Character animation crash course

ACTING IN ANIMATION -PART 1: GETTING STARTED
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It's a perfect visual indication of the rhythms and different timings you can have in
a scene before you even start drawing.
• Believability vs. Realism
The most important attribute your character can possess is that he exists on his own
terms: that his actions are a result of his thought processes, and that he has a consistent
weight and volume in space (and that these things are accepted by an audience
without question so that they can concentrate more on his expressions and performance).
His lip-sync and accents come from his personality and are believable for
his character. (Chuck Jones: "Bugs' walk isn't realistic, but it's believable.") It's not
about aping realism - it's about observation and caricature, utilized in such a way
that it convinces an audience of your character's existence. It could be nobody else
but that character.
• Think in pantomime.
A pantomime scene is automatically more difficult than a dialogue scene: A good
soundtrack can very often carry lukewarm animation, and still convey humor or
emotional content. ("Rocky and Bullwinkle" never had the time or budget for lavish
animation; in fact, they cheaped it out. However, they spent their dollars wisely on
great scripts and great voice talent.) Pantomime has no crutches- it is the animator,
center stage, alone! If the scene works without sound in conveying emotions and
physical properties, that's the acid test. (Jones: If the scene works without sound, it's
animation. If you can tell what's going on without picture, it's radio.) Moreover, the
types of things included in a good pantomime scene (strong attitude poses, good
timing, establishing and breaking rhythms, change of attitude) are also the same
types of things that shou ld be in a good dialogue scene.