Doc:2.4/Tutorials/Animation/BSoD/Principles of Animation/Story Development

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Introduction

Character Development

TODO

Thinking Characters

TODO

Some Links

Story, Storytelling, Dramatic Structure, Creativity, Fiction Writing, Screenwriting, The Hero's Journey.

Squash and Stretch

Squash and Stretch, be it with deformations a la cartoons or just by bending and extending at armature joints, is also an important resource for exposing a virtual actor's feelings, thoughts and physical pains. We mentioned stretching caused by being surprised for good or (specially) not. Squashing may indicate fear, pain, discontentment, cold, advanced age, ...

In general, body stretching can be associated with becoming alert, ready for action. Squashing, with protecting oneself. Concentrated on the upper part of the body they may relate better to attention and frustration, respectively. Of course both effects are only part of the necessary pose, complements to the facial expression and overall movement of the model.

Worth of mention also is the exaggerated facial and bodily squashing or stretching effect, used by comedians and mimics to create amusing faces or poses. These artists have served as inspiration and reference for animators since the silent era cartoons.

Anticipation

The word 'anticipation' (with the apostrophes) will be used from here on to define actions added for acting and story value.

What's in a gesture...

In the example above of the character grabbing a small object, we suggested to first raise her hand, to catch the audience's attention for the upcoming event (grabbing the object).

But if that is not required by the physical forces at play and is only done for attention, we might expand the anticipation into a new action, to sneak in a little character development bit and enrich the sequence.

Why

In real life we give and receive indications about how people feel, what they are thinking and what they are about to do all the time. There are uncountable small signs that we learn to “read” from what happens around us. They give a needed sense of causality (cause -> effect) and even predictability to our world.

'Anticipating' actions can help create more believable and easier to understand sequences, because it uses these signs to make the acting look natural. It also gives animators more room to develop and set apart characters through their particular expressions and gesturing, telling viewers how each one is and who he or she feels at a given moment.

How

Examples

Take it

Let's continue with the “grab the small object” piece, adding more personality to it.

Since what we can use depends on the character, the story and on what we want to reveal about them, we need to have a background for the scene:

To illustrate, we will pretend the character had her mind full of worries, but needed to perform a simple unrelated task: taking an object from the table. Following are a few ideas of how we could express this right before she executes the task. Interpretation is left as an exercise.

Scene: character is in front of a table, ready to catch a small object on it, but she is worried about matters not related to this simple task. She starts looking away, her mind wandering, then she stares at the desk.

• takes index finger to lips
• scratches head
• hands on waist, raises and drops shoulders
• hand on forehead
• leans, taps fingers on table
• grabs the wrong object, puts it back, shakes head

Conversation

Let's imagine two people chatting and identify a few possible 'anticipation' + action pairs. We will call them “T” and “J” to preserve their identities. At first, T is talking, J pays attention, maybe nodding slightly after each idea expressed by the other.

Now J wants to talk, so he nods more emphatically and raises his head (T notices and waits) and begins to speak.

T remembers he has a note related to their conversation. He may say “ah!” before patting his pockets (the other waits, anxious) and finally holding the piece of paper in front of J.

Before taking the paper, J takes a look around, then puts on his glasses, takes the note and starts reading it, stooping unwittingly.

He nods a few times, then raises his head, looks at T and returns the paper to him.

They keep talking a little more, till J looks at his watch, straightens (T notices and moves slightly, knowing the meeting is over), then they look at each other, shake hands quicky but firmly, ...

... nod again and walk away in opposing directions.

Overacting

On one hand, with a bit of exaggeration, 'anticipating' is a strong way to emphasize the main action and help guarantee that it will be noticed and understood. If viewers should take notice of a person grabing a coin, for instance, an effective preparation for this main action might be: the person looks at the coin, takes it and after a quick examination looks to one of his pockets, opens it with the other hand and finally places the coin there. Without any indication, watchers could be left wondering where the coin went.

On the other hand, polluting a sequence with uneeded actions is not a good idea. Thinking about the bare minimum, essential events, and then considering where 'anticipations' are really necessary is a good way to start. Then one or another might be added for a nice touch, specially if they help define a character or move the story along in any way.

What if...

It's easy to realize that knowing what 'anticipations' are good for instructs us on multiple possibilities: using them, “using”, not using, using only...

Using

'Anticipations' are a good thing, after all, they make scenes more natural, fluid and rich.

“Using”

Since they rely on common signs, that hint at what will happen next, we can play with that by giving a wrong clue to the viewer. Mr. Big Wolf takes the whole day making and baking a pie. He says: “Little Pig, take this marvelous pie to my grandma. Now! And don't touch it! Ha, ha!”. Little Pig gets closer with an innocent, helpless look, hands extended. This is meant to be the 'anticipation' and it clearly says to the wolf and to the audience: he will try to do what he was told to.

Suddenly the twist: with a single tap at the bottom of the pie pan Little Pig throws the hot dessert on the wolf's head. Then he smiles (*).

