Research from 'Acting and Performance for Animation' by Derek Hayes and Chris Webster Pt 2

Basic Details:
Hayes, D & Webster, C 2013, Acting and Performance for Animation, Focal Press, UK.

Extracted from the pages of 61 to 76 "Character and Personality"

61.

• The key here is the word interesting. Without that interest, a character is in danger of becoming reduced to the status of manikin. At the heart of any great story are the characters that inhabit, shape and determine the story.
• This does not simply apply to performance-based stories; the same holds true of all stories based on characters regardless if this is in theatre, literature, film, radio or animation. The most important aspect is characters, recognisable and believable characters with personality. Regardless of the exact nature of character, it is largely through these characters, though not exclusively, the narrative of the story is delivered.
• It is those human traits that attract us to the characters and make them recognisable, not the clothes they wear or the role they play.
• ... if the storytelling is to be interesting then the characters within the story need to be interesting.

62.

• Character Development
  The nature of the character will shape the nature of the character's performance.
• Character development may begin with concept design, a part of the process that precedes the writing of a final script and continues through the design process including storyboarding and on into production... may be impractical for feature films or TV series, but may be true of episodic one-off short productions (As opposed to TV series).
• Progression of characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck from 1D nature to complex individuals with distinct psychological traits is impractical as characters cannot be developed over the period of a feature film or a TV series as it is important to maintain continuity throughout.
• Any development needs to be completed and the characters established before the production begins, or at least the parameters for the performance needs to be set.
• ... it could b argued that the very nature of feature films is to tell stories about the changes the character undergo.
• Begin to explore the physical nature of your characters based on the script and in doing so look for personality traits that emerge from your concept art in addition to those that may already be established in the script. It may be useful for you to use a range of media that allow for different qualities to surface. You may find that modelling your characters at this early stage allows you to discover aspects of your character that drawings or paintings don't allow.

63.

• The director, the producer, and the designers will normally collaborate as a team. Role of animators are largely secondary.
• It is critical that you consider the practical implications on animation production when making your designs.

64.

• The way actors perform will make the story come alive in ways beyond what was originally envisaged. In order to do that, it is necessary for the actors to be comfortable with the characters they are acting.
• Issues such as the physicality and psychology of a character will not only determine empathy but also that almost illusive but very tangible quality that Disney termed appeal.
• Formats
  The development of the animated character may also be dependent on the format the characters for which they are being designed.
• When designing new characters, artists and designers may need to ensure that their designs are suited for multiformats; large screen, hand-held devices, print, computer games, etc.
• The duration of each of the formats will determine or impact the narrative structure and, in turn, the narrative will determine the character's performance within the story.

66.

• Animator as Actor
  The animated character may well be the concept of a writer and developed by a designer, a producer, or a director, but it is often the animator who makes the character tangible, believable, and ultimately real.
• The animator has the power of transforming the characters from an idea, a concept, and design into a living personality.

67.

• If the animator fails to appreciate and explore the personality within a character, the character will never be anything other than a tailor's dummy and not really worthy of the term character. A less than thorough approach to the development of your characters will more than likely result in an unbelievable performance, and there is nothing more certain to kill a good script stone dead than a poor performance.
• ... a poor performance, other than lack of animation skills or laziness on the part of the animator, it the animator's inability to empathise or completely understand the character.
• We must consider ourselves as actors and as such develop those acting skills as well.
• If we are agreed that Homer Simpson is a believable character, it is due entirely to the skills of the designer, the scriptwriter, the voice artist, and the performance skills of the animator.

68.

• For figurative animation that simply requires action, it may be enough for the animator to think that this or that character does this or that action.
• Performances that require a high degree of emotional engagement and refined acting from the characters, then it may be far better for an animator to know why a character does what it does.
• Barry Purves' expertise in animation performance and acting is underpinned by his in-depth knowledge and appreciation of the characters he works with. It is this that enables him to achieve believable and nuanced performances with a wide range of characters.
• In his animated version of Verdi's opera Rigoletto (1993), we are presented with a wealth of character that are not simply animated beautifully; they live and breathe and die. Achilles (1995), a story told in a manner that reflects Barry's interest and knowledge of the classics and theatre clearly demonstrates his deep understanding and empathy with the personalities that he breathes life into.
• At his hands, puppets made of rubber and wire are transformers from inanimate objects to believable personalities capable of love, hate and murder.
• Each character will demonstrate a distinct personality that shows them to be individuals with an inherent attitude that is demonstrated in their relationship to things, circumstances, and most importantly of all, other personalities. The smallest of details may provide a catalyst for a performance.

