation was at its peak still there were some challenges that had to come in the way and then unfortunate thing happened, the  death of leader ( Walt Disney )!
Now at that time corporate strategies were changing, new conditions were raised. The herd became alone and unprotected.  The new arrivals from new generation were not so good. The bizarre Animation work was introduced, the first generation was becoming old. Then changes in technology, corporate methodologies all this were making the first generation helpless. Still the some good changes in new generation were occurring.  The part of new generation (The Brilliant Studio PIXAR) learned the classical Animation methods of storytelling, innovation and excellence and used them for new technology called “3D” for the first time 3D Animation was introduced. Now after that the youngest generation picked up the new technology, After the 100 golden years of Pencil it was feeling like end of PENCILS . . .

What happens next?

Is it really end of Pencils?

Are you excited? For that please watch the Movie “Endangered Species “
In 8 mins Tony takes us through very exciting journey of 100 Years.

Here is the Link: http://www.savevid.com/watch.php?id=62664
Thank You very Much  . . . Wish Very Happy New Year . . Bye Bye 

The Comment of Mr. ROY DISNEY on “Endangered Species”:

“ In the last 20 years , the so called “digital revolution”  has brought sweeping changes to Animation or at least that is the perceived wisdom as we hear it from the outside world . You will hear that “Everything has changed ” that “pencils are no longer required” and most demanding of all “2D is dead!!”

Before we all go out and hang ourselves in despair, let me recommend that you sit down and watch “Endangered Species” , so you can see that Animation has been in a state of evolution from very its inception, that it continues to evolve, and most of all , that there is nothing to fear.”

“We are committed to CANI! ” click here