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.