(*) This smile is interesting. Done after the mischief it tells: “here's a self-assured pig, he knows what he is doing”. We get surprised by the action, then a little relieved. Had it happened right before the pie gag, the smile would have served as a quick 'anticipation', breaking the impression that he would obey the wolf. For those who caught it, it would say “look, this is going to be funny”.

Not using

If 'anticipations' help deliver clear and fluid actions, the lack of one might change the pace and surprise the spectator. This is an effective tool for parts meant to be scary. If one wants to cause surprise when a toy crocodile stretches its own mouth tremendously and swallows a clueless character, 'anticipating' it with the hungry-looking creature licking its lips is not a good idea.

Using only or prolonging

More effects on the “don't-give-them-what-they-expect” list. An 'anticipation' leads people to expect the main action.

If that never comes, it may seem that the character changed his mind: the guy moved his elbow back and formed a fist with his left hand before punching the glass and removing the axe, but instead of doing so ran to the telephone box.

What if the 'anticipation' is prolonged?

The girl puts her index finger over the “Return” key to sign that she will press it (to finally send an email with a vital information). But instead of pressing the key she stays there, only breathing. This prolonging of what should be a simple anticipation tells the audience that she is thinking, unsure about what to do. Maybe she will delete the email, instead. If it continues without a conclusion, viewers may start to feel unconfortable, get annoyed.

Some may dismiss this as an error, but it's an effect that might prove interesting in the right hands.

Staging

Scenes

Let's think about how we could stage a few scenes, following the idea of only adding objects that can help define the setting and move the story along.

A Blender user's bedroom

Our first idea, a movie where the main characters are Blender users. Maybe they will get in trouble with the police or find about an alien conspiracy later, but at the opening scene we just want to state who the main character is.

To start: computer turned on, monitor showing an animation being rendered. A soft drink can close to the keyboard, some open mags and books on table and bed showing CG art. This helps set the mood: the character enjoys and feels at home with computers (literally) and seems to live a normal, not that organized life.

What else?

A Suzanne award somewhere could indicate how good the artist is, in particular if the animation being rendered is impressive. Add a book about Python and the user is probably a scripter, too. Add C, C++ books: our character is or wants to be a coder.

Now consider the effect of any or all of these objects where they put on the desk:

• dirty socks
• game cd and joystick
• midi keyboard
• comics and mangas
• the Necronomicon [2]
• unpaid bills
• a living gremlin [3]
• a list of TODO's with some itens stroked out and the words "TIME!! TIME!!" handwritten in big letters
• a raven who only spoke one word [4]
• a cat with tomorrow's journal [5]

In what context would they add or distract? Are they suplemental or central to the action? Naturally, this depends on what happens later in the movie, so choose an idea and judge from there.

Romantic dinner

How would you assemble a minimal romantic scene in a restaurant? Table, chairs, the couple, the wine bottle and glasses or maybe a dog couple and a plate of pasta? Left as exercise for the reader.

The beach ball

A colorful beach ball would be in place on a beach scene, where it would give indication of a merry place, with children. Thrown to one side or another in the background with no hint of human intervention, while some characters speak, it might fit smoothly in a lyrical, dreamy context. Stored in a garage, where it would also hint at the presence of kids, but mostly just help set the mood.

Elsewhere it could create tension:

Inside some family's house the ball would add information: "this family probably goes to a pool or to the beach", nothing weird about it. Depending on where the ball was and its appearance, either stored or in the way, it would hint at how recently it had been used. The spectator is invited to think a little, in a non disturbing way to the action being presented.

On a "noir" detective office far away from the ocean the presence of the colorful ball would call more attention from the audience, raising doubt and stimulating their imagination to fill in the plot hole. During a scene where all attention should be directed to the characters and what they were talking about or doing, it could be quite distracting, ruining the desired effect, the message being passed and probably breaking any building up of tension. That's why it might fit in a funny, wacky noir detective story.

Notice the power? Objects (or the lack of them) can be used to help set an specific mood or to break out of one, to focus on the action or to mask it, to integrate the viewers more into the action or to make them think along, adding their own bits of imagination to the story or disturbing them out of the normal flow.

Slow-in and Slow-out

Psychological forces at play

There is a direct analogy between slow-in and slow-out in physical animation and in a character's psychology. Besides the physical effect, that was discussed in the main page about this principle, with a little good will we can talk about the action of “psychological forces”.

Just as characters are slowed or accelerated by physical forces, in another level their movements are also influenced by how they feel. Anyone's movements when happy and satisfied are very distinct from how they act when sad or furious or terrified, for instance.

An important aspect is the texture of movements. A depressed character might do everything slowly and without interest and someone in a hurry can do everything as quickly as possible, but in general there can be variation, with some moves done faster and others slowly.

Let's consider a simple scene: character opens the closet's door and takes an umbrella from there and closes the door. How might his or her feelings affect the speed at which these actions will be performed?

