Animation

to Production

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Acknowledgments
Prof. Alan Chan, Dean, College of Humanities, Hans Bacher and Ishu Patel, for many years of
Arts and Social Sciences (HASS), Nanyang inspiration, collaboration and friendship.
Technological University Singapore.
Thomas Silbereis, for designing the wonder-
Prof. Vibeke Sorensen, Chair, School of Art, ful original layout for this book.
Design and Media (ADM), Nanyang Techno-
logical University Singapore, All the BFA Digital Animation students at the
School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang
For their continuous support and encourage- Technological University Singapore, who
ment. keep amazing me since I started teaching
there in 2005.

3
 Introduction
Animation is a fascinating art form. Unlike
any other medium, it allows filmmakers to
have complete artistic control over each im-
age. This book is designed to help beginners
in getting started, and to provide those with
advanced skills and “old hands” with new and
surprising insights.
In order to best achieve this, the focus of this
volume has been clearly defined: It is about
the animator in the role of filmmaker - that is,
the methodology of using artistic concepts to
implement content-specific objectives. With
regard to its content, the book follows rough-
ly the general production process of an ani-
mation film and later explores the individual
major production techniques and animation
styles.

Some may rightly argue that job descrip-

tions for those who just completed training
in the field of animation, particularly coming
from major studios, are characterized by ex-
treme specialization requirements to indi-
vidual areas. However, I am convinced that
knowledge of the larger context is helpful, if
not indispensable, for seasoned filmmakers
seeking specialization as well. A character
animator, for example, must understand the
principles of film editing in order to provide
continuity between scenes.
In addition, most animation study programs
worldwide include the production of an an-
imated short film as a major part of the final
exam. For the artistic quality, it is essential
to understand how to utilize one’s creative
resources for the optimal communication of
content, whether they be linear/narrative or
abstract/experimental in nature.
A comprehensive book about animation on

4
 Introduction

Hannes Rall

only 300 pages also requires that it be limited tions, which I designed specifically for the
to the major points. Nevertheless, I hope that book, are complemented with relevant ex-
we have succeeded in bringing transparency amples from the work of other animators.
to complex correlations, while still providing Therefore, thanks also to the numerous ani-
detailed and practical information. mation film makers, studios and animation
students, who have made pictures of their
work available to us.
This book is not a software manual, and for
good reason. For one thing, it would go be- The high-profile interviewees, who include
yond the realm of possibility, and secondly, Annie Award Winner Hans Bacher, star ani-
software in the field of animation is chang- mator Andreas Deja and Oscar Award Winner
ing too quickly and cannot be reflected VFX Volker Engel virtually represent a trium-
adequately in just one book. I believe that virate of the German animation film. Then
understanding the basic design concepts is there is the internationally renowned com-
much more important than the knowledge puter animation expert Isaac Kerlow, who
of purely technological details. Other media provides some thoughts about the future of
are much better suited for teaching this kind the medium.
of information, and our work gives relevant
pointers by naming and describing the cur- I sincerely hope that this book will enthuse
rently most important programs for every and inspire many aspiring and established
technique. animators to implement, expand, and even
challenge the methods shown. Because an-
The main focus, however, is clearly on artistic imation, like almost no other medium, de-
themes, which will continue to be relevant pends on the continuous progression and re-
for years to come. I am pleased and proud to invention: We are just at the beginning of an
be able to feature excellent contributors for exciting development. To use the words of a
special topics: Guest author Kathrin Albers is famous spacefaring colleague: “To infinity and
a renowned and award-winning animation beyond.“ Or something like that.
filmmaker and stop-motion expert as well
as Assistant Professor at the School of Art,
Design and Media at Nanyang Technological
University in Singapore. I also wish to thank
Melanie Beisswenger for her chapter. She is a Stuttgart, December 2014
professor for 3D computer animation at the
University of Applied Sciences, Mainz. Hannes Rall
My book designer Thomas Silbereis and I
have placed great emphasis on the optimal
combination of text and image, an essential
approach for this topic. Numerous illustra-

5
 Guest authors
Prof. Melanie
Beisswenger teaches
computer animation
at the University of
Applied Sciences Mainz
and works also as a free-
lance 3D character an-
imator, supervisor and
director. She has been
involved in a variety of
Melanie Beisswenger
international animation
and VFX films, including
the Academy Award winner "Happy Feet" and its
sequel "Happy Feet 2", the TV clip for the BioShock
game as well as "Iron Man 3" (Oscar nomination
for the category "Best Visual Effects"), “Riddick",
"The 7th Dwarf" and "Sapphire Blue", where she
was the lead animator for the digital character.
Her animated short film "There's Bliss in the Kiss"
has won many international awards.

Kathrin Albers has

worked as a stop-motion
filmmaker for over 13
years and has produced
many short films, trailers,
spots and music videos
under the label Stoptrick.
Since 2012, she has been
working as Assistant
Professor for Digital An-
Kathrin Albers imation at the Nanyang
Technological University
in Singapore.

Technical terms that are not explained in the text and are highlighted
as follows– example term – (in the respective chapter color), are
explained in the glossary.

6
 Guest authors/Overview

Overview
4 Introduction Hannes Rall
6 Guest authors
7 Overview

Pre-Production
8 1.1) Script and Storyboarding
50 1.2) Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation
76 1.3) Character Design – Virtual Casting Couch for Animated Film Stars
108 1.4) What is Production Design for Animation?
Expert Interview:
134 "I basically treat every design like a stage in the theater."
Hans Bacher, animation production designer

Production (in various techniques)

144 2.1) The Principles of Animation and their Application

212 2.2) Traditional 2D Animation
Expert Interview:
236 “That scene and that character - that's me!"
Andreas Deja, 2D character animator
254 2.3) Stop Motion
Guest author: Kathrin Albers, award-winning independent animation
filmmaker, Hamburg
276 2.4) Insight into 3D Computer Animation
Guest author: Melanie Beisswenger, Professor of 3D computer animation
Expert Interview:
300 "For me, animation is the ultimate fundamental training for
the elementary understanding of motion.”
Volker Engel, Academy Award Winner VFX
Expert Interview:
312 “There will be new ways to make things happen."
Isaac Kerlow, expert in 3D computer animation

Appendices

320 Glossary
328 Bibliography/Picture Credits
334 Recommendations for additional reading
339 Extra: Future Animation Projects by Hannes Rall

7
Chapter 1.1

Script and Storyboarding

The script, the idea and the story for an animated
film are almost always developed with a storyboard.
The storyboard forms the framework, the basis for
a successfully animated film. It is all about visual
storytelling: communicating a story through the
sequence of images.

The topic of developing and writing a story and form of writing largely depend on it. Like-
for animation film is so broad and complex wise, let us never forget that movies are not
that it would require a book of its own and primarily made for oneself, but for an audi-
cannot be covered in its entirety here. There- ence. (Exceptions prove the rule.)
fore, we have provided a list of recommended Therefore, my story has to communicate
readings in the appendix. something, that is, it has to be comprehensi-
Nevertheless, I want to share some important ble (more on this later).
thoughts and principles: Assuming that this
is an in-house development, it usually starts The majority of this book’s readers will de-
with an idea, the beginning or end of a sto- velop short formats, i.e. animated short films,
ry - maybe just an image, a visual or narrative whether in a degree program, as an indepen-
situation. Now, before proceeding with the dent animation filmmaker or for a commis-
actual writing, it is important to have a clear sioned work. An animated short film should
idea on a few things: meet certain criteria:

Which format? (short film, feature film, TV The story must be visually attractive: many
series) outstanding animation short films are
Which narrative format? (Linear narrative based on a basic concept that is relatively
or experimental) simple, but visually concise.
Which target group? (For whom do I Why as animation film? Or: What makes
write/develop the story - who is the audi- my story more special when it is told as an
ence?) animation film? In other words: Tell a story
What do I want to communicate? (Do I in such a way, that it can only be told effec-
want to thrill my audience with enter- tively as an animation film.
tainment or unsettle them with experi- Clear and simple: A short film of 2 to 10
ments?) minutes in length does not allow for a
complex introduction of characters or an
Of course, the idea or content also deter- overload with too many narrative threads
mines or leads to the format. Deciding on a and/or characters.
final format is very important, since the style

8
 Script and Storyboarding

There is this widespread misconception - par- farm, it is marked with bizarre events. Cy-
ticularly among beginners - that complexity clical narrative structure, which returns to
equals quality, when the opposite is actually the starting point of the narrative.
the case! Cordell Baker: "The Cat Came Back" (1988)
Telling a simple story in a comprehensible You cannot kill a cat, and an attempt to do
manner is often most difficult. You can cer- so will only make things worse. The story is
tainly compare this to a well-prepared dish. resolved in a very striking visual gag - very
More ingredients don’t improve the recipe; it specific to animation film!
is all about the correct balance of a few, but Christoph und Wolfgang Lauenstein:
properly selected ingredients! "Balance" (1989)
As with anything, there are exceptions here A downright exemplary idea for animation
as well, but as a rule, such films are made by film: Five characters must keep a free-float-
professionals with years of experience in visu- ing platform in constant balance to keep
al storytelling. from falling. A visually very striking idea,
I think it is important that you first learn to and very well suited as an allegory!
master the smaller and simpler structure by
applying the proper rules, before being able Analyzing well animated commercials can be
to modify or break those rules. very helpful as well: It is amazing how well
you can tell a story in 30 or 60 seconds, if you
Some examples of well-designed animation stick to the right narrative economy.
shorts with a relatively clear and simple struc-
ture are: A story for animation film, particularly for the
short form, is rarely developed as a classic
Michael Dudok de Wit: “Le Moine et le script, but often comes about exclusively as
Poisson” (1994) a storyboard:
A monk chasing a fish (with the chase be-
coming increasingly surreal).
Mark Baker: “The Hill Farm” (1989)
A day on a farm: When visitors from the
city disrupt the everyday life on an English

9
Chapter 1.1

Storyboard - the Blueprint for Animated Films

What is a storyboard?
A storyboard is often de-
scribed as the "comic strip
version" of the script - this
works for a quick descriptive
explanation, but it is actually
not quite accurate:

A storyboard translates the

description of the script into
images and defines "visual
storytelling".
In doing so, each shot is rep-
resented by at least one im-
age. Long or complex shots
can be illustrated with multi-
ple images.

10
Script and Storyboarding

COMIC STRIP

Comparison of Story-
boards and Comic Strips
by Hannes Rall

11
Chapter 1.1

This storyboard illustrates a

tracking shot, combined with
zooms for a continuous shot.
It is important to understand
that although the storyboard
format can change in size, it
never changes the relative
aspect ratio.
When projected as a movie
or video, everything is shown
in the same size! (illustrations
right)

12
 Script and Storyboarding

TV

Formats for storyboard

While a comic strip can stand
alone and already represents
the final “product”, a story-
board is a planning tool for
MOVIE the film to be produced. It
must therefore take into ac-
count the requirements of
the film format. This includes,
for example, the constant
movie or TV screen format, in
which a film is produced, the
so-called aspect ratio. Here
is an overview of the most
common formats.

When which format?

TV productions:
Today, there is hardly a
choice: 16 : 9 is the estab-
lished standard today
Movie theater:
Wide-screen (1.85 : 1)
or super wide-screen
(2.35 : 1) (Cinemascope)

Aspect Ratio
„Aspect Ratio“ is the term
for the projection or screen
format of a movie or video. It
is extremely important to un-
derstand that a composition
for film - and thus animation
- must always be "thought
of" in those terms.

13
Chapter 1.1

Split Screen Apart from exceptions, such Choosing a format

A "split screen" is an addi- as split screen and various Choosing the “correct” type of
tional segmentation of the multi-media formats, once movie or TV screen format de-
actual image format into
additional windows: several
you have selected a format, it pends on several factors. The
formats within a format. This is used throughout the entire decision can either be moti-
variation, which is not unlike production: The drawings for vated artistically or financially,
a comic strip, is often used to the storyboard must be drawn or include technical produc-
show concurrence of actions. in an appropriate format using tion considerations. The key is
Examples can be found in
the TV series "24" or the
a frame - the composition must to decide on the format at the
motion picture film "Hulk" by work within this frame, since ev- beginning of the production
Ang Lee: Here, the stylistic erything that is outside of it will and to stick with it throughout
element was deliberately not be visible later and becomes the entire process.
used to create a "comic-strip- irrelevant. A common mistake
like" appearance.
for beginners is to neglect this
simple rule and draw the indi-
vidual storyboards randomly in
various formats, something that
does not work for filmmaking.

14
 Script and Storyboarding

Cut-Off Area – the “Safety Clearance“ in Movie and Television Formats

Due to the so-called projection cut-off area storyboard illustrator can take into account
for film projectors as well as different screen the important image elements such as heads,
dimensions and standards for TV formats, it is etc., making sure that they are not placed at
important to take into account a certain "safe- the extreme edge of the format. If the sole
ty clearance" when configuring film images: purpose of the storyboard is to develop the
important image elements or components of story, then such technical factors can be com-
titles should not be positioned outside this “ti- pletely ignored. If, however, the storyboard is
tle safe area". This does not necessarily have to adopted almost unchanged as a layout, or if
be observed precisely in the storyboard, if the individual storyboard drawings are adopted
positions of the image elements are exactly as key frames, then it is safer to consider the
defined in a layout stage later. However, the respective cut-off areas from the beginning.

These two drawings show,

where important image
information for 2.35 : 1 (Cine-
maScope) and wide-screen TV
(16 : 9) should be and where
they should not be.

15
Chapter 1.1

A storyboard translates or develops the story how choosing different camera angles for the
for an animated film into the drawn version of individual shots can create an entirely differ-
the individual shots: It is about visual narra- ent impression of the same story.
tion, visual storytelling. Here is an example of

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)
There is hardly a change in the camera’s angle: Quite differently here:
Although the camera changes between long, medium Dramatic/extreme lighting (e.g. the classic “ horror
and close-up shots, it always remains roughly at eye level under-lighting") and highly varied camera angles
to the viewer and never “tilts” in perspective. The lighting (from above/below) are used: this creates the im-
of the scene is also very uniform and lacks dramatic pression of threat (down-shot [1]), suspense (silhou-
accents. Since the stylistic means create an emotionally ette, lighting [3]) and shock/horror (under-lighting,
neutral effect, it leaves the viewer with a documenta- up-shot [4]).
ry-style impression.

16
 Script and Storyboarding

Assignment:
Create two versions of an identical or similar story, for example a com-
edy and a horror version. Use the above-mentioned stylistic means
such as camera angles, shot sizes and lighting/light and shadow.
An example for such a story might be:
A man/woman walking with a dog. The man/woman throwing a ball
and the dog returning it (or something else?).

You can also experiment by changing place and time: City or nature?
Night or day?

But start with those versions, which are set in a similar environment
and time, and only later try out bolder variations: In this way it
becomes clear, how much you can greatly change the effect of visual
storytelling with only limited resources!

Why a Storyboard?

For live-action film, shots are usually repeat- approximately when still in the storyboard
ed and sometimes covered with multiple format. Continuity and transitions between
cameras or camera angles. During the editing individual scenes can already be defined in
process, the director can then select the de- the storyboard.
sired versions and continuity from a surplus Last but not least, the storyboard is often the
of footage. For animation film, the process is crucial communication tool between film
very different: The elaborate frame-by-frame producers/authors and potential investors, on
production process generally does not allow the basis of which the approval of financing is
for the repeated production of scenes for cost decided: A script alone is not sufficient to ap-
reasons alone. Therefore, the film has to be ply for granting subsidies for animation films,
planned visually exact in advance, in order the same applies to private and commercial
not to lose time and money during the ac- investors. The storyboard is a relatively inex-
tual production process. It is equally import- pensive way to present the visual implemen-
ant that an animation film be edited at least tation of the story the most precise way.

17
Chapter 1.1

Because of this precise planning method, the the other hand, like Pixar's "Brave" (Andrews,
storyboard has also been used in live-action Chapman, 2012) still use storyboards: This is
filmmaking since the 40s and 50s, mainly for probably due to the fact that drawings have
visually elaborate productions and those as- an original expressive power that can present
sociated with special effects. The use of sto- the charm of a story in a much more attrac-
ryboards is now standard in complex feature tive manner.
film productions, but it is also being widely
replaced by so-called previsualization (short: Historically, the storyboard has been a medi-
previz) when it comes to the planning of um that was first invented and used for ani-
elaborate effects sequences or hybrid forms mated film and later was used increasingly for
of CG animation and live-action film. live-action film as well. The name comes from
the original form, where many small draw-
An animated TV series such as "Star Wars: The ings in the format of the film are pinned to a
Clone Wars" (Filoni, 2008-2014) is now exclu- board with needles.
sively developed using previz - storyboards The drawings represented the various shots
are no longer used. Newer CG animations, on of the film and enabled the production staff

18
 Script and Storyboarding

Example:
Excerpts from the previz version of the student
film "Daisy" by Renald Taurusdi and Michael King
to examine and exchange them, or to replace
Sutanto, School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang
them quickly with new versions. This allowed Technological University Singapore, 2010.
for a constant evolution of the story process,
in which the story was continuously evolving
until, ultimately, a final version of the story in
drawn form had emerged.

The Oscar-winning CG animation feature film

"Rango" (Industrial Light and Magic, 2011)
was first developed fully as a storyboard to-
gether with director Gore Verbinski. Even
Animatic: Filmed version of a storyboard, which
composition and camera angles were rough- frequently already includes key frames, gener-
ly defined in the storyboard. However, both ally highlighted with provisional sound as well.
were greatly modified and improved in the The key is the ability to develop the timing of
subsequent stage of the 3D layout. the film.
Leica Reel: Animatic in feature film length. Ini-
tially consisting of only the storyboards, these
are replaced in the course of production by
layout images, animation tests, and lastly, the
final animation. A Leica reel allows everyone
involved in production to keep in mind the
structure of the overall film. An absolutely indis-
pensable planning tool.
Previz/3D layout: An animatic, which does not
use drawings, but very rough computer models
in a 3D environment. This is where in the work
process of computer animation, the positions
of the characters and shot angles are often fi-
nalized.

19
Chapter 1.1

Fundamentals of Cinematic Design

If you want to tell a linear story through film It is an established cinematic convention that
that the audience can understand, it is nec- the close-up of a face is followed by a shot
essary to speak the same language the au- that shows what that person sees.
dience understands: Since the introduction If you want to tell a traditionally structured
of the film medium, certain conventions of story, you will stick to these established rules
visual language have been established that and expand/modify them in a playful manner.
the audience can understand. By adhering to There are, of course, numerous examples, es-
these conventions with regard to shots and pecially from the recent past and postmod-
editing, the audience can follow the action. ernism, in which these rules were deliberate-
If these conventions are violated, the under- ly broken in order to achieve a certain effect.
standing of the events on the screen is made Masters of cinematics are able to integrate this
difficult or impossible. in such a way that the story is still - or maybe
even better - understood. This works, because
the breaks with convention are used deliber-
ately to support a certain narrative statement.
For beginners, however, it is imperative to
first familiarize themselves with the estab-
lished rules of the film language before they
can begin to purposefully override them.
Starting out, it is difficult enough to combine
all the skills needed to draw an attractively
designed and narrated storyboard that is
clear and comprehensible. You can compare
this to a jazz musician, who must first mas-
ter all the scales before he can begin to im-
provise at all. If your work is about a purely
improvisational, i.e. experimental animation
film, which is not designed to tell a conven-
tionally structured and intelligible story,
then these rules can be ignored. However,
many experimental abstract animation films
by masters such as Oskar Fischinger ("Mo-
tion Painting No.1", 1947) or Michel Gagné
("Sensology", 2010) have a sequential graph-
ic structure - which can certainly be planned
in and with storyboards. Graphic contrasts
A classic example is the editing of shot and reverse shot. and tension and relief through rhythmic

20
 Script and Storyboarding

variations are used to structure a film in a

storyboard rather than classic rules of nar-
rative film language. Other experimental
animated artists are completely abandoning
storyboards for some of their films and are
improvising: One image follows another, ev-
erything in straight-ahead animation.

Composition

Storyboards are about the appealing and

functional arrangement of image elements
in a given format: That is why a good story-
boarder must master the basic rules of com-
position. Students starting out often forget
that drawing for storyboards is always about
the composition in a defined frame:

It is important to show exactly, what the viewer Important image elements are placed on "thirds". Contrast between
the diagonal lines and the vertical line of the right figure.
will later see on a movie or TV screen!

PERFECT SYMMETRY

Symmetry can
work very well!

COMPOSITION BASED ON “THIRDS"

Contrast between symmetry and irregular distribution of objects =

irritation, draws attention.

21
Chapter 1.1

If a strong base
composition forms the
basis, ...

... then the added visual

themes will work.

Even when detailed

texture(s) and color are
added (= higher demand
for realism). Color can
also support the com-
position.

22
 Script and Storyboarding

It is important to understand that compo- line thickness, density of detail and scaling
sition can not be regarded in isolation: The are used to achieve this effect.
idea is to choose the composition of a scene
so that it supports and highlights the appro- This can be seen in the following example:
priate content of the story. The design should In Figure1 , objects are placed in the fore-
ultimately benefit visual storytelling. Form ground as silhouettes, there is more detail
follows function. If that is achieved, then this at the mid-ground, which decreases with in-
alone will often result in a good composi- creasing distance. Likewise, the line thickness
tion, since it is based on a well thought-out is varied to emphasize the essentials (thick
concept. Successful compositions are usually lines) and to mark the less important "acces-
based on an organized system for optimal sories" (thin lines, gray/blue outlines in the
communication of the image content: Artis- background).
tic styling means and tools such as lighting,
In Figure2, none of these sty-
listic means are used; each
element is treated the same
way: There is no system, the
composition appears confus-
ing and not well organized
- and was therefore not suc-
cessful.

Additional note:
Of course, there may be ar-
tistic reasons to have a shot
appear "flat" and "one-di-
mensional", perhaps even
Figure 1 confusing - there are excep-
tions to the rule.

Always important:
The compositional imple-
mentation must meet the
artistic/content-related in-
tention!

Figure 2

23
Chapter 1.1

Composition for the Purpose of Visual Storytelling

FRAMING

Image elements draw attention to the

central motif.

POSITIVE AGAINST NEGATIVE:

small positive figure against large nega-
tive surface; also works in reverse:

VARIED SPATIAL LAYOUT:

irregular distribution of parallel
curves + size contrast.

- BALANCE OF NEGATIVE SURFACES

- TRIANGLE AS COMPOSITIONAL
ELEMENT

VARIATION + CONTRAST OF BASIC SHAPES + SIZE DIFFERENCE:

central figure slightly offset against symmetry:
Contrast to diagonals.

24
 Script and Storyboarding

Drawing attention with fram-

ing and the use of vanishing
point perspective.

VERTICAL LINE/ CURVES

Repetition of shapes as
decorative elements.

Convex / Concave

Round /Rectangular

25
Chapter 1.1

Dynamic Composition

Animation film is not about static compo- moves through a scene, or the camera moves
sitions: A composition can change within a horizontally, vertically, or zooms: Ideally,
scene, be it through tracking shots or, in the there should always be a well-designed im-
case of animation film, by metamorphoses. age composition at any point within a scene.
Unlike, for example, in a comic, a character

Over time, the character moves through the scene,

while the camera moves at the same time: For each
resulting shot, there should be a perfect composition.
Animated film in particular, offers the possibility of
absolute control, since each frame is individually
generated. However, it should be mentioned that This "composition" shows how positions of
this control is significantly easier with (digitally or characters change within a single, unedited
traditionally) drawn animated film than with 3D shot, and how camera angle and image frame
computer animated film. This is because, as a rule, adjust. It becomes apparent that the balance
virtual backgrounds are modeled in computer
between the dynamic image elements and
animations in which the characters move - similar
to a live-action shoot. Changing these backgrounds the background must be taken into account.
within a scene or adapting them is quite difficult, if On the following page, the shot is shown in
not impossible. three separate sequential storyboard draw-
ings. As you can see, such a complex and
dynamic shot requires multiple drawings in
order to illustrate it intelligibly.

26
Script and Storyboarding

27
 Chapter 1.1

Film Takes - How Do I Find the Right Shot?

A film usually consists of Cut and Editing The relationship between

single shots, which are con- The most important basic two people in a particular
nected through film edit- rule for film editing is: Cuts environment is shown.
ing. It is the purpose of the must be motivated! Since Time has passed.
storyboard to break down a cut means changing the
the described action of the shot, then there must be a These are just a few exam-
script (if available) into shots. reason why a new shot is se- ples, but an edit should al-
Choosing the right shots is lected. As a rule, it is about ways be motivated by the
extremely important in or- communicating informa- need for visual storytelling.
der to achieve the desired tion relevant to the action: It is of vital importance to
emotional and narrative ef- A new place of action is preserve the narrative con-
fect on the audience. being introduced. tinuity in this process. For
A detail is shown. example, in the storyboard,
the characters in the draw-
ings must always be recog-
nizable - otherwise the story
becomes unintelligible.

Break in continuity:
Different clothing of the
same character for implied si-
multaneity and for the same
environment leads to irrita-
tion (= perceived as an error
by the audience).

Or:
Used deliberately by the film-
maker in order to suggest a
"leap in time" in contrast to
visual conventions.

The traditionally “correct" version: Edit of

close-up to medium shot with change of
camera angle. Continuity through left-
right distribution and unchanged lighting/
colors compl e te l y appropriate. In this edit of a continuous movement
(= direct continuity) and an unchanged en-
vironment, the viewer perceives the change
in dress color as a continuity error.

28
 Script and Storyboarding

When keeping the same characters, but

changing the environment, then a differ-
ent version emerges: By using a match
cut, the situation shown is communicated
as a temporally continued or a repeated
Simply changing the lighting implies dispute.
the passing of time: A mistake turns into
an interesting version. Although the
continuous motion suggests immediate
continuity, the changed time of day
creates a new context.

An edit can, of course, be graphically/aes-

thetically motivated as well; ideally, the aes-
thetic component connects perfectly with
the narrative intention.

When there is a complete change in the

environment, without continuity of move-
ment and a completely different situation,
then the change in the dress color does not
constitute an error in continuity: Narrative-
ly speaking, continuity is not intended here.

29
Chapter 1.1

Below is a description of the most important tions are closely linked to the kind of editing
types of shots based on a continuous scene, from one shot to the next.
and connected through editing. Shot selec-

The long shot (wide shot or extreme wide shot)

informs the audience about the place of action.
It is also called the establishing shot. This kind
of shot is ideal to establish the atmosphere and
mood about the story’s location.

The medium shot is well suited to highlight the

relationship between two characters, while the
surrounding context remains distinguishable. The
storyboard also highlights the important relation-
ship of the actors in shades of gray. Insignificant
characters "fade". (In the final film, this can be
replaced by other means, such as varying focus.)

The close-up is the best way to show the emotions

of a character. The viewing direction of the
character here “meets" the gaze of the character in
the next shot. This is achieved with the estab-
lished cinematic convention of reverse shot: The
following shot shows the gaze of the character in
a close-up that the other character sees.

An extreme close-up shows details that would oth-

erwise not be recognizable or where the informa-
tion would be lost (here, how the eyes become slits).

Over-the-shoulder shot: This shot, often used for

dialogues, joins two characters in a foreground-back-
ground combination. Traditionally, these shots are
edited and combined to alternate for the left and
right character in dialogue.

30
 Script and Storyboarding

A down shot from the “bird’s eye perspective"

- a special type of long shot.
The shooter in the foreground is accentuated by
position, scale, and harsh contrast.

Over-the-shoulder shot, again combined with a “more

distanced"medium shot. This grants the audience the
view, how the cowboy on the left gets hit. At the same
time, the audience can see the reaction of the character
in the foreground. Again, the use of light and shadow
supports the narrative intention. The position of the
gaze on the 2D picture plane of the image format ...

... is identical to the

position of the fleeing
shooter in the next shot.
This again communi-
cates that this shot shows what the character from
the previous shot sees.

An up shot or low-angle shot focuses on the face of the

wounded, the touching hand and the reaction of the
other character in the center. From a purely graphic point
of view, this change of perspective offers an appealing
option.

This long shot combined with tracking shot is

action motivated: We are suddenly in a completely
different scenario, the identity of the isolated
horseman is deliberately unclear. The shot com-
municates the isolation of the horseman by using
the contrast of the monumental landscape. The
cinematic stylistic means of the tracking shot is
used to show additional information: During the
The composition takes into account the tracking shot and course of the scene it is revealed that Indians are
change of position of the character during the course of the lurking in the foreground. This creates a complete-
scene: There are no background details in the direction, in which ly new contextual layer of suspense.
the horseman is moving. In film, this can be achieved by different
focal planes (few details = out of focus).

31
Chapter 1.1

For live-action film, the editing process is one Classic examples are the shot/reverse shot
of the last steps in production. The director editing or the avoidance of crossing the line.
and cutter create the final product from the
existing material of the shoot - the film. Each These rules are often deliberately violated
scene is shot several times during a live ac- or ignored in postmodern film, in order to
tion movie, there are several takes, often with achieve certain effects. In order to do this
various camera adjustments, from which the sensibly and balanced, the filmmaker has to
selection for the final cut is made. know the traditional rules and know how to
In animation film, however, it is generally not tell his story in a visually intelligible manner.
possible to animate shots multiple times: However, this seems to be very difficult for
That would be far too costly and inefficient. beginners or students. Therefore, I think it is
This is why edits for animation film are deter- very important to learn first how convention-
mined at a much earlier stage: during story- al editing rules should be applied before they
board and/or animatic (Leica reel) or previz are broken.
for 3D productions. The more detailed and
comprehensive the planning in the early Tip: Always show the storyboard or animatic
stage, the more smoothly and cost-effective of an animation film to someone who is com-
the implementation of the actual production pletely unfamiliar with the story. If this person
will be. With elaborate full-length produc- does not understand the story based on the
tions, there is usually a final cut later, and it storyboard or animatic, then it must be cor-
is certainly possible to change a scene for CG rected:
productions by using different shot angles.
(As an additional note, it is more sensible to Are the drawings clear enough?
determine the shots during the previz or lay- Did I show all the elements/scenes rele-
out stage, in order to create the most efficient vant to the actions?
and suitable background/environment). Film Did I choose the correct shots?
editing follows certain rules which have been Did I make the right cuts/transitions?
established as viewing conventions with the Do I need more drawings to make a cer-
audience: tain shot more intelligible?
It is indispensable for the (animation) film-
maker to know, understand, and apply these
rules so that the audience understands the
action shown according to the filmmaker's
intentions:

32
 Script and Storyboarding

Important Editing Rules

Contrast between shots

As a rule, joining together two very similar shots
should be avoided.

(1) - (2)

Here, it is better to combine them by zooming in.

With regard to composition, a cut should include

a contrast between shots.
(1) - (3)
A cut should always be justified in terms of
content: The new shot communicates important
image information for the narrative:

In this close-up the character looks at the 2D po-

sition of the observer from (3). This makes it clear
that he has noticed the observer.

A close-up reveals an important detail of the story

that is otherwise lost (and vice versa: a close-up or
extreme close-up of a detail automatically imparts
contextual significance).

33
Chapter 1.1

The cut of 1 to 2 works, because of the contrast between

the opposing diagonals on which the image elements
are based.

The basic rules of composition work when applied

to film editing: Composition on the timeline!

Abstract/graphic image transitions:

Two shots can also be joined by two
graphically similar themes. This effect
is reinforced by precise continuity
editing in the movement.

In animation, you are free to choose,

since you do not have to rely on
material from the shoot, and are
therefore able to plan each edit in
great detail!

34
 Script and Storyboarding

Because of the orientation on the 2D

plane of the movie screen, it is important
to adhere to the direction of movement
between cuts , if you want
to give the impression of a continuous
movement.

A cut becomes even less noticeable, if

the exact movement is continued after
the edit.

Changing the character’s direction

immediately following continuity
has a disorienting effect, and should
therefore be avoided as a rule.

If a character leaves the image to the

right, it will return to the image from the
left in the next shot as the movement
direction continues.

35
Chapter 1.1

One of the "classic" violations in editing is the

so-called crossing the line. As a result, the two
characters exchange their position between shot
(1) and shot (2).
This has an irritating and disorienting effect on the
viewer.

Crossing the line occurs, when the camera

skips an imaginary line at an angle of 180 °
- that is, when the next shot comes from an
angle at which the actors “jump“ from left
to right (or vice versa).

36
 Script and Storyboarding

Crossing the line can be avoided by using a track-

ing shot around the characters, or by ...

... inserting a neutral shot without a clear right-

left positioning.

37
Chapter 1.1

CREATIVE TRANSITIONS OF SCENES

By precisely matching the position and the

exact continuation of the movement after
the cut, a connection between similar image
themes can be established: a match cut.

The most famous example: The transition

from a flying bone to a spaceship from
Kubrick's "2001 - A Space Odyssey" (1968). In
addition, a graphically elegant contrast is cre-
ated by switching to the black of the universe.

Not a match cut in the strict sense, but another

famous edit is the cut to blowing out a match
to a sunset in the desert from David Leans
"Lawrence of Arabia" (1962).

The warm yellow-orange color of the match

"jumps" to the right towards the sunrise,
while all the other image elements are
replaced by an empty space.

This accentuates the dominance and

importance of the new image motif. The
composition of the new shot follows the
1/3- to 2/3 rule.

38
 Script and Storyboarding

Fast, hard cuts between very different shots

suggest simultaneous events: parallel edit-
ing or cross-cutting.
Example: In close-up, the character tells of his
dream of emigrating to America.
In addition to hard cuts, shots can be con-
nected by using soft transitions:
Dissolves and fade out/fade in. These tran-
sitions are often used to suggest the lapse of
time:
Typically, a scene might fade out in the black
of night, and in the next shot, fade in to the
morning of the next day.

A cross dissolve indicates that time has passed.

The following shot shows a horseman in long

shot in an American landscape: The narrative thus
suggesting that the narrator has made his dream
come true.

“CLASSIC“ FADE IN AND FADE OUT

39
Chapter 1.1

Camera in Motion

As pointed out in the examples, camera transitions between scenes. Tracking shots
movement is another essential means of film can be done freely in all directions, particu-
design with regard to editing: This applies larly in animation film. No real movement,
as a component within a shot, as well as for but a similar effect is achieved by zooming. In
addition, there are effects such as rack focus/
partial blurring.

40
 Script and Storyboarding

It is interesting to note that in 2D and 3D ani- the "physical" limitations of a real camera,
mation film real cameras or lenses are no lon- thus opening up a world of new possibilities
ger used, but a software that virtually " rep- for animation film:
licates" these effects. This has eliminated all

In animation film, unconventional and innovative transitions between shots, which differ
from conventional cutting techniques, are also possible. In fact, the animation filmmaker
has all the freedom to explore his creativity! The digital revolution and the convergence
between animated and live-action film have opened many doors for smooth scene tran-
sitions in live-action film as well.

Creative transitions for animated film

As opposed to live-action film, animation film pro-
vides unlimited possibilities in creating transitions
between two shots:
Unlimited use of tracking shots, which are not
limited by physical objects or locations
Metamorphoses
Abstract graphic/shape-based opposites or
matches

41
Chapter 1.1

My former Professor Albrecht Ade has repeat-

edly said: “The place where they cut in live-ac-
tion film, is where it gets interesting in anima-
tion film.“ I fully agree with this observation,
would like to add, however, that these stylis-
tic means for innovative transitions should
be implemented in such a way that the story
remains intelligible. This only applies, if you
want to tell a traditional and narratively linear
story; for a strictly experimental animation
film, the purely visual/aesthetic elements
may dominate.
This technique has almost become a "trade-
mark” for my own films (here examples from
the "The Cold Heart", 2013): not only does it
link extreme perspectives by means of ani-
mated (and hand-drawn) tracking shots, but
it also implements the changes in perspec-
tive in a way that it supports the story’s effect.
Instead of using a vanishing point perspec-
tive, a perspective of importance is used to
illustrate the status of the various characters
as the story unfolds.

Animated transitions can be

used so that certain aspects of
the story become more clear
and obvious: If, for example, you
don’t “split” two shots by editing,
but join them directly with an
animated tracking shot, then the
issue of crossing the line can be
avoided and you have created a
visually appealing sequence.

42
Script and Storyboarding

43
Chapter 1.1

What is the Difference Between a Storyboard and a Layout?

A layout or 3D layout goes one step further sequent animation of the shots. This is not a
than the storyboard, and precisely specifies "one-way street", since the animator might
field of view, tracking shots and angles during want to break up the scene differently later
a shot. Layouts provide the basis for the sub- (e.g. placement of characters/camera an-
gles), which would require changes. A layout
can therefore be modified later. A 2D layout
is created in a traditionally or digitally drawn
form. A 3D layout is created as previsualization:
generally rendered as low-resolution versions
of the character models, or even with rough
geometric shapes as "doubles" of the charac-
ters. This allows for each shot to be planned
STORYBOARD

44
 Script and Storyboarding

so precisely that, during the actual produc- as they are visible later in the film due to the
tion of a computer animation, backgrounds, pre-specified camera positions.
for example, have to be modeled only as far

LAYOUT For the storyboard, it is generally sufficient to convey

a rough idea of the environment, as long as the
dramaturgical significance and the actual action(s) are
clearly communicated. A typical 2D layout often sets
up backgrounds with such details, that the background
artist can use them as an exact template!

In comparison to the overall picture, here is an

insertion of the “wrong" vanishing point perspective,
which works in the tracking shot, since it only
shows the respective field of view and not the whole
background as shown here. The exaggerated vanishing
point perspective supports the sense of “dropping off“.

Once the camera movements have been precisely

defined in the layout, you only need to create
the background, which can also be "seen" by the
camera throughout the scene. Accurate layout
planning can help avoid unnecessary work and
save money: It just has to be drawn/painted (2D)
as background or modeled as surroundings (3D),
which will show up later in the film!
The layout serves as a template and working

!
basis for background painters and animators
using the 2D process. For more complex
productions, the layout procedure remains
“negotiable”, especially in terms of animation.
The animator may have a different or better
idea of how the camera is supposed to “see”the
character in his scene.

45
Chapter 1.1

LAYOUT AND STAGING

A good layout should also help to avoid any unfavorable overlapping of the
acting characters with too many details in the background: Backgrounds
should function as a stage for the actors of the scene and should not com-
pete with them visually. This must be planned for the entire shot and for all
character placements in the layout!

Incorrect!

Correct!

46
 Script and Storyboarding

Transitions between the storyboard and lay- in order to determine, for example, the size
out are fluid, depending on technology and of a background to be created, new digital
size of production: For smaller 2D produc- means of production have made this process
tions, the storyboard is often planned with much more adaptable and flexible:
the precision needed to fulfill the task of the
layout. The more task-specific the process
and the larger the studio, the more the 2D Shots can be repeated or varied relatively
story production separates visual storytelling easy.
of the storyboard and refinement later in the Thanks to fast computers and large hard
layout. Large studios like Disney had estab- drives, high-resolution background files
lished a specialized work step for this: can be used for extreme zooming in and
out without compromising quality. In 3D
They created a workbook that meticulously production, a drawn storyboard is often
converts/converted the storyboards into de- created first, followed by a 3D layout in pre-
tailed layouts of each shot. Overall, the im- visualization. This is an essential step, since
portance of a layout stage in 2D production a hand-drawn storyboard can never reflect
has somewhat diminished. While predefining the actual technical circumstances and vir-
camera positions is still an indispensable step tual "reality" of 3D models and backdrops.

Incorrect!

47
Chapter 1.1

Animatic and Leica Reel

Simply put, an animatic is a filmed version tion: in 2D, the storyboard drawing is replaced
of the storyboard with the approximate tim- with rough animation; rough animation is
ing of the subsequent movie. Added to this replaced by clean-up, clean-up is replaced by
are sounds and layout music (temp tracks). the final rendered/colored version. In 3D ac-
Where final dialogue has been pre-record- cordingly, storyboard is replaced with previz,
ed, or the final music exists, they should, of previz with playblast, playblast by the final
course, be included! rendered version.
An animatic is indispensable in order to
try out the story as closely as possible to its
cinematic form with sound: A test audience
should be able to follow the story in this
version already, and the appeal of the story
should come across. The animatic should cer-
tainly be revised and improved throughout,
until timing combined with storytelling func-
tions well, above all. There are no fixed rules
on how detailed or precise an animatic must
be worked out: However, the more it resem-
bles the subsequent key frames (extremes)
of the animation, the more convincing it is.
In addition to the storyboard, the animatic
is also the medium of choice in “selling" an
animation film without having to go into the
costly production stage.
This applies internally to studios, as well as ex-
ternally with potential financial backers. The
advantage over the storyboard is, that by in-
corporating time and sound, an animatic con-
veys a better idea of the cinematic version to
come: With a perfect animatic, the viewer can
simply sit back and understand the presented
story without any complicated explanations
(and might even laugh in the right places). A
Leica reel is an animatic, in which the shots
throughout the production are replaced step-
by-step with the latest version of the produc-

48
 Script and Storyboarding

This example from my film "The Cold Heart" illus-

trates the principle of an animatic or Leica reel:

On the left side, you see the fully animated version

of the drawings (Davide Benvenuti, Tan Wei Keong),
as they appear later (cleaned up and colored) in the
film. The right side shows the Leica reel version
of the film, which is based on my storyboards and
layouts: A drawing here serves as a placeholder, so
to speak, for several animation drawings represented
in the actual length to be inserted later.

You can also see, how the layout drawings provide

a working basis for the animation, and how camera
perspectives have been precisely defined. It is easy
to see how the animation of extremes (key frames)
changes as it leads to improved or smoother move-
ments. The Leica reel produces a "pre-version" of the
film to come, an ever-changing “work in progress”,
which can be used throughout the process to test
the length of certain shots, showing them within a
larger context. Another essential tool: It is the only
way to maintain an overview of the emerging film as
a whole (!).

This is so important, because the effect of a single

shot can only be assessed adequately within the
given context. I often ask my students to insert a new
animated scene into the Leica reel, as it is the only
way to assess an animation correctly and to make
suitable suggestions for improvement. This helps sig-
nificantly in determining priorities for the production
process and for improvement of individual shots:

An animation that raises questions when considered

in isolation, can work or sometimes only be correctly
understood when viewed within its given context.

49
Chapter 1.2

Figure Drawing
for Storyboard and Animation
Drawing for storyboard and animation requires a different
focus in education than the classic academic training: The
quick grasp and understanding of form and movement
becomes essential.

Drawing remains an indispensable means “finalized" drawings, but about clarity, which
of expression for almost everyone who is in- communicates an idea in a visually compre-
volved in animation. A quick, simple but ex- hensible manner. Practicing your own draw-
pressive sketch is still the most effective way ing talents still remains an important aspect
to present visual thinking and use it as a basis in the 21st century - whether with a digital
for discussion: "A picture is worth a thousand drawing tablet or the good old pencil does
words." In this instance, it’s not about refined not matter much.

Gestural Approach:
Quick Sketching = The Essence of Movement

Animators and storyboarders must practice in details in terms of nuances and detailed
the skill of fast perception and communica- structures, but to understand the big picture.
tion through drawing. In figure drawing, it Quick sketching and capturing impressions in
is crucial to pay attention to the appropriate just a few minutes should become a daily rou-
accents: What is important for the animator tine and always be part of the figure drawing
is usually very different from the main focus process. Keeping a sketch book, either digital
of a painter or other “classically“ trained visual or analog, also helps in training this skill. This
artist: the animator is interested in the overall type of drawing is called gestural drawing.
impression of the body in the pose, expressed
by line(s) of action. The key is not to get lost

50
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

This type of drawing is vital to animators, be-

cause it is important to capture the essence
of the movement, the expression of the pose
and its change by using only the line, with-
out being distracted by unnecessary details.
In hand-drawn 2D animation, the animator
will also accurately apply the extremes or key
frames, in order to be able to illustrate the vi-
brancy and spontaneity as well as maximum Quick sketches with brush pen, Hannes Rall, 2013.
expression and the essence of the movement.

51
Chapter 1.2

This is also very useful for 3D animators, who If, on the other hand, you get lost in minor
learn in this way how to recognize the essentials details and your drawings lack expressive
for animation, to see the lines of movement, and contrast, the animation will turn out disap-
to block in figures or anatomy in basic shapes. pointing. The following drawings illustrate
This is an important approach for the anima- the different key aspects between rendering
tor, since it allows him to carry out complex figurative studies for animation and classical
movement sequences in figures by connect- academic figure drawing. In this context:
ing the changes of basic shapes in the figure. Many animators use thumbnails to roughly
conceive and try out the sequence of a scene,
How do I draw for animation?
Always from rough to refined: If the primary
changes of the lines of action are correct, the
changes of the form defined by the lines - in
the sense of the "bigger picture" - then any
details added later as part of this concept will
work as well.

