The piece of animation that I selected to watch was the “Under
The Sea” sequence in the The Little Mermaid.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC_mV1IpjWA)
What are the twelve definitions of animation?
1.
Squash and stretch – Gives the illusion of
weight and volume to a character as it moves. This technique is also useful in
animating dialogue and doing facial expressions. The “Under the Sea” we see
lots of examples with this, one in particular being a scene where a fish falls
and lands. The sequence also features dialogue and facial expressions.
2.
Anticipation – This movement prepares the
audience for a major action the character is about perform, such as running,
jumping or a change in expression. We see use of this many times before a
character is about to dance. We also see this with Ariel swimming and twirling.
3.
Staging – Cleary communicating to the audience
the attitude, mood, reaction or idea of the character as it relates to the
story or continuity of the story line, as well as the effective use of long,
medium or close up shots and camera angles. The lighting in this sequence is
especially effective because it goes from dark to light because in the sequence
Sebastian the crab is trying to convince Ariel to be happy with what she has
and he points out all of the good things about it.
4.
Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose – Straight
ahead animation is animation that starts at the first frame and works frame to
frame to the end of a scene. Pose to Pose is charted with key poses done at
intervals throughout a scene. Seen at the beginning of the musical number.
5.
Follow Through and Overlapping Action – Follow
through is when other parts of a character (a dress, floppy ears, hair, etc)
catch up to a character in motion. Overlapping is when the character changes
direction while his hair or clothes continues forward. This is all critical to
the timing and effectiveness of the animation. This can be seen with Ariel’s
hair, which is especially effective given that this is set underwater.
6.
Slow in and Slow Out – Slow-ins and Slow-outs
soften the action of the animation by having many drawing at the beginning and
end of a character’s pose, but not many in the middle. This serves to make the
movements or lifelike (with fewer it serves to create a surprise element or
shock appeal.) If you were to slow down parts of the number, you can catch
moments where the animation fades from one scene to the next.
7.
Arcs – Arcs give animation better flow and more
natural action. Head turns, arm movement, eye movements are executed on an arc.
This whole segment is filled with great, smooth movements, from swimming to
dancing.
8.
Secondary Action – Action that enriches the main
action (ex: Adding gestures or posture to a character to indicate a feeling or
emotion.) Secondary Action serves to add more dimension to the character
animation and reinforces the main idea. This sequence is full small details, like
Ariel’s little mouth quirk at 0:25, that indicates how she is feeling at that
time.
9.
Timing – The basic idea of timing is that more
frames between poses slow and smooth the action, while fewer drawing quicken
the action. We see a lot of this during the middle sequences of the number,
especially during the scenes when there there is a quick dance step and then a
moment when there is slower action (like Sebastian singing.)
10.
Exaggeration – A caricature of facial features
expressions, poses, attitudes and action. You see a lot of this is Sebastian’s
character and the background fish and sea creature characters, especially when
they are singing.
11.
Solid Characters – Applying the basic principles
of form, weight, volume solidarity and the illusion of three dimension.
Especially impressive given that the animators needed to provide a sense of
weightlessness in the underwater setting.
12.
Appeal – In an animated character, this means an
easy to read design, clear poses, and personality development that will get the
audience’s interest. The two main characters featured in this scene, Ariel and
Sebastian, have specific gestures and facial expressions that are unique to
them. Even the background characters seem to have little personalities built in
(some of the fish are exuberant, some are glum like the fish at 1:05)
Fred’s Fourteen Points of Animation
1.
Appeal in drawing – The character designs look
complete, creative and colorful. Their movements are fluid and their gestures
make sense with what is going on around them.
2.
Staging – The scene makes use of the lighting to
set the mood, as the character of Sebastian is attempting to make the sea seem
like an appealing place for Ariel to live, so the light and colors brighten up
during this number.
3.
Most interesting way? The film makes use of
color and creative designs for the set, colors and background characters in
this sequence, which adds to the a
4.
Is it the most entertaining way? I think the
sequence was well-done and entertaining. Lots of color, movement and details.
5.
Are you in character? The characters,
particularly the main characters with established personalities, were in
character. Ariel is a bit dreamy and is often looking away, whereas Sebastian
is very stern and practical and is constantly confronting Ariel (and the
viewer) directly.
6.
Are you advancing the character? While this
sequence doesn’t further the main character as much as say, “Part of your
World,” does, it does further prove Ariel’s complete disinterest in living
under the sea, and Sebastian’s desire for her to conform.