69.

• Games animation requires a good sense of action timing and the economy of movement that ensures a good game-play experience.
• Others can handle drama very well, like Barry Purves, whereas others have a highly developed sense of comic timing.
• Important for the audience to be fully aware of a character's personality and have an understanding of the psychological state of the protagonists. It is through the personality of character that the audience will experience an empathy with the character and their situations and then to react to them in a way that the director had intended. It is vital that the personality must be evident to the audience, not necessarily liked but recognised.
• It is great timing by the animators that allow the personality of Bambi to come across, and it is this personality and his very real loss that extracts the emotional response from the audience.

76.

• When designing characters for animation, you must keep the animation process uppermost in your mind. The designs must be appropriate to the concept, the narrative, and the characters, but you must consider the consequences of your designs

Extracted from the pages of 105 to 137 "Making a Performance"

105.

• "Human acting as I understand it doesn't mean acting just like humans, it means expressing unique and specific things in response to what is specifically happening and what the character should be feeling about what is actually happening, such as humans naturally do. It can still be cartoony or exaggerated, and is completely compatible with cartoony physics." -- John Kricfalusi

106.

• As animators and directors, we need to be attuned to the possibilities of nonverbal communication because nobody gets by without it; in fact, we are made uneasy when we can't detect body language that ought to be there, and our characters will only really come alive when we make them give off the right signals. The right stance will mean the difference between a person and a sign and an understanding of nonverbal signals will help create a real personality.
• The Uncanny Valley
  The Uncanny Valley is a term coined by professor of robotics Masahiro Mori and is the hypothesis that the more human a robot's (and by extension a CG or puppet character's) appearance becomes, the more empathetic and positive will be the response of an observer, up to a point where that response turns to one of revulsion. As the simulation gets progressively further from the robotic and closer to the human, the empathetic response will start to return. This "dip" in response can be seen plotted on the graph and gives rise to the uncanny valley term.

• The more human a character's appearance becomes, viewers will respond with more empathy, up to a point where that response turns to one of revulsion.

107.

• The reasons behind this aversion are not fully understood and still subject to research and speculation, including the idea that no matter how good the simulated person comes we will still be able to tell, subconsciously, that they are somehow "other" but it is very interesting from a performance point of view. Though it was once thought that CG films would naturally have to progress to absolute realism, it can now be seen that we can stylise our characters as much as we like without losing empathy for them.
• "One of my problems with full animation is, often times, people do beautiful movement, but it's not specific movement. Old people move the same way as young people, women move the same as men, and fat people move the same as thin people... and people don't move the same. Everybody moves different..." -- Brad Bird
• In The Incredibles, Brad Bird set out to make sure that each character could be recognised by their movement as much as by their design. 
• His aim was to create within his team an agreement on who the character was and how he or she moved so that even if they all had the same body shape they could be distinguished by their movement. 

109.

• Despite the fact that "the eyes are the windows to the soul" and our eyes are drawn to face when people speak, we are actually taking in an enormous amount of information from a person's stance, from hand positions, and the way we tilt our heads; we communicate with our whole body.
• Our hips and shoulders are the pivot points in the body and these are the the places where we show the weight of a character, with women generally carrying more weight lower down in the hips and men carrying more in the shoulders and we can immediately imagine a curvaceous woman leading with her hips or a brawny man moving with rolling shoulder movements.

114.

• "Find the golden pose, and build the scene around that pose." -- Ollie Johnston
• The "golden pose" is the one that says what you want the animation to say in that scene.
• A really good pose will read well and will show what the character is thinking.
• Chuck Jones was a master of the pose that was both funny and meaningful at the same time; he never let himself or his animators over-animate things and always made sure that the important poses read well.
• ... he made sure that he didn't have the character freeze in position but, with judicious use of cushioning and overlapping action, like a tail or ear that caught up just a little latter, he could make a much more subtle effect and keep the character alive.

115.