52
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

since they often possess an incredible vitali- “blow up" the sketches in size, then mount
ty and spontaneity. These thumbnails can them to the peg bar and use them directly as
also be created as fast sketches of complex extremes. Even 3D animators can use thumb-
sequences of movements with a model - a nails as a reference to check if the 3D anima-
great way to achieve credible animation by tion has retained the fresh look, strong silhou-
using reality as the basis. However, styliza- ettes and the essence of the expression!
tion, simplification and exaggeration should
be used even when nature sketching! For 2D
animation, you can simply use the copier to

Expression and silhouette

For the classical academic
training in the traditional
visual or fine arts, poses are
often drawn for hours, if not
days: It involves the meticu-
lous study of shading and a
perfect representation of "re-
ality". In contrast, it is more
important for the future or
professional animator to
quickly grasp the expression
of a pose, reduce it to the es-
sentials and, if necessary, to
exaggerate it for maximum
expression. While drawing,
he will also look for the angle
that provides the strongest
silhouette, and prepare sev-
eral versions from different
perspectives.

53
Chapter 1.2

Figure Drawing for Animation

Negative space helps to define correct propor-
tions and spacing.

Figure Drawing
for Animation and Storyboard -
Done Right!
In my opinion, figure drawing remains an im-
portant aspect of animation: For 2D anima-
tion, it is vital to be able to draw human (and
animal) anatomy credibly. But it is helpful for
3D- and stop-motion animators as well.
Contrast/counter-rotation of body
axes communicates displacement of
An animator’s lack of knowledge of how the weight in the body and displacement
center of gravity in the body can be displaced of position in space.
during movement, for example, will result
in unnatural and incorrect animation. In 3D
animation, it is noticeable that the figures of
many hopeful beginners move - as if drawn
by magic - from a static pose (such as sitting)
into an upright position with mechanically
inserted in-betweens. Again, this is because
of the lack of knowledge about how weight
Parallel curves are rarely
in the body can and must be shifted in order found in natural anatomy
to make standing up possible at all: Bearing and should be avoided as
weight on one body part is accompanied by a design principle.
the relief of another; an upward movement
of the body is prepared with a counteraction.
The anatomy defines which body parts are
used for this and how it affects the interaction
Using offset curves as a design element
of bones, muscles and joints. Frequent figure allows for a much better “description“ of organic shapes.
drawing, that is, the sketching with a model,
helps the animator to develop a repertoire
of credible poses and stages of movement,
which he can then “recall" and vary in his an-
imation.

54
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

For the animator, it is of primary importance to

Details are neglected in favor of the overall impression:
create movement and a three-dimensional illusion
The animator selects what is essential for his drawing,
by using the line as a means of expression.
and "overlooks" anything that distracts from it.
In each drawing, the essence of the pose should be
Depicting light and shadow through tonal values in
clearly identifiable, ideally the pose should be clearly
hatching and textures is secondary, unlike classical/
distinguishable as a silhouette as well.
academic figure drawing.
The animator has to know how weight is distributed
A three-dimensional illusion is produced only by
in the body.
overlapping, scaling and foreshortening of lines
connected to the body axes.

What is the essence of the pose?

Where is the center of gravity?
If the model is in balance, how
do I draw the figure correctly bal-
anced?
How does the center of gravity
shift in movement?
What are the various body axes I
can see? (Counter-rotation)
How can I see negative space cor-
rectly, to properly assess propor-
tions and spacing?

Fingers and toes are often more

realistic when using an asymmetri-
cal design.

55
Chapter 1.2

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

56
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

For this purpose, it is important to draw

firmly sweeping and continuous lines that
are not interrupted in the middle of the
momentum, thus destroying the definition
of the shapes. In other words, no "splitting"
the body into individual parts, but connect-
ing through lines that overlap with one an-
other. This takes into account the concept
of line of action, that is, expressively curved
lines, which connect various parts of the
body. In order to be able to implement these
connecting design concepts, it is important
to avoid drawing exact parallel/symmetrical
curves, but instead offsetting them: A trick
that is copied from nature.

The recurring principle of contrast between

lines and shapes can also be found when
drawing anatomy: Straight lines against
curves appear more graphically appealing
and realistic, since this stylistic method is
based on anatomical reality as well. For exam-
ple, the top of a finger is closer to the bone
(straight), which stabilizes it, while the under-
side is more fleshy and is “pulled down“ by
gravity (curve). This principle is found repeat-
edly in the body and can therefore be used as
a design principle. Depending on the degree
of stylization, this can be exaggerated or be
left to remain relatively close to "reality".

57
Chapter 1.2

The head is a good example for this: perspective projection in the spatial dimen-
Students often draw the head as an isolated sion of the body. Another common mistake
“round squiggle" floating above the body. is the reluctance to depict feet, often for fear
This usually results in a proportionally incor- of getting them wrong. This is awkward, be-
rect head that is not credibly integrated in the cause the axes of the feet on the floor and
overall anatomy. But if you understand that their spatial positioning to the body’s center
the head, by being connected to the neck, is of gravity are decisive for the balance of the
part and a continuation of the spine, then this figure. Therefore, when drawing the main line
will help you tremendously: The head should of action of the body, always draw the axes of
be included in the drawing from the outset as the feet as well: Even in a foreshortened posi-
an element of the basic line(s) of action. This tion, it is possible to estimate the rough spa-
also means that you as the illustrator take tial orientation by measuring on the model,
notice of the frequently existing overlap with and: You can always correct it later.
the shoulder line, integrating the head as a

Three-dimensionality
As a rule, figure drawing is
about creating the illusion
of three dimensional volume
on a flat ("2D") sheet of
paper. Understanding how
this is done is immensely
important and very helpful
for any budding animator:
Animators, working in 3D
animations later on will
also create their animations
on a flat computer screen.
Foreshortening and overlap-
ping shapes are examples
of methods with which this
illusion can be achieved. The
correct use of shading (more
on this later) can strongly
support the spatial impres-
sion as well.

58
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

The Mental Image and Reality

It is particularly important follows a sequence of move- remain balanced. The draw-

for long poses, (but also for ments (i.e., getting up from a ings also demonstrate very
sketching), not to stare con- chair) into several short-held well the already mentioned
stantly at the sheet, but to poses in succession. This al- principle of bearing and relief
take time to really see the lows the Animator to capture of weight as well as the con-
model: Very often what we and study such sequential stant weight displacement
are offered in "reality” in movements. This, of course, during a movement.
terms of directional changes, increases the understanding
scale differences and fore- of how weight shifts during
shortening is much more movements and how poses
extreme than what we are
willing to accept. This often
results in unintentionally
trying to make the drawings
more "normal" or "balanced"
than the pose is in reality.
This is because we have a
mental image in our head of
the human body in particular,
which makes it harder for us
to "see" reality, to accept the
extremes of reality.
The only remedy is by ab-
stracting what we see, i.e., to
actually look at the model, to
measure it, and to translate
and draw what we see into
lines, tilt angles, and spac-
ing. The much-used "exag-
geration" often is not really We basically seem to be preconditioned to make
"reality" "more normal” in our perception. Although
exaggerated, but a portrayal we (could) see extreme foreshortening, differences
of reality. In addition to rapid in length and strong distortions, we tend to draw
sketching of expressive 2-to- everything parallel, similar in size and "straight":
3-minute poses, an animator Paradoxically, this mental disposition results in a
should also practice "sequen- false picture of "normality".
tial figure drawing": the model

59
Chapter 1.2

This kind of quick drawing If you look at bodies in poses, can appear stiff or unnatural.
focused on the overall pose all parts of the body are con- A 3D animator often uses a
uses the very appropriate ex- nected, it’s not about isolated model predefined through
pression of gestural drawing, parts, but about their synergy rigging, a process that auto-
a drawing intended to capture within the "overall concept". mates very complex anatom-
the gesture(s). A good start- The goal for animation and ical details. However, this may
ing point here is the already storyboard is usually simplifi- not work for everyone, since
familiar concept of "lines of cation in the interest of clarity other important factors should
action": a rapid capturing of and enhancement of effect. be considered, such as artistic
these "S-curves" and direc- Just how deeply the animator appearance and production
tional changes in the overall wants to dive into the very technique, as well as expecta-
figure. This approach also detailed study of muscle struc- tions for anatomical realism,
prevents you from getting ture depends entirely on his some of which may need to
stuck in detailed sketching aspiration for realism. In my be created by the animator
and drawing only parts of the opinion, an overly detailed alone. Of course, for someone
figure during the short time. concept is a hindrance for ex- who wants to specialize in 3D
pressive animation, since it animation modeling, a de-
often prevents a good grasp of tailed knowledge of all muscle
the "big picture", and at worst, groups in human anatomy is
the drawings or animations essential.

Gestural Drawing
This refers to the quick,
sketchy capture of poses
with only a few lines. For the
animator, this form of figure
drawing is very important
because it allows him to cap-
ture the essence of a pose. A
good animator must under-
stand how to represent ex-
pressive poses. By constantly
practicing gestural drawing,
he acquires the necessary
insight of such poses and
develops a repertoire, which
he then can draw from in
animation.

60
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

Longer Poses

Of course, an animator should also practice both hands serve as supporting elements
longer poses, more precisely defined drawings in the body. Proper positioning of the feet in
than those short 2-to-3-minute poses. Here in space (angled) very often is key to presenting
particular, the focus should be on the essential a pose in a credible manner. Drawing hands
points for animation: Defining shape with the and feet is especially difficult for beginners,
line, understanding anatomical structure, cre- since they first must develop a functioning
ating a 3D illusion on a 2D drawing plane, and overall design for fingers and toes to prevent
the specific sketching of detailed anatomy. For the disintegration into individual parts.
this, feet and hands are of great importance:
Hands lend expression of emotions, while

61
Chapter 1.2

Light and Shadow

For the animator in the classical sense, the line rather than obscuring them or complicating vi-
in particular is the focus in drawing: In essence, sual comprehension.
how do lines define volume, and how do lines The key to this is working with adequate con-
change in motion? Shading is usually less im- trasts to help distinguish different shapes:
portant. However, it may well be both helpful A common beginner’s mistake are drawings,
and stylistically appealing to study through which are covered extensively with a very simi-
drawing, how the skillful use of tonal values lar shade of gray. It is important avoid drawings,
and shading can define shape and reinforce where shapes do not clearly stand out against
three-dimensional illusion. The extended pro- one another, and where the illusion of dimen-
fessional field of animation also includes such sionality is destroyed by incorrect or exaggerat-
areas as lighting and rendering, where knowl- ed shading.
edge of light and shadow and surface struc- In order to achieve sufficient contrast, the il-
tures is crucial, of course. Similarly, the proper lustrator has to select from the overwhelming
use of light and shadow can greatly contribute amount of information offered to the artist from
to the effects of a storyboard. Anyone who the real world. For shapes to stand out clearly
works in the field of animation - or any artistic against one another, light must contrast dark -
field - should understand and be able to ap- an arm will only stand out against an adjacent
ply the fundamental principles of tonal values, torso, if there is enough difference in their light-
lighting and shading. Tonal values and shading ness. Therefore, more subtle shades often have
in animation and storyboard should be used - to be neglected in favor of clarity - besides, a
just as the line - to define volume and shapes one-to-one rendition of the entire complexity

62
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

of reality would be extremely difficult. A sec- same way for all objects in the drawing. There-
ond key factor in a drawing is the identification fore, you can not shade at your own discre-
and consistent application of light sources. An tion, but must follow a lighting concept. When
object or a figure is usually illuminated by one sketching nature, you will identify these light
(sometimes even two) primary light sources, sources naturally, but here too, the same rule
often in addition to diffuse ambient lighting. applies: Select, simplify and provide sufficient
These light sources must be taken into account contrast for the sake of effect!
at all times and applied and implemented in the

Strongest light Here is a comparison between the correct

source top left Diffuse
(consistent) and incorrect application of light
ambient lighting
from right source(s) - please note:
Used with a figure, light sources should be
clearly structured - wildly changing shad-
ows from left to right is incorrect.
Contour edge There is almost always a "ranking" of light
from weaker sources: One main light source dominates,
and more
targeted light
there is often a secondary light source and
source be- possible rim lighting and reflections.
hind object It is important to specify the main light
Light source from source(s) and then apply it consistently(!) -
below
different materials reflect light in different
ways. Glass, for example, refracts light and
Main light Main light source Cast shadow,
top left
reflects it with hard edges on the surface.
sources sharp contrasts,
from top left Very important (!!): Always make sure, that
no
shades of there is sufficient contrast between each
gray image element and simplify and over-em-
phasize, where necessary, in the interest of
Highlight
clarity!
Highlight
or contour Shading a scene by using contrasts be-
or contour
edge from edge from tween each picture plane can also help
light source light source to increase the spatial effect: for example
behind behind object very dark foreground, light main picture
object plane (middle ground) and gray/faded
background (= aerial perspective).
Soft shading resulting from Hard lighting from directional light
diffuse lighting source(s). Chiaroscuro effect

63
Chapter 1.2

CORRECT

Everything works well here:

1.) Careful attention to light source. Light en- Increasingly gray and faded color values
ters clearly from the top right, all shading is in the background - gray outlines or the
consistently implemented in the appropriate omission of outlines and soft edges rein-
manner: It is all applied in the same direction. force this effect.
Gray values define shapes and objects and
2.) Consistent spatial structure through di- provide clarity.
rectional lighting. High-contrast tonal values The silhouettes of trees and dog support
have been assigned to distinct spatial planes: the composition and frame the main ac-
Out-of-focus gray shapes very close to the tors, who are kept in lighter tonal values.
"camera".
Dark objects in foreground. 3.) Shading is used to define shapes and to
Medium gray tones and lighter tones in accentuate them. All picture elements are eas-
“mid-ground”, the most important picture ily “distinguishable”, since sufficient contrast
plane. consistently makes them stand out from one
another.

64
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

INCORRECT

This does not work: Picture planes und Staging

1.) Shadows are placed in opposite directions, A successful storyboard drawing puts
and there is no clearly identifiable concept for a the characters perfectly in the limelight
and shows them clearly “distinguish-
light source. You can not tell from the drawing able" against the background (if
where the light is actually coming from - the di- available). This “putting in the limelight”
rectional lighting in itself is contradictory. is called staging.
It is one of the most important basic
2.) The illusion of three-dimensionality is de- principles of animation. If you want
to create a spatial impression as well,
stroyed, since the different picture planes were then you must define distinct picture
not assigned any appropriately modified tonal planes by using contrasting tonal val-
values: The pictures flattens. ues and density of detail. This can be
done in different ways, but always in
3.) Contrasts are missing, therefore characters such a way that it appears convincing:
Most importantly, the picture planes
and objects lose their distinguishability. This have to be very distinct, as can be seen
takes away considerably from the effect of the in the examples on this double page.
composition, which is strong in the line drawing.

65
Chapter 1.2

Animal Drawings

All the above information also applies to the it comes to drawing animals credibly and an-
drawing of animals. For the animator, that is imating them later, even experienced anima-
equally important, since the skillful animation tors usually need to first analyze the anatomy
of animal movements requires the knowledge and movements of the relevant animal species
of the relevant anatomy: We need only consid- through intensive studies of nature or reference
er that the hind legs of dogs or horses “fold” in material. The movements in horses, for exam-
opposite directions than their own front legs ple, are extremely complex. Nature studies can
or the legs of people. Many beginners also do be very helpful in getting a feel for the animal’s
not know that the leg of an animal is structured character beyond the purely technical analysis
quite differently than that of humans: The place of movements, all of which can be incorporated
where one would expect the knee actually has into the artistic transformation.
the ankle or the equivalent of the wrist. When

In order to animate or draw the movements of animals correctly,

you have to know the differences with regard to human anatomy:
For example, cats and dogs walk on the tips of their finger or toe (as
compared to human anatomy). What we would first believe to be the
knee of these animals, actually corresponds to the human ankle. As a
result, the hind legs for the majority of animals "fold in" backwards in
"folding-chair" fashion.

These sketches of mine are focused

on capturing the lines of action of
these animals without adding any
Horses even walk on what is the equivalent of shading. This is a good exercise
human fingers or toe nails (= hooves). for capturing the essence of poses
and movements - as is necessary
for animation. Drawing at the zoo
enables you to discover typical
and perhaps unusual movement
patterns and poses, which differ
from the cliché, yet are typical of
the animal. Kangaroos or seals are
ideal for studying lines of action;
monkeys basically move constant-
ly and are good objects for the
“Folding“ in opposite quick capture of shapes.
direction.

66
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

Here some quick sketches of

movement, combined with
loosely applied shading. Another
very interesting aspect in addition
to the elephant’s very distinct skull
structure is the shift in weight in
the typical elephant’s gait.

Assignment:
Practice quick sketching of 2-to-3-minute poses during figure draw-
ing: Focus on expressive poses and the line(s) of action!
Draw only lines of action of the figure in 30 seconds!
Draw quick poses as silhouettes with a brush pencil!
Draw sequential poses, i.e. a movement (such as getting up, sitting down,
hitting a golf ball) in several drawings, all as 2-to-3-minute poses
For longer poses, concentrate on defining the dimensionality of
shapes through lines!
Practice sketching hands and feet and develop a design that works!
ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION TO:
lines of action; the body’s center of gravity and balance; angles of the
body axes; diagonals of the feet on the floor.

Draw animals in the zoo in quick sketches!

(The "actors” often don’t give you a choice).
Analyze displacement of the body’s center of gravity in the motion of
animals!

TOOLS: Brush pens are a good drawing tool for quick sketching and em-
phasizing action lines and silhouettes. Additionally, HB and 2B pencils,
also for more detailed/longer poses, plus eraser.
TIP: These exercises should become part of a weekly routine through-
out an artist’s entire life - even though time and opportunities may vary
for each person. If you don’t have a way to practice figure drawing (even
though many colleges and universities offer courses), going to the zoo or
sketching from daily life are great alternatives.

67
Chapter 1.2

Drawing for Storyboards

Storyboards require an easy-to-understand this, detail is less important, while communi-

and quick-to-implement visual language: The cating the context of the story, the sequence,
drawings must communicate quickly and is crucial!
clearly content and camera perspective. For

As with comics , characters

and figures in the story-
board have to be clearly
and easily recognizable,
ideally from all perspectives
and vantage points. This is
easier with highly stylized
and caricatured figures than
with very realistic characters
in live-action movies, since
they often even have to
resemble real persons.
This is an advantage of
storyboards in animation:
Visual Storytelling Animated characters can
A storyboard is primarily a be drawn less realistic and
means of communication: more simplified.
Between story artist and di-
rector, between director and
animator, between student In the storyboard, a character
and teacher, etc.. That is why often does not have to be one-hun-
the story must be intelligible dred-percent "on model", i.e., it does
through images: You have to not have to look exactly like the final
be able to quickly and clearly design - but each character must be
understand what is shown. clearly recognizable.
Figures must be recogniz-
able, the continuity of the
action must be maintained.
If it is to be used for internal It may be better to stylize and reduce
communication within a the styling in order to accommodate an
production team, then the existing complex design. This is espe-
primary goal is to be able to cially true for computer-animated films,
try out different versions of where a final design/model can be very
a story quickly: The images detailed and would only complicate the
can even be sketchy and storyboard. (In advertising, however,
very informal, as long as they very detailed finish storyboards are
communicate the story! sometimes required).

68
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

Spatial Representation: Perspective and Shortcuts for Perspective

It is essential to know the basic principles of of all aspects of perspective representation is

perspective and spatial design: Characters and highly recommended, for which additional lit-
their surroundings must be presented in the erature is listed in the appendix. At this point,
storyboard across multiple viewing angles and I would like to provide a brief overview of the
the effects of different camera lenses have to be most common methods of perspective repre-
simulated. It is important to be able to master sentation (regarding the understanding of van-
graphically the separation of foreground, mid- ishing point perspectives):
ground and background. A more in-depth study

Objects that are not exactly parallel to the viewing direc-

tion will get a second vanishing point on the same horizon
line using the central (one-point) perspective!

If you want to "look around the corner", it is better to work with two real different vanishing points: The viewer no
longer looks at the screen at a rigid 90° angle: The angles of the horizontal line change accordingly.

69
Chapter 1.2

The correct use of light and color can enhance the three-dimensional impression:
- Objects that are close to the camera are dark and contrasted.
- In the “mid-plane", between foreground and background, colors are distinct and
contrasted.
- The further away the objects, the less distinctive the colors. Colors become
diffuse and bluish/gray = the so-called aerial perspective (so called, because
of the effect of the atmosphere with distant objects).
- Objects in the distance are sketched, only suggested and details omitted - even
for color. This simulates the decreasing sharpness of more distanced objects or
figures

70
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

Shortcuts for Perspective

Storyboards often have to be developed ing and redrawing drawings for story devel-
quickly and with tight production deadlines. opment. That’s why it is good to know some
Therefore, a sketching method should be de- tricks, which you can use to suggest 3-dimen-
veloped that allows for essential concepts to sionality and perspective without having to
be quickly and easily identified: This presents construct a vanishing point perspective each
the advantage of quickly creating, discard- time.

Lines already arranged at decreasing intervals,

which are "trimmed" by imaginary diagonals, sug-
gesting spatial depth as they approach an equally
imaginary vanishing point. The latter is located on
the equally imaginary horizon line, which corre-
sponds to the eye level of the viewer.

Spatial effects are enhanced by adding other pic-

ture elements and structuring through various ton-
al values (see gray triangles, contrasted with white
areas). Different line thicknesses are assigned to
the various picture planes as well.

A very dark picture element combined with the

appropriate scaling suggests an object very close
to the camera and can be used to intensify depth
perception. Other objects can go to additional
vanishing points, but they must be on the same
horizon line!

71
Chapter 1.2

Basic picture layout

in foreground, mid- and back-
ground through scaling, overlap-
ping, as well as light and shadow.

Aerial perspective in the distance:

no details, only line silhouette.

Gray tonal value.

Mid-ground picture plane: Plane

with highest density of detail.

Gray tonal value, details.

Overlap/Scaling: By simply using the

correct overlapping and scaling of
figures and background elements you
can create the impression of spatial
depth without having to construct a
perspective.

The deliberate use of tonal values

increases spatial impression
and separates the different picture
planes. The more distant the
elements should appear, the less
detailed they are drawn.

72
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

If you want to use vanishing points for construction, then it is better

to first sketch out the general idea: This allows you to place vanish-
ing points correctly and results in more powerful designs without
appearing stilted.

73
Chapter 1.2

Light and Shadow for

Storyboarding - Lighting for
Atmosphere
The correct use of tonal values, i.e. the sug-
gestion of certain lighting of a shot or a set
is a very important means of expression for
the storyboard: Appropriate lighting can ef-
fectively communicate the atmosphere as
the story is told. The emotional and narrative
effect of a shot in the storyboard can vary
tremendously, depending on the lighting.
Directional lighting can emphasize dramati-
cally certain elements or figures of the image
or make them almost disappear - thus lend-
ing more or less importance to the narrative
statement as needed. To show a character, as
is here, only as a silhouette, leaves the audi-
ence in the dark about the appearance of the
character, implying almost instantly ques-
tions such as:

Why is the character shown this way?

Is something wrong with his/her look?
Does he/she have shady intentions or a
disfigured face?
Or is it just about the gloomy atmosphere?

Lighting can be used deliberately to highlight

individual characters, or to create a well lit
"stage" for the characters to perform. Last but
not least, you can also use alternating lighting
effects to communicate the passing of time: A
good example here is the contrast between
day and night or the change of seasons. There
are, of course, more subtle examples as well.
Here some examples on the opposite page:
On the upper left you see the use of light
tones to accentuate the main characters,
otherwise the scenery is illuminated rela-
tively evenly, which indicates diffused light-
ing from a cloudy sky. The picture below

74
 Figure Drawing for Storyboard and Animation

could be a sunny autumn afternoon, the shows the most extreme lighting: Night, in
lighting is quite natural and follows clas- which the characters are visible only as sil-
sical principles, such as the dark elements houettes, hard contrasts are dominating. All
in the foreground. The third drawing could these examples have in common that they
be a foggy autumn or winter morning. An can suggest a certain time, as well as evoke
additional light source (street lamp) accen- a mood. A visual narrator can use both in a
tuates the dog. Background details disap- logical correlation, but also contrary to ex-
pear in the dark and fog. The very bottom pectations.

Assignment:
Imagine a storyboard when figure drawing:
To do this, first create a sufficient number of "blank" sheets with an
aspect ratio, a TV screen or movie screen format, for example 16:9 or
1:2.35.
The model always adopts 10-minute poses.
In these frames, you now draw the poses of the model one by one,
(that is, you create a composition) while imagining a story, e.g. a West-
ern, a science fiction story or something similar.

This exercise practices a quick drawing out of the imagination in combi-

nation with the careful observation of a "real" model. If you are unable to
find a figure drawing class, then finding friends, who are willing to pose
dressed will work just as well.

75
Chapter 1.3

Character Design – Virtual Casting Couch

for Animated Film Stars
Character design is basically the same thing as the casting
for a live-action movie: It is about finding the appropriate
actors for a script or concept - for example, for an animat-
ed reinterpretation of a famous detective team.

The process of character de- the narrative requirements a character according to the
sign can have a significantly would inform the character specifications of the under-
stronger influence on the development vice versa. The lying character design in a
content development of an- character design process studio context.
imation film than casting has usually begins with the tra- In a large studio production,
in live-action film. It often ditional or digital sketch pad. one or more character de-
goes hand in hand with sto- Almost everyone working signers will work closely with
ry development during the in the field of animation will the director and production
storyboarding process: The encounter character design: designer to come up with the
visual development of the Be it to develop characters right look for the characters.
characters can affect the for your own films, or to im- Or one specific artist may
story to the same extent as plement certain aspects of be commissioned for his/

76
 Character Design

her individual style in order er(s), so that the character director from the supervising
to leave a mark on the pro- design fits into the overall advertising agency.
duction. Sometimes precise concept of the project. The
briefings are in place already, briefings are often very spe-
defining certain require- cific and may restrict suitable
ments for the characters: options, particularly in the
Since character design is one area of advertising and sim- Storyboarding
aspect of production design, ilarly commissioned work. In storyboarding, the written
script is "translated" into
the director and production Such work is dominated by
film shots (long shots, knee
designer, in the case of larger the taste and preferences of shots, close-up, etc.) and in
productions, will work close- the customer, usually cou- the case of animation film,
ly with the character design- pled with the ideas of an art cuts are often pre-defined.
Similar to a comic strip in
appearance, it differs by the
fact, that the image format is
uniformly sized.

Briefing
A briefing (supplied either by
the customer or internally)
specifies the content of the
assignment in detail: This can
include concepts regarding
graphic styles, animation
techniques, length and costs,
etc. The extent of the exact
details depends largely on
the interest and knowledge
of the client.
Illustration: Kathrin Albers, Michael Meier and Hannes Rall

77
Chapter 1.3

For example, a briefing could be defined by tion ("references to contemporary copper

embedding a historical element of a story engravings, strong contrast to painted back-
("animated comedy in Queen Victoria’s En- grounds").
gland") and a desired graphic implementa-

A pencil scribble was deliberately not cleaned up,

but scanned in its "raw" shape and slightly edited
in Adobe Photoshop (contrast enhancement).
The production team frequently “looks at
The background is a classic painting, which was
reworked as well: Modern digital programs allow every angle" to possibly define the tone and
for fast and straightforward experimenting of style of the planned film project first. In an-
different stylistic combinations. imated feature films, the character designer
often gets involved very early in the process
and plays an active role in determining the
actual style of the film in collaboration with
the production designer and director. Open
and versatile experimentation during this
stage is very important, so that all creative
avenues can be explored.

78
 Character Design

Contrast is a basic design principle of animated film, which "runs

through" character design, timing and sound - just think: small/large;
thick/thin; fast/slow; loud/quiet. Lack of contrast usually leads to bore-
dom or confusion for the audience!

79
Chapter 1.3

It is also interesting to “cast"

well-known characters "against
the grain" - thus counteract-
ing the expectations of the
audience: Or arranging figures
in an entirely different context.
An approach that is frequently
chosen in the "postmodern"
21st century.

Public Domain This frequently results in a mutually supportive

This term refers to artistic development process of story and character
works where the copyright design: In contrast to straight live-action film,
has expired (time span after
the author's death varies for
the actual story of animation film is often not
different territories) and thus developed until the storyboarding process -
can be used freely: Film ver- sometimes there is no “classic” script at all. In
sions of public domain books any case, a lot can change and a specific char-
or characters, for example, acter design can provide inspiration for new
can be produced without the
cost of licensing fees.
(or different) gags and storylines.

80
 Character Design

In independent animation film production,

you can often find the roles of author, direc-
tor and character designer all wrapped up in
one: In that case, the only limit is your own
artistic intention.

Assignment:
Develop your own versions of a public domain character with the accom-
panying cast of "supporting actors":
Start by researching the history and interpretation of the characters
during different time periods and in a contemporary context!
Research the era of the fictional characters, and draw up pertinent
visual studies; decide what is important and useful for your own de-
signs!
Return to your literary or historical sources and develop a concept for
your own interpretation:
- genuinely true to the original,
- vaguely inspired, or
- a drastic contradiction to the original?

Derive your own briefing from this, setting limitations for stylistic options.

81
Chapter 1.3

Reference Material: Mood Boards and Reference Maps

Character design is rarely created in a vacu- styles, etc., are not uncommon. Even if you
um. For the most part, it is necessary or re- aspire a highly stylized version, it is often best
quired by the concept to first find historical or to seek inspiration from the archetype first.
other reference material and study it in order This is especially true for less familiar charac-
to get inspired. Specific requirements for au- ters, such as special animals.
thenticity in terms of fashion, weapons, hair-

The Internet is an excellent source for reference material. When look-

ing for reference material, you need to distinguish between authentic
historical image documents and artistic interpretations of an epoch
or region from today's point of view and determine, which one it is
you are looking for. Both can be skillfully combined into the design
- but the composition of the elements must fit and ultimately result in
a cohesive overall picture of the design.

Whether in the studio or independently: The

character design process will usually begin
with a collection of reference materials (for
example, regarding fashion and culture of
the Victorian era): It is helpful to compile so-
called mood boards in order to narrow down
the desired visual look by using examples or
by bundling artistic reference material.

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 Character Design

A compilation of
Victorian menswear

Mood Board
The compilation of different
image examples that visually
communicate the desired
mood of the film.

Reference Map
A collage of sometimes very
different image references
showing the graphic influ-
ences that are to be included
in the film.
You should already have a
concept in mind and not ran-
domly select “anything you
like”. A thematic breakdown
into different sections or
A reference map compiles stylistic references elements of the film is also
that serve as inspiration for the final design. It useful (backgrounds, charac-
is important to understand that this is by no ters, props).
means about copying styles but about an evo-
lutionary development process: Combined
with the individual style of the designer, a
whole new design is to be created - one that is
quoted at best, but never plagiarized!

Assignment:
Create reference maps that narrow down the stylistic direction of your
cast of characters. This can and should be several maps for different
stylistic directions.

83
Chapter 1.3

Sketching Stage

A character designer will also draw as many loose sketches as possible in

all kinds of stylistic variations in order to get closer to the optimal design.

Sketches for Character Development

It is not without reason that drawing is still visible through the immediacy of the medi-
firmly anchored in the curriculum of most um as the individuality of the designer trans-
animation programs: There is no faster and fers directly into the design. Quick sketching
more direct form of visually implementing also has a spontaneity and expressive power,
one's own artistic vision. which is hardly attainable with any other me-
It is only of secondary importance whether dium. Good character designers will usually
the drawing is done traditionally, on paper, or make a lot of fast sketches, presenting many
in digital form (e.g., with a digital drawing tab- variations of a character in different actions
let): The artistic handwriting always remains and moods.

84
 Character Design

Thanks to modern digital

production methods, almost
every “stroke" can be implement-
ed in the production process
unchanged. It is very attractive
not having to “clean up" spon-
taneous scribbles first, but to be
able to “blow them up" directly
by copying them and using them
as a template for the animation
(works only for 2D animation, of
course).

The results of the earlier research conducted, unsuitable designs help to find the right path
influence the artistically tried and tested style and sort through the visual design process.
versions. Especially students and beginners In addition, designs often emerge as favor-
tend not to make enough drawings for fear ites, which are not perceived as such during
of producing the "wrong" versions or "bad" the initial process of rapid sketching.
drawings: This is faulty reasoning, since even

Assignment:
Using a pencil or brush pen (or digitally), draw as many scribbles and
sketches as quickly and loosely as possible, in order to be able to
select the best versions later. That should be in excess of 100 scribbles.

85
 Chapter 1.3

Particularly at the beginning of the pre-pro-

duction or visual development stage, it may
be quite possible, or even preferred, for one
or more character designers to experiment
with a wide-ranging variety of styles. The ac-
tual style of the film has yet to be found at
this time and the open-mindedness of the
process can lead to artistically extraordinary
and outstanding results.

The classic detectives here in

the style of Germany's famous
pioneer of animated silhou-
ette film, Lotte Reiniger.

Since the artists assigned to this first stage

of development and experimentation often
come from various stylistic backgrounds,
many of these so-called exploratory designs
end up in the drawer or will only be incorpo-
rated into certain aspects of the final design.
The same applies to the individual designer,
who will ultimately have to select one version
from the multitude of designs he created.
Although hand-drawing is still the ideal first
step towards an original character design,
other means, mostly digital media and tools
are added, depending on the animation tech-
nique:
Illustration: Michael Meier

86
 Character Design

For example, in Photoshop or similar pro-

grams, a character designed for 3D animation
can be digitally painted or textured in a way
that is close to the final "look" in the movie.

The more details are used, the more

distinguishable they have to be in
order not to overwhelm the viewer
visually. The "distinguishability" of
the shapes in motion mustn’t get
lost in the detail. A principle that is
often not sufficiently heeded, espe-
cially in contemporary computer
animation.

87
Chapter 1.3

Final Finishing Touches - Model Sheets and Character

Turnarounds, Comparison Sheets and Character Maquettes

Additional refinements are usually required

after the preliminary completion of the de-
sign process and the definition of basic char-
acter design:

In 2D animation, an optimization of charac-

ter design by the responsible lead animator
(or character lead) is often used in larger
productions. Here, very specific require-
ments of the design’s "animability" come to
fruition, and often particular aspects of the
design are customized. Usually, the anima-
tor himself is an extremely talented design-
er, who can still make vital contributions for
further improvements. A famous example
is the legendary animator Milt Kahl who
provided the finishing touches for charac-
ter designs in many Disney films.

Once the actual design process has been

completed, the look of the character has to
be communicated in every detail and from
very perspective to all parties involved in the
production.

This is especially true for traditional 2D pro-

duction, where the method used for drawing
Final design by Michael Meier of the characters intended for a 3D a character must be standardized. Otherwise
computer animation film. the character would constantly change its ap-
pearance in the course of a film, depending
on which animator had drawn it.

88
 Character Design

Model Sheet
A figure is presented in
different poses and moods
as well as analyzed visually in
its basic graphic design.
For this purpose, the appearance of the char-
acter is stipulated in so-called model sheets, Often, indications are also
which is binding for all those involved in the added for certain solutions
production process: These are drawings of the in the animation, i.e. typical
movement and behavioral
character in different actions and emotional patterns and their graphi-
states, often with additional explanations of cal solution. The intention
how certain details are to be handled. The is to ensure a stylistically
drawings are produced mostly by the lead coherent implementation
animator of a character, after experimental of the character throughout
the film.
refinement of the character design through
animation testing has taken place.

Above all, a good model sheet must reveal a

character’s construction of several basic geo-
metric shapes in order to facilitate the anima-
tor’s work:
It is easier, for example, to reshape a circle
and to draw it in perspective, than having to
deal with the entire complexity of a design all
at once.

Model sheet of two characters, which primarily il-

lustrate how the design changes to express certain
moods of the character.
illustrations: Michael Meier

89
Chapter 1.3

Character Comparison Sheet

Character Comparison
Sheet
Shows the entire cast of a
movie in size comparison, in
order to avoid any fluctua- In the character compari- ters. In addition, a character
tions in proportion between son sheet, the proportions turnaround is created: Views
the characters during of the individual characters of the characters from differ-
production. to one another are fixed, ent angles from the back and
which is particularly import- front, from ¾- and ¼-turns.
Character Turnaround
Shows the typical character ant in traditional 2D pro- Such a turnaround allows the
from at least four different duction in order to provide animators to draw the char-
angles in a full 360° turn. In the animators with a bench- acter correctly from all angles
3D computer animation, this mark at all times. For the and unifies the appearance
is equivalent to the char-
implementation in 3D, the of the character throughout
acter turntable, a constant
full 360° camera movement comparison sheet provides the production, which often
around the 3D model of the modeling staff with equally involves the collaboration of
character. important information for many different animators.
the scaling of the charac-

90
 Character Design

Character turnaround of a character design (in this case for a subsequent 3D animation).
Illustration: Michael Meier

Specific Requirements for 3D Animation

The foregoing also applies to the final de- lenge of implementing an unusually drawn
sign of characters in 3D computer animation: character design in 3D can lead to innovative
What is generally first a two-dimensional de- design approaches for computer animation
sign, has to be transferred to the third dimen- that is otherwise often inclined to apply too
sion - a process which is implemented in dig- generic solutions.
ital modeling and poses quite a challenge.
It requires great skill and ideally the close It is very helpful and common to draw a char-
collaboration with the character designer acter design for 3D animation as a character
and other creative professionals. The goal is turnaround from different spatial perspec-
to retain the vitality and original charm of the tives. This allows the modeler later to stay
initial drafts. The earlier a character design close to the original ideas of the character
takes into account the requirements of a sub- designer.
sequent three-dimensional implementation,
the less complications will arise in the model-
ing that follows. On the other hand, the chal-

91
Chapter 1.3

Additional modifications can take place in the The finished 3D model is often based on the
CG workflow, when a character is provided drawn character turnaround, which shows
with a virtual skeleton in rigging after mod- the character in a complete turnaround. Af-
eling: Generally, a good rigger will of course ter the process of 3D modeling has been
try to adapt his work to the character, and completed in computer animation, you actu-
not vice versa. Sometimes, however, certain ally no longer need a model sheet, since the
aspects after rigging and animation testing character is a virtual puppet and can only be
may prove rather impractical and additional manipulated within its skeletal limitations
adjustments have to be made. (character rig). Nevertheless, there are usual-
ly instructions and guidelines on how to an-
Ultimately, the more technically complex a imate the character, which angles are favor-
production, the more essential a precise co- able and which to avoid, etc.
ordination: A good collaboration of all parties
involved is essential in order to achieve a con-
vincing character design for the final result.
Just think of photo-realistic characters with
highly complex simulations, etc.
Still, the principle should always apply that
the artistic vision determines the technical
implementation, and not vice versa!

Turnaround model sheet of a 3D character from “Spycat

and the Paper Chase", graduation film by Darren Lim,
Derwin Silamaya Suhali, Fung Chun Hong and Soh Yu
Xian, Nanyang Technological University 2011.

92
 Character Design

A 3D animated character is mod-

eled as a wireframe. Therefore,
the character design has to func-
tion in three dimensions from all
angles. "Honeycat" from "Spycat
and the Paper Chase", gradua-
tion film by Darren Lim, Derwin
Silamaya Suhali, Fung Chun
Hong and Soh Yu Xian, Nanyang
Technological University 2011.

Character Maquettes

In order to enable an illustrator to visualize his of character maquettes was common practice
character in the third dimension, it is helpful to with Disney for most of the full-length ani-
create a so-called character maquette: a small mation films - at times even with a separate
sculpture of the character that can be turned department to do that job. Similarly, creating
and viewed from all angles. This helps tremen- an "analogous" sculpture can help shape the
dously in rendering the character correctly, if artist's own artistic vision in the third dimen-
you are seeking to produce an illusion of a sion before a character design in modeling is
volumetric character in the "flat" medium of cast into its final shape for CG.
2D animation. For many decades, the creation

Character maquette as part of a final project (Wang Rui Fan, Digital Animation, School of Art, Design and
Media, Nanyang Technological University).

93
Chapter 1.3

Character Design for Puppet Animation (Stop Motion)

In puppet animation, perhaps the most fa- later usually equipped with interior workings
mous form of stop-motion animation, a real of wire or even an elaborate movable metal
modeled sculpture also becomes the starting skeleton, is also used for filming. Of course,
point for the puppet. This puppet, which is the same rule applies in its most direct form
as well: the design of the character must sat-
isfy the requirements of three-dimensionali-
ty: After all, the character is supposed to look
good from many - if not all - camera angles.
For this reason, a design stage with drawings
is only of limited value, when it comes to test-
ing the three-dimensional design later.
As shown in the example of the main char-
acter as inspector from the puppet film
"Whodunnit" by the well-known stop motion
animator and designer Kathrin Albers from
Hamburg, the design process quickly pro-
ceeded to the third dimension after some rel-
atively rough sketches in the beginning.

On the right you see the complete

cast of characters from the film
"Whodunnit". Here you see the
principle of an interesting mixture
and good distinguishability of
the characters: The characters are
based on interesting combina-
tions of basic geometric shapes,
which vary significantly in the
final result.
Illustrations and design: Kathrin Albers

94
 Character Design

Here is an example of how such combinations can be transferred from the original
drawing to the third dimension.
illustrations: Kathrin Albers

It represents an interesting new version of

the famous detective, who is introduced in
this chapter in so many different incarnations.
This three-dimensional form of the character
would also work well as a digital model in
computer animation - the design principles
to be applied are basically the same. "Who-
dunnit" is also a film that is shot stereoscop-
ically, so the dimension of spatial depth and
plasticity is even more important.
According to Kathrin’s experience, problems
as well as options usually don’t show up until
this stage: A character design that is appeal-
ing as a drawing can have an unattractive ef-
fect in plastic form; just as a drawing, which
may appear too conventional or boring at
first, can work surprisingly well when trans-
Kathrin also explores the power of silhouette in her design
ferred to a sculpture. These sketches show,
process. As with 2D designs, this is a good test for the "distin-
however, that the construction of simple, guishability" of the character.
but highly contrasted combinations of basic illustrations: Kathrin Albers
shapes can contribute to a successful design.

95
 Chapter 1.3

Principles of Good Character Design - Style and Overall Design

- Character Design as Part of Production Design

It is important to understand that character

design is not just about creating pretty draw-
ings of appealing characters. According to
the principle of "form follows function", char-
acter design has to function well in the con-
ceptual overall context of the film: The char-
acters have to harmonize stylistically, that is,
they must come from the same design world.
At the same time, they must exhibit sufficient
contrast as a cast, in order to be clearly dis-
tinguishable and to ensure effective and in-
teresting staging during joint appearances in
the film.

Three well-distinguishable characters

- yet even here, a common stylistic
feature: Reduced to simplest graph-
ical shapes, precise basic geometric
shapes, simple flat 2D approach. A
high degree of stylization!

96
 Character Design

We can also add more features

that help to assimilate the
characters stylistically: Here it is
the wide brush stroke, with which
the outlines are drawn, and the
addition of graphic texture.

Not like this!

We are sticking with the basic
geometric shapes, but the guy in
the middle does not quite fit into
the overall cast. Its 3D volumet-
ric style comes from a different
graphic world. Exception: The
following story could justify this
kind of design approach. If the 3D
sphere were defined as an out-
sider and the story were dealing
with a conflict between 2D and
3D, then this design too would be
consistent: form follows function!

97
Chapter 1.3

Character and Environment

It is also important to ensure that the inter-

play between the characters and the environ-
ment of the film, i.e. the background or virtu-
al space, works well. There are basically two
possible approaches.

Illustration above:
The style of the characters and surroundings/backgrounds are very similar
and have the same stylistic features - this unites both as elements of the same
world. This approach, however, requires careful staging to ensure that the
characters always remain "distinguishable" against the background. This is
especially true for 2D production.

98
 Character Design

Illustration below:
The other approach is the deliberate stylistic contrast between character and
background. For a long time, this was an economic necessity for 2D film, since
only static backgrounds could be painstakingly painted. The advantage of this
method is the good separability and distinguishability of the characters against
the background. The obvious disadvantage lies in the stylistic discrepancy
between the acting characters and their surroundings. However, this “breach"
has been artistically accepted for a long time in the world of traditional 2D
animation film. As with all design decisions in a production, a consistent and
convincing implementation is particularly important.

