newartofanimation

Mark Mayerson posted an excellent review about the recently released book ‘The World History of Animation’ by Stephen Cavalier and lists a series of errors he discovered in the book. Importantly, the focus of the review is on the errors he found. As I read through, I was nodding my head in agreement until the following one…

Mark states:

On page 97, Cavalier says that Steamboat Willie was half finished before Disney made the decision to make it a sound cartoon. This is wrong. The synchronization that is Steamboat Willie’s great advance was due to planning the musical beats in advance of animation.

While I don’t know where Cavalier gets his idea for the movie being ‘half finished’ and then retooling as a sound cartoon, I am inclined to believe he correct for a number of reason. Space only permits me at this time to pursue one except to say that the argument suggesting planning musical beats in advance of animation began with ‘Steamboat Willie’ doesn’t hold up. Even before this film music was considered a very important part of animation. I’m no expert there so perhaps we can explore that aspect further after I’ve studied it.

The most compelling evidence to suggest Cavalier is at least mostly correct is the storyboard for ‘Steamboat Willie’. Note how right after the “-Main Title” there are very specific instructions for a live orchestra. The way it is written cannot be instructions for and orchestra enlisted to record a sound movie because of its suggestion to create various arrangements coupled with its emphasis to hit certain cues. I must say it certainly reads as written for a live performing orchestra. If the film was not intented for live orchestra accompaniment then this document’s origin should be considered suspect.

My thought: Since at this time not all theaters were likely equipped to play sound in sync with moving pictures, Disney probably targeted theaters both with and without the technology. Given that cartoons were often held onto and reworked until they fit into proper scheduling, I think it reasonable to say Walt Disney originally did not plan the movie to be gifted with sound but saw the opportunity and took advantage of it. (I seem to recall the xsheets/draft indicate several strategic additions to allow Mickey some breathing space…. I’m willing to guess it was for sound).

At a minimum, the storyboard suggests the author’s assertion of the film being half way done before shifting to sound may require further thought. Knowing Cavalier’s reference would certainly shed some more light on the subject.

Respectfully submitted for your consideration.

None of this detracts in the least from Mark’s review so everyone should check it out!
Mark’s Blog: http://mayersononanimation.blogspot.com/2012/01/review-world-history-of-animation.html

Wanna be an animator?

By my calculations…
In order to be the animator that you want to be you’ll have to draw at least 27 drawings a day.

Wanna be a comic book artist?
In comic books this would equate to (a minimum) of one finished page (of pencils) per day.
I haven’t factored it but I’m going to guess a comic strip artist should average three (rough) strips every day while completing at least one (a fourth from a previous rough) every day.

If you take off on weekends (which you should) you may need to put in a little more time during the weekdays. Rough out those extra drawings to get the ideas down on paper.

This image is a little hard to read but read what is inside and around the boxed area.

So, what does this really mean?

Draw more than one drawing a day!

Here’s a close up to help it sink further into the brain:

I enjoyed looking at this drawing from Disney’s ‘The Fox and the Hound’ and thought I’d explore it a little. It is likely drawn by Glen Keane (I have no reason to think otherwise).

There is a danger of reading too much into an artist’s intent so this is not so much of an exercise into what Keane was thinking as he drew as it is one of getting into the idea of how forces and forms, personal spaces, points of view and such flow through ever scene and are there waiting to be discovered by us.

In the final image you can see two boxes in the lower left and upper right corners. These are spaces that reflect what the character is actually seeing. Although I haven’t made an attempt to draw them, it’s a pretty safe bet that when looking at the scene we’ll see some of these POV shots briefly in order to keep us fully immersed, caught up in the emotions, and empathetic to the characters.

When personal space diminishes to where two people are face to face or nose to nose (or at least reasonably close) the two are either in love or in conflict. Either way they are fully engaged in the moment.

There are many words come to mind while viewing this image but the one I’m feeling the most is ‘tension’. These two are not in love. So, we are storing up energy as we anticipate the release of the intentions of two characters motivated by too little personal space. The conflict is dictating… forcing… something to happen.

I’d have to compare this drawing to what appears in the film to see what made it all the through but I’m also attracted to the sloping ground plane. Note how gravity (the gravity of the shot and the situation) is not working in favor of the fox. It’s almost as if he’s about to slide under the mass of the bear. It would certainly take more effort for him to move up and out of screen left and he can’t escape through the ground. The only other option is to meet this monstrous bear head on and fight!

At any rate… that Glen Keane sure does some nice drawing.
If anyone knows where to find the other six drawings associated with this key drawing, I’d love to see all of them in sequence and in context.

Source of image: Rossini Auctions (http://www.rossini.fr/html/fiche.jsp?id=1103120)

The mean ol’ Owl that stole the moon.

Ah, well.
Maybe the heroes will get it back by the end of the year.

I suppose you could call this something of an inking job over a character sketch by a young artist in the Bluth community by the unlikely name of imagineerwannabe. Parents sure do name their kids strange names these days. But, IMPORTANTLY, the i-man has created a really fun character and he calls him ‘Dossier’… a very cool name!

In the forum he posted his initial sketch and then requested commentary… but added ‘I will accept no critic’. I only mention this because this has become more than just a trend. Critiques (and therefore critics) are exactly the people you want to get feedback from. Those are the one who should be giving both POSITIVE and NEGATIVE feedback. Not negative in the sense that they cannot explain why they dislike something or worse, the they hate something for some personal reason… those aren’t real critics and you can immediately discount them. Seek criticism from people whose opinions (pro or con) you value!

A true friend is someone who (if and when it was proper) say to your face what other people wouldn’t only say behind your back. While not always pleasant, feedback of this form is extremely valuable. When you get criticism don’t take it personally, a good critic will expect you to accept what you agree with and throw the rest out.

At any rate… that’s just my thoughts on the matter.

Great job thus far on this guy. this Dossier looks like a really interesting fellow.

This particular drawing was inked over the original sketch with my finger on a 2inch x 2inch laptop stylus pad. The left arm (screen right) is something I added.

More on this later but for now… a comparison of sorts.
Some visual cues have been removed/mixed to alter two images from a fairly harsh review via The Verge.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying the review and hope to return to it again and carefully consider it more. It is in the analysis of these gaps in our understanding that we further our learning, innovation and improvement.

Now… at a quick glance (without looking for minute details) which is the original and which the Inkling repro? (Don’t give yourself time to be tricked/influenced by other visual cues)

Now, having selected… can you explain the reasons for your choosing?

This site is not recommended to you for the software: Although TV Paint is a great program!
It is recommended because of the excellent insight into the process of animation you will find there.

Read Chelea’s post on how to determine Breakdowns and Inbetweens based on established Timing and Extremes and if at the end of it all this timing chart business still isn’t making sense, that is okay.
Just let it sink in. It will someday.

Apologies to Chelsea if the editing is too heavy handed in the PDF!

TIMING CHARTS – Determining Inbetweens by the Timing and Keyframes

You should have been there.