12 Concepts to Animation Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston in their book “The Illusion of Life” Principles in action - link iples/12%20principles.htm

SQUASH AND STRETCH  This action gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character as it moves. Examples: A bouncing ball expands on impact Feet appear longer and flatter when hitting pavement

ANTICIPATION  This movement prepares the audience for a major action the character is about to perform such as starting to run, jump or change expression. Example:  Jumping character would bend knees and swing arms back

STAGING  A pose, action or background that clearly communicates to the audience the attitude, mood, reaction or idea of the character as it relates to the story and continuity of the story line. Example:  Seeing a character in the distance with their head in their hands sets the stage for a sad mood, the sky or surrounding area can ‘set the stage’ for a happy/sad mood

STAGING

STRAIGHT AHEAD AND POSE TO POSE ANIMATION  Strategy for developing your animation  Straight ahead animation - start at the first drawing and work drawing to drawing to the end of a scene  Pose to Pose - planned out and charted drawings with key drawings done at intervals throughout the scene. The gaps are filled in.

STRAIGHT AHEAD AND POSE TO POSE ANIMATION

FOLLOW THROUGH AND OVERLAPPING ACTION  Follow Through - means that separate parts of a body will continue moving after the character has stopped.  Arms or long hair move after character’s motion has stopped.  Overlapping Action - when a character changes direction, and parts of the body continue in the direction he was previously going. Example:  Bugs Bunny stops turns around, but his legs continue in the opposite direction.

FOLLOW THROUGH AND OVERLAPPING ACTION No follow throughFollow through

SLOW-OUT AND SLOW-IN  An animation looks more realistic if it has more frames near the beginning and end of a movement, and fewer in the middle, As action starts, there should be more drawings near the starting pose, less in the middle, and more drawings near the next pose. Slow-ins and slow- outs soften the action, making it more life-like.  More drawings make the action slower. Old lady driving should take many frames for slow action  Fewer drawings make the action faster Car chase should take less frames for fast action

SLOW-OUT AND SLOW-IN The ball on the left moves at a constant speed with no squash/stretch. The ball in the center does slow in and out with a squash/stretch. The ball on the right moves at a constant speed with squash/stretch.

ARCS  All actions, with few exceptions (such as the animation of a mechanical device), follow an arc or slightly circular path  Arcs give animation a more natural action and better flow  A thrown ball travels in a curve, not a straight line

ARCS

SECONDARY ACTION  This action adds to and enriches the main action, rather than take attention away from the main action  Adds more dimension to the character animation, supplementing and/or re-enforcing the main action.  Example: As a horse runs, its mane and tail follow the movement of the body.

SECONDARY ACTION

TIMING  The pace of the action  The more drawings between poses, the slower and smoother the action. Fewer drawings make the action faster and crisper.  Expertise in timing comes with experience and experimentation, use the trial and error method.

TIMING

EXAGGERATION  Exaggeration is a caricature of facial features, expressions, poses, attitudes and actions…reality in a wilder, more extreme form  Example: Bugs Bunny sees a girl and his eyes bug out of his head.

EXAGGERATION

SOLID DRAWING  The basic principles of drawing weight, depth, light, shadow and balance and the illusion of three dimensions.  Example: Your drawing should be proportionate, arms or legs should NOT mirror one another, illustrations should include shadow and depth

APPEAL  An animated character needs appeal. Appealing animation does not mean just being cute and cuddly. All characters have to have appeal whether they are heroic, villainous, comic or cute.  Example: Ursula in The Little Mermaid is a character you love to hate Ariel is lovable