99
Chapter 1.3

This is where the style of the UPA Studio in the

50s and 60s came in and broke with the com-
mercially established tradition: An overriding
design concept combined stylized characters
with equally strongly stylized backgrounds
and created a stylistic unity.

In commercial 3D films, a mix of the two ap-

proaches is usually used: Using photo-realistic
rendering, "cartoony" characters are unified
with equally detailed and mostly realistical-
ly structured environments. The use of cine-
matographic stylistic devices (depth of field,
cinematography and lighting), which is more
closely related to live-action film, facilitates
effective staging. The character designer’s de-
sign must also meet this concept.

The semi-realistic character designs shown here could

be used both, for implementation in 2D (drawn) as well
as in stylized 3D computer animation. For a 3D version,
character designers and modelers would need to work
together closely.
illustrations: Michael Meier

* UPA was an innovative animation studio in the

United States with a revolutionary impact in the 40s
and 50s: It established modern art and graphic de-
sign to be used for commercial animation. This often
involved the technique of limited animation.

100
 Character Design

Appeal

One of the classic principles have a lot of appeal. Good time, and now the creations
of animation is that the examples of this are the char- of Burton are part of the
characters of an animation acters of Tim Burton, which mainstream, which is certain-
film have appeal. Appeal -at least initially - ran counter ly due not least to the graph-
should not be understood as to the usual Disney stereo- ic consistency, the appeal of
the drawing of "cute" charac- type of beauty or aesthetics the characters.
ters, (a misconception pop- (and thus the established
ularized by the illustrations mainstream-market). How-
of cute anthropomorphic ever, they are in themselves
cartoon animals frequently a graphically completely co-
shown in reference books). herent expression of an artis-
Rather, it is about designing tic vision and therefore have
appealing characters. If a de- an enormous "appeal". Iron-
sign is consistent, even char- ically in this case, the taste
acters commonly regarded of the commercial masses
as "ugly" or threatening, can changed completely over Principles of Animation
The traditional principles of
animation were first devel-
oped by the animators of
Disney Studios in the 1930s,
combining the analysis of
live-action film and exper-
imental artistic interpreta-
tion. Since then, they have
been continuously expanded
and refined, but have re-
mained applicable and valid
in their original form to this
day. However, this applies
primarily to Disney's school
of “caricatured realism".
The principals of motion
dynamics in particular, work
very well for stylistically very
different or even experimen-
tal/abstract animations.
Chapter 2 deals with these
principles in detail.

101
Chapter 1.3

How do you Design Characters With Appeal?

Interestingly, deliberate and that their complexity does pealing" design: One might
purposeful design is often not complicate a convincing visualize characters com-
perceived as "appealing" by animation. Thus, an econo- posed of simple geometric
the viewer: Animation re- my of shapes, resulting from shapes, and combine them in
quires shapes that can be an economy of production an interesting manner.
animated in such a way, so means, can lead to a very "ap-

Illustration above:
In the same way, you should also be able to trace more
complex and realistic characters to a single basic shape
or a combination of basic shapes in order to achieve a
strong design. With this method, you can also achieve the
desired contrast between the individual cast members of
an animation film.

The cardinal’s design concept

Richelieu deliberately avoids any detail
to emphasize his mysterious/menacing
character.

102
 Character Design

Composition and Proportion

For a good design, it is crucial erning good composition within the characters and fi-
to combine basic geometric come into play: Irregularity nally, stylistic means, such as
shapes in an artistically con- and interesting variation of the line of action, which com-
vincing manner. In doing so, shape and line. Furthermore, bine contrasting individual
the fundamental rules gov- contrasts between the shapes elements into a whole.

The relationships of the char-

acters in a cast should also
be intelligently reflected in
the design, thereby support-
ing the effects of the story on
the audience and reinforcing
narrative clarity.

Left an example of a very well-

known cast of characters.

103
Chapter 1.3

Cast of Characters and Design

Group composition: The composition

divides the ensemble into 3 groups of 3
primary basic shapes:

Combining character traits and

story with design and composition.

Tilt angles, dynamics and character traits

(analysis of lines of action):

The following important between each individual ship of the individual

objectives are achieved character). characters to one anoth-
with this type of construc- Concept for an overall de- er through design and
tion and composition : sign of a group. composition.
Statements about char- Connecting narration
Clear distinction of the acter traits and relation- and design - “form fol-
characters (good contrast lows function“.

104
 Character Design

Weight and Balance, Personality and Action

A common beginner’s mistake

in character design is to design
characters in completely neutral
and nondescript poses. Often the
figures lack a credible balance
and representation of the center
of gravity.

This can and must be avoided

by understanding the attitude
and motivation of the character
prior to drawing - along with the
physical balance and the line of
action. In other words: Give your
character a purpose!

A character designer is creating a virtual actor.

That's why he can not sit back satisfied after a
half-way accomplished drawing, but must try
to figure out through many sketches, how his
character can express and perform the emo-
tions and actions required for the film.

105
Chapter 1.3

Assignment:
Decide on several (at least three) basic stylistic versions for your cast of
characters and develop them completely with:
Clean-up in different line and color versions
Digital paintings that illustrate 3D volumes and textures
Model sheets
Character comparison sheet
Character turnarounds
Character maquettes (optional)

Unknown Captain Ahab

jungle hero (Moby Dick)
Some suggestions in different
stylistic versions:

Robin Hood

Don Quijote and

Sancho Panza

106
 Character Design

For a classic 2D design, the

shapes should be simplified and
stylized, with outlines in uniform
line thickness.

Such elaborate textures would

have been unthinkable in the past,
but are now possible with 3D and
2D hybrid techniques (although
still not the easiest way).

A Barbarian

With modern 2D software,

outlines can be animated with
variable line thickness as well.

Variation with shadow outlines (2D).

In this variation exercise of a classical

barbarian, the basic orientation of the
character design remains the same: The
experimentation is carried out through
variations in line thickness and color
combinations as well as stylistic options
for the background.

107
Chapter 1.4

What is Production Design for Animation?

In production design, the goal is to create the worlds in
which the animated characters move: The surroundings
and characters must go together to create the impression
of a believable animated universe.

It's about the look, the appearance of the film: If must construct the film’s universe in such a way
a film is set in China or ancient Rome, it should that it adapts to the content requirements of
also be designed accordingly - to reflect the the film. It is not a matter of placing your own
look of place and time. The design must create artistic style in the foreground, but of optimally
an entire world in which the film is set, thereby adapting the design to the entire vision of the
uniting the characters and their environment as film.
a credible whole. This requires clear design rules
and guidelines, which all parties involved will Briefing
follow during the production process. Character Production design begins with briefing. The
design is an integral part of production design director describes his artistic intention for the
- since the characters have to fit into the over- film to the production designer, who then
all concept. A good production designer must makes suggestions and starts with the artis-
be able to work artistically versatile: His designs tic research.

Research
As with character design, which is only one as-
pect of the entire production design, the de-
signer will conduct visual research based on
the briefing and create a reference map (also
referred to as mood board). This reference
map serves as both, orientation and source
of inspiration. The collected material should
only be used as a starting point or reference.
Together with the designer's own artistic style,
this evolution should lead to something new
in the design process - it cannot, under any cir-
Here is a mood board for a student project (artist/director: Yew Ee Venn, cumstances, result in plagiarism or uninspired
2013/14), which is based on a Chinese tale and is therefore designed copies!
in the style of Chinese painting. On the right, a design created for the
project, based on the mood board.

108
 What is Production Design for Animation?

Depending on the project and briefing, a research can

have very different objectives. That is why it is so im-
portant to define the project’s artistic direction through
briefing.

Is it about authenticity and a high aspira- research - which of course is hard to beat.
tion for realism? Then research is needed Once this documentation is available, it
to document the historical context (archi- can then serve as the basis for implement-
tecture, clothing, weapons, etc.) and land- ing it into different styles - from realistic to
scape/geography accurately by means of very stylized.
appropriate pictorial material. Depending A somewhat different approach could
on the time period and availability, this be to establish a connection between
may include photos or paintings, draw- the time and place of action and a corre-
ings and illustrations. With the appropri- sponding contemporary and culture-spe-
ate budget, this can also lead to on-site cific art:

Concept illustration by Michael Meier for a

medieval project with realistic approach:
Both the castle and landscape are based
on the research of real objects, which were
then re-arranged for this image. However,
the castle is an idealized combination of
various real existing buildings of the High
Middle Ages. This style would be suitable
for a CG film, which also comes close to the
cinematography, visual effects and lighting
of a live-action film.

The design of the animated short film "As You Like It" by Hannes
Rall applies the action of the Shakespeare play to a Southeast Asian
setting. For this, research was conducted into the tradition of Indo-
nesian shadow puppetry play "Wayang Kulit"and the architecture
of water temples and palaces in Bali.
Illustration: Lim Wei Ren Darren/Hannes Rall.

109
Chapter 1.4

In fantasy films, an amalgam of different pop culture". Examples are researched, of

cultures and eras is often used for the de- how a specific classic genre is turned into
velopment of visual design. Since this is pop culture of a specific time period or for
not about historical accuracy, original de- an entire time span. This is usually the case
signs, documentary photographs, and art with genre parodies or tributes, which
styles of all time periods and cultures can are largely based on a recognition factor
be collected and mixed. It is important, of certain elements familiar to the audi-
however, that it is all based on a method ence. A good example are parodies of spy
- an overall artistic vision. films of the 60s and the "swinging sixties"
A different and very "postmodern" concept in London. The research will therefore be
is the approach to work with “reference to based on defining typical design elements
of these films and the visual
culture of the 1960s.

The very successful student production "Spycat and

the Paper Chase" (Lim Wei Ren Darren, Fung Chun
Hong, Derwin Silamaya Suhali and Soh Yu Xian,
Nanyang Technological University, 2011).

An agent parody that works with a lot of references This is not about authenticity and “ primary
from pop culture: The design elements and color de- sources" , but about the reinterpretation of
sign of the Bond films from the 60s and 70s are used previous artistic adaptations combined with
as well as their countless parodies. Retro-futurism of
the resuscitation of a zeitgeist.
"Steam Punk" is introduced as well: The villain resides
in a gigantic airship.
The design of weapons and furnishings is reminis- It is not without reason that the production
cent of the vision of the 1950s. design process is also referred to as the visual
development of a film project
As a rule, several different versions of this
visual implementation are tried out - in the

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 What is Production Design for Animation?

case of large productions, usually with sev- ideas of all participants are always in demand.
eral concept artists, who apply their different It is the task of the production designer, in
styles in the context of the film project. The coordination with the director, to specify an
production designer will "cast" these concept artistic framework. The artistic intention
artists like actors so that they are a good fit and the requirements of visual storytelling
artistically for the development approaches determine the design. The desired degree
of the film, i.e. for the briefing. It is always up of realism in production, on the other hand,
to him, together with the director, to keep strongly influences the extent to which the
an overview of the big picture and to cor- production design is required to keep the ac-
rect and modify any developing design, even tual authenticity or given complete freedom
to intervene creatively. Depending on the of artistic expression.
project, visual development is usually not a
completely linear process, but a trial-and-er-
ror process, in which the creativity and visual

Designs of landscapes for the

animation short film "Si Lun-
chai" (2014). Production de-
signer: Cheng Yu Chao, director:
Hannes Rall.

These designs merged the research

of authentic Southeast Asian land-
scapes with mythically idealized
elements. Stylization dominates
over realism.

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Chapter 1.4

Consider the following example:

An animated "Viking film" can look quite different, depending on the specifications
given for the story and resulting style.

Ill. top right: 1.) A story with high aspirations for realism -
A photograph of an exciting adventure film from the Viking
Þjóðveldisbærinn in
era. Fixed time and locations: Scandinavia
Iceland, a reconstruction
of the Stöng long house (Norway) and England of the 9th century.
from the Viking-era. The Resulting style: Realism.
medieval building is said to
have constituted the center Research for the Production Design
of a Viking farm, belonging
Primary references:
to a Viking princess. The
design takes elements of Historical documents, archaeological finds of
this building and combines original Viking art and crafts, photographs and
it with other contemporary footage from locations in Norway and England.
references.
Ill. center right:
Secondary references:
Oscar Wergeland, 1909,
“Norsemen Landing in Ice- Depictions of the Viking Age in film and art. In
land“. This illustration is no order for the story to be communicated credi-
longer correct from today's bly, everything must be "correct" or at least ap-
historical perspective (for ex- pear sufficiently authentic. The focus here, how-
ample, the winged helmet of
ever, is on certain aspirations for realism instead
the leader), and is therefore
balanced with other sources of "pop-cultural" references.
for the final design. However,
it shows the more realistic
aspiration in the representa-
tion, which is the basis of the
overall concept.
Ill. left:
Knob of a Viking sword

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 What is Production Design for Animation?

2.) A parody of Viking films with fantasy

elements. Resulting style: implemented
as a more stylized animation film - very
cartoony and semi-funny, also known as
"caricatured realism".
Ill. left:
Research for Production Design "Vikings" on Shrove Tuesday
Primary references: in Weingarten 2013: The
Same as 1.) - however, the results can be im- important factor here is the
"over the top", deliberately
plemented much more freely and playfully. In
caricaturing a character
this case, even the research for facts and real from the reference material,
scenes of action can be skipped, since it is which corresponds to the
about an exaggeration of stereotypes. On the parody approach of the film.
other hand, caricatures and stylizations are
often most effective when based on reality. Realism does not play a key role here - since
authenticity is not the goal. Nevertheless,
Secondary references: this style retains a certain sense of realism:
Representations of Viking clichés in anima- vanishing point and three-dimensionality
tion, film, contemporary art and illustration, are still used realistically. While the represen-
folklore and customs. tation of the anatomy is exaggerated, it is
still based on reality. The color design is also
excessive in comparison to the first example,
but still implies a certain lighting mood and
therefore daytime.

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Chapter 1.4

3.) A highly stylized artistic animation film spired by medieval art, for example by
about Viking legends. References from the Bayeux Tapestry, the ornamentation
the "real" world are almost non-exis- of Viking art and the form language of
tent. Instead, the design is entirely in- Nordic runes.

Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry,

ca. 1070.
A characteristic, for example, is the abandoning of any realis-
tic vanishing point perspective, which did not return to West-
ern art until the Renaissance: Therefore, this style reflects the
representational forms that were common during the Viking
era.
The color scheme and lighting neither define a three-dimen-
sional representation, nor a certain time-related lighting ef-
fect. It acts exclusively as a separation for graphically "flat"
applied picture planes. This style has the highest abstraction
factor.

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 What is Production Design for Animation?

The need for a consistent design world becomes apparent quickly when the
characters and surroundings of the most widely differing concepts 1.) and
3.) are exchanged.

The character in front becomes

a foreign body in that particu-
lar environment. It does not
work, unless it follows a de-
sired narrative concept (as in
the classic "fish-out-of-water"
story). In other words, if the
highly stylized character were
from a make-believe world,
it would justify the extremely
different style.

That means:
The production design should
always be implemented in such
a way that it optimally supports This production design by Hans Bacher for the feature film project
the intelligibility of the story "The Nibelungen" (written and directed by Hannes Rall) achieves
and its emotional impact on iconic effect by limiting colors and shapes, and by focusing on a strong
silhouette of the stylized character.
the viewer.
This meets two key objectives for good production design: The pro-
tagonist is presented concisely and the coloring results in a dramatic
effect.

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Chapter 1.4

What does this mean using the specific edge“, the architecture reaches for the sky. This
example of a magical world? design sends a message of purity and spiritual-
The (production) design should reflect the ity, which is supported by the color scheme for
character of a figure or a whole culture. This this culture: White dominates the scene, clear
should also extend to the environment, home, contrasts prevail, there are hardly any shades
utensils and objects (props) used in the film. of gray or intermediate shades. This approach
continues to be consistently applied in the cos-
In a film in which two cultures of magicians tume design and with the appropriate acces-
occur, for example, this can be implement- sories: unadorned, simple robes, clear and pure
ed by creating a corresponding environment in color. None of the characters wear jewelry.
for one character and culture, who lives a If you create a design for computer animation,
very austere life according to strict princi- the textures (of fabrics) should suggest the
ples: Buildings are defined by clear geomet- most basic materials.
ric shapes, straightforward and with a “clear

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 What is Production Design for Animation?

Conversely, a protagonist with an obscure, this effect as well: Gloomy tones predominate,
shady character, hedonistic, and with a play- there are more faded nuances and shades of
fully scheming demeanor, will find his visual gray of all colors. Similar to the counter-design
counterpart in the design of his surroundings: of the other culture, this approach is continued
Round, intricate forms dominate, rich orna- throughout the costume design and design of
mentation decorates furnishings and build- the props. The robes of the characters are rich-
ings. Architecture does not have a clear direc- ly adorned and decorated. Abundant jewelry
tion in its form language - parts of the buildings and the penchant for jewels communicates the
reach towards the sky, while others seem to attraction to worldly pleasures and the greed
grow into the ground. The design therefore de- for material goods. Textures would suggest
fines the visual equivalent for the ambivalence valuable fabrics such as velvet and silk.
of the character(s). The color scheme supports

117
Chapter 1.4

This design method can be extended both Within a film, single or multiple sequences
to the production design for surroundings, can, of course, also be designed in different
clothing and accessories of individual charac- design styles, provided there is a content-re-
ters, as well as to the design of entire groups lated motivation. Classic examples of this are
or cultures - provided that any common char- dream sequences, flashbacks or subjective
acter traits have been defined. This approach narrative perspectives. In this case, changing
can be found in the fantasy genre of anima- to another design supports the communica-
tion films, - but applies to other genres as tion of the story.
well.
As we know from the "real world", larger Example "The Cold Heart"
groups almost always share locally defined In my film "The Cold Heart", I followed a holis-
cultural similarities, which can be taken into tic approach to production design: it is based
account with the appropriate design. People on influences of German expressionism, an
who live in the same place over a longer pe- impression of similar traditional wood and
riod of time will usually develop behavioral linocuts, and the excessive graphic contrast
and cultural similarities. of straights against curves.

Interesting in this context is the approach of Hans Bacher elaborated on this in his blog
signaling an outsider status of a single char- (2012):
acter within a larger group by using a com- "Several animators from Asia and Europe have
pletely different design. worked on the filming of this stylized German
fairy tale. Written by WILHELM HAUFF in the
Consistent implementation of nineteenth century, the story tells of a young
production designs man whose heart is corrupted by greed. Sounds
The preceding examples have illustrated: A very much like a very contemporary story, noth-
good production design should ensure that ing that requires an ordinary look. Stylistically,
an established design principle for a film is Hannes decided on a mixture of elements of
implemented consistently in all areas of pro- German expressionism reminiscent of works
duction. Good movies have a consistent de- of painters and woodcutters such as ERNST
sign - bad movies are often characterized by LUDWIG KIRCHNER, KARL SCHMIDT-ROTTLUFF,
wild, chaotic styles, which do not follow any EMIL NOLDE, ERNST BARLACH, MAX BECK-
logical rules. In the worst case, even the same MANN, OTTO DIX, ERICH HECKEL, KAETHE KOLL-
characters may look different in different WITZ and MAX PECHSTEIN, as well as films such
scenes, or specified design rules are ignored as THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, GOLEM and
for a particular culture in the film. The follow- NOSFERATU.
ing applies: Rules can always be broken, but
there must be a good content-specific and
design reason to do so!

118
 What is Production Design for Animation?

I myself supported the film with my color de- Style Guide

sign, which was equally inspired by the above
painters.“ A style guide is an indispensable docu-
ment for the consistent implementation
A style guide created for the film defined in of production design in all areas of anima-
detail, how these design principles were to tion film production.
be implemented in all areas of film produc- In general, this is a highly compartmental-
tion. The environment with landscapes and ized process. This is why all artists involved
architecture, the paraphernalia and objects have to work from the same information
(props) used, the details of character design base, from which they create their specific
in terms of contour style. portion for the overall film.
The style guide explains and illustrates in
detail and for all areas, what the design
principle of the film consists of, and how
it is to be implemented: It describes the
rules for the design of the film’s environ-
ment as derived from character design:
Landscapes, architecture, props (para-
phernalia/items such as furniture, weap-
ons, cutlery, jewelry, etc.), costumes - all
the way to visual effects (VFX). The goal is
that the basic approach of production de-
sign is reflected in every aspect of the film.
As an example: In "Mulan" (Bancroft/Cook,
1998), the formal language of Chinese or-
namentation is also reflected in the graph-
ic style of VFX, such as fire, explosions and
smoke.

Illustrations from the

style guide for "The Cold Heart"
by Hannes Rall

Film still from "The Cold

Heart" by Hannes Rall

119
Chapter 1.4

Illustrations from the

style guide for "The Cold
Heart" by Hannes Rall

120
 What is Production Design for Animation?

Illustrations from the

style guide for "The Cold Heart"
by Hannes Rall

121
Chapter 1.4

Color Design for the

Purpose of Visual
Storytelling

Like the mastery of lan-

guage for a writer, a basic
knowledge of color theory
is almost indispensable for
any production designer. A
comprehensive introduc-
tion to color theory would
go beyond the scope of this
chapter and book. However,
recommendations for fur-
ther and in-depth literature
are listed in the appendix.
Some helpful principles on
color composition in general
and on color design in (ani-
mation) film in particular, will
be discussed here.
Here is the example of a well thought-out
Good color design is always color design: The colors are well coordinat-
based on a principle, a de- ed, graduated colors dominate in the spec-
sign method decision based trum yellow-red-blue, green does not occur
on a concept: A well-done at all. Red-yellow dominates the fore- and
color composition will nev- mid-ground; blue for background. Occasion-
er use all possible colors in al accents of red or blue connect the picture
equal weighting and com- planes visually. The only strong primary col-
position. The color designer or is the red of the collar and loincloth: This
makes qualified decisions attracts attention to the main character. All
on which colors to use and colors are chosen so that the shapes stand
which to omit. out with sufficient contrast. The red of the
suns is reflected on the surface of the planet
- the reddish-yellowish tones of the fore- and
mid-ground stand out clearly from the back-
ground of the night sky. At the same time, the
color of the sky is blue with a large red com-
ponent, so that it blends well with the fore-
ground in spite of the contrast.

122
 What is Production Design for Animation?

This color design version is more prob-

lematic - too many primary colors are
competing for attention and do not fit to-
gether well. The color of the boots is too
similar to the ground and does not stand
out enough. In contrast to the other col-
or scheme, this one also has an unbroken
green, which makes the illustration look
more like "candy colors", or very colorful. Color drawing of a background from the film project
The pistol and rocket on the right are not “As You Like It“ (Hannes Rall/Lim Wei Ren Darren). Again,
as recognizable, since they blend in with the color design is strongly influenced by a concept, which
primarily serves the distinguishability of background
the similar color of the night sky. All in all, elements. The key principle is to ensure sufficient contrast
this color scheme is reminiscent of the between the picture planes and their respective elements.
typical bright coloring in comic books of The foreground is dominated by harmonious and warm
the 1970s colors in the red-yellow spectrum, contrasted with saturat-
ed green tones. In the background, the principle of aerial
perspective is used: the colors are less saturated, lighter and
It is definitely a less stringent color scheme. shifted into blue.

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Chapter 1.4

The three main variable properties that can by strong differences in just one of these fac-
be used to create color are hue, saturation, tors.
and tone. Harmony between colors can be The different lightness can be used here as
produced by similarity between these pa- an example: If you reduce this illustration to
rameters. Contrast results from differences its gray values, you can see that the shapes
between hue, saturation and tone of colors. stand apart from each other strongly enough
Sufficient contrast can be produced already without any color information. Therefore, as
in classical painting, one can
start with the shading, that is,
the tonal values, in order to
ensure sufficient contrast.

Hue is defined as the color certain color components can with reddish yellow tones -
depth in the area of 4-color be entered numerically in a this can be applied to all color
printing by the mixing ra- very uncomplicated manner: groups. Saturation can easi-
tio of the color components In order to obtain a blue with ly be digitally manipulated as
cyan, magenta, yellow and a high proportion of red, you well: When you reduce satu-
the black component K as enter a higher number for ma- ration, intensity and luminos-
color depth. In the area of genta; for a yellow with a high ity of a color decreases. The
video, this corresponds to proportion of red (closer to or- effect of two incompatible
the color system RGB, which ange), you enter a higher pro- colors can be reduced or can-
stands for red, green and portion of magenta, etc. This celed by reducing the satura-
blue. makes creating similarities in tion of one (high contrast) or
In digital image processing hue relatively easy: Reddish both (low contrast).
programs, the percentage of blues will often harmonize

124
 What is Production Design for Animation?

Shortcuts in Color Design:

During coloring, change the image re-

peatedly into grayscale to check for suffi-
cient contrast.

Example from “As You

Take digital samples of striking color com- Like It" by Hannes Rall
and Darren Lim, 2014
binations from illustrations and paintings.
Use this to create a library of color refer-
ences, which can be used repeatedly in
different combinations

Illustration: “Lighttower“,
Hans Bacher, 2013

Digital image processing programs like

Photoshop allow for numeric input of col-
or values for CMYK or RGB in their mixing
palette. This makes it easy to determine
the percentage of a color and to create
corresponding colors, for example, over
similar red portions.

Do not use "all colors of the rainbow" but

use a deliberate color scheme or color
concept. A simplified first step: Of the four
"main colors" blue, green, yellow, red, use
only three. For example, use only yellow,
green, and blue tones, instead of a “full”
green, use only a turquoise (= green with
high proportion of blue (= cyan)).

Design study of Jochen Rall for the film project "As You Like It"
(directed by Hannes Rall) It should be noted that overall, only
graduated, i.e. no "pure" colors are used. That means that the
hues are related, and contrast is achieved mostly through
lightness and saturation.

125
Chapter 1.4

Color concepts can be based on: An experienced color designer or colorist

does not use all these design factors in isola-
Tonal value/light and shadow tion, but in a well thought-out combination.
Color harmony Added to this is a personal sense of color,
Color contrasts which often integrates the above elements
Complementary contrasts intuitively. As always in the world of art, it is,
Contrasts of warm and cool colors of course, to some extent a matter of taste
Light/dark as well. What may seem too harsh for one
Bright/muted colors person, is absolutely acceptable to another.
Dominance of color moods However, this "total" artistic freedom is put
Accentuation into perspective in the context of any speci-
fications given in a precisely defined briefing,
such as for an animation film.

Example 1:
This picture uses an almost monochrome col- the picture. Contrast and saturation decrease
or scheme. Only blue tones are used which in the distance. Such a color scheme can be
can be varied by the ratio of their red and blue used to convey mood (blue usually indicates
parts. Added to this are lightness and satura- a melancholic mood) or even a time of day
tion as design parameters: This separates the (night). For a typical night atmosphere, how-
picture planes; a dark foreground stands out ever, the contrast of the typical city lights (in
with high contrast from the middle plane of warm colors) would be missing.

126
 What is Production Design for Animation?

Example 2:
Here is a classic, frequently used means for col- this effect and to establish the relationship be-
or design: Strong contrast between cool (blue) tween the character in the foreground and the
and warm colors (yellow). Limiting the only person in the window, the couple on the left in
warm accent to the window instantly attracts the picture was omitted.
the viewer’s attention. In order to underline

Example 3:
Color is used primarily as a dramaturgical use of red to the "relationship triangle" be-
design medium. In this illustration, a realistic tween the man, woman and child, suggests
color scheme was omitted in favor of high- the importance of the three persons for the
lighting specific characters. Restricting the plot to the viewer.

127
Chapter 1.4

Example 4:
Finally, a relatively realistic color scheme that with the incident light rays, which also con-
corresponds to a "real" lighting mood in this veys atmosphere. The "aerial perspective" in
type of environment. The cool blue separates the distance lends more depth to the picture.
the dark foreground from the mid-plane of This means that the color contrast is reduced,
the picture, which is dominated by warm red colors are desaturated and blurred into blu-
and yellow tones. This reflects the incident ish-green tones.
light in the mid-ground. Highlights are added

These concepts are generally also used to define

shapes, making them clear and distinguishable: On one
hand, colors must significantly differ from one another,
but on the other hand, they
must also be compatible with
each other. In short: the skill-
ful combination of contrast
and harmony. For example,
you can combine colors har-
moniously according to dif-
ferent shapes (or foreground/
background) across similar
hues, and provide sufficient
contrast through varying sat-
uration and lightness.

Color study by Hannes Rall for the

film project "As You Like It" , loosely
based on the play by William
Shakespeare.

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 What is Production Design for Animation?

The Dramaturgical Parameter of Color - Color Design and Color Script

What’s more, in film, color cannot be viewed Differentiation of picture planes (fore-/
in isolation, since it always fulfills a function. mid-/background)
If the color design fulfills this function/these - Different color moods (red/blue/yellow)
functions, it will automatically result in de- - Contrasts: Complementary; warm/cool;
sign decisions, which are perceived as aes- light/dark
thetically pleasing. - Aerial perspective (colors become gray/
Such functions, which are usually defined by bluish, muted, "faded" in the distance)
the narrative intention, are: Suggesting different narrative levels
Creating mood - Flashbacks in different color schemes: se-
Time (time of day/year) pia, black-white
Drawing the viewer’s attention - Subjective perspective through vastly
Representing realism or an emotional different color design
statement - Dream sequence through different (e.g.,
"psychedelic") colors

Color Script
The color script could be
called the "dramaturgical
map" of a film’s color de-
sign. Similar to a colored sto-
ryboard of the key scenes,
the sequence and change of
color design are represented
in chronological sequence of
the film.

Color Script by Hans Bacher

for the film "The Cold Heart" by
Hannes Rall

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Chapter 1.4

Color Script by Hans Bacher

for the film "The Cold Heart" by
Hannes Rall

The color scheme must correspond to the Simply put, color is used to support or even
content-related development of the film. create moods: Blue for melancholy; red for
As is generally the case with production de- battle, anger, aggression; yellow for warmth
sign, the design is intended to support and or comfort.
illustrate the communication of the story.

130
 What is Production Design for Animation?

The designation of colors as "warm" or "cold" with the film director in order to understand
implies a relevant connection in terms of con- the content and meaning of the emotional as-
tent-related significance. Although successful pect of each scene and to be able to assign the
color design for animation film can, of course, appropriate color scheme. Also important are
be much more complex and subtle, reducing details regarding time of day and season of the
it to the emotional undertone of a scene, rep- film's plot, since the color scheme is probably
resented by a basic color, is a frequently used the most important means for communicating
starting point by renowned color designers. this information. Ideally, the director's artistic
For a feature film, you are able to define many and content-related vision and the color de-
more emotionally motivated color changes signer's composition complement each other
- while for a short animated film of about 10 in an optimal way, in order to maximize the
minutes, three different color moods are usu- emotional impact of the film’s story on the
ally sufficient. The color designer will consult viewer.

Worksheets of the color script (Hans Bacher).

Once the emotional curve of the film has as follows: Depending on the dramatic inten-
been defined in the color script by these tion, transitions can be abrupt or smooth. In
changing basic colors and moods, individual order to attract attention or induce terror, a
scenes can be designed with more specific drastic change in color following a cut is ideal;
color detail. Transitions between the various if it deals with a sequence of flashbacks, then
color sequences of the film are then designed gradual color fades work well.

131
Chapter 1.4

Color script for the opening sequence

of "The Cold Heart"

On the right, the

corresponding development of color
fades for background elements
by Hans Bacher.

The abstract color concept preceding the final version.

Color Script by Hans Bacher for the

animation "Metamorphoses" by
Hannes Rall (For the documentary
film "Lotte Reiniger - The Dance of
the Shadows", Germany 2012,
Directors: Susanne Marschall, Rada
Bieberstein and Kurt Schneider)

132
 What is Production Design for Animation?

Designs for a cast of “supporting actors" from the

animated short film "As You Like It" (Hannes Rall) in
different versions. The basic forms of the characters
differ greatly, in order to be able to distinguish them
well. Character design by Hannes Rall and Lim Wei
Ren Darren.

Assignment:
Design the complete production design for one of the public domain
characters, which you created in the previous chapter Character Design,
i.e., for a jungle hero, Sherlock Holmes, Don Quixote, Robin Hood ... what-
ever you designed.
Decide on a content-oriented concept (realism, parody, artistic/abstract)
and use this as the basis for your research and design decisions.
In the end, you should have a complete "pre-production design package”,
which should include:
Research and drawing up of mood boards
Design of the entire cast as character design and as comparison sheet.
Model sheets (or 3D models for CG)
Designs for props and environment/architecture of the film
5 to 10 production paintings, which show the final look of the planned
production
Color script of the film
This, of course, also requires the previous development of a storyboard
- but you can limit this to an exercise of about 10 to 20 key scenes of the
film (for short film).

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Chapter 1.4

Interview with Hans Bacher

"I basically treat every design like a
stage in the theater.“

Hans Bacher (born in Ulm),

is one of the world's lead-
ing production designers
for animation. During his
many years of collabora-
tion at Walt Disney Feature
Animation he has contrib- First, a very basic question: What is production
uted significantly to the design for animation?
look of such films as "Beau- What exactly does a production designer do?
ty and the Beast", "Alad- It is, as the name implies: You design the
din", "The Lion King" and production, that is, the look and style of the
above all, "Mulan". He has film. There are productions, in which the
won numerous prestigious production designer works on both, the en-
awards, including the vironmental design, i.e. landscapes, etc., and
"Golden Camera" for the animated series character design. Then there are produc-
"Alfred J. Kwak" (with Harald Siepermann) tions, where the production designer is only
and the "Annie Award" for the produc- responsible for the environment and where
tion design in "Mulan". His book "Dream a character designer takes care of all the
Worlds: Production Design for Animation" character designs. That is the case at Disney.
(2007) is now considered the standard There, you usually have two positions.
reference on the topic and has become
a worldwide bestseller. Hans is Associate So in that case, the character designer is actual-
Professor at the School of Art, Design ly separate from the production designer. Or do
and Media at the Nanyang Technological they ever work together?
University of Singapore. They definitely work together.

Do they work together all the time?

Yes, it is a very, very close collaboration. And
at the very beginning, the very first designs
are usually made only by this specific pro-
duction designer. Anyway, at Disney it is as
it was in my case: I started working on pro-
ductions where there was only one treatment
first; a treatment of three, four sentences: This
is the project, a possible future project, for
which you then develop designs that include
rough characters. And only when it’s getting

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 What is Production Design for Animation?

Character design sketches

by Hans Bacher.

closer to a decision, when the production is

half-way into pre-production, then a char-
acter designer is hired, who will concentrate
exclusively on the characters. The production
designer then focuses on a complete stylistic
development that takes on one very specific
direction.

In other words, at the time in the beginning, the

design should be as diverse as possible. So you
are likely to try out several directions within one
specific topic.
At the very beginning, for example, when I
get a treatment and begin to sketch ideas,
they actually reflect my view, my interpreta- 500 years. And then, very soon after I was fin-
tion. As soon as a director adds his ideas to ished with the books, I sat down that same
the project, it gets more restricting as you get evening and began making the first sketch-
told: ‘Well, we want to take a specific stylistic es. Everything was still fresh, I didn’t spend a
direction.’ Then you have to adapt according- lot of time dealing with it. Interestingly, these
ly. sketches had a big impact on the style.

Suppose there is a theme that is set in ancient It is probably important to get started when ev-
China. Would you start out by incorporating a erything is still fresh and begin sketching your
lot of different styles, inspired by art and archi- impressions, isn’t it?
tecture of this period, in your first draft? How Exactly, while unaffected. Often, these turn
would you proceed? out to be the best ideas. It's like making
Yes, I did that in "Mulan" (Bancroft/Cook, thumbnails, those tiny little sketches. When
1998). I didn’t have a clue about Chinese art you enlarge them manually, they always look
at that time. So I first got a few art books and bad. I load them onto the copier and blow
looked at Chinese paintings from the last 400, them up 400 percent.

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Chapter 1.4

Now the important question: What can go background or without knowing which tal-
wrong with a production design or really be ents will collaborate with the film; when de-
done wrong? Students or beginners often make tached from all this information, he sits down
mistakes. What are some fundamental mis- and just loosely sketches his ideas on paper.
takes that can actually lead to the failure of a When I know, that I will be working with a
production design? studio where there is little talent and only a
Of course, there are many things that can very small budget, and no time - where the
happen. The worst thing in my experience film is supposed be ready in six months or
is, when the production designer just gets in a very, very short time - if I get there in a
going without understanding the studio’s case like that, with a production design that
would require a Pixar or Disney talent pool,
and where I would need five years and an in-
credible talent like Glen Keane and maybe a
background stylist and painter to complete
it as a top-notch production - then I should
know that this cannot go well! Many produc-
tion designers present a stylistic look that
looks great, but where the concept cannot
be implemented in the production. And then
you wonder afterwards why the film looks
so much worse than the most beautiful pro-
duction design. So before I begin with my de-
signs, I should know some things: For whom
do I work? How big is the budget? Is it worth
the effort to go into such details? Or should
I offer a style, which is much more reduced,
but easier to do. As you said - that’s how it is
with students. They have an animated feature
Strong sketches film in their head, but only 6 months to get it
(ink with brush on paper) by done. This is just as absurd. If I have no means,
Hans Bacher for the feature no time, then I must reduce my designs ac-
film project "Die Nibelungen" cordingly.
(in preparation), directed by:
Hannes Rall.

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 What is Production Design for Animation?

Exactly, so that it can be done. How would you are no complicated environments for which
describe the correlation between the story or extensive research is required, you can start
theme and the stylistic choices that you make? immediately with thumbnails and the first
Do you pay close attention to it, or are you more ideas which you can sketch.
interested in an atmosphere or a look? How do
you define the correlation? What you mentioned, is indeed an interesting
That all depends on the treatments. I have re- topic: authenticity compared to artistic free-
ceived very few treatments that were written dom. After all, sometimes you get a topic that
well enough for me to be able to visualize the has to be treated very realistically. In that case,
film completely. The writing style of some writ- you are probably very limited in how much you
ers is more difficult to implement than others. can contribute from your own artistic vision.
But if I get a short version of a story that is And it is probably extremely difficult to artisti-
written really well and where you can actually cally move beyond that, because the degree of
see the characters come alive, and where the realism limits your options.
environment is also described really well ... The Thank God, this never happened to me. I have
style depends on the time period of the film, only had stories that were artistically very open,
whether in the past or the future. except for the specific environment in which
I mean, the story itself can be very, very di- they were set, and of course, the corresponding
verse, it often spans across various areas. And artistic influence associated with it. I would not
if those are well described, then I can sit down have been interested in working with realis-
and start immediately. In other words, if there tic stories such as "Atlantis - The Lost Empire"
(Trousdale/Wise, 2001).

Color Sketch by Hans Bacher for the feature film project "Die Nibelungen" (in preparation)
Director: Hannes Rall. The design concept integrates the influence of expressionist art by paint-
ers such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.

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Chapter 1.4

There's really not very much interesting artistic Anyway, the artists at Disney, who were in-
freedom in this, it really is more about an al- volved in developing the look or who worked
most naturalistic depiction, in a sense. There’s with animation, even went on research trips.
not much to invent. That’s not very exciting. We went to France for "Beauty and the Beast"
I agree. (Trousdale/Wise, 1991) to visit the surround-
ings, the castles. I think we looked at ten or fif-
You mentioned research earlier, and again now. teen castles. For "Hercules" (Clements/Musker,
This seems to be extremely important to you: If 1997), a whole team traveled to Greece, and
you are working on material that is set, for ex- I believe we were there for two weeks. For
ample, in Asia, then you will actually research "Kingdom of the Sun" (working title for the lat-
Asian art. Later, of course, you will do less re- er Disney movie "The Emperor's New Groove",
search and develop the design, but in any case, director: Mark Dindal, 2000; author’s note)
you research first to get inspired. they were in South America. The research was
Absolutely. Research takes a very long time: actually done on location and they took their
for at least two or three months, you are look- own pictures. For "Mulan”, a whole team went
ing very intensely for only the best reference to China. Unfortunately, I was not able to go at
material, whether photos, illustrations of oth- that time.
er artists who have worked in that direction,
or art in general, that is, the artistic diversity To this province with the famous mountains?
of the last several hundred years. I don’t be- Everywhere. They were on a two week trip
lieve in reinventing the wheel: If the topic was through China. And I missed out on it. You
presented before, then I should also refer to get a completely different impression of the
it. And if a story is set in a certain culture, then surroundings, the colors, the smells, of the
I should become familiar with it. whole world. There are no books or picture
and film research that can compare to this.
Being there is something completely differ-
ent.

First studies of color and form by Hans Bacher for the short
film project "The Story of the Ghost Ship" (adapted from
Wilhelm Hauff), which he is currently working on together
with Kathrin Albers and Hannes Rall. Both the coloring
and form-based composition draw attention to the most
important picture element: the ship. The design integrates
influences from authentic references on Arabian art and
shipbuilding.

138
 What is Production Design for Animation?

Stylistic color sketch on a Chinese

theme by Hans Bacher. The
superb color design, which com-
bines a dominant color scheme
of subtly composed blue tones
with a singular strong accent in
orange, stands out in particular.
At the same time, the red portion
used in all the blue tones achieves
overall harmony and stylistic
unity.

You also work a lot with digital means, for ex- You probably already have sketches or an idea
ample with different digital filters and digital about where it should roughly take you. And
brushes. What advice can you give to beginners you use the digital tools more to help you get
and students? As a key thought: Relationship there.
between artistic vision and digital tools, how Of course. I still work completely on paper - at
does it go together? least in the initial phase and for brush draw-
I use only tools that are useful. Anyway, I ings etc. prior to coloring.
would never build a topic around a (digital)
tool. For example, I use it when I see that I can
work ten times faster in Photoshop and when
I know how this technique works. If I am up
to it, then I am very fast. And the final look is
quite comparable to the look I would get if I
were to work with tools like watercolor or felt
tip pen or any other traditional means. I use
digital tools only to achieve certain looks or
to implement them more quickly.

Combination of traditional
ink drawing with digital coloring. © Copyright
Hans Bacher

139
Chapter 1.4

If you compare it to how we used to do it, it is about the compositional-stylistic unity. And on
indeed much easier with Photoshop: Before the the importance of sufficient contrast.
digital era, for example, it was technically much First on composition. One thing is important
more difficult to create and combine clean color in the way I approach a design: I basically
gradients and opaque colors. treat every design like a stage in a theater.
The best invention is the undo button. When On the stage there is an actor, the actor is in
I worked with felt pen and made a mistake a spotlight, and what the actor, that is, the
with the airbrush while working, I had to redo animation of the main character, the protag-
all of the work. The use of different digital onist, does - that is important. My only job is
layers in one image also simplifies the work to create the background for this actor, for
tremendously. this animation. If the background is more im-
portant, or if the variety in my excessive de-
But there is always the risk that students or tail appears to be more important than the
other inexperienced artists feel lost and over- animation of the main character, then I have
whelmed with all these options. That is when made a mistake. The animation takes center
it is also helpful to know what you want, and stage, and everything I do, I need to build
where the artistic journey should take you. around the animation. I do this by placing el-
The vision should be there at the beginning. ements in the spotlight, which are important
Anyway, you should already have some idea to explain where I am, in what time period
in your head, and roughly know where you this takes place, etc. The more information I
want to go. But I have now found, that be- need, the more side spotlights I use. Every-
cause technology provides me with so many thing else stays off, remains dark or diffuse,
options that - although I already have a clear unexplained. The best example is "Bambi"
picture in my head - I now think, once the de- (Hand et al, 1942). When Gustaf Tenggren
sign is finished: Well, let me try first, if it would made the very first forest illustrations, he
look better to change it to a slightly differ- actually painted every single leaf and each
ent color mood. And I try out the other color branch. Then they “squeezed” a drawing of
mood or combine different filters - there are this animal figure, this deer, into the back-
thousands of variations that are possible. It ground and soon realized that the figure
has also happened before, that the results got completely lost in it. The background
that emerged were better than what I had in- was overloaded with so much detail, that
tended originally. you could not see the animal figure! Along
came Tyrus Wong and delivered incredibly
But you still need the judgment to be able to rec- atmospheric sketches in pastel, which were
ognize what is good, and then, for example, not strongly influenced by his Chinese heritage,
to use the same lens flare (special lens filter in but also by Impressionist painting. When he
Photoshop, author’s note) again. wanted to depict a meadow, he did not paint
Endlessly tinkering with things is, of course every blade of grass - as is done today in CG,
nonsense too. You should really know when where that is commonplace - he actually
a design is completed. painted only a green area and two or three
blades of grass in the foreground, just to in-
Now on the subject of stylistic decision. Perhaps dicate that this is a meadow. And the whole
you can say something about the importance thing was so open, so atmospheric, so poet-
of balancing details and empty surfaces, that is, ic, none of which Tenggren’s earlier paintings

140
 What is Production Design for Animation?

Jungle study by Hans Bacher: Individual details

are very “distinguishable" against the atmo-
spheric/diffuse background.
With increasing depth of the picture plane, col-
or contrast and focus are significantly reduced,
contributing to this effect.

could have ever been. And that’s why Bambi

looks the way it does. It is very minimal in
detail, only where detail is really needed it is
added to the backgrounds. Everything else
is diffused to avoid distraction from the area
that needs my attention, which is the area
where all the action takes place.

