"Open Season" Animation Reel

A compilation of shots I animated on "Open Season" at Sony Imageworks in Culver City, Los Angeles, back in 2005. This was a really fun film to work on; Boog and Elliot were great characters, with lots of opportunities for broad, cartoony animation.  Thanks to Sony Pictures for the opportunity to work on this excellent film. 

Why Animators "Progress The Action"

Brer Fox: "I specs I'm gonna skin ya"

One of the most common mistakes made by junior animators is not progressing the action in their animation.  In other words, creating animation that is too static and immobile and, well, not animated.

"Progressing the Action" is a concept developed in the Animator's Survival Kit, in which Williams describes it as the "secret of lipsync".  But what does progressing the action really mean?

How To Time Eye Darts

One common mistake made by junior animators is to leave out eye darts - those rapid changes of eye direction that show that a character is thinking. 

Or, the animator includes eye darts, but they are too slow and mushy to feel believable. So how do animators time eye darts? Eye darts should be super quick - ideally with no in-betweens at all. 

To time an eye dart correctly, you simply pop from one pose to another, with a one frame cushion to ease in to the final pose.  To see how to animate an eye dart, watch the video below. 

Why Animators Need a Change of Expression

"Ruber" animation by Alex Williams

One of the most common mistakes made by junior animators is the “frozen face.” A character might be moving beautifully through space—walking, talking, gesturing—but if their expression never shifts, the scene feels flat and lifeless. 

Why? Because real people don’t hold one expression for long.  In real life, our faces are in constant, subtle motion. Even when listening quietly, tiny changes in the eyebrows, mouth, or eyes reveal attention, doubt, curiosity, or impatience. These micro-shifts keep us alive and believable. In animation, a lack of change reads as stiffness or, worse, lifelessness.

Animating a Blink: Don't Forget the Eyebrows

Animation by Mark Masters

One common mistake made by junior animators is to animate a blink - but not to animate the eyebrows. 

 Don't forget also that when we blink our eyebrows are involved as well - even if just a little bit. 

So, when your character blinks, you should add a little motion on the eyebrows too; to create flexibility in the face and make the overall motion feel less stiff. This small tip will make your character's face feel more flexible and more alive.

Animators Need an Equal (and Opposite) Reaction

Monty sneeze - with top hat reaction

One of the quickest ways to give your animation weight and believability—even in the wildest, wackiest cartoon world—is to respect a core principle of physics: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

This doesn’t mean your characters need to obey Newton's laws with documentary accuracy. What it does mean is we should obey the laws of Cartoon Physics.  

Why Animators Should Hold Their Poses Longer

Character pose by Mark Masters

One of the common mistakes made by junior animators is the “default face.” A character smiles, frowns, gasps — and then, almost instantly, snaps back to a bland neutral expression.  It’s as if the performance forgets itself. 

This also happens in lipsync; where the character will make a vowel or consonant; then snap back into a default mouth shape much too quickly. Much better to hold the vowel or consonant longer, and really get the most out of the pose. 

Live Action Ref Should Match the Camera Angle

Anim Ref and Anim by Elin Berrio Pena

Most experienced animators know about the importance of shooting live action reference to create great animation. 

However, to get the best out of your reference, you should always be sure to match the correct camera angle in your shot. If you don't, the reference you shoot won't be nearly as useful.

Acting Advice from Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers

While doing some research recently on a project I stumbled across a quote from the late great Peter Sellers, on how he approached creating a character. 

Sellers said "I start with the voice. I find out how the character sounds...after the voice comes the looks of the man...after that I discover how the character walks...and then something strange happens...the man you play begins to exist."

It's the same with animation. 

How to Avoid "Zombie Eyes"

Try to avoid "zombie eyes"

Eye direction is one of the most important things to get right in animation. If your characters aren't looking at each other, or their eyes are wandering around, the effect is to produce "zombie eyed" characters, who don't seem to be looking at anything.  

So how do you avoid "Zombie Eyes"? The answer is, use the Eye Direction Controller, and always add a blink on a head turn. 

