Performance and Character - Weeks 1 - 4

Wall Climb & Throw

The first thing that came to mind when I heard we were doing a 'wall climb', was the iconic scene from one of my favorite films, 'Shaun of the Dead', where the main character Shaun, attempts to jump over a fence, only to fail. I thought incorporating a failed climb would be more interesting to animate than a competent action.

After watching and analyzing this scene again, with the knowledge how much character motivation, mood, experiences and personality majorly impacts the performance of actions, I can see why I and many others found this scene so entertaining and humorous. This is mainly through how the cockiness and confidence of Shaun prior to his fall is shown through his walk cycle, expression and open postures, and how that juxtaposes with how Shaun acts after being humiliated, as he is seen to be trying the brush it off as if nothing happened by moving quickly and through heavy footsteps and posture, shows that he is genuinely annoyed with himself. 

I was very tempted to use this as reference for my final wall jump animation, as the superb performance by Simon Pegg could be effectively translated into a highly readable animation with character motives, expressions and performance already set up. The reason as to why I decided against this however, was the fact that Shaun's full body as he falls isn't seen within frame, meaning that I'd have to make assumptions on how the body would react to the impact. I still took this reference into consideration however, as I have decided to perform and record similar actions myself for my own primary material, which I plan to use as the main reference for my final animation, keeping in mind how Simon Pegg uses his acting ability to effectively communicate an emotion.

In order to further familiarise myself with this concept of using alternate styles of walking and posture to show different states of mind and class, I was tasked to film a scene which featured a person of high class, such as a king or queen, interacting with a person of much lower class, such and a servant. As this was intended to be a mime task, several videos regarding mime performance and silent cinema that we watched and analysed in class were heavily considered when performing my material, in order to portray a more readable character.

One of these videos was 'The Boy with Tape on his Face (BBC4)'. I found this video to be very enjoyable due to the character performance. It's interesting to see how that despite being silent, the performer still manages to effectively control the audience and their attention through only his gestures and his eyes, with the eyes and eyebrows being made to stand out deliberately due to the makeup used. However, I am more concentrated on the gestures, as I realise that is what I will mostly be focused on in this module's animations, and feel as though the performance would still have relatively the same impact without the facial expressions. I would personally categorize his acting style as being cartoon-like, as appose to theatrical or naturalistic, mainly through the ways that he mimics the guests' actions in a mocking and much more exaggerated manor, in order to humour the audience and control his guests. I feel as though this performance wouldn't work as well if it was in a theatrical or naturalistic style, as it isn't heavily concerned with communicating high amounts of drama which theatrical performances are intended for, and if it was naturalistic, no one would be able to tell what he is mocking and the humour that comes along with it. This has shown me how cartoon acting can be used effectively and when it is suitable.

On the topic of acting styles, we were also shown a stop motion animation of a character performing a 'death' in these three distinct styles. It was a very good way to get a clear idea of how these styles could be utilised.

The 'cartoon' style seems to heavily incorporate principals 2, 5 and 10 of 'The 12 Principals of Animation' from the book 'Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life' which are respectively anticipation, follow through and overlapping action, and exaggeration, which are all used to stretch the suspension of disbelief for the the entertainment of the audience, yet without looking off or wrong. This style I feel would be best reserved for slapstick or straight comedy.

The 'theatrical' style seems to focus on principals 3, 9 and 10 of the animation principals which are respectively staging, timing, and again exaggeration, which are all used to direct the audiences attention, making it clear what is the greatest importance in a scene, and emphasize and emotion or feeling. It uses clear and distinct silhouettes for the characters. This style I feel would be best reserved for besides obviously theater, animations that are focused on dramatizing a feeling or situation. 

The 'naturalistic' style still uses all the appropriate animation principals, but only to an extent that would closely mimic reality. This style I feel is the least interesting of the three, as it is what we are all used to seeing, however could be difficult to animate well due to the subtlety involved when communicating specifically. This would be best reserved for anything looking to create a realistic or a believable experience. Motion Capture is often used for this effect.

With all this knowledge of performance styles, I thought that it would be a suitable time to record my footage of the King & Servant. I wasn't able to get anyone to perform this task with me, so I attempted to act out both roles in separate takes. This may have caused me a slight disadvantage as I wasn't able to improvise as the other actor performed his/her role, which could have resulted in a more genuine and believable performance. It did however, give me a chance to act as both roles, therefore giving me an idea on how to act as two very juxtaposed roles. I am still not confident in front of a camera, but hope to turn that around during this module, as I realise how important acting as a character of my creation can be to use as reference material.