For you as one of the leading color designers,

color is a very important topic. In general: What
defines a good color design in the area of film
and animation for you? How do you apply color
in the context of dramaturgy?
Color is comparable to the music in a film, it
creates atmosphere. Of course, I can go en-
tirely "over the top", I can exaggerate too
much with my selection of color. Then the
whole thing looks so awful, as if I had poured
all the color into one bucket. That's gaudy or
distasteful. You can really go too far. A good
example is "The Lion King" (Allers/Minkoff,
1994). When I started working there, there
was a background artist whose work was ex-
tremely colorful. The director told him: Let’s
only work with black and white for two weeks,
and then we gradually and very carefully in-
troduce color. That’s a very good way to ap- Examples of the successful staging of a charac-
proach it. You should first be able to look at ter that stands out from the background, but
at the same time is stylistically integrated. ©
the environment or background to be depict-
Copyright Hans Bacher
ed in a reduced version, as if everything were
desaturated, in other words, as if the colors
were taken out completely. Then, very careful-

141
Chapter 1.4

ly, you go in with color. Most of the designs I For an aggressive scene, for example, an at-
see for film are much too colorful. There is way tack like our Huns attack in "Mulan", or other
too much color in it coming from everywhere. scenes with very brutal action scenes, I use
That’s why you make a color script. A color colors that are based less on reality. Such
script usually starts like the story: very, very colors should reveal what narratively defines
calmly, then slowly working up to the dra- this scene. Anyway, if I illustrate an attack,
maturgical apex and culminating in extreme then I choose colors that represent less the
contrast, in harsh color contrasts, like red, environment, in other words, no realistic col-
black, white - only then to subside again into ors of landscapes, but I may color the entire
the normal color world, which can appear landscape red, for example. I set extremely
quite desaturated in the end. This means drastic shadows in black and then add white
that this entire color development in a col- highlights within the spaces. The whole thing
or script has to be structured very carefully. looks like a city going up in flames. With this
It has to be adapted to everything that hap- kind of background, I can then really illus-
pens. For example, if I need a romantic color trate an attack. In "Mulan”, we were unable to
scheme, because there is a romantic scene use red because the whole thing took place
sequence in my script, then I'll transform in the snow, but we used quite harsh color
the romantic scene with romantic colors; I contrasts in the sequence of the Huns attack.
choose only romantic colors, which definite-
ly would not include green.

The color selection corresponds to the romantic/

melancholic mood of the scene. The composition
directs the viewer's attention by means of "interpre-
tive" shapes and shadows to the couple ascending
the stairs. The horizontal structure of the gray stairs
calms the background in order not to disturb this
attention.
© Copyright Hans Bacher

An example of the subtle, but focused and contrasting

use of color.
© Copyright Hans Bacher

142
 What is Production Design for Animation?

For such scenes, the concept of local color is also "Sleeping Beauty" (Clark/Geronimi/Larson/
omitted. Thus, the skin color is no longer a local Reitherman, 1959). At first, the background
skin color, but rather the dominant color mood looks a little bit overloaded, but Eyvind Earle,
is applied to all the components in the scene. the production designer of "Sleeping Beau-
Yes, of course. As if the entire scene had been ty”, solved this problem brilliantly. He chose
stained. I just add a filter. an entirely different approach for the color
mood, the color design of the environments
I have one last question : Can you name some conpared to the colors he used for the fore-
examples of successful production design in ground characters. So each character can be
animation, and perhaps also from live-action perfectly distinguished from the background,
film? absolutely perfect. In live-action: Every movie
In the area of animation, I would say: "Bambi". that Ridley Scott has ever made thus far, each
That is an absolute top example. Another very one is a masterpiece. My absolute favorites,
good example is "101 Dalmatians" (Geronimi/ apart from Ridley Scott, are all Orson Welles
Lusk/Reitherman, 1961), where everything is films. There are not many films that I consid-
superbly done, not just the color, but style er fantastic, but those are definitely some of
as well. The background style is adapted to them!
the style of the animation in front. Otherwise
Thanks.

In this color study by Hans Bacher for an animation

film project that is not yet completed, the concept
of local color is completely abandoned in favor of a
predominant, here almost monochrome-modulated,
color composition. This lends atmosphere to the
scene, since there are no diverging color details to
interfere with the overall mood.

143
Chapter 2.1

The Principles of Animation

and their Application
This chapter provides an overview of the various animation
techniques. It introduces the principles of animation, which
can be applied to all techniques.

Film consists of single imag- ments with a frame rate of 48 form that is produced by this
es (frames), which are played frames per second are being cinematic illusion through
in rapid succession one after conducted, in order to pro- the sequential exposure of
the other, creating the illu- duce an even more life-like single frames. In this process,
sion of continuous motion illusion of movement ("The the illusion for the anima-
for the viewer. In film, the Hobbit" trilogy, directed by tion of non-living objects is
world standard is 24 frames Peter Jackson, 2012-2014 ). achieved through incremen-
per second, but experi- Animation refers to the art tal changes of each single
frame shot. The objects to
be animated are usually "cre-
ated" by the animator him-
An animator has absolute control over self (or a team): This can be
every single image in the film, each through drawings (tradition-
frame. al or digital), 2D animation,
puppets or objects (stop
motion), or digitally modeled
characters (3D computer an-
imation).
For the animator, it is both
appealing and challenging
to have absolute control over
the look of each individual
frame, as well as over rhythm
and speed of the frame se-
In virtual 3D animation on the Single frame exposure of In traditional 2D quence, similar to a virtual
computer, each single frame is each small change to the animation, animation puppeteer.
created as a modified version of character for stop motion is done on paper in
the 3D model and can be played or puppet animation. sequences, using a light
back immediately as a test. box, and the successive
drawings are then
scanned and played
back as a line test.

144
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

Some techniques:
For hand-drawn 2D animation (traditionally inant technology in mainstream animation
on paper or with digital tablet), incrementally until the onset of the digital age, the number
modified drawings are sequentially shot. This of outstanding examples here is numerous,
technique offers the greatest artistic freedom first and foremost in the area of mainstream,
for animation itself, since it does not impose all Disney feature films, such as "Snow White
limitations due to any physically or virtually and the Seven Dwarfs" (Hand, 1937) or
defined object. These rest, however, in the "Sleeping Beauty" (Clark/Geronimi/Larson/
drawing ability of the animator: Some tasks Reithermann, 1959). In artistic short film,
(such as perspective animation of an ex- some outstanding examples are "Moonbird"
tremely detailed texture) exceed the capabili- by John and Faith Hubley (1959) and "Hill
ties of even the most talented animator. Farm" (1989) by Mark Baker.
Since traditional 2D animation was the dom-

Example for hand-drawn 2D animation from "The Cold Heart" by Hannes Rall

145
Chapter 2.1

In stop motion, real objects (e.g., movable films (Park, 1990-2008), are based on a co-
puppets) are animated, in other words, they medic caricature approach and use puppets
are changed little by little by the animator with a flexible rig. "Dimensions of Dialogue"
and filmed with a camera after each change. (Švankmajer, 1982) uses clay animation to
The use of this technique, although identical express visually disturbing political and phil-
in principle, can result in stylistically com- osophical allegories in experimental form.
pletely different films: The "Wallace & Gromit"

Example from the student’s work "Dr. Avis'

Dream" by Wang Rui Fan, School of Art,
Design and Media, Nanyang Technological
University, 2010: "Classic" stop motion, here
puppet animation in a carefully and very
detailed physically constructed set.

Cutout animation uses the same technique ten achieve a look that is more related to the
as stop motion, however, the animated ob- drawn 2D animation, since it is graphical and
jects are flat and are moved on a flat plane. "flat" in appearance. However, the conceptu-
This is possible both with real objects (similar al approach resembles more traditional stop
to traditional stop motion) and with digital/ motion than 3D computer animation, re-
virtual objects. Stop motion techniques of- gardless of the means of production. A well-
known classic example is "The Adventures of
Prince Achmed" (1926) by the German ani-
mation pioneer Lotte Reiniger.

One of today's masters of digital cutout anima-

tion is the Swiss animator Isabelle Favez ("Heart
of Winter", 2011).

146
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

Image from "Si Lunchai" (2013),

Director: Hannes Rall, digital cut-
out, animation: Darren Lim,
character design: Cheng Yu Chao.
This film combines Lotte Reiniger’s
tradition of silhouette film with
influences of modernism and
Southeast Asian shadow puppetry
"Wayang Kulit".

Construction scheme of a digital cut-out animation puppet from "Si

Lunchai" , design: Cheng Yu Chao.
A digital or physical cut-out animation puppet must be constructed
with movable joints so that it can be changed to match the movements:
The more complex and versatile these movements are, the more of these
joints have to be inserted.

147
Chapter 2.1

Hybrid forms between drawn animation, tra- the traditional settings of galleries.
ditional painting, cut-out animation and stop In the case of 3D computer animation, a
motion: virtual puppet is usually created on the
Sand animation uses sand as a medium computer (= modeling), equipped with an
for animation, which is filmed on a glass animatable virtual skeleton (= rigging) and
plate lit from underneath. The freedom of then animated like in the other techniques.
manipulation in this medium makes this Since the animator manipulates a virtual
technique the most comparable to drawn puppet step by step, this technique is actu-
animation. Ferenc Cakó from Hungary ally more related to stop motion than drawn
("Ab Ovo", 1987) and Caroline Leaf from animation. All the more so, since, as a rule, his
Canada ("The Metamorphosis of Mr. Sam- creative freedom is restricted by the limita-
sa", 1977) are masters of this technique. tions of his character, which are defined by
In a similar manner, plasticine on a light modeling and, above all, rigging. The Pixar
box can also be shot in various colors. Studios, headed by John Lasseter, are inextri-
However, this medium is more difficult cably linked to the rise of this technique as
to manipulate and therefore often uses a the world's dominating mainstream anima-
cross-dissolve technique and three- to six- tion technology. Two of the most outstand-
frame animation. A master and pioneer ing examples of this technique are "The In-
of this technique is Ishu Patel from India/ credibles" (Bird, 2004) and the short film "The
Canada. ( "Afterlife", 1978). Lost Thing" (Ruhemann/Tan, 2010).
Animated painting is the animation of
painting on glass, which is related to the
above-mentioned techniques and an ex-
tremely difficult and elaborate technique,
if you want to achieve a certain degree of
realism. An outstanding artist in this style
is Aleksandr Petrov ("The Old Man and the
Sea", 1999).

Painting and Drawing as a Process:

Other animators are less interested in the
creation of an imaginary, yet credible world,
but instead integrate the artificiality of their
process as a conscious stylistic device by film-
ing the incremental development of their
large-format drawings or paintings during
the development process. William Kentridge
from South Africa ("Ubu Tells the Truth", 1996-
97) and Jochen Kuhn from Germany (“Neu-
Example of a 3D computer animation: "Color Theory"
lich 1", 1998) should be mentioned. They (2011) by Davier Yoon, School of Art, Design and Me-
intentionally cross over into the field of "clas- dia, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
sical" fine art and exhibit their works also in

148
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

Example of pixilation from

"Big Bio" by Eileen Reynolds (2011).

Pixilation presents an exceptional situation, a

special form of stop motion: Here, the actions
of real actors are not simply filmed, but as in
stop motion, single frame shots are manipu-
lated. This creates interesting alienation ef- fects, for example, by directly linking time sep-
fects (such as time lapse shots), resulting in a arated images or omitting certain drawings of
surreal and artistically appealing atmosphere. a movement.
Pixilation also allows a simple form of visual ef-

Live-action film has to rely

much more on the circum-
stances of live-action sets,
looks, the abilities of “live" ac-
tors and so forth. In animation
film, everything is controlled
by the creative power of the
director and his team: He cre-
ates his own world, which has
to submit completely to the
rhythm of the director as the
leading conductor!

149
Chapter 2.1

Convergence and Mixed Forms of Traditional and Digital Techniques

While the visual language in the early and de- as a means of preserving and supporting
veloping years of digital animation was pre- the aesthetics of formerly purely traditional
dominantly aimed at completely replacing forms of animation: Good examples are the
traditional aesthetics with a new hyper-per- calculation of inbetweens for extremely com-
fect and hyper-realistic visual language, an plex painting, or the computer-assisted plan-
alternative trend has now emerged: ning of inbetweens for stop motion, which
The integration of the organic quality of tra- was previously not possible.
ditional animation techniques in 3D com-
puter animation. This includes, for example, Formal eclecticism of a new era
the element of human “imperfection" as an It is particularly the new young generation of
intentional means of artistic expression. Con- animators that combines traditional and dig-
versely, the computer is increasingly used ital techniques in a completely unbiased and
unconventional manner.
This often results in artistically very exciting
and attractive films: For example, a 3D com-
puter-animated character is placed in a tradi-
tionally drawn environment, a stop-motion
character interacts with real actors in a virtu-
ally modeled environment, traditional hand-
drawn animation is digitally edited and com-
bined with digitally painted backgrounds.
The possibilities are almost infinite and will
certainly increase in the future.

“The Hunt“: Combination of hand-drawn 2D ani-

mation and digital compositing with After Effects,
student work by Jegannath, M. Sufjan and Eunice
Ong (Singapore 2012).

"Innocent Memory”, student film by Nguyen

Thi Nam Phuong, drawn animation (paper),
with camera animation (traditional), Toon
Boom, After Effects compositing (Singapore
2012).

150
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

The first step is always the hardest, or: How do I learn to animate?

The "bouncing ball" exercise or: What does than a golf ball consisting of solid, unyielding
a bouncing ball have to do with good material (which basically does not change
animation? shape). This corresponds to the animation
Almost every textbook about animation, al- principle of squash and stretch.
most every course that provides an introduc- It is extremely important for students to un-
tion into the basics, begins with the “bouncing derstand that the bouncing ball example is
ball". There are good reasons why this exam- about the underlying principles of animation
ple is so popular: It is an excellent method - not the ball itself. Unfortunately, this exer-
to understand many principles of animation cise is often taught or applied incorrectly. A
using a simple object: A ball is easy to draw simple copying or just a slight variation of the
and can also be modeled quickly for 3D ani- presented method does not lead to a deeper
mation or downloaded as an existing model. understanding. The exercise must therefore
The bouncing ball is squashed on the ground be executed and explained in such a way that
upon impact, and stretches as it bounc- the student can comprehend the concept
es back up. When it reaches the apex of the and later transfer it to completely different
curve it follows, the bouncing ball returns to objects or characters to be animated.
its original shape. It is important that the vol- So here is the frequently seen bouncing ball,
ume of the object remains the same. This prin- presented somewhat differently and its sig-
ciple can be applied to all kinds of objects and nificance explained for other applications.
when applied properly, it can credibly convey The point of the matter is, that the bouncing
the material properties of an object: A poor- ball can be used to explain many basic princi-
ly inflated soccer ball changes its shape more ples of animation.

151
Chapter 2.1

The aim is therefore to understand the bounc-

ing ball as an easily comprehensible and im-
plementable example, that allows students to
develop a basic understanding of the major
animation principles of motion mechanics, as
well as artistic/aesthetic principles. A simple
copying and repeating of the model shown
above may be a good place to start - but then
the learning process must continue by apply-
ing the acquired knowledge of the principles
to other examples.

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

Assignment:
Make up your own version of the bouncing ball exercise:
Try to animate a ball of a certain weight and a certain material, e.g. a
ping-pong ball, a football/soccer ball or a cannonball.
Replace the ball with another shape or figure and try to implement the
acquired principles, e.g. with a leaping frog, a jumping cricket or an an-
imated dice.
Analyze the animation to see if you can identify the principles of the
bouncing ball, e.g. the deceleration at the apex of a motion.

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Chapter 2.1

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION

Below is an explanation of the terms of the ani- infinite and simple flexibility of drawn anima-
mation principles as they were first developed tion still stands unrivaled though.)
by Disney Studios in the 1930s. They are based
on the basic aesthetic idea that animation The classic "12 Basic Principles of Animation”,
should represent an exaggerated, caricatured written and published by the famous Disney
version of "reality" - an aesthetics and me- animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston
chanics of motion, which renders the acting (1995) are as follows:
characters believable, thus eliciting the empa-
thy of the audience. They are certainly a good Squash and Stretch
start to understanding motion-mechanical Anticipation
principles, in order to be able to apply them Staging
to animation. However, anyone interested in Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose
implementing very experimental and abstract Follow Through and Overlapping Action
animation may deviate completely from some Slow In and Slow Out
of these principles - since they would not be Arcs
intending to achieve "credibility". But it can Secondary Action
also be very interesting to apply these classical Timing
animation rules to free experimental and ab- Exaggeration
stract forms - for this, there are many excellent Solid Drawing
examples as in the films of Oskar Fischinger or Appeal
Michel Gagné ("Sensology", 2010).
How can a student or beginner best under-
These rules were, of course, subject to a con- stand these principles? And more important-
tinuous evolutionary process over many de- ly: How can he/she implement them sensibly
cades and have been further refined. Much of for his/her own animations?
it, however, has remained valid throughout the
decades and is still up-to-date. It is interesting
to notice that these rules, which are mainly
derived from the tradition of hand-drawn ani-
mation, are now an integral part of the stylistic
repertoire of modern computer animation. This
was made possible by the further development
of software, allowing for such effects like squash
and stretch to be implemented in computer an-
imation. It is based, for example, on much more
complex and flexible rigging of models. From
a technical point of view, we are in a golden
age for computer animation, which can easily
handle very cartoony animation as well. (The

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

Reform and Expansion of the „Basic Principles of Animation“:

Hierarchy of Basic Animation Rules

In general, the following applies: It is import- 12.) Weight

ant to learn the rules to be able to break them 13.) Appeal and Strong Poses
later. Animation is a living art form that must 14.) Staging
be subject to constant change and refine- 15.) Change of Shape
ment in order to progress! What works as a 16.) Counteraction
test and looks convincing is "right", even if it
violates the rules. The individual principles in this chapter are
Nevertheless, I believe that particularly be- explained in this order. In addition, I would
ginners (child prodigies and geniuses ex- like to add that there is a sort of hierarchy
cluded) would be well advised to try to learn among the important principles of animation
these rules. They are also good guidelines to - simply put: Some are extremely important
get started. It is important, however, not to on a general scale, others cover more partial
simply copy examples, but to understand the aspects of animation. As Grim Natwick once
underlying concepts and to implement them put it so aptly: “It is all in the timing and the
in one’s own work! spacing“ (in: Williams, 2002).
As an instructor in the area of classical anima- Therefore: Timing and spacing makes or
tion, I have always looked for ways to make breaks everything. You can certainly find
basic rules as comprehensible as possible for good examples among animated films, in
my students and to establish them in a logical which most of the other principles have been
consistency. neglected - and where the animation works
beautifully nonetheless.
I have also expanded the list of “principles" to If the timing (and the story) is right, then even
include new components that I consider es- a movie with (real) coins as protagonists can
sential: for example, the principle of change work great - even without any squashing and
of shape, which was introduced by Richard stretching, exaggerated drawing etc.!
Williams.

1.) Timing
2.) Spacing
3.) Slow In und Slow Out
4.) Straight Ahead and Pose-to-Pose Ani-
mation
5.) Overlapping Action, Follow Through
6.) Secondary Action
7.) Anticipation
8.) Squash and Stretch
9.) Arcs
10.) Solid Drawing
11.) Exaggeration

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Chapter 2.1

What does that mean? I think that the "classi- 3.2) Staging (this also includes knowledge of
cal" rules, those which have always remained composition and film language, see also
relevant, can not be lumped together, but chapter 1.1 “Script and Storyboarding”)
should be assigned to different groups ac- 3.3) Appeal
cording to topic, and that they should be
taught in a certain chronological order. For In my opinion, it is also important to under-
example, animation techniques (e.g., timing), stand that these concepts should not nec-
which must be mastered first in order to im- essarily be treated in isolation, since they
plement certain artistic concepts convincing- often have to be used together: Anticipation
ly (e.g., staging). can only be demonstrated convincingly, if
you use timing and spacing correctly, just as
squash and stretch or a general change of
Working Methodology shape.
Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose

Animation techniques:
1.) Timing and its various aspects
1.1) Spacing
1.2.) Slow In and Slow Out
1.3.) Overlapping Action, Follow Through, im-
portant aspect: Waves
1.4) Secondary Action
1.5 ) Anticipation

2.) Shaping and Design

2.1) Squash and Stretch All concepts are subse-
2.2 ) Arcs quently explained with
2.3.) Solid Drawing reference to drawings - but
2.4.) Change of Shape they can also be applied
2.5) Exaggeration – an exception, since here, to any other animation
the right timing is an important compo- technique, since the
nent! principles basically remain
2.6.) Counteraction the same. The individual
chapters which follow will
3.) Design/artistic concepts (which can focus on any differences,
only be achieved by combining the particularities and relevant
above-mentioned techniques): work process of the various
3.1.) Weight animation techniques.

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

1.) Timing

Actually, timing is the most important over- time, is unspeakably boring.

riding principle, since it affects almost all Stylistic means, such as monotony and unifor-
other principles directly, more specifically, mity of movement can certainly be introduced
the other principles are supported or ful- deliberately to support the story - but of course
filled by correct timing. Timing defines, how only, if this is intended. Very often, however,
long a motion will last "on screen” based on such uniform movements are created uninten-
the number of drawings (or frames). tionally, because not enough thought was put
into the spatial distribution of inbetweens and
More drawings the graphic expression of key frames. For 3D
= longer action computer animation each single frame of film
Less drawings is different, that means animation on "ones".
= shorter action In other animation techniques, exposing the
same image twice on film will often suffice to
Rhythm and contrast in timing create a believable illusion of fluid movement.
Contrast in timing is critical for good animation. This approach is called animation on "twos".
As in music, the change between fast and slow, For very fast actions, you usually need to ani-
intense and subtle, "loud" and “soft" is crucial: mate each single frame, i.e. on "ones". (even in
Never-ending fast actions in sequence are traditionally drawn animation). This is because
tiring, and you lose the viewer's attention - a a lot of change takes place in an extremely
quick extreme action after a slow and subtle short time span. Therefore, you have to illus-
movement has a much greater impact. A film, trate this short period of time as detailed as
in which all the characters move at the same possible, using animation on ones (24 draw-
pace and in the same manner for the entire ings per second).

157
Chapter 2.1

How do I create a contrast between fast with life action references.

and slow? A very common mistake for beginners in
Are my movements slow, elegant and flow- timing is, that too many actions are shown in
ing, or jerky, abrupt and brisk? too short a time. Most beginners are not real-
How do I switch? ly aware of the fact that in animation film in
Where and how long do I place holds? general, many frames or drawings have to be
created. This unawareness leaves them think-
How do I figure out the correct timing for ing that an action is already adequately rep-
my animation? resented in time, because the inexperienced
One answer could be: Experience that comes animator has already animated “so many”
with time. This means, to animate, test, cor- frames (as seen subjectively).
rect, until the length "feels" right. Over time,
you will be able to estimate the appropriate You have to keep in mind that (in the case
time it takes (measured in frames) for fre- of animation on ones), one frame represents
quently occurring actions as you draw from only one 24th of a second, and that the view-
the experiences you have gained. On the oth- er must see an action or a pose for a reason-
er hand, I am sometimes very surprised at the able amount of time, in order to perceive it
fact that students in the age of video cameras at all.
in mobile phones do not quickly "shoot" ref-
erence material of a movement they need, in
order to get an approximate feeling for more
complex timing.

With the help of a friend you can shoot it

and play it back for your future animation,
analyzing it later as a digital file. Of course,
such reference must be dealt with correctly -
it can only serve as a reference and must be
exaggerated for the animation in timing and
expression (see also exaggeration). But: It is
a good starting point, especially for anatomi-
cally complicated animations!

The work of an animator is often most cre-

ative and interesting without any references
- in that case, he is able to achieve complete
creative freedom. The decision also depends
largely on the required level of realism for an
animation: The more stylized and abstract an
animation should be, the less you will work

158
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

A good gauge for a hold is that it should not

be less than 10 frames in length: Otherwise
it is perceived as an irritation in a continuous
movement (jerking) rather than a resting
point.

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Chapter 2.1

For certain important movement patterns, "pause" in a continuous movement (such as

such as walking, there are some good basic a typical walk), or even to slow down at the
rules, which can of course be varied accord- wrong point: This will always look wrong,
ing to artistic taste. A beginner's mistake, since it interrupts motion dynamics.
which should be avoided at all cost, is a

Assignment:

Use these drawings and add in-betweens to create a convincing anima-

tion. See also instructions for constructing a walk cycle on page 201.

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

The most common timing errors and how we have to see a pose, action, or movement,
to avoid them. so that it can be understood? For this pur-
Very often beginners are underestimating the pose, we film these first drawings, each with
length of time, in which a particular pose or the appropriate number of frames for length.
movement has to be shown in order for it to Of course, we still lack the inbetweens, which
be sufficiently understood by the audience. we basically include in the frame number for
They are often tempted to show expressive the storytelling drawings. Although this first
drawings of individual poses only briefly and test is still quite inaccurate, it provides us an
assume that they are nevertheless perceived; excellent indication for rough timing: From
but you need at least 10 frames, so that a very this point forward, you can continue working
specific posture or expression can actually be and refining, since you have established a sol-
read properly. id foundation - provided that the test worked.
As a first step, the drawings, which are essen-
tial for the understanding of the action (story-
telling drawings) should be tested very rough-
ly with regard to correct timing: How long do

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Chapter 2.1

We now know how long we have to show the keeping the main pose (within the timing that
particular pose so that it can be properly "read", works), but changing it subtly to avoid the im-
but it seems that another problem has emerged pression of lifelessness. This technique is espe-
now: The pose does not change, it is standing cially important for animation in a more realis-
still for a certain period of time. Although every- tic style, particularly for computer animation,
one can grasp the meaning, the character seems which is actually not very forgiving of a com-
lifeless, since no changes take place - an unsolv- plete standstill of a character (not even for two
able problem? single frames). There are several techniques that
you can use to achieve a moving hold, the clas-
The moving hold sic one is as follows: You design a more extreme
At this point, a brilliant discovery from the clas- version of the original storytelling frame or key
sic principles of animation comes into play: frame. In doing so, you remain relatively close
the moving hold. In short, this basically means to the original design, but make the physical

162
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

features more distinct, more extreme or theat-

rically more expressive. Just how drastic such a
change can or should be, depends again on the
degree of realism and style of animation.
Next are the inbetweens, which go between
the two new extremes. The total for your tim-
ing is the same as originally tested - only now
you have a "living" character instead of a life-
less hold.

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Chapter 2.1

There are other methods to achieve a "mov- Gap and contrast in lines of action
ing hold", such as by using a loop, or fol- One of the best ways to achieve a "snappy”
low-through and overlapping action. The or lively animation is the combined use of
best animation is often achieved by the fact frames with strongly contrasting lines of ac-
that these stylistic devices are synchronized tion with a gap between the anticipation and
and combined very subtly, which is often the execution of a fast action.
essential for feature quality animation. Any
good animator will get more sophisticated
combinations as he gains more experience.

HERE IS THE CLASSIC:

For the impact of great dynamics,

it is important to follow up the
slow anticipation with a distinctly
different animation frame (e.g.,
change of action lines from convex
to concave)! There must be a gap
between the last anticipation frame
and the first frame of the actual ac-
tion, in order to achieve the desired
dynamics, i.e., inbetweens will not
be used here.

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

Speed lines are a stylistic device of comics! In ani-

mation, the impression of speed must be achieved
solely by timing and spacing of the frames. Speed
lines can be added as an additional graphic stylistic
device, but must be animated properly and cannot
“clog up" the gap between the frames, otherwise the
dynamics will be destroyed!

If you use an inbetween, it must

be drawn and placed in such
a way that the dynamics are
retained, i.e. show a distinct con-
trast to the anticipation frame.
It has to be a spatially well-placed
and well-designed inbetween - a
purely "mechanical" inbetween
is not helpful here and would
destroy the desired effect.

165
Chapter 2.1

The more modern (and, of course, more cinematic) equivalent of speed

lines is the use of motion blur. Here too, the stylistic means should fit the
design concept of the animation. “Smear” animation (see below) and speed
lines are used more in stylized 2D animation, motion blur is used more in 3D
and realistic animation and stop motion.

Fast transition with one inbetween between two key frames, which are held longer
(2 holds). Works also with "moving holds".

166
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

Time to Think, or: Action and Reaction microcosm of animation. This principle is also
Apart from certain exceptions, most move- consistent with the need not to overwhelm
ments require a certain physical or motivation- the viewer by showing too many actions at
al anticipation time (see also Anticipation). the same time. As a rule, attention should
If I yell at someone, it usually takes at least a be drawn to a key action. In other words:
fraction of a second of anticipation, before the Show them one after the other! (In doing so,
other person responds. you have to let actions overlap elegantly -
This is because the information has to be see chapter on Overlapping Action/Follow
processed before the person can respond. Through).
What appears as an immediate reaction in
the macrocosm of superficial observation, of-
ten turns out to be single-frame delays in the

(1) (2)

(3) (4)

(5) First (1), the "wake-up call" is shown. The sleepy student reacts with delay,
more specifically, he anticipates (2) his reaction in (3). While the student
returns from the "fright stage" to a more neutral position (4) - (5), the
teacher, on the other hand, anticipates (4) his reaction (5) to the outcome
of the action.
These are, of course, only the extremes or breakdowns of this animation.

Assignment:
Take these drawings and create a full animation (complete with inbe-
tweens)! Vary the extremes and breakdowns to get the best timing.

167
Chapter 2.1

2.) Spacing

Spacing refers to the spatial arrangement of

inbetweens between the key frames of an
animation: It helps to define the dynamics
of movement. “Uneven" spacing of the inbe-
tweens is crucial for a convincing effect. If the
drawings are evenly spaced, they appear me-
chanical and unnatural.

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

3.) Slow In und Slow Out (deceleration/acceleration)

This means that movements generally come to a standstill or go into a key pose or
accelerate initially (gradual wider spacing key frame. (Of course there are exceptions to
of drawings) and slow down again (gradual the rule.)
narrower spacing of drawings), before they

169
Chapter 2.1

4.) Straight Ahead and Pose-to-Pose Animation

Straight ahead animation simply means ever, the straight ahead method is only pos-
"re-inventing" one drawing after the other. sible as part of a scene made from sketches
This ensures great spontaneity during anima- (thumbnails), or one that has been carefully
tion, so that even the animator is "pleasantly planned.
surprised". In commercial animation, how-

Straight ahead animation leads to a con- is a risk that the scene will lose its temporal
stant flow of movements without coming structure and that important story points
to a real "standstill" - everything changes will not be communicated, since not enough
constantly. This results in very flowing move- emphasis was placed on the appropriate ex-
ments, since the animation does not move pressive key frames.
“into” and then again “out” of previously set
extremes. However, if used incorrectly, there

Pose-to-pose animation primarily defines This method, which allows for extremely good
the most expressive key frames or extremes, planning and structuring of the animation, also
which provide structure to the scene and carries a possible disadvantage, as it lacks spon-
make it predictable. Once the extremes have taneity and unexpected developments.
been defined, the inbetweens are inserted.

170
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

In my experience, it is much easier for begin- achieve optimal results. Extremes, for example,
ners to start with pose-to-pose animation: The which were defined in the first pass, can be
more spontaneous process of straight-ahead revised in subsequent passes in order to intro-
animation requires some experience with tim- duce new ideas and different timing. Or certain
ing, spacing, etc. to achieve good results. Once aspects of a character, which are essential for
the initial success is established, an advanced structuring and planning a scene, are animated
beginner can also experiment with straight- “pose-to-pose" - while other elements are add-
ahead animation. “The Best of Both Worlds“: ed in straight ahead animation, as they may be
Often, both methods are combined in order to more suitable for this.

Certain types of animation are better suited does not “go" to a certain extreme. Instead,
for straight ahead animation: When each new it is a permanently changing continuum of
frame requires a drastic change of shape, such movement. The same applies to water, clouds,
as VFX animation. A fire takes on a drastically smoke etc.
different shape in each new drawing, which

171
Chapter 2.1

5.) Overlapping Action and Follow Through

With the techniques mentioned so far, I can when I show it without any change for several
now show my character in sufficiently long drawings? (Note: This can be acceptable with
"held" poses, while slow in and slow out al- highly stylized 2D animation or a desired stylis-
lows me to arrive with the correct timing from tic device, but it is completely unacceptable for
pose A to pose B. But is movement really that 3D computer animation.) This is where over-
simple? And what can I do about the problem lapping action and follow through are used to
that my character appears absolutely lifeless achieve the above-described moving hold.

Comics lack the temporal element: The reader An animation, on the other hand, runs
himself can decide on the reading duration of each for a specified time: A good animator
panel. Therefore, more details can be displayed must therefore ensure that important
simultaneously, that is, in one image. A time period actions are seen long enough in order to
is condensed into one image. This could work the be perceived by the viewer. Therefore, they
same way in a storyboard! can not compete: This can be achieved by
showing important actions one at a time. For a life-like and
credible appearance, you should also work with overlapping
action and follow through.

A wink directs the viewer's attention to the char- … then the light bulb appears. The light bulb appears last and remains
acter’s line of sight ... visible as a loop for at least 18 frames.

172
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

5a) Wave Principle

The basic principle of wave action is similarly ments of a character in follow through and in
important to animation as the principle of the overlapping action, such as a windblown coat,
bouncing ball. This principle can and must be or hair, for an animal’s tail, etc. It is often best to
applied to many different movements of flex- animate “straight ahead” (within a roughly es-
ible objects, if you want to achieve a credible tablished time structure) and to insert waves
impression. (As always, you can certainly devi- only in a later animation pass, after the move-
ate from this as a deliberate artistic measure, ments of the main object (body) have already
but it is crucial to understand the possibilities been implemented.
of this technique.) At the same time, I have
learned that it is one of the hardest-to-learn
basic rules for beginners: We are talking about
a non-linear movement pattern, which re-
quires out-of-the-box thinking at key points.
Purely mechanical inbetweens (which should
basically be avoided) do not work at all here.
Waves have to be used quite often for ele-

173
Chapter 2.1

6.) Secondary Action

A secondary action supports secondary action does not main secondary. This could
or even counteracts the dominate or drown out the be, for example, wiping away
primary action of a charac- primary movement: It must a tear with the arm (second-
ter. It is important that this be noticeable, but must re- ary action,) while a character

174
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

is walking away (main action). ditional information, but can

This secondary action is in- not dominate or drown out
tended to give more depth to the primary movement.
the performance through ad-

The illustrations show an example of secondary

action. This is a loop, where after drawing 8, drawing
1 begins again.

1.) Torso, head and legs show the primary move-

ment (main action), namely the running of the
character.
2.) The wildly swirling arms are the secondary action:
This action does not follow the classic balancing
swinging movement ("arm swing") of a running
cycle. Instead, this movement follows its own
movement path and timing.
3.) Hair and coattails are animated according to the
follow-through principle. The Animator would
add this animation after the main animation has
been defined.

175
Chapter 2.1

7.) Anticipation - Preparation (Anticipation of Movements)

If you will, this principle is another aspect of observing material from live-action film, and
timing: As a rule, any action or movement is then adapted (often intentionally exaggerat-
preceded by a preparatory smaller action. ed) for animation.
Even this rule was originally discovered while

WITHOUT ANTICIPATION WITH ANTICIPATION

Anticipation of movement is also a helpful On the opposite page an example based on

trick to attract the viewer’s attention to ac- Homer’s Odyssey: Upon returning home, Od-
tions that would otherwise be over quickly (in ysseus points his famous bow to the not-so-
very few single frames), making sure that they happy suitors, who are competing for his wife
can be perceived at all. The anticipation of Penelope. The anticipation together with the
the action to follow can/must be held longer reactions, helps to make the arrow shot no-
than the actual action (= use more frames as ticeable - also, keep in mind the importance of
spacing narrows). Thus, the viewer will auto- timing here!
matically anticipate that "something is about
to happen" and perceive the actual primary
action sufficiently, despite its extreme brevity
(1 or 2 frames).

176
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

Staging through timing and change of shape in this scene: The change/reaction of the shooter follows
The only elements changing are those needed to perceive later, in order not to divert the attention!
the arrow shot.

Assignment:
Complete the animation by using the extremes to draw inbetweens.
Pay particular attention to the correct timing (number) and spacing
(position) of the inbetweens!

177
Chapter 2.1

Additional major anticipa-

tions
The rule is:
The greater or more intense
the action, the greater the
anticipation:
If I want to run extremely
fast, I have to gain a lot of
momentum!

PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTICIPATION

If I want to lift a very heavy

object, I have to "gather"
PHYSICAL ANTICIPATION my strength and prepare
the upward motion phys-
ically (possibly mentally
as well...). Here it becomes
apparent how the repeat-
ed effort of anticipation
can contribute to convey-
ing the illusion of weight
for the animation!

178
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

Paying close attention to lively animation - the more ing the head, a slight turn of
stark contrasts in change of cartoony, the better! the body. The action and its
shape is an essential com- preparation should always
ponent and absolutely nec- Subtle Anticipation be expressed in a reasonable
essary: convex changes to Working with very subtle relationship. The same ap-
concave (in lines of action) anticipation can greatly plies to timing, spacing and
etc. These opposites are enrich animation as well: a change of shape!
enormously important for wink, slightly raising/lower-

179
Chapter 2.1

Subtle anticipation of a
major anticipation
When it comes to introduc-
ing a very pronounced antic-
ipation itself, it is often help-
ful to open it with a smaller
anticipatory movement.

Accentuating movements in order to highlight a certain for different body parts). The
through anticipation aspect: For this, appropriate counteraction of the hand
One rather sophisticated trick spacing is combined with within the forward move-
is to integrate an anticipation the principle of overlapping ment of the arm anticipates
into a continuous movement action (i.e. different timing the final “finger pointing":
The hand anticipates until
shortly before the final ex-
treme, then reaching the final
position with only one inbe-
tween.

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

8.) Squash and Stretch

Squash and stretch describes the physically ball. The following rule applies: The more natu-
induced deformations of objects when forces ralistic an animation should be, the less squash
act on them: A classic example is the bouncing and stretch should be applied.

181
 Chapter 2.1

Movement along
a straight line:
very unusual, e.g.
for a desired "stiff"
exercise-type of 9.) Arcs
march.

Most movements do not run along (imagi-

nary) straight lines, but along curved or arc-
like paths of movement: the arcs.

Movements along straight lines are stiff/ Natural walking movement: Arms and legs
mechanical/robotic - most naturally organic move along curves (arcs).
movements follow an arc.

The illustration on the left shows the differ-

ent paths of movement of the individual
body elements:

You can clearly see the arc-shaped character,

which lends elegance, expression and a cer-
tain genuineness to the animation (with the
exaggeration typical to animation). These
movement arcs are achieved by establishing
a movement hierarchy to obtain flexibility:
the delayed transfer of movement through
joints.

Flexibility by delayed transfer of force through joints:

In the case of rigid "rods" (i.e., lower arm/upper arm),
which are connected by joints, a delayed force transfer
of the primary movement takes place through the joint.
In other words: When the upper arm moves in one direc-
tion, the forearm first moves into the opposite direction
before following the direction of the primary movement.
Flexibility and arcs can be achieved with this delayed
movement dynamics.

Another good example of this

principle: The foot follows
the shinbone’s direction of
movement with delay and
first moves into the opposite
direction.

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

10.) Solid Drawing

Solid drawing refers to the fact that animat- out by the computer, which calculates the
ed objects should always retain their orig- necessary deformations based on pre-
inal overall volume when undergoing any defined volumes.
deformation. For example, what is added If the drawings are not "solid”, then the (un-
in length, has to be removed in width. Al- intentional) change in volume will domi-
though it sounds simple in theory, it is ex- nate the intended change of shape in the
tremely difficult to implement and requires illustration of movement: This means that in
the highest level of mastery in drawing. The extreme cases, the viewer can no longer rec-
degree of difficulty increases significantly ognize the movement, the actual animation,
with the complexity of the objects/charac- but is totally distracted by the sloppy shape
ters. In computer animation, this is carried change of fluctuating volume.

THIS IS CLEARLY SHOWN IN THE FOLLOWING

ILLUSTRATION:

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Chapter 2.1

A common mistake:
The shape changes too much, with volume
and/or line thickness of the outer line varying
greatly. These changes prevent or interfere
with the originally intended, clear communi-
cation of the character’s movement: Varying
the line width of the outlines can be a desired
artistic effect, but this effect should never be
so pronounced that it interferes with the ac-
tual animation!
In an artistic animation, it can be quite attrac-
tive to change the contour lines from one draw-
ing to the next in thickness and expansion, i.e.,
deviating from the very strict rules of solid
drawing: This is always an artistic judgment
call. However, this change or deviation should
never be so drastic that the actual movement
of the character is no longer recognizable.
For "Bambi" (Hand et al., 1942) a plaster model had to
be created and filmed. The animators then traced the
antler from the footage, in the perspective they needed!

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NOT LIKE THIS:

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Chapter 2.1

11.) Exaggeration

It is a well-known phenomenon that simply mentum and liveliness, especially in cartoony

“tracing" live action images (known as ro- animation. The same applies to the digital
toscoping) does not work as a foundation version of rotoscoping - motion capture. For
for animation: The result may seem relatively this reason, extremes are almost always ed-
realistic, but completely lacks the desired mo- ited, even with live-action concepts, and the
animation is adapted in order to achieve sat-
isfactory results.

Exaggeration is an overriding artistic con-

cept that must be applied to all animation
techniques, more specifically, that can only
be achieved by applying these techniques
correctly:

extreme expressive poses,

more pronounced squash and stretch,
stronger contrasts in timing: fast versus
slow,
wider spacing versus very closely “placed"
frames.

Also important to know (applies especially to

traditional 2D animation): The more complex
a design, the more difficult it is to create ex-
treme animation, in other words, to be able
“Snappy timing“: only extremes (“pose-to-pose“) no to deform and change the animation freely.
or few in-betweens

EXAGGERATION

Typical cartoon version: high degree of stylization, extreme

Version with little exaggeration, relatively close to live-ac- exaggeration, extreme use of squash and stretch - only
tion film - “realistic" design, subtle expression. possible like this in cartoons.

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

A relatively "normal" or standard walk cycle comparatively similar to "real life". While
there are typical animation elements present (follow through, overlapping action, squash
and stretch) - they only exist in moderate form.
The change-of-shape element is not very pronounced and would undermine the impact
of credibly illustrated shift in weight.

This animation uses significantly more exaggeration: The character is very cartoony in
design. The poses are much more extreme, there are more pronounced changes in shape.
The lines of action are emphasized, and the upper body of the character shifts heavily to
the right and left in perspective.

As a rule, animation must be "larger than life", the less exaggeration (especially for the
i.e., surpass reality in order to succeed artis- animation of digital characters, which are
tically. In general, the following rule applies: used as visual effects in a live-action mov-
The more stylized (cartoony) a project is, ie, for example, where they interact with
the more exaggeration can be achieved. real actors).
The more “life-like" an animation has to be,

Exceptions prove the rule:

It may also be artistically attractive to
apply extreme exaggeration to a realistic
design. Thanks to digital production
techniques, this is now also possible
with real actors (classic example of the
film "The Mask" [Russell, 1994] with Jim
Carrey).

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Chapter 2.1

12.) Weight - How do I show weight in animation?

A drawn or virtual character has no real of exaggeration (see previous section) is re-
weight, of course: Therefore, the credible illu- quired. In order to leave a "weighty impres-
sion of weight must be produced when this is sion", an animator must skillfully combine
the artistic intention. This is mainly the case the previously learned techniques of timing,
with commercial or linear narrative anima- spacing, squash and stretch, follow through,
tion, in order to lend a certain “life-like” aspect overlapping action and change of shape.
to the artificial actors. However, this is gener-
ally not about naturalism, but about credibil-
ity, for which - ironically - the stylistic means

"UP" AND "DOWN" TIMING AND SPACING FOR:

Fewer drawings with

decreased spacing
in "up stage", since
a heavy character is
pulled down strongly
by gravitational force.

More drawings in "down-stage" (“recoil" stage), since a heavy character

needs more time and strength to overcome gravity.