• When the characters touch, they seem to acknowledge each other's reality, quite apart from the one we give them, and it seems odd that this idea isn't used more often.
• Think how seldom we see characters touching in a simple, natural way, and how contact is often restricted to the Prince's kiss or the bad guy's punch.
• Once upon a time, acting was taught in this way, as a series of gestures that meant something specific.
• The work of Stanislavsky signalled the end for exaggerated staginess... but this telegraphing of the emotional state of the character is still too often part of the journeyman animator's repertoire, and many animators would like there to be a simple system of visual clues to emotional states.
• www.businessballs.com/body-langauge.htm
• Effort
  The physicality of a performance is vital if the character is going to be believable. Without weight and a sense of the forces acting on and through the character, all the clever posing will go for nothing.
• We need to put some sense of effort that goes into being that way.
• A cloud will need to move itself and react to the forces that act upon it.

119.

• The amount of Exaggeration we use is entirely up to us and depends on the way we have designed our universe. A very cartoony universe will allow for a lot more squash and stretch, a more realistic one will demand less though all will benefit from a certain amount of exaggeration.

137.

• By giving each character their own repertoire of gestures, you help create their personality.
• The physicality of a character comes from the effort they put into each action; they need to be solid and believable, but effort is driven by motivation and motivation will change the nature of an action.
• Silence and pauses are just as important as sound and movement. Movement like music, needs pacing and rhythm, accents, and pauses in order to let it read.
• Animation is an art of simplification and exaggeration; let the action read.
• Reflex actions are non-intentional and are driven by internal forces we can't control. What is important for performance, however, is what comes after, how the character's reaction to the stimulus reveal facets of his personality.
• Comedy is not about the animation, it's about the joke. If you can get the gag over the minimum of movement, do that rather than over animate and kill it with embellishments. As long as the action does not run counter to the personality you have created for the character, you can so as much or as little as is needed.

Extracted from the pages of 167 to 189 "Working with Actors"

167.

• Usually been the case that working with actors in animation has involved recording them to provide voices for our characters, and this is still the way that animators and directors most often engage with actors.
• Combine live action of an actor's performance with animation and this something that is very prevalent in the world of advertising, whether it be cartoon characters interacting with kids in a breakfast cereal commercial or a drawn man creating a car out of a cardboard box.
• Becoming more and more common that we have the opportunity to use actors in a motion capture studio to create a character performance.

169.

• The Voices
  Casting
  It is self-defeating having a famous actor, with a very recognisable voice, if the audience is going to see the actor every time the character speaks, rather than your character on the screen.
• Get the right voice, an actor who can put across what you want the character to portray and the right sound for the character.
• Dreamworks uses more star voices than Pixar.

172.

• Cartoony or Noncartoony Voices?
  Working out what the vocal characteristics of a character are going to be is, in many ways, a similar procedure with cartoon voices as with naturalistic voices; as with everything else is has to come out of the personality and serve the needs of the story.
• This is where the director who has a good idea of what she is after can work with the actor to create a character performance, with the director building on what is in the script to give the actor a sense of the tone and feel of the piece.

185.

• The first practical example of how motion capture influenced animation probably comes with the development of rotoscoping by the Fleischer Brothers around 1915 and first used on the Out of the Inkwell series starring Koko the clown. The process of tracing off, by hand, individual frames of previously filmed footage of a live subject gave the animation a completely naturalistic action.
• Using rotoscoping, and other techniques and methods of referencing live motion, quickly became standard practice, particularly in feature film animation where a higher standard of animation with more naturalistic action was sought.
• Disney's Snow White and the Fleischer Bros. Mr Bug goes to Town are both examples of rotoscope.
• Rotoscoping in Snow White has been criticised as creating a seperation between characters done in this way, like Snow White herself, and those done in a traditional animation way, like the Dwarfs, but in the Fleischer film it serves to enhance the difference between the world of humans and that of the insects who are the main characters.
• There is a very big difference between simply capturing motion and capturing a performance. In searching for ever more naturalistic animation that involves capturing the traits and behaviour of individual personalities, we have seen the rise of the animated performer.
• A new breed of actor has been born from the discipline and foremost amongst them is Andy Serkis. Serkis has become widely acclaimed for his various roles and has won a number of awards.

186.

• The role of the actor creating a performance capture sequence is not dissimilar to that of an animator dealing with a figurative character based subject. They will both need to 'become' the character they are acting if they are to get the best possible performance.
• If they can think like the character they are then in a better position to be able to move like them and if they can move like them they can then begin to act like them.
• In order to avoid formulaic or generic movements, it is important to understand that personalities have individual mannerisms.
• Mannerisms that may be associated with a particular character and are then associated with that character by the audience need to be build up over a period of time.