Health

Naturally the state of mental and physical health of the characters should also be considered when defining the speed -- or better, the texture -- of their movements. It's all co-related: physical Slow-in and Slow-out, level of attention, psychology and health.

Arcs

Story Arcs

A story arc is a long story told in episodes, like mangas and comics, TV series and cartoons with continuity. Yes, this has absolutely nothing to do with the principle of animation called Arcs.

Except for the word in common, which gives us a hook to discuss animation length. How long should be an student's first animation project(s), until she has experience enough to decide for herself?

The shorter the better. Animating means a lot of work. Also, learning how to tell a story with just as much “footage” as it needs is a very important ability. As an example, classic short cartoons were usually between 6 and 8 minutes, Elephants Dream is less than 11, video clips are usually just a few minutes long, for an obvious reason.

Aiming for a smaller work diminishes considerably the needed budget and increases the chance that something will really get finished. But maybe the best reason is that being able to succeed with a short animation can improve one's skills to come up with good ideas and make them stronger, reducing the argument to its essence.

Story arcs are not a bad idea. With careful planning, it's possible to create extended plots and produce them in small episodes. Benefits include the chance to reuse assets (models, sound effects and music, etc.) and build interest in your work. Naturally it all depends on having a good story then on developing and animating it well.

Secondary Action

Power of images

Among the principles, Secondary Action is the most strongly related to acting. It's the main vehicle to express a character's thoughts and feelings in the best way for animations: without words.

An important fact to remember is that images have precedence over words. For instance, if someone:

• says one thing, but indicates another by expression and gesturing or
• comes to the remains of a devastated city and says “what a beautiful, happy place!”

the audience tends to believe their eyes, not their ears. This creates tension, which is a great tool for story and character development.

Having a character saying one thing and (the character or the overall scene) showing another is an interesting tool to express irony, inner or second thoughts and personality quirks.

Cliches

Among possible secondary actions, there are many that have become symbolic, easy to recognize. This table has a few examples, with possible uses (meanings):

Naturally, the root for such cliches is human behavior, adapted to fit written descriptions or acting, real or animated.

Using them is a simple and effective way of expression, but there are a few things worth considering:

Bear's "love slap"

Different cultures may have different sets of cliches and even different meanings for gestures in common. This is both something to be concerned about when an animation is meant to be accessible to cultures different than yours and also an opportunity to learn interesting characteristics from other people. Anyway, with the widespread reach of cinema and TV, we can expect audiences worldwide to be able to understand the most common cliches.

PS: bear's "love slap" is a reference to an old Disney movie, "Fun And Fancy Free", featuring a bear named Bongo. If you don't know already, finding out what the expression means is left as an exercise to the reader.

Treachery of images

Generalizations and abstractions are vital to us, that's our only way to extract some order and understanding from all this chaos that exists and happens around us, but they also come with a hard to avoid trap: picking the image as the real thing. Thinking in terms of stablished representations can limit our view in a bad way. Imagine ending up understanding, thinking and creating based solely on cliches...

As a particularly bad illustration, let's imagine that someone puts smileys on character drawings to reinforce their emotions, but only uses a few of them: happy, sad, angry, afraid, confused. Without noticing, this habit may influence this person in a way that his or her characters only depict these few emotions. Manicheism in cartoons is another example, with characters being either good or bad, no grays.

Now and then artists have to break away with worn out symbolisms, because people stop thinking and just use them automatically, losing richer interpretations. So what we mean is: careful with cliches, use them consciously and think about alternatives. It's your art.

For fun: The Treachery of Images

Hints

Secondary actions can also be thought of as ways to give specific hints to the audience:

• looking at watch while talking can indicate the person needs (or wants) to go. While walking, it means “I'm late!”.
• to show impatience one can puff or tap a foot on the ground.
• a person may blink or look to the sides to much while telling a lie.
• someone pretending to be calm or bold is betrayed by sweat or trembling.

Timing

Timing is one of the abilities that an artist working with story development might / should spend a whole life learning about and experimenting with, lightly, while observing or creating. It's that important and rewarding.

Comic Timing

Good timing is surely a crucial ability for acting. An area where it's probably the most important aspect is comedy. Wrong timing can simply break a good joke.

(More...)

Slow Burn

This is an interesting technique of narration for suspense and terror stories, a good example of timing variation in a scene. Instead of packing the scenes with violent action, the story is presented in an almost frozen pace, building up tension, making the audience feel that something terrifying is just around the corner. Suspense can be kept "crepitating" for several minutes, until something actually happens and the pace changes dramatically.

The effect is commonly used in Japanese horror stories, for instance. But it can work for other kinds of anticipation, not only frightening ones.

Here is a phrase attributed to movie director Alfred Hitchcock, a master of suspense and interesting narratives: "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it." [6]

Summer of documentation 2006 -- Willian 07:20, 5 July 2006 (CEST)