Fewer drawings here: Building up mo-

mentum requires less time due to the
lower weight of the character and
allows for faster "take off".

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The Principles of Animation and their Application

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Chapter 2.1

A very important factor for a convincing illu-

sion of weight is also the representation of
weight shift during movement. This is especial-
ly true for movements that require overcoming
gravity - for example, getting up from a resting
position. Having knowledge of the anatomy
and real movement sequence helps to repre-
sent the process correctly.
The underlying principle is usually a gradual
shifting of weight: Only when an arm or a leg
is relieved of its weight, is it free to change po-
sition and then to bear weight on it again (see
illustrations). The more complex such a move-
ment, the more useful it is to record a reference

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

video of a life action. This should really only

serve as a reference and must be implement-
ed in the style of the animation. An animator
should always continue figure drawing: With
the exercises described in the previous chapter,
such sequences can always be practiced with a
live model: This will allow an experienced ani-
mator to have a complete catalog of anatom-
ically correct options of weight shifting in his
head, which he can retrieve as needed.

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Chapter 2.1

THIS IS HOW IT’S DONE:

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

13.) Appeal and Strong Poses

Appeal means that the qual- this can look quite different: shaping, the design of the
ity of the animation design Lilo from "Lilo and Stitch" characters, does not support
or character design should (DeBlois/Sanders, 2002) and the animation in each draw-
have a positive effect on the Jack Skellington from "Night- ing. The change of shape
audience. mare Before Christmas" (Se- and the quality of key frames
This is not the same as a lick, 1993) are both examples or key poses is crucial:
"sweet" or "cute" look - the of characters with great ap-
design must be convincing peal. All careful planning of Do they have tension, ap-
and coherent for the relevant timing and spacing can be peal, expressiveness?
style. Depending on the style, completely destroyed, if the Can I make strong, contin-
uous lines of action?
(Tip: They should always
be the basis of strong pos-
es.)
Can my pose be “distin-
guished” as a silhouette?
How do I get from pose
A to pose B, does the
change of shape support
the timing and accentu-
ate it correctly?
Is the drawing solid and
"on model" (match the
design of the character)?
Am I choosing the right
perspective for 3D anima-
tion to show the character
in the best way possible?

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Chapter 2.1

INCORRECT CORRECT INCORRECT CORRECT

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

A common beginner's mistake:

An animation is not a comic, therefore the
expression to be communicated should be
communicated through acting/the action of
the character- not with the usual comic-style
means, such as speech- or thought bubbles.
It conveys a weak animation, which does not
rely on the movement of the character for ex-
pression!

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Chapter 2.1

14.) Staging

Staging is about using all designed in such a way, that Important actions may
design elements so that the the attention of the audience not compete for the at-
action is optimally staged in is directed in terms of visual tention of the audience.
such a way that the viewer storytelling: A distinction must be
can understand it! Composi- made between primary
tion, poses, appeal and, last The background must not and secondary action.
but not least, timing must be conflict with the acting
characters in front. Most importantly:
The (animation) filmmaker
has to decide what should be
narrated with each shot. It is
only when he has made that
decision, that staging can be
structured coherently.

One character dominates the scene with its

action: If both actors were acting with equal
intensity, it would confuse the viewer. Maximum
action - minimal action.

Composition
- positioning
- strong/clear poses
- can I “distinguish” the silhouette?
- contrast
- scaling
- density of detail
- tonal values/lighting

Timing
- overlapping action, follow through
- secondary action
- balance of fast and slow movements

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

Assignment:
Exercise for staging of interaction/action/reaction.
Use all characters (Odysseus, Penelope, suitor) and animate the follow-
ing scene: Odysseus standing with a bow, positions himself to shoot,
then shoots. Penelope reacts, suitors react.
Use all the resources at your disposal to produce good timing: compo-
sition, timing, spacing, change of shape.
Story: Think of something funny - what happens to the suitors?

EXAMPLE
OF POSSIBLE COMPO-
SITION
(LAYOUT WITH
BACKGROUND)

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Chapter 2.1

15.) Change of Shape

As we have seen in previous examples, it is For example, the moment of bearing or

very important for the dynamics and accen- relieving weight almost always involves a
tuation of animation to work with strong strong change in shape (from stretched
shape changes: leg to bent leg and vice versa).
In order to achieve a very dynamic move-
Bent to stretched ment, the first drawing of this movement
Concave to convex... etc.: must be very contrasting (such as con-
vex instead of concave) to the preceding
These shape changes can be applied abruptly drawing.
(without inbetweens) in order to emphasize
features - or gradually as extremes with ap-
propriate inbetweens.

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

16.) Counteraction

While counteraction is not one of the classically er words, to gather strength in order to be
defined animation principles, it merits a closer able to get up.
look. Counteractions are usually perceived by Differences in weight and texture lead to
the viewer as appealing and should therefore counteractions:
be an important design element of sophisticat-
ed animation. Basically, they are derived from The head moves in one direction - the hair is
the other principles: anticipation and overlap- first “blown” in the other direction caused by
ping action or follow through, i.e., the time-de- wind resistance, before it belatedly follows
layed action of connected objects (e.g., head the movement direction of the head (follow
and hair). The principle of counteraction is not though).
an invention of animators, but can also be ob- From a purely formal point of view, counterac-
served in nature: tions ensure that the dynamics of movements
intensify, while the effects of movements in the
The right arm moves forward, right leg same direction tend to cancel out or weaken.
backward to maintain balance. (The coun- For this reason, an animator can also use this
teraction is therefore also an important design element to increase the dynamics or
principle to show weight.) effect of his animation - even in abstract form.
Before standing up from a sitting position,
a counteraction in anticipation is first car-
ried out. This is to gain momentum, in oth-

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Chapter 2.1

Example of use: Walk Cycles

A big challenge for the animator is that these exaggerating real life. There are basically no
animation principles cannot be used in isola- limitations to the inventiveness and exag-
tion, but they must almost always be applied geration - just how far you take this depends
in combination. This is why it is important to solely on the required degree of realism for
understand these fundamentals first, so that the animation.
then they can be applied in a constantly re- On the other hand, it is essential for the be-
fined form. Walking is a very good example to ginner to understand and learn that all walk-
demonstrate the application of multiple ani- ing movements are based on a system. You
mation principles at the same time, but also can explore endless variations within that
because this rhythmic form of movement can system. If you work without a system, you will
be designed as a loop or cycle (with a limited not be able to obtain a credible impression
number of drawings that can be repeated). of walking, running and racing, because the
If you observe the walking, running or pacing necessary rhythmic repetition is missing.
of a person in real life, you quickly realize that
no two persons in the world have exactly the
same gait: There are infinite number of ways
to move on two feet.
Therefore, it is immensely important for an
animator to avoid any mechanical copying
of patterns for walk cycles from text books,
but to seek inspiration by observing and

The following drawings show how you can build

such a system and then vary it as well. Perhaps this
could be compared to a jazz musician, who first
learns the scales and then uses this foundation for
free improvisations.

Illustration: Hannes Rall

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

CONSTRUCTING A WALK CYCLE:

Up-and-down drawings can be “Inverted “ 4 clearly distin- In general, the swinging movement
seen as applications of stretch guishable in the silhouette. of the arms is most pronounced in the
and squash - to what extent In the passing drawing, you down drawing.
this is implemented, depends should make sure that the
on the desired degree of real- drawing remains distinguish-
ism in the animation. able, for example, in the form
of an inverted 4.

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The Principles of Animation and their Application

203
Chapter 2.1

What is a Cycle or Loop?

A cycle or loop makes it possible to animate an endlessly repeatable move-

ment using a limited number of drawings:
A cycle consists of the drawings 1 to 10, for example.
The animation is designed so that drawing 10 is followed by drawing 1
again and can be played indefinitely "in a cycle".

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

REPOSITIONING IN WALK CYCLES

Instead of moving out of the image format, the figure has to walk in place. For this, every step
has to be repositioned (see below). First, you should (especially as a beginner) animate the
walk cycle completely and then adjust the position. It is best to perform this repositioning
between the "down" and "contact" drawings. Apply the same principle for right and left!

For walk cycles, the illusion of a movement is generated by the fact that
the character walks virtually in place while the background rolls past in a
continuous horizontal pan. To make my character actually walk in place, I
have to reposition the individual drawings of the walk cycle - otherwise my
character would walk out of frame.

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Chapter 2.1

Correct: Transition to the moment Weight bears down on sole No slow weight shift as No curvy shape on the
of bearing weight ("down" draw- of foot - the shape/line must shown above. bottom of the foot, since it is
ing) without many inbetweens and show that! bearing weight!
with large change of shape (con-
trast/accent). The only inbetween
already close to "down" drawing.

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 The Principles of Animation and their Application

Run cycle animated on ones. A run cycle works basically just like a walk cycle. In most cases,
however, it is essential to animate a run cycle on ones, in order to make the distinct chang-
es of shape visible within a short time. All drawings of the animation are shown; drawing
16 is followed again by drawing 1.

Student work by Patricia Teo (2014) at the School of Art, Design and Media,
Nanyang Technological University.

Assignment:
Complete and refine the “outline" of a walk cycle shown here with the
right timing, spacing, (inbetweens) and overlapping action/follow
through of hair and clothing for the character shown on the left.

207
Chapter 2.1

Posture is extremely important for the expression of a

walk cycle. It is usually maintained in its basic form and
only slightly varied. It is defined by physical conditions
(anatomy, weight) and psychological motivation.
Emotional states such as aggression, joy, exuberance
will certainly be expressed in the gait.

Once you understand the principle of variation within a given system, the real fun begins:
Inventing innovative and stylized walk cycles. Such walk cycles can be fictitious or even
exaggerated versions of "real" observed walk cycles.

208
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

An example of a highly stylized run cycle: Jumping/

running featuring all the inbetweens.
Animation: Hannes Rall for the animated short film
“Turnstunde” (Gym Lesson) (2008).

Summary:
The most common beginner’s mistakes and how to avoid them

Timing and reference

The following phrase also applies to an- Too many actions are shown in too short a
imation: "Practice makes perfect". Know- time:
ing how much time a particular movement Beginners often falsely assume that several ex-
takes, comes only with time and experience, pressive poses can make a great animation, if
and after much trial and error. On the other you simply film them one after the other with
hand, it is easier than ever before to find ref- one frame or two frames each. This does not
erences for certain movements or to record work at all, since the individual frame is then
them quickly, to save them as video clips and only visible for a fraction of a second. The key
to analyze them in single frames. I am often frames must be shot with the right timing and
surprised that students continue to get the with the appropriate number of inbetweens. A
timing totally wrong for a particular action, hold or moving hold must be visible for at least
instead of simply recording the action as a 10 frames, otherwise it will be perceived by the
video to get a sense of timing. viewer as a break in a continuous movement. In
general, beginners underestimate the amount
Poses lacking expression of time it takes for a particular action or posture
If you work with the pose-to-pose method, it to be understood by the audience.
is important to find poses that best illustrate
the momentary expression and the sequence
of the action. These poses must have appeal,
line of action and credible balance.

209
Chapter 2.1

Lack of Contrast in Timing and Spacing ing (how many frames) and spacing (position
Animation needs rhythm just as music does and spacing of frames) must be irregular. To do
- fast actions have to alternate with slow ac- this, the basic rules of animation (e.g. slow in
tions. Drawings of frenetic action must be in- and slow out) must be applied skillfully.
terspersed with resting periods. For this, tim-

210
 The Principles of Animation and their Application

Some helpful basic rules Staging/Acting/Poses:

In general, the following applies: What do I want to communicate?
The content of the story and style of anima- Which drawings/poses best tell my story?
tion must match. Therefore: The style of the From the overall concept to minute details
design and the style of the animation must (not vice versa!)
be the same.

For example:
Naturalistic design = full animation, closer to
reality.
Stylized design = also works with limited an-
imation. The style of the movements can be
designed creatively, or be fictitious. Few or no
references of live-action film necessary.

Assignment:
Film analysis “frame by frame":
I regularly make the following suggestion in my classes, which results in
incredulous amazement of my students:
Analyze animation und live-action film frame by frame. When I see a fas-
cinating animation and a great scene from a live-action film, I try to figure
out how that is done. I can only do this, if I analyze the relevant sequence
frame-by-frame. These days it is easier than ever to have access to the ma-
terial and to analyze it using software. This usually works with any film pro-
gram, such as Quicktime or Premiere.
Choose five outstanding animated or acted (live-action film) sequenc-
es, and analyze them frame-by-frame. Make sketches of key frames and
relevant notes on how the artistic effect was achieved through the use
of timing, spacing and staging (composition).
Then create your own 10 to 30 second animation sequence, in which
you apply some of the methods discovered in the analysis to your own
animation. Write down in detail, which analysis technique you used for
which part of your own animation.

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Chapter 2.2

Traditional 2D Animation
What makes hand-drawn 2D animation so special, is that
each single frame is uniquely created by the animator. This
applies to both, the traditional mode of production with
pencil and light box and the modern version with a digital
drawing tablet. Artistic freedom is therefore virtually infinite
and is limited only by imagination and/or artistic skills.

General Information

Advantages
With hand-drawn animation, the animator
is completely free in designing each frame
of the film. In the case of 3D computer ani-
mation and stop motion, predefined virtual
or real puppets are simply modified frame-
by-frame. However, it is not really possible to
radically alter the basic form of the virtual or
real puppets.

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 Traditional 2D Animation

With hand-drawn animation, on the other For these reasons, hand-drawn 2D animation
hand, the animator can draw a complete- remains a relevant and completely indepen-
ly new shape with each frame, or radically dent art form to this day. In my opinion, this is
change a character at his own discretion. He especially true for artistic approaches that dis-
is limited only by his own ability to apply this tance themselves from realism and gravitate
graphically in a convincing manner: There are towards more abstracted and experimental
no technical obstacles. styles. These days, the field of hyperrealism is
Radical camera movements can be created as largely occupied by 3D computer animation.
well as dramatic changes of the background. Although computer animation is increasing-
The most extreme squash and stretch of char- ly developing methods to approach the free
acters can be drawn with only a few strokes manipulability of characters, it is still far from
just as well as interestingly designed transfor- the spontaneous organic expressiveness of
mations (metamorphoses) of the characters. hand-drawn animation.

The technological threshold for implemen-

tation is extremely low or absent, so that the
animator's imagination and drawing ability
are the only prerequisites for a successful
outcome.

213
Chapter 2.2

Which brings us to another important aspect:

Hand-drawn animation is the most personal
form of expression for an animator, especially
when it comes to individual projects or short
COMPLEX
films. We see the artistic handwriting directly
on the screen (especially if there is no clean-
up by an assistant). In the case of 3D comput-
er animation, on the other hand, the layer of
technical implementation, i.e. the modeling
in the software always interferes with the
original artistic vision. This can often lead to
an inorganic "plastic look" that clings to the
characters, a weakness that it has not been
able to overcome completely thus far. Which
is why it can not yet hold a candle to hand-
drawn animation film with regard to organic
appearance and artistic individuality.
However, it must be added, that there are
increasingly intelligent hybrid forms of for-
merly separate animation techniques on the
rise: These hybrids combine the advantages
of various animation techniques in a skillful
approach.

Disadvantages and Solutions

The most obvious drawback of the artistical-
ly satisfying technique of traditional hand-
drawn 2D animation is the incredible effort, and perfect drawing skills, in order to achieve
with which it has to be done: Each single something satisfying. A design as in the draw-
frame (or every second frame, in the case of ing above can only be reproduced in its com-
two-frame animation) has to be completely plexity as a 3D computer animation or stop
redrawn (full animation) - that is, 24 anima- motion. For these techniques, details and tex-
tions per second in the case of single frame tures are virtually or actually “built”, i.e., they
animation; in two-frame animation, it is still exist: any perspective change is either simply
12 drawings per second. calculated (computer) or physically existent
Depending on the complexity of the char- (using a puppet in stop motion technique).
acters, this can be very difficult: Any change
in perspective has to be drawn individually.
This makes implementing complex patterns,
textures in characters, etc. incredibly labor-in-
tensive and difficult, at times nearly impossi-
ble: You have to have both - unlimited time

214
 Traditional 2D Animation

STYLIZED

Basically, it is helpful and necessary to stylize

and simplify the characters (left), in order to
keep the workload feasible: After all, each in-
dividual additional line must also be drawn!
While modern digital imaging software allows
for relatively comfortable additional shading -
greater simplification still remains an import-
ant rule for hand-drawn 2D animation.
It is precisely this pressure for reduction that
can also serve as a creative stimulus. Instead
of sprawling (and often unnecessary) details,
elegance and purism can be graphically im-
plemented through stylization and abstrac-
tion.

Assignment:
Sketch a character of your choice in an elaborate, detailed design, then re-
duce and stylize the design to adapt it for traditional 2D animation.

215
Chapter 2.2

Separation of characters and background course, was to save time and labor. Instead of
in traditional 2D animation having to redraw the background of a scene
In the early days of animation film, a meth- for each frame, only the drawings of the char-
od was developed for drawing backgrounds acters (on the cels) were exchanged. A mov-
only once and combining them with the ing background was achieved by moving the
drawings of characters on transparent “cels” camera on the vertical and horizontal axes -
on several planes. The reason for this, of camera zooms were also possible, of course.

Top left: The animation of the character on transparent cels.

Top right: Detailed background with animation punch holes.
Center right: Transparent cel with character against the background.
Bottom right: The background can be “moved" horizontally while the cel remains in
the same place. This results in the illusion of the character’s locomotion during a walk
cycle - although he actually walks on the spot.

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 Traditional 2D Animation

This separation between characters and

background is mainly found in traditional
commercial animation productions of full-
length feature films and classic Hollywood
short films. There are also other methods for
creative short films and increasingly for inde-
pendent feature film productions: In some
cases (abstracted) backgrounds are always
redrawn, every animation takes place on “one
layer" of paper - or the background can also
be animated when divided into different digi-
tal planes. Nowadays, more and more hybrids
of all these techniques are possible and are
being used - the variety is enormous. In my
own films, for example, the background be-
comes an active part of the animation with
significant changes in shape and perspective.

Today, these classic animation stands are ba- Classic animation stand (“rostrum" -camera)
sically obsolete and have been replaced - and - today almost completely replaced by digital methods
(computer). The animation stand could be moved hor-
considerably expanded - with digital pro-
izontally (by cranking), the camera moved vertically. In
grams. Since the dependence for mechanical modern software, there are almost unlimited camera
devices has become non-existent, extreme movements possible now.
camera movements and zooms for sufficient
resolution of digital images are now possible
in an almost unrestricted manner.

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Chapter 2.2

Animation cels and traditional coloring are tails, while at the same time maintaining the
"out" "flat" 2D appearance, the method of digital
In production, the original cels for the anima- cutout animation should be chosen instead
tion film were replaced by separate digital of the traditional 2D animation technology:
planes for characters and backgrounds. This It is basically a two-dimensional form of the
has the enormous advantage that the cels three-dimensional stop-motion technique.
are no longer "dust collectors", which used "Flat" two-dimensional models of characters
to be a problem in the past, and many planes are created and equipped with a virtual skele-
can now be combined without any loss of ton connected by joints. These characters are
quality. In the same way, there are no more then changed in the shot “frame-by-frame”.
physical colored cels, but the clean-ups are Using this technique drastically reduces the
either scanned or animated directly in the possibility of changing the characters, but it
program (see section "Digital Traditional”). retains the rich detail of the designs without
Coloring is always done on the computer, any problem. After all, not every frame needs
since it works much faster and easier than to be redrawn. The animation software Toon
physical color: One click is enough to fill Boom described later in this chapter is well
properly outlined surfaces with color. Some suited for this technique.
modern programs now offer functional au-
tomation options and the possibility to to
fill areas defined by intermittently broken
outlines properly with color as well. If the ar-
tistic concept requires the implementation of
complex ornamentation and countless de-

Example of
digital cutout
technique from
the film "Si Lun-
chai" by Hannes
Rall (2014).

218
 Traditional 2D Animation

Tools

Old School of each other, and then place a blank sheet

of paper on top to draw the breakdown be-
Light box tween the key frames. Then you draw the in-
You need a light box to make the drawings between(s) between the first key frame and
transparent on several layers of paper: For the breakdown - and so on.
example, you place two key frames on top

219
Chapter 2.2

Animation peg bar (ACME Pegbar)

A peg bar is needed to keep your animat-
ed drawings perfectly aligned - the format
should not move, but remain in place. After
all, the only movements should be the ones
drawn by the animator - the paper itself must
not move. The industry standard here is the
ACME Pegbar, which should be used. It re-
quires certain punch holes in the paper.

220
Traditional 2D Animation

221
Chapter 2.2

Paper, hole punch and field guides since most 2D animation software uses them
You can either purchase pre-punched paper as default settings. However, the position
for the standard ACME Pegbar at (still) exist- of the field of view in the software can also
ing suppliers for animation supplies, or you be adjusted later with relatively little effort.
can buy a special ACME Pegbar hole punch What is important though, is that there is
yourself. An animation hole punch of good always sufficient drawing (at a proportional
quality is usually quite expensive. The current ratio) for the selected field size: Therefore you
price is approximately 600 US dollars. A very should always (!!) draw the field size when
important tool for the layout of scenes to be planning the keys and breakdowns of scenes.
animated are so-called field guides (available (Place as a reference under the light box, or
on the Internet at no charge, while physical draw at least the keys directly "with frame" -
versions are available from a retailer). They both works.)
show the (standardized) distance between
the animation peg bar and the field of view
(aspect ratio) for certain paper formats. These
refer to American size formats (e.g., 11 inch-
es). It is helpful to follow these field guides,

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 Traditional 2D Animation

Pencils etc. Pencils that are too hard are not recommended
As a rule, the choice of the right drawing tool since they are difficult to see (when shooting or
tends to be secondary - after all, it’s the result scanning the drawings) and because they can
that counts. And the final look is determined tear the paper when you press down harder.
by the cleaned up version anyway. However, Using colored pencils can be useful for various
pencil and eraser are appropriate tools for the purposes, especially when it comes to distin-
traditional way of working - since animation guishing complex elements in a drawing.
work is characterized by continuous improve-
ment and revision/redrawing. A pencil that is
easy to erase and glides smoothly over paper
is, of course, the tool of choice. I personally
prefer to draw with HB pencils - but individual
preferences can certainly vary.

A very common beginner's mistake is confusing the left leg for the right
leg (or arm) in walk cycles. Using different colors can help avoid this
mix-up.

Line tester systems on the market.

The main technical tool in traditional 2D an- Every 2D software (see the following pages)
imation is the line tester, which is a simple has manageable line test systems that can
system that allows you to scan or shoot the test scanned or digitally imported drawings
drawings on video in order to then experi- very easily during production.
ment with the right timing.
There is now an infinite variety of easy-to-use,
fully digital and/or camera-based line test

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Chapter 2.2

Digital Traditional: Software for frame just as in the stop motion technique.
Traditional 2D Animation Importing scanned animation drawings is
There is a rapidly evolving and constantly also possible with Toon Boom, but somewhat
changing market for animation software for more complicated than with TV Paint. All
traditional (or hybrid) 2D animation. Any scanned drawings must be vectorized after-
mention of names would only provide a wards. The vectorization module works very
snapshot, and it is recommended that you well indeed, and with some practice, you can
always stay up to date in blogs and forums. almost always achieve the desired look of the
At the time of publication of this book there contour line. However, Toon Boom primarily
are two somewhat differently positioned, but relies on a completely paperless workflow
each very well-functioning and proven pro- for “traditional" 2D animation, in which each
grams that are worth mentioning: frame (or second frame) is redrawn.

TV Paint Digital drawing tablet

This software is particularly well-suited for 2D animation software such as Toon Boom or
the animator, who still draws on paper and TV Paint allows you to draw on a virtual light
then scans the drawings. The program’s work box by using a drawing tablet. The physical
flow is well designed for this, and the scan- overlaying of key frames for the purpose of
ning feature for importing drawings is su- drawing inbetweens is replaced by onion
perbly integrated. It is a pixel-based program skinning, in which the two (or more) draw-
that is particularly well-suited for painterly ings needed for reference remain translucent.
styles and refined contour variations. The drawings created are imported directly
into the program and have to be saved.
Toon Boom The work process is basically the same as on
Toon Boom consists of a software product paper - except that you are drawing on a dig-
family, which is available in individual mod- ital drawing tablet rather than a traditional
ules (for example, line test) all the way to light box. Paper is also no longer required, of
the relatively expensive professional version course.
"Toon Boom Harmony". It is a vector-based A key advantage is the extensive selection for
program that is best suited for flat colors digital line variations. Likewise, the tablet or
and sharply defined outlines (although other animation software offers many options for
looks can be achieved as well). smoothing the stroke automatically - which
While TV Paint is actually designed for the can be regarded as an advantage or a disad-
(partially) digitally working traditional (2D) vantage, but you definitely have the choice!
animator, the spectrum at Toon Boom is
much broader: “traditionally" hand-drawn
animation is only one option at Toon Boom.
There are also functions for digital cutout an-
imation that work very well and are easy to
use. Previously created 2D models of charac-
ters are equipped with a movable skeleton
(rig), which can then be animated frame-by-

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 Traditional 2D Animation

Working Methods - A System for 2D Animation

Animation is an art form that requires an ex- this point of view: It depends on the circum-
ceptionally high degree of planning and con- stances. The more "realistic" and “smooth"
trol: After all, it is about creating every single the desired look of the animation, the more
frame of the film from scratch. This can be you will favor ones. If characters are more ab-
both, exciting and challenging: Systematic stracted and stylized, then a two-frame ani-
planning is indispensable, a system, in which mation will work perfectly fine.
one step builds on the other, A is followed by In principle it is remains good advice to an-
B. imate on ones for very fast movements: In
It is particularly important never to loose such movements, the shape changes very
sight - metaphorically speaking - to see the rapidly in a very short time; if you only ani-
forest despite the trees - to have a clear vision mate every second frame, you may "miss"
of the overall concept at all times. In doing so, important shape changes in the inbetween
it is crucial to always begin working from a drawings.
basic and rough design to the minute details, Let’s not forget that many of Disney’s classical
and never vice versa. A good example of this masterpieces were animated “only” on twos
is blocking or rough estimation of timing, as well. The audience will hardly perceive the
which is common to all forms of animation difference, at most, they may “sense” it.
and is worked up before any movements are
animated in detail. However, a clear line of distinction must be
drawn between two-frame (12 drawings per
The million dollar question: "Ones" or second) and three-frame animation (4 draw-
"twos"? ings per second): the three-frame animation,
It is a matter of conviction among tradition- often used in cheap TV animation or with
al animators whether to (always) animate on graphically very complex animes (Japanese
ones or twos. I already touched on the topic animation), completely destroys the illusion
in the chapter "The Principles of Animation", of smooth movement. You need to be aware
but here are some additional notes: of this, if you decide to animate sparingly. It
While eminent experts insist that animation will no longer achieve the renowned “illusion
on ones is always better, I would like to qualify of life"!

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Chapter 2.2

1.) Briefing layout as well. Depending on the size of the

In terms of where the animator’s work begins team, however, task-specific assignments are
and what his starting point is, that depends also common.
entirely on the medium and type of produc- Here is an example of the drawings I creat-
tion: ed as the director for an animation handout
for my film "The Cold Heart": The characters’
In 2D animation, the animator receives the range of movement during the scene is al-
storyboard, layout, and dialogue - that is ready precisely defined. This is because the
called the “animation handout”. As a rule, the movements of the actors in the scene had to
animation director will also brief the anima- be combined with the background using a
tor on the expectations for the scene. continuous tracking shot.
For independent productions, such as an ar- In addition, the graphic design of the scene
tistic short film, several roles - author, director was an essential part of the emotional ex-
and animator(s) - are often combined in one. pression for me - so it could not be changed
That means, the animator may have drawn too much.
the storyboard himself and prepared the

Example of components of an ani-

mation handout: Layouts showing
background, and background
combined with characters, and a
dialog sheet. From the film "The
Cold Heart" (2013) by Hannes Rall.

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 Traditional 2D Animation

2.) Thumbnails and planning with the The X-sheet is absolutely crucial for syncing
X-sheet (exposure sheet) already existing dialogue (always pre-record-
Not mandatory (some animators start direct- ed for animation) or music: First, the sound
ly with the "original size"), but it is often very breakdown must be entered frame-by-frame.
helpful to explore a scene first with thumb- After all, you have to know exactly where the
nails. In doing so, you can quickly and easily beats are located or when which letter is spo-
test variations in the animation, think about ken, in order to be able to animate spot-on
how you want to create movements in the in sync.
scene. The deliberate sketchiness and spon- You can use the thumbnails to roughly plan
taneity of these fast scribbles often lead to your timing as well. The constant revisions
great vitality and determination in expres- and improvements are typical for almost ev-
sion, which could never be achieved with ery form of animation - they are the very first
"accurate" drawing. Many of the most famous steps for approximation, as the final timing
animators were and are known to use this will be arrived at later in the process.
method to think through as many variations
of a scene as possible before selecting one or
more options in the animation.
The X-sheet, short for exposure sheet, serves
as an excellent foundation for such visual
simulation: All shot frames are vertically list-
ed in a table - drawings can then be entered
in parallel listing on the different levels with
the appropriate timing.

X-sheet with thumbnails

227
Chapter 2.2

Numbering drawings
In the classical animation studio method,
drawings are numbered to reflect timing.

Example:
1.) In single-frame animation, the first draw-
ing is number 1, the second drawing is num-
ber 2, the third drawing is number 3 etc.

X-sheet for single-frame animation

2.) In two-frame animation, the first drawing

is number 1, the second drawing is number 3
(!!), the third drawing is number 5, etc.

X-sheet for two-frame animation

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 Traditional 2D Animation

The major advantage of this method is the

simple option of combining animation on
ones and twos, or adding additional (sin-
gle-frame) drawings:

If in example 2.), I want to insert a drawing

(single-frame) between the second (number
3) and third drawing (number 5), I simply
designate the number 4 to the drawing. (In
this case, drawing number 3 will only be sin-
gle-frame, but this is usually the animator's
In the X-sheet, it looks like this intention.)

Key frame numbers (and only those!) are cir-

cled (on both, the drawing and the X-sheet).

Assignment:
Design and animate a scene based on existing music. Use the X-Sheet as the
basis for working out timing. First, you do a sound breakdown: Count the mu-
sic into frames and add the beats and the dramatic arcs in the music to a col-
umn of the X-sheet, which you label "sound”. (You can either use a software
program that allows unlimited addition of such columns, or you can use an
easily accessible template from the Internet, for analog or digital use). Number
all your drawings accordingly and test the animation repeatedly with the line
tester.

229
Chapter 2.2

3.) Animation Roughs good method is to simply “blow up” - either

It is never about the single drawing, it is al- digitally or with a copier - the mostly sponta-
ways about the flow of the drawings in the se- neous and expressive thumbnails to the size
quence! Always start with very abstract, rough needed, and use them directly as keys.
shapes (sketchy designs), omitting details. A

Thumbnails: Thumbnail sketches,

which can often serve as a starting
point for rough animation.

Always remember concepts, such as line of a rough concept will also work after adding
action and change of shape. What works with details - but rarely in reverse!

Assignment:
Think of a scene with two interacting characters and try them out in dif-
ferent versions, using thumbnails. Make sure that it is a scene with strong
visual communication in the poses: Contrasting poses and characters is im-
portant. For example, a dispute or a fight would work well.

230
 Traditional 2D Animation

Strong poses alone are not enough: You Therefore, sufficient drawings have to be
need inbetweens! drawn in order to make the action clearly in-
telligible to the viewer. That is, key frames and
A widespread rookie mistake is the assump- transitions must last long enough to be un-
tion that drawing (supposedly) expressive derstood. This can only be achieved by more
key frames is enough: Don’t forget that each drawings.
single drawing represents only a fraction of a
second: Additional note:
Here too, exceptions prove the rule: Certain
1/24 of a second for single-frame "snappy" cartoon actions are characterized
animation (“on ones“) by the minimal use of inbetweens between
key frames. See section "The Principles of An-
1/12 of a second for two-frame imation" under "timing", page 157.
animation (“on twos“) For this, moving holds (see section "The Prin-
ciples of Animation") are used for key frames;
and sufficient inbetweens to make the transi-
tions readable.

Key frames and sufficient inbetweens

231
Chapter 2.2

A first test of the key frames and breakdowns a digital stopwatch is an excellent way to de-
with the line tester is very helpful. (This meth- termine the length of a particular action (e.g.,
od is also described in more detail in "The "standing up from the chair").
Principles of Animation", page 161.) With increasing practice, the animator will
TIP: For beginners, it is helpful to record refer- gain the necessary experience that will allow
ence material (nowadays very easy to do with him to become less dependent on reference
cameras in mobile phones) and to analyze it material. (Although it may always remain an
frame-by-frame after converting it to a Quick- important tool for more complex actions/
Time Movie, for example. Alternatively, using acting).

4.) Testing and improving

If there are a very large number of move-
ments, it is advantageous to construct these
in a modular design, i.e., in multiple passes:
First, you should be developing an artistic vi-
sion of movement through sketches - such as:
what overall impression do I want to achieve
in the physical and emotional expression of
the character?

These three different approaches for a “glum”

walk cycle show the general attitude and certain
movement characteristics that are maintained
throughout the entire walk cycle. They include,
for example, the extent of the arm swing, how
high the legs lift, etc. Of course, animation
is almost always an experimentally shaped
development process, so that changes can
always occur in the course of testing. Some
seemingly promising idea often does not work
in animation!

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 Traditional 2D Animation

Afterwards you can imple-

ment the details of the ani-
mation step-by-step during
several passes:
First, legs with torso - test to
see if timing works (and pos-
sibly revise, until it does!)

Then the head and swing-

ing movement of the arms,
re-testing and correcting.

Finally, overlapping action,

such as loose clothing, hair
- here again, testing and
correcting until everything
works in unison!

Assignment:
Now, animate the entire scene that you started with thumbnails: Add break-
downs and inbetweens after testing your poses (key frames). If necessary,
follow the principle of repeated passes. Test as much as necessary after each
step and continue only, if you think the outcome of the tests was successful!

233
Chapter 2.2

5.) Styles and clean-up

In the traditional work-sharing process of the
Disney tradition, it is the task of the assistant
or specialized department to clean-up the
exactly timed, but rough drawings of the
animator. This process uses the rules of solid
drawing ("The Principles of Animation", page
183). The goal is to have the character look
the same and anatomically correct from every
perspective, as defined in the model sheet.

A thin outline was generally used for this pur-

pose, a style that is still used in traditional Dis-
ney-style productions. The process of clean-
up, i.e., the reinterpretation of the original
animation drawings, often results in a loss of
the initial expressiveness of the original draw-
Rough animation (above) and ings. This is because the clean-up assistant
clean-up below. usually has to make a selection from several
Drawings by Hannes Rall, from his film
lines of the animation rough and does not al-
"The Cold Heart" (2013).
ways understand exactly the artistic intention
of the animator with each individual drawing.
It is rare that the animator is satisfied with
the clean-up of his original drawings. The fa-
mous Disney animator Milt Kahl (Jacob 2014)
was notorious for being extremely dissatis-
fied with the work of his assistants. The Xe-
rox process of the Disney studios, which has
been used since the film "101 Dalmatians"
(Geronimi / Luske, 1961) and copies the ani-
mators’ drawings directly onto films, has been
a welcomed feature for animators. (These
drawings still required a certain minimum
standard, in order to be used in this form for
film.) As Andreas Deja explains in his blog
"Deja View" (2014), Disney films, which were
made with this process, show a surprising
number of sketchy and "unfinished" anima-
tion drawings. According to him, this is to the
animator’s benefit. Deja describes this as "see-
ing an animator's personal handwriting mo-
tion". Even if the animator himself performs

234
 Traditional 2D Animation

the entire process from the first sketch to the technical development: In addition to the ap-
clean-up drawing, it is usually impossible to proach of using more "unfinished" animations
retain the vitality of the animation roughs in directly without clean-up, these include out-
a “cleaned-up" version. In this respect, the ver- lines in different line intensities that "pulsate"
sion of "Beauty and the Beast" (Kirk/Trousdale on the screen, the complete elimination of
1991), which showed the original pencil draw- outlines, or experimental/abstract approach-
ings by Glen Keane instead of the cleaned up es that completely abandon any figural rep-
version, became famous. The stylistic spec- resentation.
trum for the final look of the lines of hand-
drawn animation film has long-since been
dramatically expanded through artistic and

Examples of different 2D styles. Clockwise

from top left:
Picture from the film "The Beach Boy"
(2016), oil pastel on black cardboard, di-
rected by: Hannes Rall, artist: Turine Tran;
Picture from the film "The Beach Boy", digi-
tal brush technique with CACANi software,
artists: Ng Yuwen Yvonne (animation) and
Low Zi Rong (CACANi clean-up);
Picture from "Red", animated on paper
and digitally colored, director and artist:
Nur Aisyah Binte Suhaimi;
Frame sequence from the animation for
the documentary "Lotte Reiniger: The
Dance of Shadows" (2012), animated
on paper and digitally colored, artists:
Hannes Rall and Hans Bacher, directed by:
Rada Bieberstein, Susanne Marschall and
Kurt Schneider.

Assignment:
Complete your scene once you are satisfied with the timing of your anima-
tion and after all of the frames have been completed as rough animation.
Draw the clean-up versions of your roughs (using the desired line style) and
color the scene.

235
Chapter 2.2

Interview with Andreas Deja

“That scene and that character
- that's me!"

Andreas Deja is undoubt-

edly one of the best
character animators in
the field of traditional
2D animation, the hand-
drawn animation. Andreas
became known for the
outstanding animation of
original characters during
his many years at Walt Andreas, in your estimation, what
Disney Feature Animation makes 2D or hand-drawn animation
(since 1980). These include an independent art form to this day
memorable characters as compared to computer animation?
such as the "villains" Gaston, Jafar and Where do you see the difference or spe-
Scar from "Beauty and the Beast" (1991), cial quality?
"Aladdin" (1992) and "The Lion King" To put it in a nutshell: In 2D animation
(1994), as well as the little girl Lilo from it's all about drawing, and drawing is
“Lilo & Stitch” (2002). not only about what to draw, but also
about what you leave out. A 2D ani-
Andreas' strengths include his creative mator is actually an editor, who says:
skills in the design of animation char- This line is important here, but over
acters, his acting skills, his ability to there, I will leave out a lot. In comput-
transform, as well as his knowledge of er-generated animation you show ev-
the techniques of the "old masters" - the erything. It is total realism. You show
"Nine Old Men" - at Disney. Andreas has every fold in the fabric, every texture
just written a book about these Disney and all sorts of things. It’s more like "in
legends and is working on his first inde- real life", while 2D animation, I believe,
pendent animation short film: "Mushka", is more about fantasy, inspiring or
another traditional 2D animation film - stimulating your imagination.
what else!
And more likely to create a world of its
own?
Exactly. The worlds created during the
60 years of the 2D era are so diver-
gent! And when I look at all these 3D
things, whether feature film or shorts

236
 Traditional 2D Animation

- sooner or later they all press the "re- ferent approaches in Disney films,
alism button". different temperaments, different
The preparatory work is always beauti- drawing styles. The artist’s expression
ful, they are designed graphically and is on the screen. That is not the case
with pastel or watercolors, but in the with CG films. Most CG animators
end - this button is pressed again and move all the characters in a scene,
somehow everything looks the same. they don’t specialize in one particular
And I wonder why? Because with character.
3D, you can actually do anything. Of
course, there are commercial reasons. Exactly, this has changed quite drasti-
3D movies are all very accessible, most cally to that effect.
look similar to live-action video games I once asked a producer from Pixar
with which children have grown up. studios, how they handle character
design, who is responsible for the de-
In 2D animations, the direct transfer of velopment of character in the movie,
the handwriting is an important aspect, the character arc - I was told that this
isn’t it? What do you think about that? was not the animator, but the direc-
You can actually see the artist's hand- tor who says to the animators: This is
writing on the screen. Even a non-pro- how the character should act. So with
fessional can see that there are dif- regard to CG-animators lending ex-

Sketch by Andreas Deja for his independent animation film project "Mushka", the story of a
friendship between a girl and a tiger in Siberia. © Copyright Andreas Deja

237
Chapter 2.2

Additional sketches for "Mushka", which show

Andreas’ mastery in the drawing of animals.

pression to the character, it is quite re- After all, it is actually a lot of fun to get
stricted. During my time with Disney, into your own character, to develop it
I was always responsible for my char- during the course of the film - in con-
acters like Jafar - good or bad, I am sultation with the director, of course,
responsible, Scar, good or bad, I was and with all the story people. If I'm not
responsible for the character. responsible for it, then it's somehow a
This leads to actually owning the char- different thing. I have also never un-
acter! In CG this is less so, because derstood that 3D animators are not
there is a "fix-up group", who changes well-known at all. Who are the star an-
your animation again, goes over fol- imators at Pixar or Dreamworks, Blue
low through again and even changes Sky?
some minor things in terms of acting.
As an artist, I find that a little odd. If my Yes, there are a few that are relatively
character has to be reworked again, well-known. I can think of Kristof Ser-
then I own it and execute the changes. rand of Dreamworks, for example, who
In 2D, it looks like this: I do the rough originally started in 2D animation,
animation, the clean-ups are done by though. But getting back to the develop-
assistants - but I have always checked ment of a character: Character design
the work of the clean-up crew. Wheth- for animation is also teamwork. Name-
er it was Jafar or Roger Rabbit, I want- ly in the sense that a character design-
ed to see all the clean-up keys, every er does not work in an open space and
single key drawing! In the end, I had the character is fixed for all times, but
to sign off on the key drawings. I made that the character has to work for the
sure that I was able to say in the end: animation. I know that you are always
That scene and that character - that's very interested in developing and refin-
me!" ing your characters so they can work in
the animation. Maybe you can tell a bit
Relinquishing any responsibility for the about your experiences, or what the ac-
character arc is one very distinct differ- tual process looks like.
ence.

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 Traditional 2D Animation

At Disney, it had been the rule for de- three “Fates" and these monsters, the
cades that the animator was not only Cyclops. Meg, the female protagonist
responsible for the character's be- as well.
havior and development, but also for It was easier to use Scarfe's style, be-
the design. However, when I started cause the character was a bit more
working on a film such as "Aladdin" angular, in personality too. When I
or "The Lion King", there were already saw Gerald Scarfe’s draft for Hercu-
storyboards that I could look at, but les, I realized that the representation
the characters were not yet visually was either quite realistic or too car-
specified. Graphically speaking, they toony. Gerald Scarfe could not make
were mostly roughs and lacked refine- the character fit in his own style. In
ment. There were visual development the end, we sat down in a meeting
people who had already worked out and scribbled until the character was
designs, I could look at those, but I reasonably defined and used those
had to provide the finishing touches, sketches for the final design.
and the other animators had to do the
same, of course. Tony Bancroft, who Do you use any animation tests at that
drew Pumba (the warthog in “The point?
Lion King”, author’s note), studied real They come in later.
boars to make his character believ-
able. Glen Keane - with the beast from So you would develop the design first, to
"Beauty and the Beast" - had many the point where you think that it works
different ways in which he could have for you, and then...
developed the beast. In the end it, ... you discuss it with the directors,
was a “Glen-Keane beast". And Scar who have to okay it, of course, and
became an “Andreas-Deja lion" ("The then you start with test animations.
Lion King"). First you want to see whether the
character can be drawn three-dimen-
In your blog you mention the collabora- sionally. If it does not quite work out
tion with the famous British illustrator one hundred percent in a few places,
Gerald Scarfe, in "Hercules" (Clements, then this is the time where we can still
Musker 1997). This was an extremely make changes.
graphic approach, at first. You describe
in your blog, how it evolved. But how But from here on, this is actually more
was it in this specific case? Did the de- fine tuning?
velopment take place already in the di- Exactly.
alogue or how did it happen?
Gerald Scarfe and I were both a bit Getting back to 2D animation: Inter-
frustrated, because we did not make estingly, almost all universities or edu-
any progress with the character of cational institutions for animation still
Hercules. All the other characters were have their students start their education
already graphically defined, like these with hand-drawn animation. Where do

239
Chapter 2.2

An immensely dynamic study of a

jumping tiger from "Mushka".
© Copyright Andreas Deja

you see the major advantages, if you enjoy drawing as well. I think this goes
actually learn how to animate by still back to exactly what you said, that this
hand-drawing animation, instead of experience in drawing is much more im-
sitting down at the machine right away? mediate as compared to starting out by
Yes, I agree that it is better to learn an- working with a digital puppet. You are
imation with 2D, at least initially, be- first confronted with some graphs and
cause it is somehow taken up easier. curves, software and controllers - it lacks
You have more light-bulb moments immediacy and the results are probably
than if you immediately start working not as forthcoming.
with a CG model: Because when you I agree with that. If I may talk briefly
draw something, you have to learn to about hands, because they represent
control proportions; observation skills a problem in CG animation. There are
are so important when you have to actually no fantastic CG hands yet.
draw an animal, a horse, a lion or an There is somehow always something
elephant. It is necessary that you first strange, for example, there is a bump
go to the zoo and really take time to somewhere on the hand that does
do studies with this animal - it is all in- not belong there. This organic, ex-
credibly important preparatory work, pressive element a hand has to offer
which will then benefit your work lat- - I have not seen it yet in CG. As a 2D
er. I do not know if these 3D artists are artist, you also have had lots of prac-
doing this - observing, constantly tak- tice with figure drawing, and at some
ing in new impressions. point you learned how to draw hands
as well. You also know the expressive
Well, I think this may vary, but I just al- power of a hand: Not just how a hand
ways notice that our students really works mechanically, but also what

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 Traditional 2D Animation

is emotionally feasible. Because you

took time to observe that. And you
also have an informed opinion, about Sketches of human figures
what makes for a good hand and a by Andreas
bad hand. And I do not see that in © Copyright Andreas Deja

most 3D hands.