187.

• "The character, the narrative, the hook into how that performance may work, those processes are all the same... Your end result is to provide a believable, empathic character for an audience, who will respond to it. It works because they engage with it... by giving it a rhythm that represents life, the audience breathes life into it and they believe it. It only works if the audience believe it and the easiest route I've found, to that, is me believing it first." -- William "Todd" Jones
• So it's important that the performances you are using for performance capture are treated like any other actor since what they provide will be the basis of the character performance.

188.

• There will also need to be assistance on set that will help the actor to give a believable performance, especially where outside forces are concerned.
• Bullet hits in live-action films are often made more dynamic by harnessing the actor to a rope and pulling him over so that it appears that an outside force is acting on him and he doesn't have to push himself over.
• The same trick is used in the motion capture studio to simulate bullet hits and other techniques need to be invented to portray other forces impacting on the character.
• "For physical impacts etc., say like firing a gun, etc., I would actually get onto the mo-cap area and hold the gun and make it 'fire' so that the whole jolt shows in the character's body and doesn't simply look like its them acting the recoil. I actually hold the prop and hit it with my other hand to create the recoil effect." -- Billy Allison

189.

• If there is one constant thing in life, it is to change. Everything changes, all the time and animation is no exception to the rule. In recent years, we have seen very many changes to the way in which animation is produced, distributed., and consumed but far from seeing these developments as a threat I believe that most animators are very keen to adopt new technologies and embrace these changes.
• Get a better understanding of what the actor has to do by doing some acting yourself, whether it be amateur dramatics, stand-up, or acting classes.
• If the audience is to believe in a character, the actor has to believe in him too, and for that to happen, you need to believe in the character and the actor's ability to create him.

Research from 'Acting and Performance for Animation' by Derek Hayes and Chris Webster Pt 1

Basic Details:
Hayes, D & Webster, C 2013, Acting and Performance for Animation, Focal Press, UK.

Extracted from the pages of 1 to 25 "Aspects of Acting for Animation"

1.

• Much of a performance may be completely unrelated to the actual dialogue a character delivers, and it may not be even be shaped or driven by the characters at all but by a raft of other elements relating to the narrative.
• As an actor of any worth, you must gain full appreciation of the story you are attempting to tell, but in addition to this, you must be aware of cinematography, editing, the environment, backgrounds and sets, sound, and character design. All of these aspects shape and determine the type of performance you are able to achieve.
• Creative Approaches to Animation
  Animation may be categorised in various ways, and one of these classifies animation in a way that helps to determine the type of performance the animation is designed to achieve. 
• This form of classification of animation allows it to to sit within three distinct categories: simulation, representation, and interpretation.

2.

• Simulation
  Aims for a high degree of accuracy in its replication of naturalistic actions that can only be applied to movements that are seen in nature. By the very definition, nothing can stimulate the action or behaviour of things that do not exist. Simulation animation aims to replicate exactly or as nearly as possible the actual action or dynamics of objects or phenomena. Using this approach, it should be possible to test the simulated animation against the action of real objects or events.
• This approach is often used to create highly naturalistic movement of objects, figures, and effects such as water, flame, and smoke that appear in live-action films. In these instances, it is critical that the suspension of disbelief be total, and in order to do that, the animation and must sit together seamlessly.
• A good example of this can be found in the film The Perfect Storm directed by Wolfgang Petersen (USA, Warner Bros. 2000). This relied heavily on the simulated effects of a hurricane at sea.
• Representation
  ... falls into the category of representational animation does not have the same constraints as simulation animation. It may demand less accurate movement that can be seen in the actual behaviour of the subject, and while this classification of animation may be extended to movements that seem real, it can also be applied to subjects that may pass as real.
• Using this same approach, it is possible to create "believable" animation of creatures that are completely fictitious. Using reference material gathered

3.