I attempted to give the king a very outwards pointing posture, otherwise known as an open gesture, in order to show confidence, and shown his power through heavy and emphasized footsteps. I also included an action where I look upwards and in the opposite direction of where the servant would supposedly be, in order to show that due to his power, the king completely disregards the servant like he is nothing. Although I can still see my lack of confidence come through in the performance, I still feel as though I have communicated a lot of little touches which will give the audience an idea of what this character is. For the servant, I had to idea to have a slouched, closed and effortless posture, to show unwillingness and contempt, but then quickly switch that expression to a upright posture who appears to be working a lot harder when supposedly washing a window, as soon as the figurative king walks in, thus showing obedience, cowardliness, shame and fear in the character that I have created, before turning to his previous stance when he thinks the king is out of sight. I am glad that I included this drastic change of expression, as it gives a much clear sense of character, despite me again not being entirely satisfied with my performance.

This task has shown me how much having a character in mind whilst performing, changes the way in which you do so greatly, so fleshing out a character prior to performing an action as that character should benefit me for filming reference material. I do wish to massively improve my skills in this area however, as I still don't feel confident in front of a camera, but hopefully, after seeing how beneficial this can be, I will do so.

Character Bio

It was at this point that I finally felt ready to start fleshing out a bio for the character that I intend to use in my 'wall climb and throw animation'. I thought out a character that I felt would work in the situation I had created for the context of the animation, but from that I feel as though I have developed enough about this character that I could take it further and go into a full length story. This will be beneficial for this short animation however, as any of the experiences or motives that relate to the character will be considered when filming the reference material. Although I am relatively inexperienced with it, storytelling has always been something I wanted to get into, so I am anticipating producing more of these in the future.

Name : Otto Burst

Gender: Male

Age: 27

Ethnicity: Caucasian, grew up in Shropshire, England. Has a British mother and a supposedly French father who he has never met.

Family: Only still in speaking terms with his mother, who he still speaks to everyday and tries to visit as much as he can since he indirectly caused her to split from her husband, but lives in a rented flat with his friend Gary, who he views to be his brother. He has had a girlfriend since the age of 25 who he met at work, named Mini.

Intelligence: Slightly bellow average intelligence, but always well meaning despite the trouble he causes for himself and others.

Education: Went straight to work after secondary school and only sitting 3 GCSE's in science, French and media, following on from his two year older friend, Gary who done the same despite quitting work for good two years after he joined.

Occupation: Used car salesman, which he got with help from Gary who's Dad worked there.

Religion: Doesn't like to get involved in the topic as he rarely thinks too deeply about life, but is most likely agnostic.

Sexual orientation: Straight, been single and without experience his whole life until he met his girlfriend at age 25.

Goals, ambitions, dreams and secrets: All he wishes is that the three closest to him, Gary, his Mum and Mini are happy and never lose contact with him. He doesn't wish that much would change about his life as it is now, only that Gary would start paying rent and getting a job so they could afford a bigger place that Mini and his Mum could also move into. He tries to keep his rare psychotic outbursts of anger a secret from those three, but isn't afraid to show it when they're not around.

Fears/phobias: His ex-stepdad, being alone.

Favourate kind of music: Only listens to soundtracks from his favourate video games, but can still appreciate pop music.

Sense of humour: Slapstick, in general comedy that you don't have to think much about.

Adrenaline moments: Despite acting chilled and relaxed to his loved ones, when tension builds and they're not around, he often isn't afraid to let his anger out and lash out at others, often regretting it.

Physical description: Isn't overly fit as he has never seen to need to get fitter, but eats relatively well and keeps himself well presented.

Physical disabilites: Despite being clumsy and heavy handed often, he hasn't got any physical disabilities. 

The situation - After having a stressful day having to work overtime as a car salesman, Otto walks to his flat, only to find he can't get in as he left his keys at work. His flatmate would normally be in at this time, but for some reason he is not today. After attempting to contact him countless times, he gives up and rushes back to work, long after it being open to the public. He found no place of entry to the area of his work establishment where he left his keys. Otto checks his watch, and notices that it is only 30 minutes away from his weekly dinner date with Mini at their favourate restaurant. Fortunately, its only a five minute walk away from his current location, but he still has no access to a spare change of clothes and still stinks from the stress of his work. Otto then decides to instead head straight for the restaurant, allowing him to freshen up in the toilets and be there within plenty of time, with the hopes of going back to Mini's place after. The time came when they were supposed to meet, but yet no sign of Mini. Another hour passed, and still nothing. Angrier than he's ever been, Otto runs outside with his half drunken yet 6th glass of cider in hand, and heads for his work. Arriving there, wanting nothing more than his keys to go home, he promptly threw his glass at the window with enough force to smash it, alerting some nearby (what seem to be police), to chase him down an alley, where he climbs over a wall and hides behind it. Panicked, he then turned to the one person who hasn't let him down today, his Mum. Otto rings her, only to find his phone has run out of battery, he violently throws it at the wall in anger, and proceeds to run onwards.