I believe it is also easier to establish

a totality of impressions in drawings
rather than in CG; because there, they There are also the famous studies of
are always adjusting and tweaking Walt Stanchfield, the drawing instructor
something. I think this often leads to the at Disney (Walt Stanchfield, "Drawn to
problem similar to the principle of eas- Life" Vol.1 & 2, 2009).
ily distinguishable silhouettes, which Walt was a master of his craft. Not nec-
sometimes is overlooked and then it essarily one of the best animators in
does not work very well. the studio, but he was an incredibly
Since you mentioned figure drawing: good teacher. He could really get you
To what extent is figure drawing for an- to think about what he was saying,
imation actually different from what is and he corrected drawings with great
taught in the traditional, academic fig- clarity and empathy.
ure drawing?
Traditional academic drawing is re- Was he still working when you were in
ally different, because movement is the studio?
not added, the poses are more stat- Yes, actually for a very long time. I also
ic. Those who are mainly interested attended his courses back then. In
in animation will be frustrated with the early 80s. He just died a few years
these one-to-two-hour positions. In ago, perhaps ten or fifteen years ago
that situation, I can only recommend (2000). Walt was teaching unconven-
starting a new drawing from a differ- tional figure drawing courses. Later
ent perspective. In this way, several on, I occasionally taught figure draw-
drawings are made in one day, not ing in the studio as well, and I used
just one long-drawn-out study. If the some of his methods. It was about
model only offers long-term poses, it some ideas, with which he had ex-
is recommended to represent the ex- perimented back then: For example:
pressiveness of the human figure from the model takes a position, everyone
all possible angles and turns. This is in- looks at the pose for two, three min-
credibly important for animation. utes, but no one begins to draw yet!

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Then the model leaves, and you draw That’s certainly true for 2D animation.
what you have seen from memory. The medium has evolved in such a
Figure drawing can be taught in very way that 2D animation has been chal-
exciting ways. There are many ways lenging the illustrator’s acting skills
to challenge the brain somehow. This for the last 60 years. In live-action film
does not always have to be very aca- there are roles, definite characters.
demic, old-fashioned or even boring. The challenge is to express yourself
through acting. There is also effect
We often do this as well, that we actu- animation or abstract films, which is a
ally study only movement sequences in different thing.
figure drawing or very short poses and
so on. Which is great, because it elegantly leads
It’s extremely important. me to the next question - keyword: act-
After all, for the animator it is not a ing. I would be very interested to know,
priority to deal with textures and light if there are examples from live-action
studies all the time. Of course, it must be film, where you would say that these
part of an artist’s overall repertoire. But are exemplary scenes or films, in which
when it comes to animation itself, it is we really see acting at the highest level?
actually about the line in motion. This is, of course, a wide-ranging field,
but maybe you can name a few person-
al favorites? Particularly
as it relates to animation.
Roles or films that also
permit conclusions about
the acting in animation?
That would usually be
roles or films, which are
“character-rich", in which
the characters are very
expressive. But I briefly
want to make reference
to the drawing ability:
At one time, I had the
misconception thinking
that, if I could ever learn
to draw well, I would
be a good animator. Of
course this is not true at
all! When I first started
working at Disney, they
Additional animal studies by Andreas Deja. thought my drawings
© Copyright Andreas Deja were wonderful and

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said: "We have never seen such a port- Yes.

folio, it looks as if you were working
here for ten, twelve years," I was im- And in "Miss Marple", there is, of course,
mediately accepted to the studio. But Mr. Stringer, Miss Marple’s partner. I be-
good animation was something I had lieve that this element of contrast is also
to learn during the years to come. very important here, and how action
My single-frame drawings looked and reaction are balanced.
good at that time. But after they were And they were both very different.
videotaped, I saw that everything was They were a team in their "crime fight-
moving really badly! It had nothing ing", but she was the adventurous one,
to do with acting. And then, at some and Mr. Stringer always said: “Miss Mar-
point I had an epiphany: Okay, now ple, I don’t know, are you sure? Please
that you know how to draw, you can don’t go there“. This is exactly what
focus less on it. Now it's really about makes such a scene or such a sequence
acting. Then I started studying drama or a movie so rich: when characters are
students, and analyzing films with different. Frank Thomas used to say the
regard to good roles and expressive following: When you have two char-
power. To give you an example of acters in a scene and both characters
something that inspired me, even for think alike, then you have a problem.
certain things I did later: In Germany,
they used to show the movies with Yes, exactly, because then you’re lacking
Margaret Rutherford as "Miss Marple" contrast. Then you have nothing that
(adapted from Agatha Christie), and I stands out, that is interesting or excit-
thought this woman was fascinating, ing.
the composition of her face, various Exactly. That is a very simple state-
expressions and grimaces ... There is ment, but if you seriously think about
no other person who looks like that. it: It's really true.

(Laughing) No, probably not. You are, of course, one of the great
She was so fascinating and expressive, masters in that respect. What I find in-
her body language and her humor as credibly difficult, something I actually
well, I was completely fascinated! I al- still have not adequately mastered as
ways hoped to create a similar charac- an animator, is to achieve this subtlety
ter in the future, with a funny, quirky in timing: In other words, if it's about
personality. And I tried to do that later things like: action, reaction, how do you
with the character of Mama Odie, in balance that correctly so that it works?
"The Princess & the Frog" (Clements, Do you have a tip for someone who is
Musker 2009). still relatively new to animation, as to
how he can learn the ropes of this in-
Which brings me to the following: Very credibly challenging topic? Is it through
often, acting is also about interaction - observation, or film analysis, through
almost always? trial and error, or all of it together?

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Chapter 2.2

It’s all of it together. Timing was the then this is going to work somehow;
last big problem area for me. I learned then someone videotapes it and then...
good drawing through years of in- then it ends up looking really awful.
tense figure and animal drawing. But Too much information in a scene can
you actually learn timing by shooting complicate the clarity of the anima-
a scene and then, if there is something tion. You have to ask yourself: What is
wrong, hopefully noticing that certain important about this character, what
sequences appear either too fast or is the essence, what is it all about? Su-
too slow. Then you correct the tim- perfluous drawings are omitted, the
ing. But if you are at a loss and don’t scene is simplified. I experienced this
know why the animation seems un- once with Eric Larson. Too many pos-
natural, then you show the scene to es, too many statements. Then I got
a colleague, a fresh pair of eyes, who him to take a look at the scene and he
can help out with his opinion. You said: "Okay, we keep this drawing, we
learn good timing by doing, redoing, omit the other one, and here we need
re-timing. The good thing is: You can a break”. Eric picked out the most im-
just time the same drawings differ- portant drawings and gave them new
ently without redrawing or animating timing. My jaw dropped a few times,
the scene anew. Sometimes you need because suddenly the whole thing
to make graphical changes that fit was clear and distinguishable.
better with the new timing. Perhaps
push the action line a bit more, re- Yes, I think this is one of the most im-
work the rough animation. Overall, portant aspects that is often neglected,
however, you can work with the first which many students do not realize: The
roughs from the first pass of the scene. viewer does not know what is in the art-
If you need a break in the flow, then ist’s head, and he is the one who must be
you say, okay, I will hold this drawing able to understand it later.
a little longer now, maybe not four, The viewer sees the scene only once,
but twelve frames, then I have a small there must be clarity, the audience
break. Over time, you will develop an needs to know what it is about. If the
approach to timing, you know when it communication from the screen is
works and when it doesn’t. confusing, you will lose the interest of
the audience.
I think that this has a lot to do with expe-
rience, of course. This fits well with what Something else that’s interesting - al-
you said about drawing: Something though it’s a bit off the topic, but it also
that in my experience is one of the typ- has to do with those fundamentals or
ical beginners' mistakes, is that there is beginnings: When it comes to drawing:
always too much action packed in too In think what you said at the begin-
short a time, in other words, a whole ning was incredibly good, that you as
lot of poses, and somehow there is the an illustrator always make a selection
temptation that, if poses look great, from what “reality" has to offer you. You

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wrote yourself that even, or especially, strate the animation of weight. But ac-
someone like Milt Kahl - about whose tually, the topic of weight or gravity in
drawings so many would say, that they animation is so much more comprehen-
look quite "real" - made an incredible sive, isn’t it? It is constantly present.
number of design decisions. Constantly. This is already the case for
All the time. With each stroke you a normal walk, that's where it starts:
make a decision. One of the most in- After the contact drawing, where
credible characters, for which details the heel first makes contact with the
were omitted, is Merlin by Milt Kahl ground and the foot comes down,
(from "The Sword in the Stone", 1963, then the knee should also bend. A
directed by Wolfgang Reitherman). shift in weight must be shown by the
You could have added a lot of detailed change in position and shape: The
folds into the design for Merlin's robe, knee will bend when bearing weight
- yet he reduced it to the bare essen- on the leg, and to what extent, de-
tial. And it all comes off the screen so pends on how heavy the character is.
lightly and smoothly... He has learned
to reduce it, so that only the essence I would also like to talk about the correct
remains. A second character was the use of live-action reference. For many
panther in "Jungle Book" ("The Jun- computer animators, it is almost some-
gle Book", 1967, directed by Wolfgang thing like the "holy grail” always to use a
Reitherman), its design consisting reference of a (frequently self-produced)
of only very, very few lines, almost live-action film.
only one outline, though Milt Kahl Even filming yourself as a reference for
knew exactly where the hip bone, the the scene.
shoulders etc. were in each drawing.
But then everything was omitted and Exactly! Live action reference is, of
reduced to the essentials. Somehow course, something that can make sense.
breathtaking. But what do you think about that? How
did you use that in your work? And if you
I believe Milt Kahl himself has said (cited use it: How should it be implemented?
in Williams, 2002): “Well, I know where I always had my own way of using
the weight is on every drawing“ live-action film. I did not use it like
Exactly. the old animators. Because back then,
they had these printed photographs
How does everything move, and where of each filmed frame. They picked out
exactly is what now, because weight in key frames and traced drawings from
motion is constantly shifting? I would live-action frames. The animator then
also like to hear your opinion on the reinterpreted them, changing pro-
following: Weight in animation is of- portions and timing as well. I never
ten shown or taught like this in books: worked with photographs, I found it
Someone is shown who needs to lift a more exciting to watch things on vid-
stone, and that is supposed to demon- eo. Studying these individual takes

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Chapter 2.2

in this manner in order to find out thing. There was very little happening
whether the actor or actress repre- graphically.
sented something, which would have
never occurred to me. You say to your- But Jafar was already very much - which
self: ‘Okay, the acting is really good, I I personally loved - somehow closer to a
would have never thought of this on caricature, a strong caricature...
my own. I can include this in the ani- Oh yes! With him I did not need a
mation.’ live-action movie, I always had an idea
Then I would sit down and draw how I could implement it. There were
sketches, small thumbnail sketches, in live-action scenes for realistic charac-
front of the monitor. This way I avoid ters like Jasmin and Aladdin. With Ja-
tracing film frames, which can result far, I was always able to figure out his
in lifeless animation. But you can also behavior by myself.
say: ‘okay, this part in the real-live
scene works well, and I can do a better But with Jafar - was he influenced by
job with the other part.’ You view the Jaffar, enacted by Conrad Veidt in the
live-action film in a discerning man- live-action movie "The Thief of Bagh-
ner. Some ideas come from the actor, dad"? (Berger, Powell, Whelan 1940)
others from the animator. Not at all. In fact, I am familiar with
I believe that Jeremy Irons (in "The Lion the film, which used to be on German
King") was such an example, wasn’t it? television occasionally. The story has
No, that did not work with Jeremy some similarities. Sabu (main charac-
Irons, because he was a lion (in the ter from "The Thief of Baghdad") is a
movie). (laughing) bit like Aladdin, and Jaffar (villain from
the “Thief”) has similar characteristics
Yes, sure, but let's put it this way: in dis- to Jafar. Then there was (in the old-
position, the little mannerisms? er film) the Sultan with his toys - so
In the face, just a little bit. I did not there are similarities. Although I knew
necessarily sketch Jeremy Irons in the the film, I did not study it while I was
studio, but I studied him in the stu- working on Jafar.
dio in front of the microphone, and I
studied his behavior. With Scar it was I thought it was absolutely insane, be-
very much about restraint, because he cause I have looked at it several times
was a very poised evil and not “crazy now frame-by-frame, at least some
evil”. Initially, it was like this with Ja- scenes, and I noticed how little the actor
far ("Aladdin", 1992) as well: I did not actually does. He is almost always verti-
know how to interpret the character. cal in his posture, and hardly moves out
In some storyboards he was portrayed of this rigidity. Yet, he looks incredibly
as very active, for example in the des- intense and threatening, perhaps be-
ert during the frustrated search for the cause of that.
lamp. Then there were other scenes, For that reason.
in which he was very subtle and just
stood there thinking about some- I don’t know.

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It looks much more dangerous when This involves timing again, because a
you see someone thinking, who has change or a thought process usually re-
evil thoughts. When it comes across quires a reaction time. That is, if I show
with subtle eye movements it looks something, let’s say, something hap-
much more evil, as if someone were pens, and at the same time I show the
dealing out blows right and left. reaction to it, then it usually does not
work, right?
Too much fidgeting would make it per- It depends on how the whole thing is
haps even a bit ridiculous. structured with regard to timing. The
That is exactly right. And there are question that is constantly asked, es-
some really fantastic actors who can pecially by young animators: I would
do that. The camera shows only the like to animate a test scene and also
eyes, nothing else, and you know what try to show that I can draw a character
they are thinking, you know somehow that really thinks. How can I do that?
what is going on inside of them. Jere- The answer I give each time is: Make
my Irons is such an actor, Judi Dench is sure you have an emotional change
such an actress - she can do so much somewhere in the scene, show more
with just one glance. than just one kind of emotion. You
won’t get there otherwise.
But how does the animator actually ac-
complish that the viewer can see that What skills should a student actually
a character is thinking? What are the practice most, or already have, or try to
tools? Is it timing? How do I achieve obtain during the training, in order to
that? become a good animator?
To put it in a nutshell: A thought pro- The main thing, even for hand-drawn
cess becomes clear only when a mood films, is actually not the drawing, but
change occurs on the screen. If the the acting ability and a sense of char-
character in the scene is only happy, acter, entertainment and character
in other words, is only showing one development. That is actually more
emotion, then there's no thought important than beautiful drawing.
process in that case. Okay, you have a There are indeed animators who can
certain mood. But when a character, draw wonderfully, but they are not
let's say, is writing a love letter and actors. The scenes look very polished,
really getting into it and smiling, and the animation works, but somehow it
suddenly you hear a loud bang in the does not convey any emotion. That is
background, then you can perceive a because the acting choices or the act-
mood change. First, the loving mood, ing are flat. It is more important that
then all at once the realization that you immerse yourself into the charac-
something dangerous is happening. ter and and try to understand it! If you
By changing the emotions you can have this ability, then you’re on your
show a thought process. way. Drawing really becomes second-
ary.

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Chapter 2.2

This means that acting abilities are One click, yes.

of major importance. And each per- You can get everything, and get it
son has his own way of getting there. cheap too.
Some people need real acting lessons,
including theory and analysis of how Yes, it’s cheap to get. Ironically, when I
to create distinctive characters. For tell this to my students, they often look
others, this task is easier, they work at me in disbelief: What do you mean?
intuitively. For me, it was the constant They are supposed to sit down at night
observation of people that provid- and watch a movie frame-by-frame?
ed me with a foundation for anima- (laughing)
tion. Just as the study of live-action Yes, exactly! (laughing)
films, not for the entertainment val-
ue, but for the analysis of a character Then they look at me, as if they had just
throughout the entire film. Learning encountered a ghost.
from classic animation films is of equal That’s called homework.
importance. How were these fantas-
tic scenes accomplished technically? Yes, of course. I also happen to believe
Why do they look so natural? Together that nowadays, everything is a little too
with Hans (Bacher), we started the sin- easy...
gle-frame study of many Disney films That you no longer have to search for
back in Essen. things yourself anymore.

What he always likes to talk about, are In the 70s and 80s, on the other hand,
the... there was almost no literature or refer-
...the beer drinking nights we used ence material.
to have, where we looked at all these Nothing, hardly any books.
things frame-by-frame. That was in-
credibly helpful! At that time we Back then, it was like a gift when you got
watched Disney 2D animation films your hands on something.
in movie theaters, on the big screen, If there was ever an article in the mag-
and we had no idea why these scenes azine "Die Bunte” about a new release
looked so good. How they were drawn, of a Walt Disney film - that was worth
where the key frames were. But later gold, you immediately cut it out and
we had movies on Super8 or 16mm, almost framed it. And today, we have
which made it possible to view them access to everything. This search for
frame-by-frame. Click, click, click - you information is really easy today. If stu-
could hear the penny drop, one after dents would only realize that the old
the other. This was fantastic training. films virtually offer a real school - it's
Nowadays this type of study is so easy all there, you can see everything. And
to do. You can really get anything that if you're curious enough to investigate
has ever been animated. why a scene, an old classic scene looks

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good, then you can find out right now! tem of the old animators and then take
At one time, you could not do that, or parts that work for you, which make
less so. sense to you. That is how I did it. When I
started at Disney, we had access to the
There is one more thing, something I archive. I then checked out key scenes
always really liked about the Richard from "Bambi" (Hand, 1942) and "Dum-
Williams books: conveying the impor- bo" (Sharpsteen, 1941). I could sort out
tance of a breakdown, in other words, the inbetweens, so I had only the keys
the question of which interesting inter- in front of me. This was relatively easy,
mediate position can get me from Key A because most of the artists had circled
to Key B? the number to identify a key. If you just
Although, a very important break- flip the keys, then the process is very
down is actually a key too. smooth. If, on the other hand, you flip
the inbetweens, then the sequence is
Precisely. bumpy, since the strong extremes are
If there is something creative happen- missing. Milt Kahl's mode of thinking
ing, something new, which can not be appealed to me most. He drew only
mechanically filled, then it is actually the most important keys. All drawings
a key. The animator should actually that did not require creative decisions
be drawing the main breakdowns too. were done by the inbetweener. That’s
For example, if the head moves from how he constructed his scene. He often
left to right, then you can not omit the drew only a partial drawing, e.g. mouth
center position. This breakdown is ac- changes during a dialogue scene. The
tually the front position. This is not a rest of the face was finished by the in-
breakdown, this is actually a key. betweener. And that somehow made
sense to me. Why should I draw head
The question students frequently ask, is: and eyes each time, when an inbe-
Where does a breakdown stop being a tweener can actually do this much
breakdown, and is actually a key? I think more carefully?
it’s a bit of an academic discussion, It was quite different with Frank Thom-
Richard Williams also says: Key frames as. He hardly had any keys or inbe-
are just the storytelling drawings, and tweens in his animation, for him, all
the others are extremes, the actual pos- drawings were important. Frank basi-
es. But I think somehow, this is probably cally created all the drawings of a scene.
basically secondary. And then clean-up people had prob-
You are absolutely right. We can have a lems with his scenes in trying to make
lot of discussions about the philosoph- out any kind of structure at all. It was
ical interpretation. In the end, each ani- difficult to use a conventional clean-up
mator has to find his own style and way procedure, because each drawing had
of working. Whether it's straight ahead the same degree of importance.
or pose-to-pose, everyone has to learn This means that they are probably very
that for himself. You can study the sys- close together...

249
Chapter 2.2

Exactly. Frank Thomas was a fantastic really animate straight ahead, unless
actor, but in his animation he rarely he is an absolute natural talent. So for
focused on one important pose to be me, the question always arises: What
seen for any certain length of time. is the definition of ‘straight ahead’? Be-
His characters are constantly moving, cause in a way, the animator would al-
often very subtly. But the end result is ready know about where he wants to
always fantastic. go. Straight ahead without any idea of
where it should go, actually does not
A constant flow. work at all.
A constant flow. But you create the idea beforehand
with your thumbnail sketches. These
Then it gets slower or comes much clos- acting patterns, the kind of acting, are
er together, becomes much more subtle created before the animation in the
in change. form of small drawings. Because when
But somehow something keeps mov- you start with the big drawings, then
ing. When Mogli yawns at the begin- you know roughly where it’s all going.
ning of the movie ("The Jungle Book", You are still free to make small chang-
Reitherman 1967), and says to the pan- es during the drawing. You think, ‘okay,
ther, ‘ah, I'm tired now’, and he stretch- I will do this a little different than with
es - nothing comes to a standstill. the thumbnails’, but overall, you al-
Milt Kahl would have found a certain ready have a concept that you now
inbetween to lead in the movement, just draw larger. It doesn’t really work
and then to lead out of it again. With without thumbnails. You're wasting
Frank Thomas, everything is designed time with these large drawings and
in such a way that it always continues throw them away if they don’t work.
to flow smoothly, and it looks fantas- You have to specify everything first on
tic. The effect is not blurry or soft. It a small scale.
works and looks very natural. I knew
Frank very well and I believe that he And often these drawings have already
adapted this technique, because he turned out well and look surprisingly
never quite trusted his own drawing. good!
He never saw himself as a top illustra- Because they were drawn very intui-
tor and never actually came to a point tively, not with the intention of fram-
where he said, ‘okay, this exactly is the ing them at some point, but only for
drawing, which says it all’ - it's more the purpose of clarifying any move-
like a group of drawings. ments and thoughts.

This is also related to the difference be- Finally, I would like to go back to the fact
tween straight ahead and pose-to-pose. that analyzing great examples from the
For me, this is always something that is history of animation is a way to learn
difficult to explain. It is my personal ex- things. In closing, could you just name
perience that a beginner usually cannot a few names or examples? Some names

250
 Traditional 2D Animation

have been mentioned already, but are 1953) is just as interesting and cra-
there other scenes from movies that zy. This Ward Kimball character has
come to mind, along with great anima- a very strange configuration of nose
tions? and mouth, and a strange, but very
The interesting characters are of fascinating way to speak. And that
course the eccentric ones. The princ- inspired me for the character of Jafar,
es and princesses in "Sleeping Beau- because I wanted to invent mouth
ty" (Clark, Larson, Reitherman 1959) positions and not just rely on the
and "Cinderella" (Geronimi, Jackson, fact that an "M" can only look like
Luske 1950), who rely heavily on this, and an "O" just looks like that. It
live-action, are less interesting to is fun to design specific mouth posi-
study. The graphics are excellent, and tions for a character. But characters
the design of this "Sleeping Beauty" from other studios were influential
head, the graphic construction of it, as well. When we produced "Roger
and how they were able to maintain Rabbit" (Zemeckis 1988), it was more
it throughout, so that every single about Warner Brothers animation. At
drawing was really graphic and beau- that time, I researched about Chuck
tiful every time. That makes it inter- Jones, of course, although he was a
esting. But Cruella (de Ville) from "101 bit more subtle than the old Warner
Dalmatians" (Geronimi, Luske, Reit- Brothers cartoons. There are anima-
herman 1961) is a fantastic character tors like Rod Scribner or Ken Har-
because of her heavy, really heavy ris, who worked more with extreme
coat, this fur coat she wears. And poses and wilder animations too.
when she turns around, the character But their work is still clear, never con-
turns first, and the coat takes much fusing. It is very educational to try to
more time, swaying backwards first, maintain clarity in very crazy, surreal
and then forward. Follow-through animation scenes.
and weight, with respect to this
fur coat, are fabulous to study. Ma- Oh, what would perhaps be nice, if you
dame Medusa (from "The Rescuers"/ could talk about it, for the very last con-
Lounsberry, Reitherman, Stevens clusion (laughing) - that would be really
1977) is quite wonderful in terms great - how the art form of hand-drawn
of bizarre expressive power and di- animation continues to live on in your
alogue scenes. Milt Kahl animated own project of "Mushka" . I mean, there
her lips extraordinarily. When Medu- is still an incredible amount of 2D pro-
sa says "you", then the lips move all duced worldwide.
the way forward. There are very wide Exactly.
mouth openings when she screams. I
was able to learn a lot from this char- It has disappeared from the focus of the
acter, as far as dialogue is concerned. absolute box office of Hollywood main-
The dialogue of the Indian chief from stream, for now.
"Peter Pan" (Geronimi, Jackson, Luske For now, it's gone from there. But the
love is still there, definitely.

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Chapter 2.2

The love is still there! Perhaps you can sorts of improvements and new ideas,
say a little more about what your mo- but overall, the story is complete. This
tivation was, what you want to achieve is very exciting. Stylistically I'd like
with the film, and where your main fo- to try something new, the popular
cus is, what it is that takes center stage Hollywood 2D animation has indeed
for you? changed very little over the years.
When I left Disney two and a half years For decades now, the characters have
ago, I knew quite well that I had to clear outlines, either in black, as in the
continue working to challenge myself 60s and 70s, or a colored outline, and
creatively, somehow. You can not shut two-dimensional colors. I don’t want
it down and say ‘okay, I'm retired now’. that this time, instead, the film is going
That doesn’t work. I am also much to look like one of my sketchbooks. So
too young to retire. And then I just the whole thing is more intuitive, no
thought about what I would enjoy do- clean-ups, only sketchy animation.
ing most. I really like drawing animals And ever since Hans (Bacher) started
- okay, but what kind of animals? Big posting works by the German illustra-
cats have always fascinated me since tor Wilhelm M. Busch on his blog a few
"Lion King", all these studies we did in years ago, I have had a few aha-mo-
zoos and of live-action nature films. ments. His illustrative style is a fan-
Finally I said to myself, tigers are re- tastic inspiration for the design of my
ally beautiful animals. Maybe I could film. I have ordered many of his illus-
develop a friendship between a tiger trated books from Germany. I would
and a human being. A person, okay, also like to base my background de-
maybe a boy? But we’ve already seen sign a little on these very subtle, but
that in "Jungle Book" with Mogli and masterly drawn book illustrations.
the panther. Maybe a girl. A young girl, Busch created different styles, some
so that the contrast is greater between of them in color, others in black and
this monstrosity, this huge dangerous white with shades of gray. I prefer his
animal and this innocent girl. Okay, so very reduced illustrations, which are
I knew the two main characters were really all about lines that have a spatial
already set. And then I got together effect. That is how I see the aesthetics
with a friend who expresses himself of my film.
in a variety of ways. He deals with ar-
chitecture, but also writes poems, po- Has it made a big difference since you
etry and is an all-around artist. I told have realized that you are now really re-
him that I would like to have certain sponsible for everything, from directing
story elements in the film, and asked to the story, making all the visual deci-
him if he could write a script based on sions ... your own master, so to speak?
it. Four versions /outlines later, it was A little. I mean, it feels good, but it's
time to start storyboarding. I finished a bit risky. I believe, that you have to
the storyboard version about two realize somehow where your inexperi-
weeks ago, of course, there are still all ence lies, where you need help. I know

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 Traditional 2D Animation

very well that I need help with layouts, But the beauty is that the decisions are
I need help with the story, because always artistically motivated. In other
I've never really done story in all these words, these are not decisions that have
years. You then ask people who can to be made for reasons other than artis-
help you somehow, because you can tic motivation. Basically, you can really
not be good in all areas. decide to make the movie the way you
think is best with all the feedback you
Yes, of course, it is also about feedback have received.
... that you simply keep the lines of com- Exactly. I will make the final decisions.
munication open with others.
Exactly. Once I finish the story in may-
be two months or so, then I'll have Great, excellent, that was it - thank you
screenings and invite people and ask for the conversation!
them what they think, if it is clear or
boring. I would not make the mistake
of producing my film tucked away all
alone in a cubbyhole, and then to re-
lease it.

Additional sketches for “Mushka”. © Copyright Andreas Deja

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Chapter 2.3

Guest author: Kathrin Albers

Stop Motion
Stop motion is an umbrella term for several techniques,
which are all based on the fact that mostly real-built objects
are manipulated frame by frame. Of all the animation tech-
niques, stop motion is the one most similar to a live-action
film shoot, especially in the version of puppet animation.
Physical sets must be built, painted and illuminated. The
animation is filmed with real cameras with single frame
release. Stop motion, unlike any other technique, requires
very complex expertise by the animator or/and must be
implemented with a multi-talented team.

1) What is stop motion?

Of course, "stop motion" is a strange term. ductory chapter, however, two-dimensional

There is no movement here that is stopped images are perceived at a different speed
and then continues. On the contrary, it is a than three-dimensional images. The brain
long series of still images with rigid figures comprehends a flat drawing more easily and
that are minimally moved frame-by-frame. faster than a three-dimensional image with
Just as in traditional 2D animation, only with depth and many details.
real built sets and characters. The illusion of The decision about shooting at a certain
the movement is created when a series of frame rate ("on ones", "twos", "threes" etc.)
frames is played as a fast sequence. The more should be made during the conceptual phase
single frames of a movement are used per of each film according to aesthetic and artis-
second, the smoother, softer, and more life- tic aspects. This certainly applies to all anima-
like the animation. The less frames are used, tion techniques, not just stop motion.
the coarser and more “jerky" the movement. Stop motion is not just referring to the ani-
If the frame rate is so low that the brain can mation with puppets à la Wallace and Gromit.
perceive the individual frames as such, the It is the general term for any frame-by-frame
illusion is no longer successful. Starting at animation of everything you can place and
about 4 frames, a strongly jerky animation re- move in front of a camera. This can be done,
sults; at 6 or 7 frames, each frame can clearly for example, with flat or three-dimensional
be perceived as a still image. Generally, this paper objects, but also with real people, fur-
is of course no reason to animate on fours, niture, cars or household items. The bound-
sixes or on tens. As mentioned in the intro- ary to 2D animation can be fluid, since you

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 Stop Motion

can also cut out a drawn 2D animation from has enormous influence on all techniques, in-
paper and animate it in a stop motion proce- cluding stop motion. In addition to camera and
dure as a constructed layer in space or lying post-production, the use of objects modeled
flat. In general, there are no limitations to the in 3D software, including their individual ani-
adventure of experimenting and combining. mated poses, has been particularly far-reach-
This makes it the most diverse and creative ing. For dimensions, where the human finger
form of animation. and real tools cannot reach or where a form is
The digital age was a kind of revolution for simply too detailed and complex, a 3D print-
puppet animation. With the advent of digital er can be used to visualize, print, and in this
cameras and the development of correspond- way, integrate almost anything beforehand
ing software, it was possible to see your cur- into a stop motion film. However, it is worth
rent, not yet photographed image (“live im- discussing whether this is still stop motion
age") and match it up to the previously shot in the traditional sense, since, in the case of
frames until the continuity works. The days of thousands of printed animated frames, it
blind animation with movie cameras are over, has actually turned into an incarnate digital
and animators finally have options for more 3D animation. In the face of these new digi-
complex movements and more precise con- tal influences, the question is how we define
trol of individual frames. stop motion in general, and what the future
This has strongly increased awareness of the of the true spirit of this form of animation will
entire post-production industry, if not to say: look like in in the future. Is it only about how
It only emerged in this form and concept in something looks afterwards, no matter how
the first place, and has since then played an it came about, or is it also about making the
enormous part in film production, both in manufacturing process visible for the viewer?
live-action and in animation film. Because What fascinates people about animation and
of it, puppet animation filmmakers can plan stop motion in particular?
their scenes more freely and realize the kind
of animations, camera angles and set build-
ings that make production not only consider-
ably easier, but also make certain ideas pos-
sible at all.
A clear division into traditional 2D animation,
3D or stop motion has therefore become more
difficult since then. As already described in the
introductory chapter, 3D software in particular

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Chapter 2.3

An Overview of the Various Stop Motion Techniques

Puppet Animation The stop motion scene grew, particularly in En-

This technique is the “classic” among stop-mo- gland, with the founding and success of Aard-
tion films with a long and rich tradition. Puppets man Studios in Bristol in 1970 and, like hardly
made of different materials such as plasticine, any other studio, it shaped the aesthetics as
silicone or foam are given a skeleton of wire or well as the humor and content of the younger
metal joints, called "armature" in technical jar- generation of puppet animation film makers.
gon, with which they can be moved frame-by- There were many stop motion films from
frame. The scale is generally between 1:10 and North America, such as Rankin/Bass Produc-
ca. 1:6. But, of course, all sizes and shapes are tions ("Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer", Na-
possible. gashima/Roemer, 1964. Produced entirely in
Japan) or George Pal, who created a wonderful
A brief historical overview series of puppet animations with his "Puppe-
The very first stop-motion animations were toons", which worked mainly with so-called
made around 1900, after George Méliès acci- replacements instead of jointed puppets (see
dentally (due to a jammed camera) shot the section animation, page 269).
illusion of a transformation from a car into a Laika Entertainment (formerly Will Vinton
hearse. During the time of the malfunction, Studio) is regarded technically as the most
one car drove off and the other took its place. ambitious studio at this time with its means
This effect, coupled with the knowledge that of 3D-printing and detailed, previsualized very
one can manipulate things in front of a cam- smooth animation (plus a lot of money), thus
era between each frame, form the basis for the virtually blurring the dividing line of digital 3D
stop motion technique. to become an almost androgynous version
Early works with animated figures are, for ex- of the two techniques. For the layperson, it is
ample, those of Ladislav Starevich (such as nearly impossible to tell whether for instance
"The Beautiful Lukanida", 1912), from Russia "The Boxtrolls" is a 3D computer animation or
/ France, who often used insects and other a stop motion film.
prepared real animals as figures, creating as-
tounding realism through life-like animations.
For many years, the former Eastern Bloc coun-
tries produced puppet animation films at the
highest artistic level. Notably often without
the label "children's film", since many artists
used stop motion (as well as all kinds of ani-
mations) as an art form for different subjects,
sometimes surreal, but also satirical and ex-
plicitly not for children. Well-known artists
worth studying are Jiri Trnka, Yuri Norstein
and Jan Svankmajer.

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 Stop Motion

Pixilation More recently, we have seen pixilation in play-

Pixilation refers to the technique in which ful music videos and short films. ("Human
people act as puppets. Instead of moving Skateboard", Pes, "Her Morning Elegance",
forward in a continuous and fluid motion, Oren Lavie, "Strawberry Swing", for Coldplay,
an actor moves through the set in spatial by Shynola, "Sledgehammer", for Peter Gabri-
intervals in a frame-by-frame process and re- el, by Stephen R. Johnson).
mains in the individual poses, which are shot
in sequence. The resulting effects are most-
ly weird, amazing and surreal. The found-
ing fathers of this style are, among others,
Grant Munro, after whom this technique was
named, or Norman McLaren ("Neighbors", "A
Chairy Tale").
The surrealist Jan Svankmajer (including
"Food", "Conspirators of Pleasure") uses this
technique in almost all of his films and has
influenced a whole generation of animation
artists with his work to this day.

Pixilation short film "I Love Story“ by Kimberly Siy Huang,

developed at the School of Art, Design and Media,
Nanyang Technological University Singapore.

Cutout to the series "South Park", which was contin-

The word says it all: In the cutout, the figures ued to be created in digital cutout soon after
are cut out of paper, cardboard, felt or other the initial release.
flat materials, placed under the camera and The worldwide "mother" of all cutout ani-
animated frame-by-frame. mation is undoubtedly Lotte Reiniger, who
There are two very different ways of working. mainly used paper cutting in her films, lending
If the character is put together in individual her characters complex flexibility by break-
parts and animated as a jointed puppet, you ing them down to finger joints and individual
achieve an effect similar to (shadow) pup- strands of hair. Reiniger was heavily influenced
petry, in which the objects and characters by Arabian and Asian shadow puppetry. Some
move mostly sideways. Popular representa- titles of her works: "The Adventures of Prince
tives are mainly the artists of Monty Python, Achmed", "Kalif Storch", "Papageno" and many
who cut the drawings into parts and delib- fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.
erately placed little emphasis on concealing Another type of cutout, as already indicated
their technique, which largely contributed to above, is the blending of 2D animation and
the humor in the first place. The same applies cutout animation, in which the individual

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Chapter 2.3

Cut-out animation with paper, from "The Animals" (2014) by Mark Wee Nai De

frames are defined and tested in advance, and animation and stop motion merge equally.
only then cutout of paper and placed under You could just as well use, say, the After Ef-
the camera. After a previously defined frame- fects software to digitally animate cutout and
by-frame timing, they then "only" have to be scanned characters in the manner of cutout
shot in sequence. This is where traditional 2D animation.

Clay animation from "Afterlife" (1978) by Ishu Patel

Sand and Plasticine Animation Techniques minated from below, giving the material a spe-
Instead of rigid objects and characters, sand or cial depth and rich color. Particularly with sand,
plasticine are placed flat on a glass plate and some life-like impressions of architecture and
animated by moving and reshaping, using the natural representations can be achieved.
same camera set-up. The surface is usually illu-

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 Stop Motion

2) Concept and Pre-production

The story, even if it is visually abstract, should same applies to talking characters. For all
fit the nature of stop motion. For the initial these topics, there are additional sections in
ideas it may not matter which kind of anima- this chapter.
tion you favor, but soon you should ask your- As with all film projects and as already de-
self the important question, whether stop scribed here in the book, you first need a
motion is primarily stylistically, and secondly treatment that summarizes the idea. Then
from a practical point of view, the right choice comes the storyboard stage, in which the
for the respective idea. idea is broken down into individual scenes.
This book is primarily aimed at newcomers Unlike 2D animation, in stop motion you
and those who want to realize their own proj- cannot go into too much detail of layout or
ects on their own or in small teams, and as camera set-up, since the live-action aspect of
such it is advisable to set limits when starting. the various focal lengths, the size of the set
Of course, in a professional studio environ- and the corresponding space surrounding it
ment, even the most complex scenes can be will only roughly match the planned field of
implemented in stop motion, so I would like view and perspectives of the sketches. The
to contradict the general prevailing opinion storyboard should initially function only as
that only simple ideas with few sets and char- story development. The so-called shooting
acters would be suitable for this technique. board may later provide more details on the
This is certainly not true. Everything is possi- final implementation. This is where the se-
ble. All stories can be told with some expe- quence of the film shoot, all the focal lengths,
rience and creativity, it just depends on how required props and aids are set up, which
you do it. considerably facilitate the shooting schedule.
As soon as the first structures of the set have
Start small. been set-up, it is recommended to shoot the
At the beginning, and especially with little planned scenes with a camera in order to test
experience, it is in fact advisable to keep the whether the scenes can be implemented as
story small and to limit yourself to one or two expected. Roughly cut cardboard figures in-
sets and puppets. Since stop motion is with- stead of puppets help to recreate the scenes.
out question very technical even in its sim- These images are then imported into the so-
plest form, I recommend a simple story that called animatic, where the film is previsualized
leaves enough room to get acquainted with in terms of timing and editing. A tip for simpli-
the physical properties, the production pro- fying shooting is to pay attention while work-
cess and, above all, the unfamiliar straight- ing in the storyboard, as to how the character
ahead animation. A kind of finger exercise to will be visible in the image. Does it always have
warm up. to be visible in full-length while walking?
For starters, camera movements should Or can I cut it so that it will not be seen from
be excluded and special effects should be the hip down? This would simplify the anima-
planned - if at all - only in simple form. The tion considerably, since, instead of a full-body

259
Chapter 2.3

animation, it can simply be placed on a block

that sits below the field of view, and is thus
invisible. Moving the block up and down to
simulate walking is much easier and faster as
well.

Illustration: Kathrin Albers

3) From Character and Production Design to Puppet and Prop Building

Character Design for tuition guide you to develop exclude the technology of
Stop Motion your own interesting charac- 3D-printing, which does not
Since everything has to be ters that point you to the ini- know any technical limita-
built in a stop-motion film, tial general direction. tions, such as the size of a
there are of course some While drawings are certainly tool or a modeling finger, but
requirements regarding de- indispensable, my advice is I am focusing one hundred
sign, which are ultimately not to “fuss" over a 2D design percent on the puppet to be
subject to feasibility. On the for too long, since it will ul- made by hand. Depending
other hand, materials and timately become a three-di- on the talents of the puppet
tools can be a particular mensional object made of maker, his/her own artistic
source of inspiration for sur- real materials. As in 3D, the style will have more or less of
faces and shapes. material selected will always an influence on the design.
The initial approach is the affect the appearance, which You should change quickly
same as in 2D or 3D. Sketches is why it helps to get familiar into the three-dimensional
and silhouettes of all kinds with the available means as world of clay or plasticine,
come first. Starting out, you soon as possible and not to in order to roughly test the
should not let any material become too attached to the favorite designs. It is not un-
feasibility restrict your cre- design drawing. common for a snazzy 2D-de-
ativity, but let your artistic in- At this point, I deliberately sign to turn out boring in

260
 Stop Motion

Design process of a stop motion puppet.

The first sketches are kept relatively simple, the plasticine version gives a much
more accurate impression of the final design. The picture in the middle shows
the armature with finished legs and a hard core made of rigid foam. The upper
body was cut from soft foam and covered with fabric. The role for this puppet
was limited to exclusive standing with little movement in the upper body.
Design/illustration: Kathrin Albers

three dimensions. These and other craft materials early The checks in a shirt fabric will
three-dimensional "sketch- on in the process in order to be magnified accordingly on
es" are a much quicker way see what is actually available, a puppet, the same applies to
to the final design. The tools so that you do not get used stitches of a knit sweater, the
used for modeling should be to the thought of something wool for hair, buttons, buckles
adapted to the final style of that does not exist in real or the wood grain for furni-
the puppet. If, for example, life and for which you have ture. If this “size-reducing" ef-
you are aiming for a coarse to look for alternatives later. fect is not desired, you should
plasticine look, you should You can use all kinds of tools, look for appropriate materials
not use small modeling cutlery, pottery accessories and patterns true to scale.
wood sticks because such or discarded dentist tools for
fine details will not survive, modeling, which you can of-
but will be pushed out of ten buy at flea markets.
place during the animation Modeling wood sticks can
process. Inversely, fine tools also be cut and filed down
for previsualization of details according to your own needs.
should be used, if the puppet For fabrics and other materi-
later gets sewn clothing. It is als, the scale of the puppet
also helpful to procure fabrics world should be considered.

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Chapter 2.3

Specialists in Stop Motion

In stop motion productions, collaboration between designer

and puppet maker must be very close to ensure practicabil-
ity, especially at the start of production. Sometimes you can
find some rather unusual specialists working in puppet an- yourself when constructing
imation studios, who are utilized for specific purposes. One the puppet, how it should
example would be Althea Crome, who is a knitting specialist best be built, so that you can
and who knitted the tiny finger gloves for the film “Coraline”, implement all the scenes as
among other things. planned. The purpose here
is to find the most effective
construction possible.

Design Planning Any novice who does not Example

One special aspect is, of have an exceptional pen- A puppet does not need
course, the animability of the chant for such techniques to be finished on the back,
character. In puppet anima- should use materials that do if it will never be seen
tion films, everything always not require too much special from behind.
looks very elastic, flexible, knowledge, as this can only Is the puppet walking
fluttering, or wobbling. In lead to unnecessary frus- around a lot or is it just
reality, all objects are made tration. Multi-part shapes sitting down? In that case,
of stiffened yet bendable for silicone puppets should it does not make sense to
materials in order to get ev- not be considered as a first build a standing puppet,
erything in its position and project, rather, puppets with which then must be bent
keep it there. This is a special fabric dresses and a foam fill- into a sitting pose. Build it
challenge for puppet and ing (foam like the one from a in a sitting position right
prop-builders and requires mattress) or made from good away and you will have
a high level of knowledge old plasticine. more design options.
from the fields of precision You have defined in the sto- Are you planning a long
mechanics, plastics process- ryboard what your character shot, in which the charac-
ing, tailoring and carpentry. should do in the movie. Ask ter is seen tiny in the set,
and close-ups of the pup-
pet's face? Then it is easier
to build two puppets: a
very small one, matching
the large set of the long
Suspension of a stop motion shot, and another one
puppet on a rig. Illustration: that is both suitable for
Kathrin Albers
whole-body and close-up
shots. The small puppet
does not need any de-
tails like the big one, but
it should resemble her in
stature, color, etc.