• ... for appropriate sources will allow the animator to make a more than passable performance. While an audience may not be able to compare the animation with the real thing, he or she may be able to see the comparison with things that are similar, or a similar size and shape, and therefore of action.
• Some of the animated elements in The Lord of the Rings directed by Peter Jackson (USA/New Zealand, New Line Cinema, 2001-2003) integrated within the live-action footage are completely convincing. The evil Nazgul's dragon-like steeds are not only terrifying, but they also are totally believable.
• This representational approach to animation applies not only to motion and dynamics but also to lip sync and acting. Using this approach, it is perfectly possible for animators to create believable lip sync for creatures that we have no first-hand experience of that once lived but became extinct long before man set foot on the earth and that never spoke when they did exist.
• Interpretation
  ... allows for a more creative and individual use of animation and dynamics. It opens up possibilities for a more personal creative expression that neither depends on naturalistic or believable movements nor is constrained by considerations other than the imagination of the animator.
• Abstraction of movement and dynamics, which includes the creation of completely abstract animation, falls into this category.
• Some of the best-known and well-loved cartoon characters are simple interpretations of the subjects they represent.
• In its most abstract form, interpretative animation may not be animation of a subject but may be animation about the subject.
• Other work that is less abstract may still, due to its very design, display movements that are clearly never intended to reflect the actual movement of the subject.
• It has become almost a given that cartoon character have a physiognomy that is rather extraordinary: large heads, oddly shaped...

4.

• ... bodies, hands with insufficient digits, and a basic anatomy that defies all the restrictions as regular skeletal structure would incur.
• they move in a manner... by the imagination of the artist.
• Rather than obeying the same laws of physics as the audience, many cartoon characters seem to be ruled by cartoon laws of motion. They are able to shed and gain mass almost at will, capable of impossible feats of strength and agility and can be broken apart and reinstated in the blink of an eye.

22.

• Avery clearly demonstrates that characters are not simply defined by their personal appearance, nor do they have to conform to a predetermined set of design aesthetics, in fact they seldom do.
• Avery seems to break all the animation conventions of scale and volume within his characters, and while other cartoon-based animators may be squash and stretch their characters beyond their naturalistic, Avery takes this to extremes.
• Eyes pop from heads; bodies grow to immense proportions, or diminish to next to nothing; movements become simplified, often using key frames only, and all conducted at break neck speed.
• ... the auteur animator has a creative freedom resulting in a more intimate one-to-one relationship with their creations.
• ... there is evidence to support the argument that the development of a believable character may be better crafted as a result of collaborative effort.
• As a solo creation of Joanna Quinn, Beryl, the star of Girls Night Out, and Body Beautiful, is a sympathetic take on a type of character that seldom finds a voice. Beryl reflects all of those aspects of an ordinary working class woman... that are of interest to Joanna. Her complete engagement and empathy with her creation has ensured that Beryl is a totally believable character.

23.

• As a contrast to Beryl, we can use Bugs Bunny as another completely believable character, though one developed by a number of animators over an extended period of time. The early version of the character was rather simplistic, though with input from others, most notably Chuck Jones, Bugs became a more complex personality.
• Chuck Jones' film The Dot and a Line (1965) simply used a series of marks, squiggles, lines and splodges that changed and morphed as they took on distinct personalities.
• ... how personality and character can transcend form can be seen in some of the abstract animated films or Oscar Fischinger. He often managed to make some of the individual marks, often little more than a streak of white against a black background, take on a personality of their own.

24.

• Summary
  ... do the research necessary to give you a firm grasp of what the script is trying to say and that means it used to do so. Being able to see the whole film in your head is essentially what is required of the director, but it is also extremely important that the head animator also has a complete grasp of what is going on. How else will he or she be able to understand the choices made by the character, and therefore know how to pitch a performance without this knowledge?
• The setting in which the character appears will have an important effect on the audience's expectations and understanding of the character. The setting...

25.

• ... is more than just a frame and our knowledge of an environment can be used to add to a performance, creating continuity or contrast and acting as an adjunct to backstory.
• Finally, characters themselves can be simple or complex, but the development of personality through performance is dependant on an understanding of human experience and behaviour.
• ... the more the audience will believe in your characters and come to empathise with them, so take the time to study real life so that you can better create life of your own.

Extracted from the pages of 28 to 45 "Types of Performance"

28.

• "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" was state of the art in the 19888 and done without the aid of computers, except in the motion control cameras that allowed shots to be repeated consistently in the live-action filming.
• Animation is now present in every area of film, TV, games, etc. and be happy that we have a larger canvas on which to work.

29.

• Stanislavski... is credited with having the greatest influence over acting and performance on stage and screen for the last 100 years or so, and it is worth looking at what he achieved.
• Although Stanislavski is, to many people, the creator of a new tradition and a radical break with the old ways of acting, he was actually part of a movement that was dedicated to bringing realism to the arts and theatre.
• Our body language... will be modified by our own particular physique and emotions and contains things specific to us... if an actor fails to take this into account when on stage, his performance will be undermined by the presence of physical actions that do not relate to the character he is playing.