Michael Caine Acting Lessons For Animators

 

Animated characters need to look at each other, so their eyes don't wander around screen.  Watch the short video above with acting legend Michael Caine for some tips from the master of screen acting.  The video itself is a little dated (1980s) but the lessons remain just as important today.  According to Caine, the number one lesson for stage actors is to "hold on to each others' eyes".  And, what is true for stage actors is true for animators too.  You can watch Caine's acting advice in the video above - the important part is all in the first 5 minutes.

How to Use The Eye Direction Controller

Eye direction matters. If animated characters aren't looking at each other, or if the motion of the eyes feels weird and lifeless, the animation will lack believability.  Fortunately, most character rigs come with a "Look See" or "Eye Direction" controller, which control the character's eye direction, so that the eyes always seem to be focused and alert. To see how to use the "Look See" control with the Kayla rig (one of the rigs we recommend for learning animation), watch the short video above. 

Marc Stevenson Ranks No 4 in 11 Second Club

Congratulations to Animation Apprentice student Marc Stevenson on his successful entry into the March 11 Second Club - you can watch his animation "Horsin' Around" above.  Marc's entry was ranked no 4 in this month's 11 Second Club (out of 126 entries) - a very impressive result.  "The 11 Second Club" competition is a monthly contest in which animators compete to animate the most inventive and entertaining take on a piece of dialogue.

Character Animation by Muhanad Al Dasoqi

Above is an excellent piece of character animation by Animation Apprentice student Muhanad Al Dasoqi.  Having a great character animation piece on your demo reel is an important step in landing that crucial first job in the animation industry.  Animation studios are looking for animators who have good technical skills - but can also create genuinely entertaining work - the animation "X factor".

Is it Good? Animation by Lee Caller

"Is it good?" from Lee Caller on Vimeo.

Above is a fine acting shot animated by Animation Apprentice graduate Lee Caller, one of a number of pieces of animation that Lee has started lately, but - as he puts it - "rarely gets to finish".  In this case, the purpose of the demo was to show that great animation it not always all about over-the-top super-exaggeration, but more about subtle facial expressions and believable acting choices. The acting reference was taken from the TV series Killing Eve - you can see the original shot here: youtu.be/HDdhotN0Dnw?t=223

Character Animation by Joris Van Laar

Above is a charming character animation shot created by Animation Apprentice student Joris Van Laar.  It's a great example of how character animation can be funny and full of personality.  Joris used the almost-free Kayla rig, which you can read about here, and also created a well-designed set, with appealing textures and lighting.  Having a great character animation piece on your demo reel is an important step in landing that crucial first job in the animation industry.  Animation studios are looking for animators who have good technical skills - but can also create genuinely entertaining work - the animation "X factor".

Character Animation by David Davis

A number of our students are currently tackling the 11 Second Club, the monthly competition in which animators compete to bring a line of dialogue to life, testing not just their technical skills but also their powers of imagination. Students must find performance and acting choices that create an entertaining and well-realised piece of animation. In the example above, one of my former students David Davis demonstrates strong, well-chosen choices for this very witty piece of character animation.

Always Add a Blink on a Head Turn

When do we blink?

A common mistake made by junior animators is to forget to add blinks on their characters, especially on a head turn.  Everybody blinks a lot, but since we do it without noticing, we barely notice it.

In the video below, I explain why it is that characters need to blink much more often than you might think.  Our eyelids act much like the shutter of a camera, cutting on motion and editing out everything but the important information that we actually need to see. 

And, importantly, when you animate a blink, don't forget to add a little motion to the eyebrows as well. 

Why Animators Need To "Hit The Accent"

Hitting an accent - Animator's Survival Kit

Animators need to "hit the accents" in a line of dialogue.

By "accents", we're not talking here about a regional accent - say a Scottish or Welsh accent - we're talking about making it clear in the poses that the character is speaking the line of dialogue.

In this case an "accent" is the part of the line of dialogue that has emphasis, and need to be punctuated. Take a look at the example from the Animator's Survival Kit above and left.

How to Block Out a Pantomime Shot

Phone Call Blocking by Mark Masters

How do you block out and plan a pantomime animation - an animated scene without dialogue? The trick with animation is to plan it out thoroughly in advance.

In the case of pantomime animation, we teach a workflow that is reliable and dependable, one which will get your shots approved on time, with minimal aggravation.

The secret of success lies, as ever, in the planning. Plan your work properly and you won't go wrong.