(side note: I've nearly finished reading eBook 1 of Shawn Kelly Tips and Tricks and I must say it is very awesome! His topics are both invaluable and hilariously written, a must read, which can be found at: http://www.animationtipsandtricks.com/, which is also the blog for the ongoing series =] )
(Shawn, if you ever see this, THANK YOU!)
So, wow, it's class 2! The title: Psychology of Body Mechanics, the focus: to learn how the body operates and moves and how to take the fundamentals learned last term and apply them through our work. Also, we start to use whole body rigs! Which I am both very excited and nervous to do. But not yet, we are still using Ballie for this first assignment. This time we were to pick a theme/action from the , well, "Pick List" and animate it out. Rather than write them all out, I'll just say what mine was. It was "Jump up and turn 180 degrees in the air and land/settle". It was labeled a 2/4 on difficulty, so I figured it to be a good starting point. So first things first, I had to obtain/study reference. The best way to get it, film yourself.
(This is partially why I didn't want to post till a few weeks down, because who really wants to watch me jump around? But I figure, gotta get used to it, gonna be doing a lot more of it in the future, hope everyone else is ready for my future "actings")
Anyway, what I finally decided on as my idea was a 180 jump, obviously, and at the land, there would be a loss of balance and stumbles back a few steps and then rocks back and then back forward, finishing with a few steps, plus settle. Then, I studied the poop out of it and made up a planning of key poses and their approximate timing.
Holy moly! I haven't even said what the subject of this week was yet! Well, it was "Weight and Balance", hosted by the hilarious and great Rick O'Conner (thanks to Rick too!) Because what is a character if it's all floaty and broken-looking and gumby-like, unless it was Gumby? Something heavy has to look HEAVY and light has to look light. Sound easy? Not at all! It could easily be one of the most desired, yet ever so eluding, aspects to achieve in animation. Also, how weight effects peoples' movements and how to maintain a proper balance in the shifting and addition of weight.
(This is starting to turn into a Shawn Kelly-esque article, can you tell I've been reading it?)
Anyway, here is the reference and the planning, there is more to talk about, like my new mentor and classmates, but that can wait for now...
Post upload I noticed that the leg lines make it look like a thong =p