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 Stop Motion

Armature Design

If you do not have an armature made of

ball-and-socket joints - which is usually the
case with beginners - you can build a simpli-
fied version made of wire. Interior Workings
All you need is aluminum wire. It is light and The rigging for a 3D animator is equivalent to
has great bending properties. It is available the "armature", the skeleton for the puppet
in different sizes at craft supply stores or at animation filmmaker.
merchants for bonsai trees (usually less ex- There are various versions made of ball-and-
pensive on the Internet). In addition, you socket joints, or more simple ones made of
will need wood pieces in the size of the wire and wood. Both have their advantages
trunk and hips of your puppet, or alterna- and disadvantages: While ball-and-socket
tively two-component plasticine. With the joints have good bending properties, wire
two-component adhesive you affix the armatures can usually perform more extreme
wire to the solid parts of the body. Do not movements. It is important that the armature
use any other adhesive, because the fusion is constructed as stable as possible. Howev-
between wire and wooden parts must be as er, you must also realize: No armature will
stable as possible. last forever, it will weaken somewhere in the
For drilling holes in wooden parts, you need course of the animation process, and then
a small handheld or bench drill, and suitable possibly break; the question is only when and
pliers for bending, cutting and twisting the how to to figure out the right time to repair it.
wire.
To keep the plasticine from sliding off the
smooth wire later, it is advisable to wrap
certain places with one layer of skin-colored
textile adhesive tape (such as adhesive ban-
dage). This tape sticks very well and allows
you to push the plasticine tightly into the
fabric and keep it in place.

Top left: Armature with ball-and-socket joints and

metal arms. The hands have a clamping device,
into which thin wires for individual fingers can be
clamped.
Top right: Simple wire armature with wooden
blocks and twisted wires. The arms are made of five
thin twisted wires, which, bent apart at the lower
end, produce a hand.
Below: The palm of the hand on the left is made
of two-component plasticine, which cures very
quickly.
The hand on the right is wrapped with adhesive
bandage, which makes the plasticine cling better.
Design: Kathrin Albers

263
Chapter 2.3

Head and Feet below. For option two you no means of plasticine, since
The feet need to be able to need small iron pieces as the small balls would de-
be anchored to the floor. If "soles” that are responsive to form due to frequent touch-
the puppet stays in one spot the magnet. ing. This for one, would look
and does not move away, For the head, you will need to quite unattractive during the
you can simply glue it down. consider whether your char- movement later, and it would
If it walks back and forth, acter is going to speak. If so, also make correcting the
however, the feet must be see page 272 for details on form during the animation
able to be screwed to the this technique. Even without very annoying and time-con-
floor. You can also use mag- speech, the character is likely suming.
nets that hold the feet down to get eyes and different fa- Since the head is subject
through the floor of the cial expressions. to frequent back and forth
stage. For the first option you In order to let a character bending, it should be an-
need a floor through which look back and forth, it is eas- chored firmly onto the neck
you can drill holes - prefera- iest to integrate the eyeballs and have a solid core. In case
bly wood; for option two, you into the head, and then place of a plasticine head the core
need a floor thin enough to the pupils and eyelids on must extend to just below
transmit magnetism. top later. Even for a purely the surface. If it does not, you
Option one requires feet with plasticine figure, the eye- again run the risk of crushing
a small thread into which a balls should consist of a solid the shape during animation.
screw can be screwed from wooden or "Fimo" pearl - by

Hard core (wood or Plasticine

rigid foam)

aluminum wire
Illustrations: Kathrin Albers

264
 Stop Motion

Replacement Animation popular squash and stretch while to study these films.
Replacements are a great can not be implemented Replacements in plasticine
opportunity for circumvent- with one single puppet. In can be done just as well and
ing the latent solidness and larger productions, especial- even easier. The series "Pur-
flexibility constraints that are ly for series, replacements ple and Brown" is a classic
inherent in a puppet. Instead are also used for reasons of example.
of bending or modeling the efficiency and saving time.
character into a desired po- In this way, part of the ani-
sition, it is sometimes more mation is moved, as it were,
effective and, above all, more into the process of puppet
expressive to build this new making. This happens inevi-
pose as a new figure and re- tably in dialogue animation,
place the previous one with where a set of mouth piec- 3D Printing
the new one. It may sound es is built earlier and then
like an exaggerated effort placed on the puppet's face The modern form of replacement technolo-
to build a whole new pup- in sync with the recorded gy is 3D printing, which is now used in every
pet for just one single frame text. The same principle can major studio. The abundance of which can
of the animation. While this be applied to the entire head be seen in the feature films of Laika Studios,
is true, it is still very useful or body. where mass scenes are produced with one
when it comes to repetitive The master and inventor of and the same character printed hundreds
frames, for example, walk this technique was without of times (see e.g. circus scene with mice in
cycles, which simply look doubt George Pal, who at- "Coraline”), or where walk cycles are print-
more interesting and lend tracted worldwide attention ed for one single character in order to get
more expressiveness to the in the 40s and 50s with his a more expressive animation on one hand,
animation. In addition, the "Puppetoons". It is worth- but also to create a design that could not
have been implemented otherwise on this
small scale (e.g. the black cat in "Coraline").
However, this technique takes facial anima-
tion to extreme levels. Thanks to this pro-
cess, a main character in "The Boxtrolls" or
Materials "ParaNorman" can have up to a whopping
1.4 million facial expressions. This enor-
Where will a puppet be handled most mous sum is calculated from the many
during animation and how vigorously will combinations that result from dividing the
it be handled? Especially with a plasticine face into multiple areas.
puppet it pays to cheat, and not really build
everything with plasticine. A modeling
compound that can be cured in the oven
is great to combine the appearance of plas-
ticine with stability. In the end, you cannot
tell which parts are solid and which are soft.

265
Chapter 2.3

4) Camera and Lighting

A puppet animation film is not much differ- less extreme, on smaller scales. I recommend
ent than a live-action film, when it comes to experimenting a bit.
camera and lighting set-up - it is only on a In lighting, a puppet is treated in the same
smaller scale. This is why, at the beginning of way as an actor in live-action film, where
the set-up and during the production design there is a key light that defines the main
stage of the animation, it is important to look lighting situation of the set, and a so-called
for references from films showing perspec- backlight. This light is used only to make this
tives, lighting moods and compositions that figure stand out from the background, high-
could fit into your own production. lighting its silhouette.
A number of digital DSLR cameras are being
used now, especially the Canon EOS-series For an average general light that does not cast
and Nikon cameras. All these cameras work strong shadows or create a certain mood, but
very well with current stop-motion software one that provides a very soft and subtle light-
such as "Dragonframe" or "Stop Motion Pro". ing of the set, the use of so-called soft boxes
They are not just for animators, but are ideal is recommended. If you do not have access to
for camera work as well. You can use them to a professional one, you can build one your-
stipulate aperture, exposure and many pre- self. However, you should know beforehand
sets, thus setting up the entire scene. the size of the area which is to be illuminated.
Sometimes it is sufficient to throw a spotlight
When comparing it with a live-action set, it onto a white ceiling or wall and to use only
is important to understand that the camera the reflection for this purpose. This kind of
in the puppet scale would be about the size indirect light is often used to fill in shadows,
of a dining table, which is therefore much when one side of the character is not suffi-
larger than it would be in real life. This can ciently illuminated. White cardboard is then
inadvertently lead to opting for top view per- positioned to reflect light on this dark side,
spectives, which in turn makes the characters brightening it in a subtle way.
appear smaller and more “doll-like”, thus cre- For atmospheric enhancement of a particu-
ating a kind of human distance. There is noth- lar mood you can also use light projections,
ing wrong with this, but the appearance of a such as projecting the outline of a window,
character is often more convincing when you through which moonlight shines, onto a wall.
are “at eye level”, or even below. The viewer Or reflections of sunlight falling through trees
becomes part of this world and does not re- onto the set.
main an outside observer.
Different focal lengths also have the effect of Such effects are extremely helpful and rel-
making things appear smaller or larger. The atively easy to build with metal foil stencils,
wider the angle of the lens, the more you get through which a strong light shines. Some
into the picture. Beyond a certain size, the lamp manufacturers offer projection props
image becomes “bug-eyed", which may not which are placed directly in front of the lamp
be to everyone's taste. Nevertheless, focal so that the sharpness of the outline can be
lengths are somewhat different, somewhat adjusted with the help of adjustable lamps.

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 Stop Motion

In addition, there are lighting gel filters in dif- When working with a motion control crane,
ferent colors which are clipped in front of the a software is used to program the camera
lamps and can provide a strong color mood. movement, which then follows the move-
As with all visual media, the same color theo- ment frame-by-frame during the actual film
ries also apply here (color contrasts and color shoot. The real highlight of this technique
moods) that help to create the appropriate is in its use with live-action film shoots. Be-
atmosphere through the use of colored light. cause programmed camera movements can
be repeated indefinitely, many effects can be
In lighting, the use of very long and consis- implemented that you normally could not do
tently illuminating lamps is most important. in a single take. Particularly in synchronizing
The inconsistency of a light might not be multiple passes, where different scales, tech-
visible with the naked eye, but a faulty lamp niques, and frame rates (frames per second)
would create a strong flicker over an entire can be combined. Also, the coordinates of
day of 8 or more hours, due to the few sec- these camera movements can be imported
onds created in the animation during that into 3D software and then mixed with digital
time. If a lamp does not provide constant worlds or creatures. The use of this technol-
light, it can be due to its quality or (lack of ) ogy is incredibly diverse, and stop motion is
consistent electricity in the respective shoot- just one of many.
ing space. If you want to check out the quality
of your lighting beforehand, you can do a test Recommended examples: the music vid-
by simulating a shooting situation and taking eo "Come Into My World", by Kylie Minogue
pictures of the set lit with the lamp for two or (Director: Michel Gondry), advertising for
three hours. After that, you can assess more Ford "Zeitgeist" (directed by Noah Harris) or
safely whether the lamp is suitable or not. many of the opening sequences of stop-mo-
The more advanced among you may be tion feature films like " The Nightmare Before
thinking about camera movements. This is Christmas "," Coraline ", or many major shots in
basically a great idea, but it complicates the feature stop motion movies of the last years.
film shoot significantly, since it requires much
more accurate planning. Technically speak-
ing, you need a so-called motion control unit
or something more simple, a camera tripod,
which is moved step-by-step by cranking.
This is a very tedious process and requires a
lot of discipline during animation.

267
 Chapter 2.3

Set Building to the character. All additional parapherna-

It is very useful to bring the camera to the lia such as computers, small tools, notes and
set as early as possible, so that size and scale other support materials should be on a small
of the stage can be planned properly. If there table located as close as possible to the set.
are different takes on the same set, it may be Long distances between the character and re-
necessary to split it so that the camera and cording computer, showing the live image, are
the animator can reach the respective place. extremely annoying and distracting.
You can even reach areas further in the back The stage on which the set is to be built, must
where the camera or animator's hands could be very sturdy. It is important to have a good
normally not reach. After all, the animator wood construction that does not wobble and
needs sufficient arm maneuverability to work. for which the board does not sag. You can also
This is particularly true with short focal lengths, use a sturdy desk, but it should be possible to
since the camera then has to be placed closer paint it, drill in holes, affix things with hot glue,

Soft box
which produces very
soft light.

Key light
defines the main lighting.
Backlight
makes the puppet stand out
more from the background.
Table with calcula-
tor and tools
which should be
easily accessible
during the film
shoot.

Fill light
(e.g., a piece of white
cardboard) that slightly
brighten the side of the
puppet with shadows.

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 Stop Motion

etc. You should pay attention to the correct a small prop. Therefore, this applies to every-
height of the table, because you spend most thing: fasten securely. Even objects that will be
of your time standing during animation, and moved later by the puppet should be securely
working at a stage that is so low that you have fastened until they are used. This also applies
to bend down, is very exhausting. to lamps and the camera. Heavy sandbags can
I cannot stress enough: Everything on a pup- be placed on the base of tripods to prevent an
pet set must be fastened or completely glued inadvertently shifted lamp from creating major
down. You may not realize beforehand, how of- flickering of light.
ten you have to reach into the set. You are also
completely focused on the puppet and may not
even notice that you accidentally bumped into

5) Animation

Basically the principle of animation with pup- This is also why there are usually not several
pets or objects does not differ from that of animators animating in one animation. On
a traditional 2D animation. Here, too, there the contrary: It is worthwhile making sure that
are 25 single frames per second, there are the puppets are “cast” with the same anima-
key frames, breakdowns and inbetweens. tors to maintain consistent and homogenous
However, the production process and the re- characteristics of the puppet throughout
quirements for stop motion are significantly the entire film and not to develop a "schizo-
different. phrenic" character, which acts differently from
Just as there are no key frame animators or scene to scene. Many animators, like all artists,
inbetweeners in puppet animation, there have their own styles, special preferences and
there are also no multiple animation passes, strengths, which should be taken into account
where arms or heads are animated separately when assigning specific animations.
at a later time or only focusing on an up-and- In a studio environment, the final stage of an-
down moving body for a walk cycle, then add- imation is preceded by extensive testing, in
ing the swinging arms, corresponding head which the animation director together with
movement and spacing etc. later. No, here the animators focus on the style of the move-
everything has to happen at once, and it must ments. The director is the one who defines
happen frame-by-frame. This makes stop mo- (together with the script writer in advance)
tion a very complex and "advanced" form of the nature and personality of the various
animation, as some animation experience is characters. Together with him, the animators,
needed. Previous excursions into the world like actors before a film or theater produc-
of 2D animation are highly recommended in tion, get time to become acquainted with
order to have a grasp of the general principle their characters, testing them and internaliz-
of animation. ing the style. It is also about practical aspects,

269
Chapter 2.3

out the movement in order to analyze

timing and sequence of the movement.
With today's popular stop motion soft-
ware (such as Dragon Frame), it is possi-
ble to import reference films and to place
the blocked scene or video shot under
the final animation, using it as a reference.
I highly recommend that every animator ob-
serve dancers and mimes as a means for ana-
If a character is to jump, for example, thus leaving the secure floor, you lyzing and studying movements. The control
can not avoid having to attach it to a support, which will be visible in and precision that these artists exercise over
the image. Sometimes you may be able hide the support. In the second their bodies is a great source of inspiration
picture you can see a thick wire leading from the back of the character
to the rear wall. Viewed from the front, this support would not be visible.
for every animator. The same applies to silent
Actually, you can frequently find a solution to hide these rigs, thus keep- movies, of course. Actors of this genre had
ing any retouching work to a minimum in the end. only their body and face to tell a story and to
Illustration: Kathrin Albers represent the character as clearly as possible
with regard to personality and expression.

Strictly speaking, an animator is not an actor,

such as the mobility of the skeleton and the of course, since he does not give a direct per-
nature of the materials. This step is particu- formance in front of the audience, but only
larly important in order to avoid unpleasant the illusion of one. That is a big difference,
surprises during the animation stage and to both in terms of approach and an under-
keep from exceeding the production dead- standing of the two professions. Neverthe-
line (and above all, the budget). less, both art forms can strongly inspire each
Before the final animation can be execut- other.
ed, precise preparations must be made. The No matter how perfect the preparation, with
scene has to be meticulously planned in all every beginning of a scene, the animator
respects. For the animator this means - in ad- starts at zero - even with re-shoot - no scene
dition to preparing the puppet with the nec- will be just like the previous one. You have to
essary support system - the planning of the be aware of this and approach it with a cer-
animation by always making a rough dry run, tain openness. In my opinion, however, it is
called blocking. Here you animate the puppet precisely this little bit of uncertainty that also
in steps of 10 or 15 key frames through the makes this form so unique and exciting.
scene, thereby determining the timing and
other general aspects. In large projects, this is
done at the beginning of the whole produc-
tion and incorporated together with the voice
recordings as part in the animatic to get as ac-
curate an idea as possible of the film.
Blocking is often preceded by a video shot
of the animator himself, in which he acts

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 Stop Motion

Production process in stop

motion. Of course, the process is
similar for all types of animation
films. In the case of stop motion,
however, the individual steps are
much more closely related to one
another and are interdependent.
You can clearly see a parallel to
live-action film.
Illustrations: Kathrin Albers

Animation Process - always attach everything well before getting

A novice in puppet animation should not start started.
with overly complicated movements. You can It is easy for the animator to lose track of a
move simple objects through the image as a movement, if he is focused too much on de-
small warm-up exercise in order to get a feel tails. A good trick in taking a step back and
for general timing. reviewing the general timing of a movement
If you want to start with a puppet, then let the is to look at the scene with slightly squinted
character stand or sit in one place in the be- eyes. The blurred view of the puppet filters out
ginning, and concentrate on the characteristic virtually all the small details and allows for a
expression, the acting. Make sure to anchor the more simplified analysis of the movement per-
puppet as firmly as possible to the floor in or- formed.
der to avoid unwanted and unnoticed “sliding
around". As already mentioned, this applies to
all things on the set: Props, walls, furniture etc.

271
Chapter 2.3

6) Speech and Lip Syncing in Stop Motion

Giving the puppet a voice and speaking abil- self when masterminding the story or devel-
ity in the film is an essential character en- oping the character. In addition, the anima-
hancement and clearly opens up other pos- tion can already develop naturally during the
sibilities in the story as well as the animation. recording since the intonation and acting
However, it not only makes puppet building of the speaker determine specific gestures
more complicated, but also forces a certain or movements. But it is important that the
timing on the animation through the previ- speaker understands that everything he says
ously recorded text. It is recommended that is animated later and that the physical acting
you meet with the selected actor in advance is added later. This is why every animator is
to discuss with him the character and its per- certainly grateful for clear intonation and
sonality. Actors often have good ideas that somewhat exaggerated acting. Often the
can lend different nuances to the character, exaggeration in the voice recording seems
many of which you would not think of your- much less extreme afterwards in the film.

Different ways to build replace-

ment mouth pieces. In this
character, the head was split. The
dividing line runs below the nose
and is covered by the mustache.
This type of design requires a mas-
ter mold to serve as the basis for
all mouth pieces. I used the most
open-mouthed one to build all the
others. The difficult aspect of this
design is to get all parts to fit as
precisely as possible. When casting
the head parts, a pin guide has to
be placed from the outside into the
silicone mold which will reflect the
position on the body later, making
sure the head always remains in
the same place.
The material of the mouths is
dental plaster.
Design: Kathrin Albers

272
 Stop Motion

For a synchronous animation of body and

mouth, the voice is recorded prior to filming
and later imported into the animation soft- An easier method are mouths
ware, so that the various mouth frames can that are simply placed on top of
be adapted to the voice recording, matching the face.
In this character you can see clear-
its timeline. Experienced animators are able ly that the lips were placed on
to do this during animation. However, you the face. For this, I had previously
must be very familiar with the expressiveness bent wires so that they approx-
of the various mouth frames and their related imately define the shape of the
facial expressions. lips. The two ends were bent at
right angles like small pins, which
The number of mouth frames is a matter of were then inserted into matching
style and can be achieved through the de- holes in the head. In order to build
sign. In general, my experience is that much them as tightly as possible, I made
less is needed than initially assumed. For a a cast of the lower part of the
synchronous perception, it is important that face, and modeled the lips on top
by using oven baked clay.
key frames, such as "i", "o", "a", "m" match per- The final head is this one. Design: Kathrin Albers
fectly. Depending on the speed and expres- Design: Kathrin Albers

siveness of the recording, you have to build

elegant in-betweens that bridge the keys. It
helps to observe yourself in the mirror while
speaking and to analyze exactly how the
mouth moves when speaking at different
speeds.

A tip for the design: If you have the chance

to make voice recordings prior to developing
the final design, you can adopt the distinct di-
alogue, such as a dialect, into the appearance
of the mouth pieces, and in doing so, develop
a more convincing personality.

If building the molds is too complicated, and superimposed mouths are not
to be used either, then interchangeable mouths can be produced just as well
from plasticine. The transitional spaces between the head and the mouth
part can be filled by simply using the same color plasticine.
Illustrations: Kathrin Albers

273
Chapter 2.3

7) Post-production

Thanks to digital image post-production, you the set, in order to estimate the camera set-up
can use tools during animation that can be and the film shoot with regard to post-pro-
removed later by retouching. The most com- duction.
mon ones are rigs. This is a support system This is also true of the typical post work task,
to which the wires or articulated arms are at- for which everyone is grateful: all the mis-
tached that hold the puppet. They may also haps that take place during the shoot, such
be small spacers which are placed under the as dirt spots, torn places on the puppet or a
feet during walk cycles, or retainers for ob- small piece of plasticine or tools left acciden-
jects flying through the scene. These rigs usu- tally in the image. In this regard, you have to
ally cannot be hidden and must be removed train yourself to be very disciplined, because
later by retouching. any forgetfulness generates more work in
For this purpose, a single frame of the set has post-production. Therefore, depending on
to be shot without the rig and without the the proportion and weight of the "severity
puppet in it right at the beginning (and for of the accident”, you should possibly favor a
good measure, also after the animation). This retake to post work.
so-called clean plate is placed behind the an- Even if the post can handle a lot, the out-
imated frame in post-production using a soft- dated phrase "fix it in the post" is clearly the
ware such as After Effects or Nuke and fills in wrong approach. After all, the post is not just
the gaps created by retouching. for correcting some planning errors or minor
The same principle can be used in compos- sloppiness of a shoot, but for expanding the
iting, where for example, portions of the set overall creative possibilities.
had to be shot separately and are then put Reducing its broad capabilities to the mere
together with the filmed animation pass. A function of rescuer for poorly planned and
missing wall, ceiling or piece of furniture is put executed film shoots is the wrong approach.
into the set and photographed immediately On the contrary, its deliberate and purpose-
following the film shoot. ful application enriches film projects in a cre-
This is a particularly good way to add special ative way, making many things even possible
effects to an animation. For example, you can in the first place.
shoot the smoke of a cigarette on an "extra
pass", preferably under the same lighting con-
ditions and directly in the final set, and later
composite it into the animation.
In general, the options in post-production
(short: post) are far reaching, but nevertheless
my advice, and also the advice of all post-pro-
duction people, is to shoot as much as pos-
sible "in camera”, i.e. in one take in order to
ensure uniformity and to avoid extra work.
The person who will do this work later must
be involved in the planning of the scenes on

274
 Stop Motion

Assignment:
Get a stop motion software of your choice. You can buy it on the Internet or
use the free scaled-down trial version. In addition, you need a camera that is
supported by it. You can find out what these are on their website.

1) First warm-up exercise:

Take small objects (dice, marbles, etc.) and move them through the frame at
different speeds. Play with spacing and timing by imagining certain actions.
For example:

A marble comes speeding into the frame and bounces against an imagi-
nary wall.
A dice skids into the frame and slowly comes to a halt.

Always have an idea of how heavy your object is, and animate accordingly.

2) Select a brief clip from a silent movie or make a video recording of your-
self. Use a very simple movement. This can be simply clapping your hands or
scratching your head, leave off any running or walking for now. Now analyze
the timing and transfer it to your puppet.

3) Develop and build a character design for a stop motion puppet. For this,
it is helpful to write up a design idea in simple, striking phrases. For example:
"My characters are roughly modeled, expressive plasticine figures that do not
obscure the material. With many fingerprints on it, giving the animation a lively,
casual, deliberately unfinished look.”
or
"The design follows a 50's advertising mascot to simulate its look with smooth,
plastic-like surfaces."
or
"I want a found footage character consisting of cables, cutlery and buttons. I will
not use elastic or manipulable materials.”
or
"I will only use cotton and cardboard."
or...

275
Chapter 2.4

Guest author: Melanie Beisswenger

Insight into 3D Computer Animation
New visual design possibilities have opened up: from styl-
ized cartoons to photo-realistic creatures and worlds, all the
way to interactive games and immersive VR - everything is
possible now by means of 3D computer animation.

In less than 40 years, 3D computer animation commercials, film and TV productions with
has evolved from a gimmick of early comput- digital characters and visual effects (VFX) all
er pioneers to a stand-alone creative medium the way to games for computers, consoles
that has spread not only across our entertain- and mobile devices, augmented and virtual
ment industry, but is also used in industries reality (AR/VR).
such as automotive, medicine, architecture, Since the first rudimentary computer-gen-
and many more. erated 3D wireframe animations in the late
The dominant and generally most visible 1970s in the films "Futureworld" (1976) and
application of 3D animation is in the field of "Star Wars" (1977), the artists and technicians
entertainment: from animated feature films, of computer animation have provided us with
fantastic imagery, such as Cyborg in "Termi-
nator 2" (1993), the photo-realistic dinosaurs
in "Jurassic Park" (1993) and the talking toy
heroes Woody and Buzz Lightyear in the first
fully computer animated movie "Toy Story"
(1995) by Pixar Studios. No doubt, the rapid
development of 3D computer animation is
closely linked to the equally rapid technolog-
ical development of hardware and software.
Computing performance, data transfers, stor-
age capacities and software have been - and
still are - challenged and brought to the brink
of their performance by the increasingly com-
plex visual aspirations of computer graphics
experts. Milestones in photo-realism were
Image of the stylized 3D animated short film "The reached in films like "Final Fantasy" (1991),
Saga of Biorn" (2010) by Frederik Valentin Bjerre- the digital character Gollum in "The Lord of
Poulsen, Daniel Dion Christensen, Jonas Doctor, Jo- the Rings - The Two Towers" (2002) and the
nas Georgakakis, Jesper Aagaard Jensen, Benjamin
Juel Kousholt, Mads Lundgård, Steffen
aging of Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Ben-
Lyhne, Pernille Ørum-Nielsen; The Animation Work-
shop, Denmark.

276
 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

Detailed characters and worlds are created for the open-source 3D short film "Big Buck Bunny"
(2008); Blender Foundation | www.blender.org

jamin Button" (2008). There are now no limits

to the imagination, and computer graphics art-
ists are increasingly turning to non-photo-real-
istic rendering (NPR), which invoke the visual
worlds of traditional arts and 2D animation.

3D animation in a 2D look - toon shading makes it

possible. Poster for the film "Space Stallions" (2012) by
Arna Rut Diego, Ágúst Freyr Kristinsson, Esben Jespersen,
Jonatan Bruch, Polina Bokhan, Thorvaldur Gunnarsson,
Touraj Khosravi; The Animation Workshop, Denmark.

277
Chapter 2.4

Differences Between 2D and 3D Animation

3D animation is basically a continuation of 2D As we have learned in the previous chapters,

animation with other (technological) tools: 2D animation is created primarily by drawing
the computer and pertinent animation soft- 12 frames (on twos) or 24 frames (on ones) per
ware. The artistic fundamentals and design second. The following steps are clean-up and
techniques are mostly the same as with tradi- coloring.
tional 2D animation, but 3D animation differs In puppet animation or stop motion, a mod-
in working methods and production stages el is first created, painted and dressed, then
as well as the technical implementation on positioned in a scene relative to the camera,
the computer. illuminated and photographed. A process
similar to puppet animation takes place with
3D animation: A three-dimensional model of
a character or object and a scene is created
on the computer. These models are given col-
ors and textures, are animated, illuminated
by virtual lights and finally photographed by
a virtual camera. The big difference to tradi-
tional 2D animation is that the object does
not need to be redrawn for each frame, but
once created, can be viewed and presented
from all sides. This is, of course, only a very
simplified explanation of the development
process of a 3D animation. We will look at the
production steps in more detail below.

Soft shapes and pastel colors in the 3D graduation film "Drawing

Memories" (2010) by Jerly Chang, Thom Chang, Yeo Bixia, Dionisuis
Kartalaksana; School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore.

Strong lines and structures in

the 3D animation film "The
Backwater Gospel" (2011) by
Bo Mathorne, Arthur Gil Lars-
en, Mads Simonsen, Thomas
Grønlund, Rie Nymand, Esben
Sloth, Martin Holm-Grevy, Tue
Toft Sørensen; The Animation
Workshop, Denmark.

278
 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

3D, CG, CGI - so, which one?

All these terms are used for computer ani-

mation, but what exactly do they mean?

3D refers to three-dimensional repre-

sentation on the computer. Similar to
the stop motion technique or puppet
animation, it is easy to depict the volume
of a body and the perspective of a scene
using animation software.
However, this is all on the computer and
of course, only virtual.

CG is an abbreviation for “computer gen-

erated”.

CGI stands for “computer generated im-

agery”. The term CGI is often used as a
generic term for digital effects in film and
entertainment.

Stereoscopic film presentations in mov-

ie theaters are often referred to as "3D".
This has nothing to do with animation;
it is the description of the type of projec-
tion on the big screen, i.e. 2D (without
Character pose from the short film "Load" (2011) by
David Rene Christensen, Lasse Smith, Jeppe Broo
glasses) or 3D (with glasses and depth
Døcker, Mark Kjærgaard, Kristoffer W. Mikkelsen, Blake experience).
Overgaard and Malte Burup; The Animation Workshop,
Denmark.

279
Chapter 2.4

Production Work Stages in 3D Animation

This section is intended to provide an intro- In keeping with the focus of this book in the
duction to the work techniques and process- development process of a short film, we will
es involved in creating 3D animation. Due to also orient ourselves on the creative and
the complexity of the subject, however, it is technical sequence for this format with re-
only possible for this purpose to provide an gard to 3D animation.
overview of the various work areas. In order
to be able to transfer the acquired knowl- Idea, Story and Design - Pre-production
edge, work techniques are explained in their Ideas, stories and concepts are developed for
basic software principles, without taking into 3D animation according to the same criteria
account specific software functions. and design steps as for 2D animation - in the
All of the work steps and their sequence are early stages, the kind of technical implemen-
called production pipeline; it becomes all tation, i.e. whether 2D, 3D or stop motion
the more important as more animators work animation, does not play a very important
together on one project, such as a short film, role yet. At the beginning of the design stage,
a movie or a game. The individual tasks are however, it is sensible to think about the op-
often in very specialized areas, which makes tions of work techniques, since the design of
precise planning and the knowledge of how the characters, sets and props can be opti-
individual work steps are mutually interde- mized to the animation technique. Essential
pendent and intertwined, even more import- criteria when choosing a type of animation
ant. are often the familiarity with the medium of
those involved, or questions about feasibility
and possibilities within a technique: While a
photo-realistic creature in a live-action film
would not be implemented convincingly as
a 2D animation or stop motion, this could be
achieved with 3D animation - thus making
this technique the ideal choice.
Before starting to work in the 3D software,
one should have a precise idea about what
wants to be achieved artistically. The Pre-pro-
duction stage includes collecting reference
images, creating design work such as sketch-
es, drawings, sculptures, and color studies, as
well as work on the storytelling in the form of
storyboards and an animatic.

Storyboard panels for "Big Buck Bunny" (2008);

Blender Foundation | www.blender.org

280
 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

Character design sketches for the short film "Rob 'n Ron" (2013)
by Magnus Igland Møller and Peter Smith; Tumblehead Anima-
tion Studio, Denmark.

Color script for the graduation film "Burger Burger"

(2010) by Gavin Tan and Shicong Huang; School
of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore.

281
Chapter 2.4

Color script by Goh Hui Ying for the short film

"The Narcoleptic Boy" (2010) by Jessica Kesuma
Winata, Nguyen Hieu Hanh, Pan Hui Ting, Hans
Christian Sulistio, Stefani Irwan, School of Art,
Design and Media, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore.

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 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

Modeling
3D modeling is one of the
most fundamental tasks in 3D
animation and the first step in
the production pipeline, no
matter what target medium,
whether for film, advertising
or games.
Virtual characters, landscapes,
scenes and props are created
on the computer, similar to
modeling with clay. For this,
three different types of geom-
etry are used: polygons, sub- Perfect round NURBS (inside colored) compared to the square polygons (outside gray)
division surfaces and NURBS. using the example of the SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 mascot model by Yuko Oda, Brian Cannady,
Leo Hourvitz (2009).
NURBS are very suitable for
organic forms, but are diffi-
cult to manipulate. Over the
years, this has made them In modeling of objects, a
less popular in the film indus- distinction is often made be-
try and you actually cannot tween hard surface and or-
find them at all in the game ganic forms.
industry. Today, NURBS are Hard surface objects are
mainly used in virtual pro- defined primarily by hard Hard-surface prop-models for "The Narcoleptic Boy"
totyping and product devel- edges and corners, such as (2010) by Jessica Kesuma Winata, Nguyen Hieu
Hanh, Pan Hui Ting, Hans Christian Sulistio, Stefani
opment in automotive and machines, robots, mechani-
Irwan, School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang
industrial design. cal objects and cars. Organic Technological University, Singapore.
Polygons are the simplest objects have soft curves and
and most commonly used gentler forms, such as land-
type of geometry. The mesh scapes, plants, and above all
consists of vertices (corner characters, such as humans
points), edges, and polygons. and animals.
Subdivision surfaces usual-
ly have a polygon object as
their basis. They have the
advantage that very efficient
partial details may be added,
without driving up the over-
all polygon count and thus
Organic forms of the two characters in the anima-
the render times too much. tion film "Burger Burger" (2010) by Shicong Huang
This makes them ideal for and Gavin Tan; School of Art, Design and Media,
smooth and organic surfaces. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

283
Chapter 2.4

Materials and Textures process is called shading. In order to create

In the next step, properties are applied to the more complexity and details into the surfac-
model that describe the material and surface es, textures can be applied. These are images
in greater detail, such as color, luminosity, or procedural structures and patterns that are
reflective properties, transparency and oth- placed on the surface of the object.
er surface details. Various settings of these Photographs of material surfaces from the real
parameters allows us to perceive materials world are used for textures in order to create
as plastic, glass or metal, for example. This a particularly high degree of realism, such as

3D model of sets with

different color variations by Goh
Hui Ying for the animation film
"The Narcoleptic Boy" (2010) by
Jessica Kesuma Winata, Nguyen
Hieu Hanh, Pan Hui Ting, Hans
Christian Sulistio, Stefani Irwan,
School of Art, Design and Media,
Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore.

Textures for the 3D dog and

finished shading: “The Narcoleptic
Boy" (2010) by Jessica Kesuma
Winata, Nguyen Hieu Hanh, Pan
Hui Ting, Hans Christian Sulistio,
Stefani Irwan, School of Art, Design
and Media, Nanyang Technologi-
cal University, Singapore.

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 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

wood, marble, stone, fabric structures, pores,

etc., but also photographs of hair and entire
faces can be projected onto geometries.
For a non-realistic and artistic look of the
surfaces, real or digital brushes and pencil
strokes can be used as texture as well.

3D animation in a 2D look for the

short film "Umbrella" (2014) by
Brandon Chua, Tan Yin, Khoo Siew
May, Sharry Kwan; School of Art,
Design and Media, Nanyang Tech-
nological University, Singapore.

Diagram for generating the stylized look and white outlines in "Um-
brella" (2014) by Brandon Chua, Tan Yin, Khoo Siew May, Sharry Kwan;
School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore.

Development test for the look of "Where Do All the Lost Things Go"
(2011): Color pass with outline strokes (left), ambient occlusion pass
(center), final composite (right). Animation film by Hafizah Abdul
Wahid, Joan Hsu Sze Yun, Kanan Abdul Kader Mohammad Ali, Bernard
Su Guo Hao; School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore.

285
Chapter 2.4

Autodesk Maya is the most popular and

widely used professional animation soft-
ware for animation, VFX and TV produc-
Insect character from the short
film "Load" (2011) by David Rene
tions. www.autodesk.com
Christensen, Lasse Smith, Jeppe
Broo Døcker, Mark Kjærgaard, Autodesk 3ds Max is also used by many
Kristoffer W. Mikkelsen, Blake studios for film and TV productions and is
Overgaard and Malte Burup; The widely used in the games industry.
Animation Workshop, Denmark.
www.autodesk.com

Autodesk Softimage is another 3D pro-

The Agony of Choice - Which Software is gram that is used for film and TV post-pro-
Best for me? duction as well as game development.
The various software packages differ not However, Autodesk discontinued the de-
only in performance, features and special- velopment of new versions in 2014. www.
ization, but also in price. Before deciding softimage.com
on a package, you should consider what
you want to create, what complexity it Cinema 4D is a 3D graphics program,
requires, how much know-how you can mainly used in advertising and motion
contribute and how big the budget is for graphics.
software. Most 3D animation software for www.maxon.net/en/
animated features, VFX and TV are also
available as trial versions or inexpensive or ZBrush is a specialized digital modeling
free student versions, which is a good way and painting program that allows you to
to try them out. intuitively create sculptures and models
similar to clay or plasticine in virtual space.
www.pixologic.com

Houdini is a procedural, node-based soft-

The Dream of a 1-Click-Does-Everything-Real- ware, which is mainly used for high-end
ly-Great Software visual effects and simulations. www.sidefx.
com
Well, that would be nice! But I have to take this oppor-
tunity and point out that those who expect 3D anima- Blender is an open source (and free!) 3D
tion software to rapidly implement their animation program that contains all the functions
ideas "at the touch of a button”, so to speak, will be for creating 3D animations. Extras include
bitterly disappointed. Because the computer and soft- built-in video editing as well as a game
ware - no matter how professional and complex - are engine.
just tools that have to be used in the same laborious
and time-consuming manner (similar to the "tradition- Modo is another graphics program that
al" animation techniques) in order to achieve the de- mainly specializes in modeling and paint-
sired artistic result. Compared to 2D animation, some ing.
work steps are eliminated, while others are added. www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/modo

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 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

Image from the short film "Hooked" (2010) by Yi Zhi Ang, Ying Herng Chia,
Hazel Phyu Hnin Kyi and Jerome Siew Zhi Zhong; School of Art, Design and
Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Stylized look for the 3D character in "The Backwater

Gospel" (2011) by Bo Mathorne, Arthur Gil Larsen,
Mads Simonsen, Thomas Grønlund, Rie Nymand,
Esben Sloth, Martin Holm-Grevy, Tue Toft Sørensen;
The Animation Workshop, Denmark.

287
Chapter 2.4

Layout and Cameras

In the layout process, the previously creat-
ed storyboards are transferred to the third
dimension and a virtual camera is placed in
the scene. 3D animation makes it possible
to animate every conceivable movement of
the camera, but it is advisable to use virtual
tracking shots conservatively, more along our
Screenshot of the 3D layout for "Drawing Memories" (2010) by Yeo Bixia, sense of viewing habits and aesthetics devel-
Jerly Chang, Thom Chang, Dionisuis Kartalaksana; School of Art, Design oped from live-action film. Excessively wild
and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
tracking shots can otherwise appear confus-
ing, while very precisely planned cinematog-
raphy can advance the narrative of the story.
Studying the cinematography of live-action
films is very good preparation for the virtual
camera work.
Not only are image composition, camera po-
sition and animation defined in the layout,
but rough movement of the characters with-
in the scene are developed as well. Individual
scenes are combined into sequences, thus
forming the first more complex three-dimen-
sional visualization of the film.
The 3D layout is an effective means to refine
storytelling and check for continuity.
Screenshot of layout with character poses for "The Saga of Biôrn" (2010) The layout process, which is an important
by Frederik Valentin Bjerre-Poulsen, Daniel Dion Christensen, Jonas Doc- step in the development of animated films,
tor, Jonas Georgakakis, Jesper Aagaard Jensen, Benjamin Juel Kousholt, is also increasingly called previsualization
Mads Lundgård, Steffen Lyhne, Pernille Ørum-Nielsen; The Animation
Workshop, Denmark.
- in short: previz - to plan VFX or action se-
quences or to prepare the shoot of complete
live-action films.

Image composition for the short film “The Saga of

Biôrn" (2010) by Frederik Valentin Bjerre-Poulsen,
Daniel Dion Christensen, Jonas Doctor, Jonas Georga-
kakis, Jesper Aagaard Jensen, Benjamin Juel Kousholt,
Mads Lundgård, Steffen Lyhne, Pernille Ørum-Nielsen ;
The Animation Workshop, Denmark.

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 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

Character Rigging
Rigging creates bones, joints, and animation
control objects in and around the objects and
characters to be animated. The complexity of
the rig depends on the character’s mobility
requirements within the scenes to be animat-
ed later. The scope ranges from a simple ball
with only one animation control to characters
and creatures with hundreds of them.
The blueprint for rigs is usually inspired by
nature: Similar to the anatomy of humans
and animals, virtual skeletons are integrat- Character rig with animation controls for Ron
ed into the digital models, linked to the ge- in the short film "Rob 'n Ron" (2013) by Magnus Ig-
land Møller and Peter Smith; Tumblehead Animation
ometry surface by means of skinning and
Studio, Denmark.
equipped with the relevant control objects
for the animation. Depending on the realism
or desired complexity, muscle systems can
be incorporated as well as hair and clothing Character rigging is one of the most technical
simulations. Another important area of rig- areas of 3D computer animation and script-
ging is equipping facial features with flexible ing skills are very useful. Creating a well-func-
articulation options for a wide range of facial tioning and intuitive rig is an essential step
expressions later. in preparing for the animation and it is best
done in close communication and coordina-
tion between the animators and riggers.

Model, rig and animation control

picker for Xemerius, the 3D
character in the film
"Sapphire Blue". (2014);
© Copyright mem-film, Lieblingsfilm,
ARRI Film & TV, GFF, Tele München
Gruppe.

289
Chapter 2.4

Blend shapes for different

movements of the facial muscles
form the basis for the animation
rig for the facial expressions of a
character in the open-source short
film "Sintel" (2010);
© Copyright Blender Foundation | www.
sintel.org.

Character Animation tion); instead, the focus is placed on acting

While the animation process breathes life into skills as well as a good understanding of
the character, it is not just about the purely movements.
physical movement, but also about the act- The advantage of 3D animation of hav-
ing of the digital character. The animator has ing a character with constant volume can
achieved his goal when the public perceives also have a disadvantageous effect when
the character as thinking and feeling. The cre- extreme shape changes and even meta-
ative planning process in 3D animation is very morphoses are desired. These are relatively
similar to that of 2D animation, however, tools difficult to implement in 3D, since special
for 3D animation also differ considerably: Us- modelling and rigging is required.
ing the animation control objects, the 3D an- In 2D animation, only every second frame is
imator brings the character in various frames drawn (i.e. on 2’s) to work efficiently, where-
into key poses and can then play back this first as in 3D animation, each frame is rendered
rough animation - almost in real time - in or- (on 1’s). This allows for smoother move-
der to rework and refine it in the next step. ments and more details and corresponds
to our viewing habits of live-action film.
Although the artistic principles of 3D ani- Although the computer interpolates be-
mation are based on 2D animation, there tween the poses defined by the animator,
are some clear differences between the two a mechanically linear computer interpola-
techniques: tion is artistically unacceptable for natural
In 2D animation, the animator must be able movements, so that the animator must
to draw very well so that the character al- constantly "correct" the computer and de-
ways looks the same and always maintains fine the movements of the character down
the same volume. Drawing talents, on the to the smallest detail.
other hand, do not play an important role Animations created in 3D can be changed
in 3D animation (similar to puppet anima- constantly and can quickly be rendered in

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 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

preview quality. This allows for a very iter- The typical work process of character anima-
ative work process, from the rough to the tion starts with the idea and planning through
details of the animation, without having to sketches, self-acting of the scene and record-
wait a long time for scan or line test pro- ing of video references. Afterwards, key poses
cesses. for storytelling and description of movement
When animating to music or dialogue, it are created in 3D software. In additional steps,
can be played back in sync in 3D animation more and more breakdown poses are inserted
software. Therefore, X-sheets used in 2D and other details are animated, including final
animation are no longer needed. secondary movements, such as hair and cloth-
In 2D animation, details on the face are usu- ing (provided they are not simulated).
ally displayed in a very simplified manner.
In 3D animation, however, a very high de-
gree of detail can be rendered in pixel pre-
cision. This also means that a very detailed
and realistic animation of the facial expres-
sions as well as the lip sync can be created.
In this case, realism refers to the credibility
of facial expressions, whether in a photo-re-
alistic or stylized and cartoony character
design.