30.

• "Going Equipped", from the Animated Conversations series, is a brilliant use of a real conversation as the basis for an animated performance... it is totally real and believable of an almost documentary kind. "The clues", Peter Lord says, "must come from the voice."
• We all need to keep observing real life and finding ways to incorporate it into out animation, even if we are creating imaginary characters, so that there is always something real there.
• Emotional Memory
  ... required the actor to find something in his own life that would allow him or her to understand what was going on within the character.
• ... performance needed to come from the inside as well as the outside and developed a way of using physical actions to help generate internal feelings.

31.

• ... to create a performance that works, and is convincing, we need to be able to get inside the character and understand his mental processes and, in the case of Empathy, we have to look at our own experiences to find a way of connecting with what drives a character.
• It we can call on a memory of some incident in our own life that gives us a purchase on the motivation of the character we are animating... that experience will inform the performance and change it from something obvious into something with that extra spark of real life.

33.

• Mr Incredible and Edna Mode both have objectives in this scene and the way they interact in pursuit of these objectives is often called a "negotiation" by theatre coaches.
• If you find your character's objectives in each scene and then take a look at how often he achieves them, you'll get a fair idea of what his emotional state is going to be throughout.
• Even background characters are important in this respect, and if we have the opportunity (i.e. , the budget) to give them something to do, they can help to underpin the believability of the scene, as in The Iron Giant which Agent Mansley comes into the room filled with town officials. There isn't much movement from them but the way they look at him and shift ever so slightly creates a palpable nervousness in the room and a deference to his rank that is very clever.

34.

• Actions... doesn't have to mean that every single action is driven by the main objective.
• Coyote's actions change due to the situation he's in. So although he wants to eat the Roadrunner, he still focuses from getting squashed by his own machinery and each movement will come from that.
• In Stanislavski's system, the idea of playing an object is to take the actor's focus from playing the line (of dialogue) and keep them "in the moment" on stage. Actors may take their time to say a line or move across the stage, but this doesn't go on for too long and they can afford to be "in the moment".
• ... way to approach a scene is to make it shine, to stop it simply going from A to B.

36.

• Naturalism and Reality
  ... the attention paid to the physical reality of the performer and setting and the other being the psychological truth of the performances. In terms of physical reality, we are talking about the animation principles that the Disney animators are credited with formalising in the early 1930s that we know as the 12 Principles of Animation.
• ... the fact that Pluto changes how he feels about the situation he's in, as he gets more frustrated about being stuck, registered with audiences, and was eye opening for the animators involved.
• ... although animation should not seek to ape reality, it should at all times be based in reality. "I definitely feel that we cannot do the fantastic things based on the real, unless we first know the real" were his words to his animators.
• ... animators attended a new life drawing class, and the film is also noteworthy for its use of live action reference for the...

37.

• Some of the scenes in Snow White were actually rotoscoped, despite the objections of some of the animators. Where the film really scores in terms of its animation and the way in which a quality of real life is infused into the characters is in the dwarfs, each of whom is given an individual personality through the way in which they are designed and animated.
• The dwarfs are of course not realistic characters but we can connect with them since their drives are so human... they are based on observation of real people, so even though they act in an exaggerated manner, they are still portraying real emotions rather than using signs to denote emotions.

38.

• Characters that seemed to have an inner life and reacted to the circumstances of the plot with realistic emotional intensity.
• Though it is short, "Dumbo" contains some of the most affecting scenes in animated movies. Moving from elation at finding his mother to sadness at being unable to get to her, Dumbo's feelings communicate brilliantly to the viewer.
• "I don't know a damned thing about elephants; I was thinking in terms of humans and I saw a chance to do a character without using any cheap theatrics. Most of the expressions and mannerisms I got from my own kid. There's nothing theatrical about a two-year-old kid..."

39.

• "They're real and sincere-like when the damn near wet their pants from excitement when you come home at night. I tried to put all these things in Dumbo."
• "Every time I wrote or drew something concerning the character of Chihiro and her actions, I asked myself the question whether my friend's daughter or her friends would be capable of doing it. That was my criteria for every scene in which I gave Chihiro another task or challenge. Because it's through surmounting these challenges that this little Japanese girl becomes a capable person."
• Miyazakis' films have all been developed in a way that feels real, even if not everything is completely clear. The world of each of these stories has a logic that makes even the strangest occurrences completely believable.

