Animation Tips & Tricks, Volume I - Animation Mentor

work, as rough as it may be, shown up there on the big screen to a room full of people who's job it is to judge you. You'll have to beopen to their comments. You'll have to listen to them talk about your mistakes.The first few times you're in dailies, this is the scariest thing in the world, but eventually your skin hardens into a criticism-repellingshell, and you can see the comments for what they truly are - people trying to make the project as good as it can be.Okay, I can feel myself being pulled down yet another tangential causeway into a whole new topic of being open to feedback, so I'mgoing to flip this boat around and get back to exaggeration before it's too late, and we're lost for all time...Exaggeration. How much is too much? It's too much if you break the rules of the universe your work takes place in (different rulesfor different projects, of course. The universe of the Matrix is slightly different than the universe of Star Wars, just as the universe ofthe Incredibles is slightly different than the universe of Toy Story, for example. And secondly, it's too much if you push things to thepoint where the audience does no longer clearly understand your work.And for both, the only way to know, is to (I know, how many times can I say this in one article?!) show it to someone. (That’s the lasttime, I swear).The whole point of exaggeration is to make things more clear, but it's easy to zip right by the world of clarity and into the Land OfConfusion, so be really careful, and get some other eyes on your work before you spend too much on it. (Oops, okay, THAT was thelast time. Really.)And like anything else, planning exaggeration is essential. You don't just guess. You don't just start scaling curves to create biggermovements all over the place. Exaggeration should be as carefully planned as any other aspect of your scene. If everything isexaggerated, your scene will be a mess. If only one thing is exaggerated, it's going to stick out like a sore thumb and feel veryunrealistic in all but the cartooniest work.Okay, that's it. See ya next time! And don’t forget to email me with your questions at tipsandtricks@animationmentor.com.Have fun, and keep animating!!30Copyright 2008 by AnimationMentor.com. All rights reserved. This ebook may not be reprinted or distributed in electronic, print, web, or other format withoutexpress written permission.