REFERENCING
- Abigail Lamb
- Mar 14, 2017
- 3 min read
I've been spending my free time since the start of the new year working on my animatic and visual gesturing. I'm making slow progress because I am trying to make sure that my gesturing is correct as I go. I know it wont really matter too much because I wont be making the film in 2D so the attention to detail wont be the same. However I feel it will benifit me in the long run to keep my gesturing strong for as long as I can.
I watched a brilliant tutorial by Andrew Gordon on Lynda.com called "Animation Foundations: Gesture." And there I learnt about Pattern and texture of movement as well as rhythm and arrival times. Since then I've been filming my own references and breaking them down into key gestures to see where things are weighted and if the movements I've made make sense and aren't cliched.
FALL TO KNEES
The first of these is the one I filmed first. In this instance I was pretty sure of what I wanted; I was very invested in what I saw on the ground and I needed straight down to investigate. I fell to my knees, sat back as if to overshoot or to steady myself before going all the way down.
While I think my gesturing is clear and readable. the action line is a bit straight forward. It's literally a straight line. So when I watch this clip back I see no urgency. And also I see no real weight. There should be real weight to Lute's actions because he is really begining to just throw himself around. He's not doing anything because he enjoys in any longer. Everything is with dragged heels. I didn't feel that in this sequence.
The second time I tried falling with much more intent. I sunk all the way this time and went straight down to the object I'm investigating. I think it's much clearer from the moment I hit the ground that I am headed for whatever it is I am looking at. My weight is leaned forward almost the whole time, it's leaned forward from the moment my weight is on the ground. There's a nice arch in my back in the middle gesture where all my weight is imn my arms keeping my upright. I think that helps to show my excitement in the possibility on the ground. Finally I settled backwards/ shift my weight into my bum as if I've gatheredsome information and am now drawing some conclusions.
I liked this one a lot more because I felt like it really showed my intention and excitement but also the weight of my own situation. I kind of feel that it's almost believable that I might not stop when I begin to face downwards and might just defeatedly faceplant into the floor.
The final sequence is a just a small variation on the second one. There's far more intent in the fall, I have my arms slightly poised in anticipation of my next move. Which makes it more believable that I fell forward to the next gesture, where all my weight is in my hands as I steady myself. Then as I settle back, having overshot the action, I let one hand linger near the ground to show my intention hasn't really changed.
I liked this one a fair bit however I didn't like the initial drop so I think I'll edit together a piece of footage that allows me to use the drop on the second recording.
All and all this sequence was one I was very happy with. I'm having a fair bit of fun doing this. Haha