45.

• Animation allows us to choose where we place out emphasis on the spectrum of realism and what we regard as the right kind of performance for our material. Since we can work in two-dimensional space as well as three-dimensional space, we can use graphic visual tricks as well as realistic ways of portraying things, and so have a greater control over the way we present our characters. The performances our characters give can, therefore, be influenced by any part of the history of acting, so having a sense of the history of performance gives us a much wider range of influences and ways to solve the problem of how we present ourselves to ourselves.

Research from 'The Illusion of Life' by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston

Basic Details:
Thomas, F & Johnston, O 1981, The Illusion of Life Disney Animation, Abbeville Press, Italy.

Extracted from the pages of  "Story"

367.

• "The story man must see clearly in his own mind how every piece of business in a story will be put over. He should feel every expression, every reaction. He should get far enough away from his story to take a second look at it... to see whether there is any dead phase... to see whether the personalities are going to be interesting and appealing to the audience. He should also try to see that the things his characters are doing are of an interesting nature." -- Walt Disney
• "... If you don't have a positive statement to make, you should never pick up the paintbrush or pencil." More than a positive statement, it must have enough important to be worth communicating- to be worth the work and the effort that will be required to put it on screen. It must be interesting, provocative, spellbinding; it must be a story.
• "A good story cannot be ruined by poor animation, but neither can a poor story be saved by the very best animation."
• ... a good story also can be ruined by poor development in the Story Department.

370.

• Our goal must be to keep the audience pleased, but also excited, concerned, and especially, wondering what is going to happen next. This will take place only if the audience is involved with the characters and what they are doing.
• In addition to an exciting visual presentation of the material, there should be a careful development of the drama inherent in each situation. 

Extracted from Pg 441-472 of  "Animating Expressions and Dialogue"

441.

• ... the eyes in self-portraits reveal how an artist feels about himself.
• "After we have given the men all the suggestions we can have to do with expression ideas through the body, then we can come down to the value of the facial expression- the use of the eyes, eyebrows, the mouth- their relation to one another- how the eyes and the mouth have to work together (Sometimes) for expression- how they work independently for expression at other times. In other words, then we would go into the combined use of expressive features and expressive actions of the body." -- Walt Disney

442.

• The early Renaissance painters always had their main figures looking up. It is an accepted tradition for the innocent and pure, but it does not seem to be based on truth and reality. The artists at the studio have used this attitude repeatedly for cute characters. Somehow they look more wistful, more hopeful, more vulnerable.
• There was more appeal when the figure was drawn looking up at you out of their tops of the eye. Somehow you cared more for the innocent, little character.

443.

Tips for staging expressions:

1. Resist the temptation to try to tell too much in one drawing. The important thing is that the drawing be quickly and simply read: no matter how beautifully it may be drawn, it should not be forced into a scene if it does not animate properly. Do not be afraid to discard your best drawing if it does not fit your action. It is the idea that is important!
2. Do not let the expression conflict with the dialogue. Nothing can be more distracting than this. Angna Enters, the American mim, told her class, "The most obvious problem was to avoid deflecting the meaning of the line [of dialogue] by erratic movements. The way a character walks, stands, sits, listens- all reveal the meaning of his words." This rule would apply to pantomime as well, where it could be equally disturbing to have a character make an expression that does not fit the personality.
3. The expression must be captured throughout the whole body as well as in the face. If the character is defiant, his eyes, brows, mouth, cheeks, and head attitude will be defiant too, with clenched fists, sho...

444.

• ...ulders back, feet apart, and a belligerent thrust to all the related parts. Any expression will be weakened greatly if it is limited only to the face, and it can be completely nullified if the body or shoulder attitude is in any way contradictory.

471.

1. Show the expression change!

    a. Avoid making a fast move while changing the expression.

    b. Change your expression before the movie, or at the end, when the character is moving slowly enough for it to be seen.

    c. Do not lost the expression change in an active secondary action- such as a hand waving, a big arm action, or follow through on clothes.

2. Avoid looking up for a frown, unless it is a sinister, domineering one.

3. Do not hide a smile with the head tilted down too far or behind a big nose or moustache.

4. Be sure you have the right staging to show all the expressions in your scene to best advantage.

5. Have you the right expression for what your character is thinking? Are all part of the head and face related to this one idea?

    a. Do not change shapes too much all over the face.

    b. At times, hold down activity on the face so that just the mouth is moving.