7.
Is this the simplest statement of the idea of
the scene? Well, this is a musical
number, so Sebastian could have just stopped at the line “The sea if your home!”
8.
Is the story point clear? This sequence is
pretty clear in both dialogue/lyrics and animation that Sebastian is trying to make
a good case for Ariel wanting to live under the scene.
9.
Are the secondary actions working with the main
action? Absolutely! This scene features a ton of background characters that are
10.
Is the presentation best for the medium? I think
that this was a very fun use of a musical sequence in an animated feature.
11.
Does it have 2 demensional clarity The animation
is crisp and clear.
12.
Does it have 3 dimensional solidarity? The
sequence feels real and everything has a weight and volume to it.
13.
Does it have 4 dimensional drawing? There is a
sense of time and space in this sequence.
14.
Are you trying to do something that shouldn’t be
attempted? I think this scene fit well at this point in the movie, and added a
bit of lightness and comic relief.
The additional 12 points that you can find on pg. 137
1.
Inner feelings and emotion
2.
Acting with clear and definite action
3.
Character and personality
4.
Through process through expression changes
5.
Ability to Analyze
6.
Clear staging
7.
Good composition
8.
Timing Solidarity in drawing
9.
Power in drawing
10.
Strength in movement
11.
Imagination
The nine economical ways to build
emotions in the imaginations of the audience
1.
Rear view – Not used in this sequence, as we
seem to see most shots from the front.
2.
Shadows – Not really used to this effect in this
number. In this film, you would see more of this type of shot in a sequence
with the villain Ursula.
3.
Shadows over the character – Again, this would
be more fitting of a scene with a villain or violent action.
4.
Overlays – Towards the end, Flounder seems to be
struggling through schools of fish to get to Ariel, which makes it more rewarding
when he finally gets to her.
5.
Dramatic Layout – The shapes and shadows in the
back ground make for a dramatic layout in scenes when there is not much action,
just a single character, like Ariel sitting on her rock.
6.
Pictorial Shot – There aren’t really any shots
like this is the number (we do see this when Ariel is looking at Eric’s ship in
another section of the film)
7.
Effects Animation – We sometimes see with bubbles
or seaweed, but there is nearly always a moving character in the shot, so the feeling
here doesn’t prevail.
8.
Held drawing with camera moves – I did not see
any of this in the sequence, the characters are always moving along with the
camera or they are moving when the camera is stationary.
9.
Offstage Sounds – Again, in any stationary
shots, there is a character on screen ALONG with the sound effects.
Points to Remember when Animating Emotions
1.
Make sure the emotional state of the character
is clearly defined. Ariel in particular is so well animated that even if the
other character’s had more difficult to read expressions, you can get the
feeling of what this sequence is trying to convey, which is that Ariel is
disinterested and bored with the proceedings.
2.
The thought process reveals the feeling.
Sometimes it can be shown with a single, held drawing or a simple move. Other
times there should be gestures, body moves or full action. Determine which is
best in each case. In a lot of cases, Ariel simply gives a look that
communicates how she feels, no dialogue required.
3.
Be alert to use cutting and camera in helping to
accentuate the emotion. The camera movement/angles are interesting when stationary,
but are usually moving and the cuts are well done.
4.
Ask yourself constantly: What am I trying to say
here, what do I really want to show, and how do I want the audience to react?
The number is I think meant to be a breather and a fun way to show how all of
the other fish want Ariel to conform to their happiness with their situation,
and Ariel couldn’t be less interested, even when they are singing and dancing.
5.
Use the element of time wisely: to establish the
emotion of the character, to convey it to the viewers, to let them savor the
situation. Don’t be ponderous, but don’t take it away from them just as they
start to enjoy it. The segment does carry on for a little long, but you get the
idea across and it’s a fun number. As an audience member, I always looked
forward to it as an exciting highlight of the film.
These points of animation get you
to really break a scene down. I’ve never examined this segment of The Little
Mermaid, which I’ve watched about a hundred times, this closely. I think it’s interesting
to really break down all of the elements that make this scene a successful
piece of animation and story-telling, as well as being just entertaining in
general. It’s interesting to see how so many pieces come together, like
character animation, camera movement and angles, lighting, dialogue, timing,
etc. and you really start to appreciate the animators more. It’s then that you
realize just how complex a short piece of animation can be!