Now that I had a story and character that I felt was suitable for the subject matter, I felt ready to proceed to the filming reference material stage. I feel as though I was able to communicate this character a bit more confidently than the king/servant, though I still feel as though there is some work to be done.

I feel as though I managed to incorporate many elements into my short performance that do justice to the character that I have established in the bio, such as the clumsiness as he lands and stumbles subtlety to the ground, the impatient throw of the phone and the urgency regarding to the situation that he is in. Saying that however, despite using my best takes, there are quite a few elements that I wish I had added/changed and a few changes that I would like to make technically in future reference videos. 

Something that I wish I had added was a panicked look over the wall as I was holding the phone up to my face crouched down, in order to better communicate the situation and give more urgency. Fortunately though, I feel I could easily add this into my animation if I extended the length slightly as it is a relatively simple movement. Another issue I have with this is the height of the 'wall' that I jumped over, as it could be considered a more of 'jump' than a 'climb', although according to the dictionary definition, I technically am still climbing over it. Regardless, in order to show a greater amount of effort and tension, I will exaggerate the height of the wall in the animation, keeping in mind the greater amount of anticipation and weight distribution to be considered.

From a more technical viewpoint, I will ensure for my next reference recording, that I get a tripod to position the camera rather than allowing it to be filmed by a friend, as a still and steady shot would be much more beneficial for judging distance traveled, and the footage itself would be easier to record from. The cut midway through the footage, which was a result of piecing together two of the best shots, is also something that I would like to eradicate from future videos, as it doesn't flow nicely.

The next step was a rather tedious but I hope helpful part of my animation process. I go through the video frame by frame, and roughly note down any noteworthy movements at their designated frame. This has before proved to be very useful in previous projects for using as a base for my bar sheet, because all elements of interest are already indicated, and all I need to do is translate it into a more easily readable format for myself when it comes to animating. 

Notes from video analysis

This semester, we were given freedom to complete any animation we want in whatever format we feel is most appropriate to us, whether it be stop motion, 3D (Maya) or 2D. As far as my interests lie, 2D is definitely the area that I would want most to go into, so I am anticipating expanding my skills in that area further in future animations during this topic, however I feel as though due to my familiarity with 3D and the ease of using Maya at my own pace, a complex movement such as this would be best created this way, thus allowing me to build up my skills in 2D on a simpler animation. I also would not like to rule out stop motion, and hope to use that in the future.

Re-familiarizing myself with Maya didn't take too long, However we were asked to move on from the 'buckid' rig, meaning that I had to learn how to control a brand new rig, and after controlling multiple, I can conclude that rigs vastly vary in terms of controls and complexity. It didn't take me long to settle on a rig, as I found a rig which lacked any facial or complex exterior controls, which not only meant that it would be easier to wrap my head around after only being familiar with the relatively simple Buckid rig, but also meant that as I am focusing on character performance, it would allow me to study further how communicate emotions and situations through actions and postures alone, without 'cheating' by giving the emotion away via facial expressions. This rig was called 'Keith', and I intend to use him in the future, but may also use the much more visually appealing, yet complicated rig 'Walter', as I understand that would work better on show-reels for the future, despite his highly irritating face.

Keith Rig

Walter Rig

I knew that for the greatest quality of animation, simply translating the reference material frame-by-frame wouldn't help, as I feel that blindly emulating reality too much could result in a rather dull and uninteresting video, as the animation principals among other adjustments would likely liven it up. Rather, I just used these notes as a guide for how the body reacts in the movements shown. 

Things which I added/adapted are as follows:

- Had Otto look behind the wall before dropping down

- Added the look over the wall whist down

- Extended some follow-through actions and exaggeration 

- Due to the lack of expression on the rig, I made the frustration at the phone more evident by adding violent shakes of the mobile

Here is the animation as it stands now. I have reached a point where I am willing to say that I am pleased with how it has turned out. However, I am not ruling out that I may very well come back and alter aspects of this animation that appear off as they become clear over time, which is one of the beautiful things about Maya. One of my main concerns was that as I knew the story, it may not communicate the same to others, therefore I found it essential to gather other people's thoughts on it to see if I have communicated it as well as I intended, and in the process see if there are any technical errors in the animation itself. I did this by posting it on the UoS animation FB page, and the response was overwhelmingly positive, however there were a few comments which granted me with some constructive criticism.

Comment on my FB post

I will look into ways that I can prevent this from being a problem with my animation in the future, and am grateful for the feedback. But for now, I am extremely happy with what I have accomplished and have learnt some things which I will take into account in my next animation exercises;

- Use a static camera when filming reference material

- Try to improve confidence when acting in front of the camera

- Make sure the story will be clear to those who are unfamiliar

- Have a firm grasp of the character when filming reference material

- Next, expand my abilities to another form of animation (Preferably 2D)

https://vimeo.com/239899177