6. As we were told so many times before we learned: It is the change of shape that shows the character is thinking. It is the thinking that gives the illusion of life. It is the life that gives meaning to the expression.

Extracted from Pg 473-508 of  "Acting and Emotions"

473.

• "In our animation we must show not only the actions or reactions of a character, but we must picture also with the action... the feeling of those characters." -- Walt Disney

474.

• Early attempts to portray emotions were limited by the drawing ability and acting knowledge of the animators, as well as the lack of support in story development. Albert Hurter's suggestions for attitudes on the grasshopper and the devil were based mainly on the broad acting on the turn of the century.
• The actor and the animator share many interests; they both use symbols to build a character in the spectator's mind. Certain gestures, attitudes, expressions, and timing have come to connote specific personalities and emotions... By using the right combination of these in the proper sequence, the actor builds a bond with the people in the audience, and they are with him, they understand...

475.

• ... him; and if they like him they will be concerned about what happens to him.
• 'When the dwarfs showed their grief over Snow White's death, we were asking the audience to share the emotions of the cartoon characters.' - Frank Thomas, Snow White
• ... while the actor can rely on his inner feelings to build his portrayal, the animator must be objectively analytical if he is to reach out and tough the audience.
• Are the characters interesting, lifelike, and vivid?
• Do you become emotionally involved with them?
• Do the gestures and movements seem sincere, convincing, clear and properly motivated?
• Does all of the action help to delineate the characters and their situation for you?
• Is the action clear-cut, realistic, prolonged sufficiently, and exaggerated enough to be seen by the whole audience?
• ... these are the criteria for judging any performance, animated or live.
• By the time the studio began Snow White, the animators were being asked to depict much more than just happiness and sadness. Now, they were faced with the task of communicating such subtle emotions as love, dejection, hate, jealousy, concern, and fear. The first real example of an entire sequence based on pure emotion showed the dwarfs crying beside Snow White's bier; it was a critical decision even to attempt this type of sequence.
• "that the audience would not react as we hoped it would. It was not matter of what field size we used, or panning, or what character we cut to- it was the mood in which we wanted out audience at the time."

479.

• In a strong story situation, very little movement is needed to sustain the mood. Cinderella's friends watch helplessly as the broken-hearted girl buries her head in her arms. The main action consists of the magic sparkles slowly gathering to form the Fairy Godmother.

484-485.

• Resist the temptation to make everything bigger and more gorgeous when you need strong communication.
• Nine Economical Ways that Animation can build Emotions in the Imaginations of the Audience: 1. Rear View, 2. Shadows, 3. Shadows Over the Characters, 4. Overlays, 5. Dramatic Layout, 6. Pictorial Shot, 7. Effects Animation, 8. Held Drawing with Camera Movies, 9. Offstage Sounds

486.

• Some situations become more powerful by showing all the realistic detail. This is particularly true where magic or fantasy is involved. We were spellbound  seeing the queen gradually become an old, withered witch.
• In contrast to the benefits of not letting the spectators see everything, there are other times when forcing them to look at certain elements might create more visual excitement.
• Another frightening series of scenes is found in Pinocchio in the sequence on Pleasure Island where unsuspecting boys are changed into donkeys in payment for a night of fun. This is a case where excellent animation added even more than had been expected, but it was the combination of the staging and planning that made this impossible situation so believable and so scary.

487.

• ... it is the animator who must think deeply into the personality of the cartoon actors. Each must be handled differently, because each individual will express his emotions in his own way.
• ... there are other ways of involving the viewers besides getting them to identify with sympathetic characters.
• You react to the evil characters, but with the sympathetic characters.
• The same is true of Cruella deVil in 101 Dalmations... because of our fascination with her explosive personality and our enjoyment of her outlandish behaviour, appearance, and actions, she was funny without losing either her menacing quality or her audience. Whether people thought she was horrid, ridiculous, or wonderful, they all sat enraptured.

507.

• Make sure the emotional state of the character is clearly defined.
• 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.
• Be alert to use of cutting and camera in helping to accentuate the emotion.
• Ask your constantly: What am I trying to say here? What do I really want to show? How do I want the audience to react?
• Use the element of time wisely: to establish the emotion of the character, to convey it to the viewers, to let them savour the situation.
• Don't be ponderous, but don't take it away from them just as they start to enjoy it.