Basic Principles of Animation Conflict Homework Activity #2

Relevant Content Standard – By completing this activity, students will interpret works of art considering themes, ideas, moods, and/or intentions.

The 12 Basic Principles of Animation were established by animators who worked for Walt Disney beginning in the 1930s. The principles were introduced in a book written by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in 1981, and the title of the book is The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation.

(Photo from Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia)

These principles provide a foundational understanding about the art of animation and have become fundamental in the animation industry. The principles are a culmination of the wealth of knowledge and skills that Walt Disney and his animators obtained in their quest to produce more realistic animation. The main purpose of these principles was to produce an illusion that cartoon characters adhered to the basic laws of physics, but they also dealt with more abstract issues, such as emotional timing and character appeal.

All aspiring animators should familiarize themselves with these basic principles which include the following:

Squash and Stretch - an animation technique where characters change shape as they move around. When a character squashes, they get shorter and wider, and when they stretch, they get taller and thinner. This makes the character look like they're bouncing or stretching like rubber! It's a great way to make animations look more lively and interesting.

Anticipation - a technique where the character makes a movement or facial expression to show what they are about to do next. It's like when you wind up before throwing a ball or take a deep breath before jumping into a swimming pool. It helps to make the action more believable and exciting for the viewer.

Staging - the process of setting up the scene. It's when the animator decides where to place the characters, objects, and backgrounds in a scene. It's the same thing a movie director does when deciding where the actors will stand and what props they will use in a scene.

Straight Ahead Action - a way of creating an animated movie by drawing one frame at a time, starting from the beginning and going straight through to the end. It's like drawing a picture book, but instead of flipping the pages, we play them really fast to make it look like the pictures are moving! An artist can see the characters come to life one step at a time.

Pose to Pose – (combined with Straight Ahead Action) - a way of making cartoons or movies where the animator draws a few important pictures that show the main poses or positions of the characters in the scene. Then, they fill in the spaces between those poses with more drawings to make it look like the characters are moving smoothly. It's kind of like drawing a stick figure and then adding details to make it look like a real person.

Follow Through - when an object or character continues to move after the main action has stopped. For example, if a character jumps and lands, their hair and clothing will continue to move for a moment even after they have landed. This gives the animation a more realistic and natural feel. It helps make animations look more alive and less stiff.

Overlapping Action – (combined with Follow Through) - when different parts of a character move at different times to make their movements look more natural. For example, when a character runs, their arms will swing back and forth after their legs have already started moving. This makes the character look like they are really running and not just sliding around.

Slow In and Slow Out - when more pictures are drawn near the beginning and end of an action, creating a slow in and slow out effect or fewer pictures are drawn within the middle of the animation to emphasize faster action.

Arc - when an artist draws moving objects along a natural, curved arc so that the action looks more realistic.

Secondary Action – when an artist adds more action to a scene to support the main action. For example, a person walking can swing their arms at the same time or speak or whistle. Secondary Actions emphasize, rather than take attention away from the main action.

Timing - the way we decide how fast or slow things happen on screen. Good timing can make an animation feel more realistic and interesting, while bad timing can make it look awkward and strange.

Exaggeration – when an artist makes things bigger, smaller, or more extreme than they would be in real life. This helps to make the animation more interesting and fun to watch. For example, a character might have really big eyes or make really exaggerated facial expressions to show how they're feeling.

Solid drawing – when an artist draws forms in three-dimensional space, which gives them volume and weight.

Appeal – when an artist draws a character in a way that is appealing and likable to a viewer even if the character is a villain or monstrous. Some tricks animators use to do this include drawing a baby-like face or a face with dramatic facial expressions.

Instructions – For this Homework Activity, you will watch the following clips of scenes from the animated film Rango (2011). As you watch them, think about the animation and how you notice the animation has been drawn. Write down which basic principles you see examples of in each scene. Most likely you will see an example of more than one of the basic principles in each clip but write down the main ones that you notice and make notes about the others. The answer to the first clip is shown below as an example.