Friday, August 31, 2018

The Illusionist - Acting Analysis for Animators

For this Acting Analysis for Animators upload I take a look at the magician movie "The Illusionist"! How can you come across as arrogant, annoyed and high status all through body acting? Look no further than Rufus Sewell!

Saturday, August 25, 2018

THANK YOU and submit your QUESTIONS!

I want to thank everybody who watches my clips! Crazy town that I passed 2000 subscribers! I really appreciate all the interest!

 Now that I've covered a lot of the "pre-production" (as I loosely call this) aspect of animation, focusing on ideas, planning, approach, references, etc. it's time to move towards the middle block, namely "production". In the upcoming weeks and months I'm going to talk about blocking, workflows, tool tips, animation tips, show demos, share files, and so on! After that we will take a look at "post-production", which will cover rendering, presentation, sound, music, demo reel, dos and don'ts and much more.

 SO!

 Now is the time to ask questions! Is there anything you want me to cover? Anything I missed? Anything for future FNAs? I have a long list on my end but I want to make sure that your questions are answered! Thanks again for watching!!

 Cheers
JD

Friday, August 24, 2018

Q&A with the 50 Ways Guy and Animator Kevin Parry


Take Shelter - Acting Analysis for Animators - part 2

Continuing the Acting for Animators analysis with part 2 of "Take Shelter, I take a look at non verbal communication of the grumpy kind and how important posture, gestures and timing are in conveying emotions.


Sunday, August 19, 2018

How to add CHARACTER to your ANIMATION

Character animators are focusing on... character, as the name says. How to animate a character and especially how to create a character is a daunting task and easier said than done! This clip will hopefully give you a few guidelines and tips on how to achieve exactly that.

Animation Workshop Jose Molina #5


Friday, August 17, 2018

ER (Season 1) - Acting Analysis

Another look at season 1 of the TV show "ER", specifically episode 16 "Make of Two Hearts" and 20 "Full Moon, Saturday Night".
Of course John Carter (played by Noah Wyle) with his awesome pantomime actions and reactions is back, as well as another sequence with different actors showcasing the same topic: how the end of a lip-sync piece doesn't have to be the end of your performance.


Saturday, August 11, 2018

Writing Characters Without Character Arcs


The Steven Spielberg "L System"


I love CONFLICT

When your characters are faced with a problem they have to make choices to fix those problems and those choices will reveal their true character. Conflict can be a springboard for comedy, drama, suspense, etc. and a great way to show off your animation skills and an opportunity to go beyond movement and more into character based performance. One of my favorite clips on Youtube serves as today's example illustrating my point. The timing is great and his choice to fix his "problem" still cracks me up!

Friday, August 10, 2018

Extinction - Acting Analysis

When you animate a character make sure that the acting choices are appropriate to the scene, the environment and the context, and not something that seems out of place. It's not just about how to animate a character in terms of movement but also in terms of character choices and the choices will be influenced by what's going on around the character.


Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Burnout & Overworking Yourself

Take care of yourself!

ANIMA PODI - Teaser

As Cartoon Brew writes:

Famed French Animation School Gobelins Announces Free Online Animation Course... Gobelins, l’École de l’image, the Paris institution renowned for its department of animation, announced their new free massive open online course (MOOC) last month at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. Anima Podi, as the MOOC is dubbed, will be a six-week, computer animation training program that begins on October 17.

Head over here for more info and watch the trailer below:


Bang Bang!

Boogie Nights & Goodfellas: When Karma Comes Around

Gotta watch both movies again, they're so good!


Chris McCormick Blizzard Animation Reel 2018

SMALLFOOT - Final Trailer


Saturday, August 4, 2018

How an environment can make your animation BETTER! - part 3

Let's conclude (for now) the series about how the environment can make your character animation better by looking at Django Unchained, extreme weather conditions as well as examples and ideas to make your animation stand out. And why wouldn't you try to talk about Bodysnatchers? :)


Friday, August 3, 2018

Warcraft Cinematic - “Old Soldier”


Take Shelter - Acting Analysis - part 1

This Acting Analysis clip take a look at Jeff Nichols' fantastic movie "Take Shelter". There's a lot to cover so this is part 1 for now, and the sequence I'm looking at is very short but hopefully serves as a springboard for ideas in terms of how you can showcase your main actor's character through their interaction with surrounding minor characters, in this case a father and his daughter. It's a small moment but I really like the idea of secondary action in shots and if you can establish a broader canvas of your character through that then then why not try it out in your next shot?