12 Principles of Animation - Arcs

Arcs Exercise

This short and simple animation worked really well, since the movement of the lamp-like character is smooth and clear. The trajectory of the head movement feels natural, since it slows out at the end of the action. The antenna also tends to the actions, as it trembles quickly when the character hits the ball and gradually stops at the end.

Secondary Action and Arcs Animation

I decided to combine thee two animation principles, in order to create one more interesting and dynamic animation.

I have applied the Arcs principle in the first few frames when the dog tosses up the ball. Its landing needs improving because the absence of bouncing afterwards makes it seem that the ball is heavier than I want it to be.

The flappy ears (a secondary action) give the dog characterisation, since they make it look more nonchalant and goody. The other thing that contributes to the personality of the dog is the jump. I struggled a lot with deciding how to position the fallen dog but then I thought that the messier the final pose is, the funnier it will be.

Also, the interaction between the falling dog and the ball worked well because the timing seems correct.

''Dinner'' by Birdbox

For this task I will talk about the short animation film 'Dinner' by Birdbox, focusing on the 'Secondary Action' principle.

The dog is so hungry that after catching the scent of his food, he rushes towards it so quickly that he slides across the kitchen floor. During the first few seconds of the animation, the primary action is the dog eating and the secondary action is it wagging its tail, which shows us each emotion the dog is going through.

After he gets his food stuck under one of the kitchen units, the primary action of the dog is getting its head stuck under it and the secondary actions are the bark and the scratching.

After it fails to pull his food out of there, the dog decides to act as it does not care about it anymore and pretends to walk away. The primary action here is the dogs' facial expression, while the secondary ones are its ears, resting tail and slow walk. This scenes reveals the dogs' character.

Further in the video, the dog starts working on a solution to the problem. It attempts to move the bowl of food with a bone and after seeing the progress it had just made - the bowl moves closer to him - it starts quickly wagging its tail. In the next few scenes, the primary actions are the dogs' successful attempts at getting the food to him and the secondary action is the wagging of the tail.

After the food comes out, it starts eating again which becomes the primary action, while the wagging of the tail remains as the secondary one. This remains the same until the dog manages to trap his food again under a kitchen unit on the opposite side. The primary action then becomes its sad look and the secondary actions are the drops of the tail and ears back to resting mode.

Everything that the dog goes through, in order to get to its food, show us how stubborn it is and tells us what the most important thing for a dog is - food.

Secondary Action: Dog wagging its tail

This is an example of secondary action in real life. As we can see, the attention of the dog is drawn by something out of the frame and it responds with gestures (moving its ears, mouth and wagging its tail) which are the secondary actions.

Secondary Action - 12 Principles of Animation

I find these series very useful, since they strengthen what I already know about a certain principle.

Secondary Action - Squirrel Exercise

This exercise deals with secondary action as the tail is following the movement of the ball, which is the primary action.

The attached tail gives the ball characterisation and personality and it definitely contributes to the success of the whole animation.

The Anticipation before the jump is clear, as the ball squashes to the ground and the tail assists by shooting the whole body up.

When the ball reaches the platform, the tail goes up, making the landing more realistic. In real life this would also help the squirrel to keep balance on the tree. In the last few frames, the tail tucks under the platform which completes the action and enhances the animation.

Overlapping Action Exercise

This exercise demonstrates the animation principle Follow Through and Overlapping Action. This principle explains the technique of a character having appendages, such as a cape or a feather on a hat, and how they interact with each other.

In this animation there are antennae, which are attached to the hammers and follow their movement. When I was ready with one of the hammers, I used 'Duplicate Special' to duplicate the keyframes of the hammer and the antennae. The slight bounce of the hammers, as they hit the floor, gives them the feeling of weight.

Overall I am happy with the final product and if I were to redo the animation, I would use more hammers, as it is very pleasing to watch!