Six key frame poses for the run cycle of the dog in “The Narcoleptic Boy"
(2010) by Jessica Kesuma Winata, Nguyen Hieu Hanh, Pan Hui Ting,
Hans Christian Sulistio, Stefani Irwan, School of Art, Design and Media,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Images from an animation sequence of the 3D short film "Burger Burger" (2010) by Shicong Huang and Gavin Tan;
School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

291
Chapter 2.4

Lighting such as intensity, color, casting of shadows,

Lighting draws attention to the action in the bouncing light, reflections, and more are indi-
film and considerably influences mood and vidually adjusted lighting artist or TD (Techni-
atmosphere. Similar to photography, live-ac- cal Director). Since light interacts closely with
tion film or puppet animation, the image the shading of the objects, color and surface
is further modeled with light and the view- properties are continually adapted through
er's gaze is purposefully directed within the the lighting and compositing stage.
scene.
Virtual lights in 3D animation software are When creating textures for interactive games
based on those in our environment, such with real-time rendering, but without inte-
as natural daylight from the sun and artifi- grated lighting systems, lighting effects are
cial light sources, such as lamps and lights. often painted into surface textures, such as
However, since the calculation of absolute- faking lamplight and shadow effects on a
ly realistic light effects is very complex and wall.
time-consuming - or is sometimes not de-
sired for artistic reasons - light parameters

Classic lighting and shading set-up for "Do The Robot" SIGGRAPH Asia
2009 Mascot animation by Melanie Beisswenger (2009), model by Yuko
Oda, Brian Cannady, Leo Hourvitz.

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 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

Light test for “The Narcoleptic Boy" (2010) by Hoang Long, Jessica Kesuma Winata, Nguyen Hieu Hanh, Pan Hui Ting, Hans Chris-
tian Sulistio, Stefani Irwan, School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Lighting tests for the animation film "Sintel" (2010). ©

Copyright Blender Foundation | www.sintel.org.

Light directs the viewer's gaze in the image from the animated
film "Color Theory" (2010) by Davier Yoon, School of Art, Design
and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Rendered robot with wire frames for "Do The Robot"

SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 Mascot animation by Melanie
Beisswenger (2009).

293
 Chapter 2.4

Effects and Simulations Cloth systems make it possible to depict dif-

Effects and simulations are widely used in 3D ferent textile properties in virtual clothing
animation and VFX projects. Due to their un- and to calculate the movements of fabrics in
derlying physical laws, they can be created a realistic manner.
more complex and realistic by means of in- Hair and skin systems are mostly used in con-
creased computer performance and software. junction with characters and respond to their
Particle effects produce natural phenomena movements. However, a fur or hair system
such as fog, rain, water and snow, even fire and can also be used for a meadow of grass.
explosions. All of these effects and simulations calculate
physically correct the influence of natural
forces such as wind and gravity on them, or
even the collision of an entire group of ob-
jects with each other.
In 2D animation, partial effects are hand-
drawn and animated with precise artistic con-
trol, whereas in 3D animation, they are usually
simulated. While 3D software allows to obtain
a first result quickly, the precise artistic design
and art direction of the simulation is some-
times difficult to control and requires many
repetitive steps.

CG smoke effects in "Load" (2011) by David Rene Christensen, Lasse Smith,

Jeppe Broo Døcker, Mark Kjærgaard, Kristoffer W. Mikkelsen, Blake Over-
gaard and Malte Burup; The Animation Workshop, Denmark.

Detailed hair simulation in the 3D short film "Sintel" (2010). © Copyright Blender Foundation | www.sintel.org

294
 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

Rendering
Rendering is the final step in
the 3D animation pipeline,
bringing together models,
sets, shading, animation,
lighting, and effects. Pixel im- Final image from "Where Do All the
ages are now generated from Lost Things Go" (2011) by Hafizah
the 3D elements and scenes, Abdul Wahid, Joan Hsu Sze Yun,
Kanan Abdul Kader Mohammad
which in turn result in com-
Ali, Bernard Su Guo Hao; School of
plete film sequences. Art, Design and Media, Nanyang
During the lighting process, Technological University, Singa-
the image is normally ren- pore.
dered entirely as a preview
in just one pass. For the final
rendering, however, several
rendering passes with various
image information are often
created, in order to be able to
change them later during the
compositing process. A render Various render layers and passes
for the short film "Color Theory"
pass includes individual vary-
(2010) by Davier Yoon, School of
ing attributes, such as color, Art, Design and Media, Nanyang
shadow, and highlight, in ad- Technological University, Singa-
dition, masks for transparency pore.
of individual elements are cal-
culated, as well as channels for
depth information. Various surface structures in the
Another important step be- 3D short film "Ride Of Passage"
fore rendering is optimizing (2011) by Christian Bøving
the scene with regard to Andersen, Casper Michelsen,
Tina Lykke Thorn, Søren Nørbæk,
rendering times. No matter
Allan Vadskær Lønskov, Eva Lee
how fast the performance Wallberg, Jochen Kousholt, David
for hardware and computing Frylund Otzen; The Animation
grows, the visual demands Workshop, Denmark.
on computer graphics imag-
ery increase at least as fast
and therewith the complexi- several hours of rendering images is usually transferred
ty of the scenes as well. One time, and with increasing to computer networks opti-
single frame, which is one complexity it can even take mized for this purpose, so-
24th of a second, may take longer. The calculation of called render farms.

295
Chapter 2.4

A Look Beyond the Core Steps of the 3D Pipeline

The following areas and disciplines comple- in "Avatar" (2009), "Hugo" (2011) and "The
ment the 3D animation pipeline or are closely Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet" (2013).
linked with it. However, since stereoscopic film shoots are
still very demanding, a simpler method is
Motion and Performance Capture chosen for many films: 3D conversion. The
Motion Capture is the process of capturing film is shot in "2D" with only one camera, i.e.,
the motions of actors and converting this only a "flat" image is created, then separated
data into three-dimensional information, into depth layers and processed in post-pro-
which is entered into 3D animation software. duction to be projected for two eyes. This
The movement information is then adapted process, however, does not always lead to
to the 3D characters by motion editors and convincing results, as in the films “Clash of
further refined by animators. This process the Titans" (2010) and "Alice in Wonderland"
is mainly used for realistic movements of (2010), which were criticized for their 3D ste-
humanoid digital characters in action and reo conversion.
sports games as well as in VFX productions. 3D animation has a clear advantage in creat-
The term performance capture is used when ing stereoscopic films: The work steps of the
facial expressions and countenance are cap- animation production allow for clear plan-
tured in addition to body movements, thus ning of the sequences and a coordination of
placing the emphasis on theatrical presenta- the very important depth information from
tion. This approach was used in films such as scene to scene. Even in the layout process, a
"Avatar" (2009) and the remakes of the "Plan- virtual stereo camera can be created, which
et of the Apes" series 2011, 2014 and 2017. runs alongside and is tested in the subse-
quent stages. At the end of the pipeline, two
Stereoscopy – „3D“ in the movie theater separate images for each eye are rendered
Each of our two eyes perceives a slightly dis- instead of one. The success of stereoscopic
placed image from which the brain calculates animation can be measured in the fact that
spatial information. In the movie theater, the for some years now, all major 3D animation
stereoscopic projection simulates depth, al- film productions are created in stereo.
though the screen displays only two-dimen-
sional images. We are actually shown two
superimposed images, which are assigned to
each eye with the help of glasses.
Characters from "Ride Of Pas-
This means that when filming for “stereo" all sage" (2011) by Christian Bøving
images will have to be shot twice (2 cameras Andersen, Casper Michelsen,
mounted next to each other), as for example Tina Lykke Thorn, Søren Nørbæk,
Allan Vadskær Lønskov, Eva
Lee Wallberg, Jochen Kousholt,
David Frylund Otzen; The Ani-
mation Workshop, Denmark.

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 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

Image from the animated film "Load" (2011) by David Rene Christensen, Lasse Smith, Jeppe
Broo Døcker, Mark Kjærgaard, Kristoffer W. Mikkelsen, Blake Overgaard and Malte Burup;
The Animation Workshop, Denmark.

Games and Interactive Applications

The creation of 3D models, textures and an-
imations for real-time applications takes
place with the same tools and principles as
for pre-rendered films, however, their opti-
mization to the respective game engine and
a representation with a high frame rate takes
top priority. Factors influencing the frame
rate are, for example, the number of polygons
and lights, the size of the textures, as well as
the complexity of animations, effects, simu-
lations, etc., in short: everything that loads Set made of cardboard and "real" hand-crafted ma-
onto the console or computer memory. For terials (top left), 3D characters and 3D props for the
foreground (upper right) and final composited image
the game artist, it is also important to work
(bottom) from "Rob 'n Ron" (2013) by Magnus Igland
closely with the designers and programmers Møller and Peter Smith; Tumblehead Animation
of the game to ensure that the graphics are Studio, Denmark.
prepared to meet the requirements of the in-
teractions and game logic.

297
Chapter 2.4

Compositing
Although compositing is one of the 2D dig-
ital disciplines, it is an important step at the
end of the animation and VFX pipeline, since
this is where the results of the individual work
steps merge into one image. The previously
separately rendered elements of the 3D work-
flow are further processed in compositing and

Live-action film and CG character elements for the movie "Sapphire Blue" (2014);
© Copyright mem-film, Lieblingsfilm, ARRI Film & TV, GFF, Tele München Gruppe.

298
 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

merged into the final image. The image com- tion film shoots (often shot with a green or
ponents or objects, which are separated by blue screen) with its digital elements such as
alpha channels (transparency masks), can be set extensions and effects all the way to 3D
composited with one another and changed characters.
individually or together in color, brightness, In the next chapter we will learn more about
contrast, etc. the importance of 3D animation for visual
Key aspects in VFX projects are the seamless effects productions in an interview with VFX
integration of image sequences from live-ac- supervisor Volker Engel.

Assignment:
Create a short animation with a ball jumping through a small
obstacle course.
Use tutorials to familiarize yourself with the basic features of the
animation software of your choice.
Develop your idea for the animation and visualize it in sketches.
Now make a ball and a simple set with floor, wall and a box as an
obstacle.
Put materials and textures on the objects.
Where is the camera, is it moving? Define the scene layout.
Animate the movements of the ball. Refer to the 12 principles of
animation from the earlier chapters.
Think about a lighting situation and how the animation can best be
accentuated.
Now it's time to render everything!

299
Chapter 2.4

Interview with Volker Engel

"For me, animation is the ultimate
fundamental training for the elementary
understanding of motion.”
The German Oscar winner
Volker Engel is certainly
one of the most renowned
visual effects experts
worldwide: While still
attending the animation To start with, a basic question about the con-
film class with Professor nection between animation in general and
Ade at the Kunstakade- visual effects (abbreviated as VFX below) in
mie Stuttgart (Stuttgart particular: If you think about the principles
State Academy of Art of animation: What are the areas where a
and Design), he formed fundamental knowledge of the principles of
an artistic partnership animation for VFX is important? And how im-
with the German director portant is it, or where does it become import-
Roland Emmerich, which ant? VFX is actually an umbrella term, which
continues to this day. Milestones of this includes many different disciplines.
partnership include the Academy Award Of course, even computer animation is al-
winning VFX "Independence Day" (1996), ready an umbrella term, because almost
followed by "Godzilla" (1998), "2012" everything we do today - actually 100 per-
(2009), "Anonymous" (2011), "White cent now - is completely digital. With each
House Down" (2013) and "Independence project I get the question whether we also
Day: Resurgence" (2016). worked with miniature models. But unfor-
tunately, this is usually not feasible due to
high costs. In this respect, the digital do-
main predominates today. But everything
that is done in this area can be called ani-
mation, strictly speaking. And this is where
the animation principles come into play
as well. This area includes, for example,
computer-animated creatures, such as the
animation of animals. The films we have
recently made, such as "2012" (Emmerich
2012), "Anonymous" (Emmerich 2011) and
"White House Down" (Emmerich 2013)
again show different examples of anima-
tion. In each film, it was always about the
fact that everything was photo-realistic.

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 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

These were all films by Roland Emmerich standing of the various areas of animation
and they include more animations of ob- "White House Down" is a good example of
jects, such as helicopters and airplanes. a movie where you would never think that
With "Independence Day: Resurgence" I an animation supervisor was needed. My
recently finished another project with him. colleague Marc Weigert and I hired twelve
This is the continuation to the original "In- different visual effects companies for the
dependence Day" (Emmerich 1996). There film, and our company "Uncharted Territo-
are, of course, aliens, and they are comput- ry" was the hub. Everything came togeth-
er-animated. And here we are already in er at our place and we did the complete
the field of creature animation (= mythical, quality control and supervision. We had a
fictional creatures; author’s note), because modeling supervisor who checked all the
only a part was solved with motion capture, CG models, rendering and shading the
and a large part was still animated by hand. companies delivered. Our CG supervisor
And even motion capture is always par- then discussed with the companies, which
tially animated by hand. Therefore, a large methods to use to improve these models.
part of the animation in the film will come We also had an animation supervisor, Con-
from various areas. This is where I work as a rad Murrey, from Cape Town, with whom
supervisor with artists who need an under- we have been working for a very long time.

Volker Engel in a miniature cave built by New Deal

Studios in Los Angeles for the adventure film "Coronado"
(2003), directed by: Claudio Fäh. The film was written
by Volker Engel with his artistic partner Marc Weigert,
co-produced and supervised as a VFX supervisor team.

Photographs: Bruno Arnold

Miniature of a bridge, built by New Deal

Studios in Los Angeles for "Coronado”.

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Conrad already started working on the movie is, above all, that our previz is used
pre-visualization. We did the previz (abbre- for editing. Because editing runs parallel
viation for previsualization; author’s note) to the film shoot. Think of the aerial photo-
for "White House Down" in our company. graphs in which you see the White House:
A good example is the car chase, where These are all shots that we can not actually
two SUVs chase the presidential limousine make because the airspace above the White
around the White House. We put together House in Washington is a no-fly zone. So
an interesting mix. We used a video game we had to produce most of the large out-
engine and linked it to the “Motion Builder" side shots of the White House completely
software. For this, I needed somebody who digitally. They include not only Washington
was familiar with animation. We tried to au- and the White House, but also these excit-
tomate as much as possible, and in doing ing helicopter flights and movements. In
so, we were able to sit there with a steering the example which I have just mentioned,
wheel of a videogame and simulate this there were three helicopters in the air. It
car chase. But that was only the basis and was planned like a martial choreography.
it had to be worked out later. During this Conrad completely animated this one time
process, I constantly worked with the ani- from A to Z. We then go through it togeth-
mation supervisor. And that was also very er with the director and he comments on it.
important for the animated shots delivered For example: Yes, I know that this one has
by the other companies. For example, we to get away now, because the other one
have a lot of helicopter sequences. You may is coming towards him. But that looks too
think: Oh well, a helicopter flies from right much like a miniature model, which is much
to left, what's the big deal - but we were too fast, it has to be heavier and so on. This
showing incredibly difficult maneuvers results in completely new aspects: Okay,
in the film: A helicopter is shot, begins to then we have to keep one helicopter here
swerve, while another one just outside the just a little longer and it can turn away to
White House flies upwards, is almost hit by the side later. But then, suddenly your close-
the first one, swaying to the side. And then up shot on the second helicopter does not
we received the first animation tests from work anymore, because it would be covered
very well established companies, which up by the first helicopter the entire time.
were by far not as good as we needed And then you discuss it again with the di-
them to be. They also have their animators, rector, because that has an effect on the ed-
of course. We then realized: Unfortunately, iting he has planned for this sequence. We
they don’t have as good an animator like completely run through the animation once
our Conrad Murrey in their company. And from a neutral angle with these hard-sur-
Conrad is the one with us who is working face objects - in this case the helicopters
on these shots and finally delivers the bet- - for about one minute of the film. Then
ter version, after these companies were not the director goes over his cameras with us
able to deliver good quality all the way to and comments: This is where I can envision
the end. the following, over there I would like to see
In other words, the previz already goes so far the helicopter from this angle, back here I
as to give an impression of the movement want to see it from there - in the end, exactly
dynamics? how you actually shoot a live-action mov-
Yes. The important thing in such an action ie. At one time, this was not done in previz,

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because it was time-consuming to render, the background image would later look like
they only did shot-by-shot previz. Today we instead of the blue screen. This was tracked
do it differently: We design the action once live the entire time, a fantastic system. We
completely - in previz - and then place three are not yet able to use a previously animat-
or four different cameras. From this we can ed version of a helicopter together with the
then select the appropriate shots and, of animated backgrounds. But I feel that this
course, change other things as well. will be possible soon. To summarize it: The
scene is shot in the studio against a blue
And this animation, how exactly is it created? screen, Channing comes running onto the
You had already mentioned that it was based rooftop, and he now thankfully has build-
in part on a game engine. ings and landscape in the background in-
We only did this for the car chase. stead of a blue wall, which should not be too
detailed, so that they can be calculated live.
That means, the other is animated with key The filmed shot is immediately returned to
frames? our artists in post-viz. And we are working
Exactly, one hundred percent. closely with the editor, who already uses
our material for film editing. So the director
Then, of course, for the previz stage, you defi- can see immediately if the scene is working.
nitely need someone who knows something After the film shoot, we continue to work
about animation, otherwise it does not work in Los Angeles. Our animation supervisor,
at all. who himself is animating on the computer
Exactly. And previz transitions very smooth- as well, is already building the helicopters
ly into post-viz. Post-viz differs from previz into the shots. This raw form of the shot is
in that the material, which was shot with immediately given to the editor, who then
the actors on the set with the blue screen, incorporates it into the cut, otherwise you
goes back to our artists. Let's take our pro- would see only one actor now looking into
tagonist, Channing Tatum. He runs on top the blue sky. Instead, the editor has to be
of the roof because the terrorists are shoot- able to apply the cut to Conrad's helicop-
ing at the helicopters with rocket launchers ters. And Conrad would now certainly add
from the roof of the White House. He has that he had to make 15 different versions
a gun with him and tries to eliminate the of the shot, before everything was working
terrorists, to prevent them from following 100%, because there were always correc-
through with their plan. With Channing we tions being made.
shot in a studio in front of a blue screen - we
had a complete replica of the White House
roof. But we did not have the animated he-
licopters in the background yet. In putting
it all together, we worked with an interest-
ing technique called Ncam - the letter N
and cam for camera. With this technology,
we can combine the blue screen shot live
with our previz backgrounds created on
the computer. The director was able to re-
view during the film shoot on the set, what

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Getting back to something I think is import-

ant with regard to motion capture: What is
your position or experience with regard to
the extent to which motion capture has to be
post-processed nowadays? It seems logical
to me that you need an experienced anima-
tor, but how is it balanced? What is the re-
lationship between what you receive as raw
data that still requires clean-up, and what
still needs to be manipulated with regard to
key frames?
It always depends on the task and what you
are doing, how much, for example, the ani-
mated character differs from a human body.
If you are dealing with a creature, for exam-
ple, you will certainly have to change a lot of
things: For example, if the character has six
arms and looks completely different than a
human being. If you just have a motion cap-
ture scene with a person moving normally,
it looks different. We also made our own
motion capture for "White House Down".
(Although everyone always tells us that
there are giant archives for motion capture
data available. But for some reason, you can
never find what you need). And you actually
do not have to change very much.

It probably really depends on the shot, on

how well the actor can be seen in the image
and so on.
Yes.

Development of a scene from "Coronado" (2003). If you now think of the training, how much
Above and center are individual elements of the shot that were generat- should the knowledge of animation prin-
ed on the computer.
ciples in itself be a component of the visual
At the bottom is the final film image created by compositing (the virtual
“putting together") of the elements. effects training?

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 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

Image left und below: Computer ani-

mation compared to film image from
"Coronado" (2003).

For me, animation is the ultimate funda-

mental training for the elementary under-
standing of motion. We encounter it in all
visual effects areas. As a supervisor, I have
been in charge of many films where a lot of
destruction had to be animated. For exam-
ple, in “2012”, we had an aircraft carrier that
comes rolling toward you, as the jetfight-
ers on it are tearing away from fastening
chains. The complete shot was animated
by hand. Of course, the water in which the
aircraft carrier floats is created by procedur-
al animation. The White House is mowed
down by the aircraft carrier, and anyone characters, for example. But continents that
who worked on this shot has an incredible are breaking away, collapsing billboards
understanding of animation. And even the and crashing freeways with cars sliding and
earthquake sequences, which we made at rolling over - these are just different types of
our company "Uncharted Territory" (a total challenges! Much of this had to be animated
of 400 shots for the film) use animation: For by hand. And I worked on it with a lot of art-
the part where the limo drives through Los ists. Of course, not everyone has the same
Angeles, while everything to the left and talents, and we certainly had our superstars
right of it is collapsing, we used a software for the animation. We naturally gave them
for procedural animation. However, it also the coolest shots. During this work, we also
caused some problems. While everything had to develop completely new skills and
collapsed as it would happen in live-action, we virtually reinvented ourselves and our
it happened either too fast or too slow for way of working.
the scene. So we had to intervene and an-
imate everything around it. That might not
sound like a big challenge for an animator
who wants nothing more than to animate

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A computer-generated Osprey helicopter flying through a real waterfall

in "Coronado" (2003). The Mayan statues on both sides were digital stills
of miniatures, the sea spray was achieved by using particle effects.

Regarding procedural techniques or sim- it is getting easier for the animator to be

ulation: Does the use of such techniques able to use his skills - and I don’t want to
shift the discipline to engineering or pro- make it sound too easy now - in the end,
gramming? Where do you see the future by moving the correct control. He can
trend? Will it increase, in other words, will rely on his creative instincts and does not
the simulation process be somehow more suddenly have to encode and program a
artistically controllable? And will the pro- lot of things.
gramming become part of the training for
artists working in that field? In essence, the In other words, the trend is that the software
balance between a basically digital, but still itself is becoming a bit more intuitive and
"handmade" key frame animation and that, thus more user-friendly for the artist.
which takes place more in processes or in Exactly.
simulations.
I have observed that many young peo- ... and that the knowledge of programming
ple with an animation background who per se is not a must, but a purely technical
began working a lot with simulations, aspect that takes place more behind the
had a natural fear of the software they user interface so that the artist can concen-
were working with. (laughing). My point trate on the implementation of the artistic
is, that there is good news, namely, that vision.

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Yes, as with many other computer pro- here in Los Angeles: They were working a
grams. They are becoming more us- lot with so-called “proprietary software",
er-friendly. You can get an artist to create i.e. an in-house development, rather than
something, rather than a mathematician! a software that was readily available off the
Because the mathematician will only pro- shelf. We realized that one scene was not
vide you with something that looks abso- working very well with the in-house soft-
lutely terrible and has nothing to do with ware: If a ship was thrown a bit to the right,
reality. And he will also explain to you that for example, you completely lost the scale,
the computer calculated it exactly this way. and that had to be adapted somehow. To
It is best to have someone who basically do this, the artist sat down on his keyboard
has two heads on his shoulders, the artistic and began to write. And then we thought
one and the mathematical one. That is how of course: This can’t be for real! He really
it used to be. But this is moving increasing- has to program the numerical code (laugh-
ly into the artistic world. And these are the ing) somehow, just to change a movement
good news. from right to left. After a while we figured
out that the company was working with a
When talking with people from the industry dinosaur (with regard to software) at that
sector, it is apparent that they are looking time. But that was eight years ago. There
for graduates who can also write their own have been so many changes since then.
code, their own small plug-ins for programs. Sometimes these giant companies really
I mean, ok, one does not have to exclude lag behind.
the other, but as an instructor you are faced
with the question: Should we really push Because they are just not as flexible.
for this hybrid of artist and programmer so Exactly, because they have developed their
that someone can really, as you said, "basi- own products that were very expensive.
cally have two heads on their shoulders"... in An upgrade costs a lot of money again and
order to really merge these two things well has to be approved, because there will be
and be equipped with both qualifications. 700 artists working with it in the end. You
Or could it be that the software will evolve can’t just say, hey, let’s just quickly get this
in such a way that it becomes easier and software.
more intuitive to use, and in turn benefit the
artistic vision as well?
I think it is a slowly ascending curve. The
purely technical aspect will become less
important. And we continue to have peo-
ple on the team (mostly in leading posi-
tions), who also write a plug-in, if needed.
They write the plug-ins in such a way that it
is usable for all those who can not program
it. In a group of, say, seven animators, you
have two who can help out and find a short-
cut for something that is currently not real-
ly possible. We've seen something like this
for “2012” with one of the big companies

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Chapter 2.4

A film image from Volker Engel's

student short film "Re-Creation"
(1993), about a mechanical
"Circle of Life", animated to waltz
music.
Produced at the Film Academy
Baden Württemberg.

whole, or things that might have to be looked

at differently today, or extended terms, as far
as that is concerned? Or do you believe that
much of it has remained valid. Has it expand-
ed, broadened or changed in any way?
The animation and all the classic rules of
animation are certainly made easier with
today’s software packages. But I still have
to work with people who learned all these
basics. They need to know that these ba-
sics are important, and they must know
the software very well to fully benefit from
it. But there are hosts of untrained "anima-
It took Volker Engel eight weeks to animate seven tors" who may have purchased a software
robots on rotating platforms for his four-minute to try. After three weeks, these "animators"
short film. sometimes call themselves “visual effects
supervisor" of their own company, because
they made one small film. Something else
And perhaps as a final question. I fondly re- that’s very popular, is when they come to us
member your own film, your student film at and expect to be lead animator on a scene,
the time, about the principles of animation. and then it turns out that even working as
And in that respect you have always been an assistant for the animation, as third ani-
very familiar with the classic principles of mator in the background, so to speak, they
animation and have been very interested are clueless about the subject matter. That's
in the topic. The question would be: With all the old story of a basic training, and as our
these classic principles - squash and stretch, distinguished professor Grau used to say
anticipation, and everything that goes with at the State Academy of the Arts Stuttgart
that - do you think that new things have now at the time: Before you start with abstract
been added by CG, computer animation as a painting, you should have learned the basic

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rules of painting. (Laughing) And then you And of course, my question certainly lumped
can move away from it. And in my view, this everything together, but all these different
is exactly the same thing for animation. This principles have to be applied in very differ-
basic knowledge as part of this training is ent ways, depending on the style which is
so incredibly important for developing required later. The ideal goal of visual effects
an understanding of movement patterns, is, that it actually remains "invisible" itself in
rhythms and movement in nature. Other- most cases. The rendered images must be
wise, people animate things that just look credibly inserted into live-action happen-
completely wrong. Then you ask them: Why ings. A very high degree of credibility must be
do you think that this would move this way achieved, and there is certainly a very broad
in nature? And that's simply because they spectrum. But much of what established the
have never developed an eye for it and ba- principles of animation comes from the ob-
sically walked through life with blinders, or servation of reality and is then only exagger-
perhaps because they just played too many ated or inflated.
videogames. Yes.

The "conductor" robot from "Re-Creation".

Volker Engel working on the

"showdown scene": the 35mm
Crass camera on the left and the
video tab with Betacam SP deck on
the right.

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Chapter 2.4

There is probably a big difference whether You have to place your key frames correctly,
you're integrating a mythical creature into and this is done 100% manually. And I tell
a real-world environment, where you might Conrad to imagine this with a small camera
have more freedom as an animator - relative- shake, which has to be integrated some-
ly speaking, although it must be credible - as how, and that can’t be done with the push
compared to a purely physical-mechanical of a button, which brings us back to the
effect, which has to be incorporated into a subject organic/real. Conrad has the appro-
real event. priate knowledge and thus he has a sense
Yes, it certainly requires more creativity of how far he has to go with it, so that it
when you are moving around this "creature does not turn out ten times too strong and
terrain". But you’d be surprised how many looking artificial again.
artists don’t manage to get a heavy vehi-
cle driving around a fountain very quickly Okay, and as a real conclusion now, maybe
while swerving, due to a lack of basic train- a few words about what you think some-
ing and a lack of basic knowledge. And we one should focus on during their training,
in turn - getting back to the example - are who wants to work in the field of VFX. It is,
very fortunate to have an artist who was of course, impossible to answer this entirely
born to do that. We don’t have to worry across the board. VFX is the umbrella term
about whether or not he can do it. Anoth- for a very broad and diverse field, including
er example on this topic is the knowledge compositing, digital matte painting, particle
of cinematography when working in a systems, match move and previz, which is a
completely virtual space. Unless we pre-set very big topic, of course. But if you were to try
everything precisely in previz, we often get to simplify this for someone who is interest-
to see camera movements that look like ed in the field of VFX as a newcomer: What
motion control, but in a way as if they had would be the training areas that you would
actually been programmed by a robot. Our recommend as a good basis for future em-
catchphrase in those instances is always: ployment?
This has to be more organic - which really You should know early on, which direc-
means nothing more than: There have to tion you want to take. Due to their diverse
be small mistakes in it! They must corre- nature, the requirements are becoming
spond to the movement of the helicopter, increasingly specialized. And the key dis-
inside of which the camera is located. And tinction for us in the visual effects area are
this is something that no one in the audi- still computer animations on one hand,
ence would notice afterwards, but if it is and compositing on the other. And even
done right, it leads to the fact that every- if you study to become a 2D artist, wheth-
one thinks that it was filmed "100% real". er it is in the field of matte painting or as
a pure compositor - and there are incred-
This goes back to the basics, that you have ibly talented people in this area - you will
someone paying attention to such funda- still need to have a basic knowledge in the
mental matters as timing and spacing. You area of 3D computer animation. Simply
simply have to make sure that there are also because you're constantly working with
breaks in it and that irregularities are inte- people from that field. Your items are de-
grated, simply to avoid this "mechanical" im- livered to you by 3D artists and you have to
pression so that it does not look so uniformly. at least understand their language, even if

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you yourself can not work in 3D. The same not turn into three weeks. There are dead-
is true the other way around as well. During lines and budgets that must be met. It is
the intensive specialization, which you not very easy to find someone who can ex-
should pursue relatively early in order not press himself artistically, and is neverthe-
to work or train for four years in the wrong less able to commit to a time frame.
area, you should still keep 30 percent of
your studies for the other topic in mind.
Great, I believe this is a good conclusion.
Okay, a very small addition to this one: For (laughing)
many of these areas there are very clear ideas
about what skills someone could or should
bring to the job. An area where, in my experi-
ence, this is rather diversified or where it can
vary is, for example, digital matte painting.
From my conversations with industry, I know
this: For this area, for example, they like to
hire great photographers, they also like to
take people who are very talented digital
illustrators - the training background often
varies greatly. This seems to be an area where
a big pool of talent must come together or
one very unique talent with an expandable
skill set for certain additional knowledge,
which can then be acquired. In other words,
if someone is a tremendous photographer,
he can certainly qualify for this area just as
much as a great digital illustrator.
You can come from another area and still fit
in 100%. In addition, we always make sure
that we get artists who have good com-
mon sense, and as strange as it may sound
- a sense of reality. Especially when hiring
young people directly after graduating, we
have made the experience that they tend
to lose sight of the time factor during work.
They don’t understand that three days can

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Chapter 2.4

Interview with Isaac Kerlow

"There will be a different model of doing things"

Isaac Kerlow is an inde-

pendent filmmaker, artist
and author. The main
focus of his work is best
described by the terms
"changes" and "nature of
man". He is developing
creative projects at the
Earth Observatory of Sin-
gapore which are inspired You have written a very well-known book about
by geological science and computer animation, namely...
the prevention of natural The Art of 3D Computer Animation And Ef-
disasters. Isaac was one fects.
of the leading pioneers
of digital art and animation in the initial Exactly, and in this book, you have expanded
phase of the video game industry. He the traditional principles of animation to addi-
worked for the Walt Disney Company for tional rules, specifically for 3D computer anima-
a decade and was the founding chair of tion. Can you tell us more about this?
the legendary Department of Computer Yes, in fact, it started when I was working at
Graphics and Interactive Media at the Disney Interactive and we were developing
Pratt Institute in New York City. Isaac was the first 3D computer game for Disney. We had
also the founding Dean at the School a lot of discussions about how to transfer the
of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang traditional principles of animation to these rel-
Technological University in Singapore. atively simple 3D characters - that was still in
His filmography includes the anima- the early days of 3D games. We had some ad-
tion and live action films "The Tsunami visors from the traditional Feature Animation
of New Dreams" (2015), "SHADOWS" Department who said, of course: This is exactly
(2014), "Genesis" (2012), "Sudden Na- the way you have to do it! Twelve principles -
ture" (2011) and "Mayon: The Volcano end of story. This prompted me to think about
Princess" (2010). His current work, "Earth how we can modify and extend these tradi-
Girl 2: Preparing for the Tsunami" (2014), tional principles for 3D animation to incorpo-
is available as a free download. The rate these new art forms that did not yet exist
animated short "CHANGE" followed in in the 1930s and 1940s. These new artforms
October 2016. are quite different from the purely traditional
character animation. They are similar in cer-
tain ways, but are also very different in others!

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One of these additional points is limited an- So I thought: ‘why not introduce a new principle
imation. In the context of traditional hand- of animation that draws attention to it’? You can
drawn character animation, frame-by-frame use stylistic means that use limited animation
animation is one of the most obvious and in a way that would not have been approved
fastest ways to achieve the classic Disney-style by the traditional Disney style of the 1940s.
"illusion of life". Draw as much detail as pos- But this is 2014, we have a completely different
sible, achieve as much subtlety as possible. world, and animation audiences too are quite
This would already account for 30% of your different. This is the interesting thing about life
"illusion of life", if you know how to do it. But in general - an absolute truth of the 50’s, 60’s
then, at a 180 degree turn, there is the kind of or 70’s, 40 years later, no longer holds true, be-
animation for anime that for long was consid- cause people and methods have evolved.
ered sort of an inferior standard: The anime
style was simple partly to achieve faster and
cheaper productions, but also had a different
aesthetic feeling. Then, after several decades
of anime study, some were beginning to real-
ize that a whole new style had indeed devel-
oped for acting and expression that was based
on a very economical way of drawing and
painting. That is when I realized that limited
animation had traditionally been considered a
lesser style, but on the other hand there were
many examples of limited animation that pre-
sented a unique style that creates emotion in
a convincing manner. You watch these movies The Little Goddess in SHADOWS, directed by Isaac Kerlow, uses her
superpowers to help the villagers defeat the villains who want to destroy
with limited animation, where there are 3, 4 or
the forest. http://shadows-film.com.
even 10 seconds of hold with maybe one very © Isaac Kerlow
minimal movement at most, like the hair being
moved by the wind. But anime is definitely a
style, and Japanese animators finally came to
the conclusion that they were able to build a
powerful artistic style from their production
limitations. And they have continued to devel-
op this style over the past 30 years. Anime was
exported from Japan and as you know, we are
now all keenly aware of anime and Japanese
animators. In Europe, the United States, Latin
America, everywhere! And animators world-
wide began developing this supposed limita-
tion as a style: long holds; slow motion; partial
animation of body parts, while others remain
still; all things that would be considered mis-
takes in traditional animation, but which can
actually be used to express emotion.

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Chapter 2.4

The world has changed. So I thought of there should be a principle that highlighted
the young people who grew up with video this concept not just as an after-thought.
games, watched TV cartoons, most of which Facial animation is just one aspect of act-
is done with limited animation. They have not ing, but the traditional Disney perspective
even seen the early Pixar films, only the last, is more focused on the body's poses and
most recent ones. And for that generation, silhouettes, and facial animation was not
limited animation is quite normal. That’s how discussed very explicitly. Today we have
it is. I believe that limited animation is a legit- the option of animating extreme close-ups
imate technique that can be used to enhance of the face with enormous precision. In 3D
the expression of your animation. animation we have software that allows us
Another aspect that I thought was worth to literally control every single muscle in
mentioning is cinematography, particular- the face, and that is why facial animation
ly camera work. In the old days, there was became an extremely important way to tell
a real and rigid separation between layout, a story. And I felt that it should be raised to
camera and animation. These were very dif- the level of another principle of animation,
ferent stages, which took place at different because today, so much is communicated in
times throughout the process. But today cin- films through facial expressions. When you
ematography is considered at the very begin- compare today's films with those of 60 years
ning of a production, and it changes during ago there is a considerable difference in the
the course of production as you animate number of close-ups and facial expressions
the character(s). That's why I thought it was that are crucial to acting. Emotions and fa-
important to bring together the artistic lan- cial micro-expressions, minimal changes in
guage of film and animation. That's why I felt expression, are very popular in today's com-
that it was important to teach young people puter animation. It is important that young
that it was not only about the performance animators are at least aware of these things,
of the character, which is, of course, the most that they know what options are available
important thing, but just as much about cine- to them, and that they use them if they
matography, about how you shoot and show want.
the performance. Today, these two aspects
are integral parts of the process, and I felt that

Perpetual Motion is an animated short directed by

Isaac Kerlow about the dynamic nature of planet
Earth and human societies. This rendering test of
orbiting trash is based on concept art by Victor
Kerlow, modeling by Batrisya Nurul, and visual
development by Mark Cheung.
© Isaac Kerlow

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 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

Blending Motion is a concept that did not This ties in nicely with the question about mo-
exist before 2005. Motion capture has been tion capture and how this technology is gain-
around for 20 years, but for many years it ing importance. Do you think that in the future
was an imperfect, awkward and mechani- there will be a point, where basically the art of
cal-looking technology. After two decades animation is replaced by the performance of an
of motion capture, someone had the idea of actor and the resulting actions that are trans-
the blending motion process, and today you ferred to digital characters?
can work with blending motion in a very so- I do not believe that the performance of an
phisticated and controlled manner. So much actor will fully replace the art of hand-drawn
so, that one can use the presentation of an animation because they are two entirely dif-
actor to move a digital character, compara- ferent things. But it can certainly support or
ble to a puppeteer, and combine or refine it complement it. For me, this is like the differ-
with key frame animation. This unique blend ence between playing an acoustic guitar or
is so sophisticated that it has to be regard- an electric guitar. Both are guitars, but they
ed as a separate technology. When I wrote sound different and you have to play them
about this ten years ago, it was on the verge differently. I believe that the traditional key
of becoming reality. Blending motion still has frame animation will always remain its own
limitations but today this technique is a real- domain and that it will continue to evolve.
ity, and widely used in computer games that But motion capture has also advanced enor-
incorporate a huge amount of character in- mously over the past 30 years and since then
formation. This animation does not look like we have actually been able to implement
classic Disney character animation but many things that we would never have thought
of the characters in the top games have now possible. But I don’t believe that motion cap-
reached a very acceptable level of acting, es- ture can ever replace key frame animation,
pecially when you consider the number and they are simply different approaches to ani-
range of genres and styles. And the only way mation. However, for certain projects motion
to produce these games within schedule and capture offers a straightforward and feasible
with so many characters and such subtlety of way to animate a large sets of characters for
animation is by using blended motion, and computer games - no question! For example,
combining it with key frame animation and at Disney we produced baseball and football
some motion capture. This has already be- games for the ESPN brand. Producing those
come a specialized craft in itself. sport games with key frame animation was
out of the question, because of the expense
and effort involved. So you shoot the move-
ments of the live-action baseball players
on a soundstage and a few months later
you have a game with appropriate motion.
In other words, performance capture also
serves the purpose of efficient production.

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Chapter 2.4

An isolated boy playing

computer games is used to rep-
resent human alienation from
nature in CHANGE, a short film
by Isaac Kerlow about climate
and anthropogenic change.
https://art-science-media.com/
change
© Isaac Kerlow

You mentioned one more additional princi- There is not very much stylized, non-photoreal-
ple? istic rendering. What are the trends, how will it
Yes, visual styling. Today you can use, for develop? What do you think about the current
example, all kinds of shaders and rendering visual styles in CG-animated mainstream fea-
techniques to achieve very unique and very ture films?
expressive and artistic visual styles that con- In less than 30 years, rendering has been
tribute to the expressiveness of the medium. transformed from a cumbersome and barely
Unlike decades ago you can visualize the controllable technology into an extremely so-
"look" of the finished animation before the phisticated field. Today, you can render almost
animation is completed. This contributes to anything you want. It may require a complex
the power of your production at a basic level. production pipeline, but once in place, you
We now have the ability to combine multi- can render almost anything convincingly,
ple visual elements with digital compositing, if you know how. Just think of mainstream
even on a laptop using commercial software studios like DreamWorks, Pixar, Disney, ILM,
such as Photoshop. That opened doors for where you'll find highly sophisticated render-
many young people to try out complete- ing solutions that combine stylized realism
ly new visual styles. This would have been with painterly techniques. For example, I find
impossible in the past, too much work, you "Rango" (Verbinski 2011), very interesting,
would have needed a whole studio to get because this film represents a kind of exper-
that done. I think that digital technology has iment. It combines realistic aspects with styl-
brought all the production stages of anima- ized painterly solutions. It is also unique as an
tion closer together in time, you no longer animation, since it is not comparable to any-
have to wait 16 months between storyboard- thing else in terms of story and animation. In
ing and final rendering. You can storyboard "Kung Fu Panda" (Osborne/Stevenson 2008),
and render in paralell. It’s a different way of for example, there are parts that are rendered
working. That is why I believe that we need realistically, in a classical and traditional way,
the new principle of visual styling to reflect and then there are small details, where that
this changed reality. is not the case. If you look at the world of in-
dependent CG productions, you'll find even
more adventurous rendering techniques. But
the studios are very sophisticated and they

316
 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

have some incredible solutions that combine thing young animators can do, is to gain ac-
the realistic with the painterly. This aspect of cess to the work of artists from all ages from
CG is technically complex, and it takes quite all over the world, no matter where they come
an effort to develop this type of software. from, both in visual art and literature, since
Many of the small independent productions animation is about both. That is why it is very
opt for more modest rendering solutions, but important to read poems, short stories, novels,
that is beginning to change. There are student the classics! The craft is also very important,
projects, from Germany for example, with in- but as a director you must know and under-
credibly complex and highly sophisticated stand the major themes of human existence.
rendering techniques. When I see a group of It is good to begin with it in your twenties, be-
25-year-olds coming up with these solutions, cause sometimes it takes time to understand
whether realistic or stylized, it tells me that the these topics and to master them. Otherwise, if
next generation of animators will be different you do not pay attention to those deep artistic
from the previous one. These young people literature issues, you are going to be limited
will be able to do more and more on their lap- to be a craftsman, and that is okay, but is not
tops. I think that's great. This opens up com- what most young people aspire to be. Most
pletely new perspectives. young people aspire to have the craft under
their belt but also be able to tell their stories
What do you think a young animator should and represent their generation. So I would say,
focus on nowadays? What remains important, go to museums and read books. Even if you
what has changed? end up reading books on the iPad or look at
I think the most important thing is and re- the virtual collection of the Metropolitan Mu-
mains being familiar with the masterpieces seum online - that's fine too. But you literally
of art, design, film and animation. This means have to devote hours, days, weeks to it. I hope
getting acquainted with painters of the 19th today young animators of today understand
or 20th century, for example, or reading liter- how important this really is.
ature from all over the world, from different
centuries, whether from Europe, China or
whatever. This is a great challenge and op-
portunity. Today, for example, I asked a gifted
illustrator in my team whether she knew the
German expressionists. She looked at me and
said ‘no’. I said, ‘really? Have you ever heard of
George Grosz?’ ‘No.’ ‘Do you know the work of
Käthe Kollwitz?’ ‘No.’ This conversation was in-
spired by a story in which a mother protects
her child, and I thought of the classic draw-
ings by Käthe Kollwitz. And when she said
‘no’, I thought, gee whiz, I really have an edge
over her, just because I spent hours of my life
looking at these drawings and thinking about
them. Her drawing skills are excellent, but she
is not aware of important works of art that can
make her work better. The most important

317
Chapter 2.4

On to a very different topic: Convergence be-

tween live action and animation: We are very
close to the point where the dividing line be-
tween these fields is barely distinguishable
anymore, so it has disappeared in a way. Many
Hollywood blockbusters do combine virtual
sets and “real” actors” or integrate digitally cre-
ated and animated characters into live action.It
would be great to hear some of your thoughts
Animated with a contemporary digital version of
Indonesian cutout puppets, the Old Leader of the
about this: an outlook toward the future, how
villains fights the Little Goddess in SHADOWS, a short this can possibly further develop and what is
by Isaac Kerlow. http://shadows-film.com. happening now, what are the trends and where
© Isaac Kerlow is that going?
That's a good question. I can think of several
things. For one thing, I love watching block-
busters, because many of them are very en-
tertaining. But also with regard to the artistic
craftsmanship, the quality of the animation
is sometimes really breathtaking. I love and
admire good craftsmanship. And viewed
from this perspective, I think that some of
these accomplishments are wonderful. With
the help of visual effects, you can now more
than ever blur the boundaries between re-
ality and fiction, create original worlds, and
that is remarkable. Studios in Hollywood and
elsewhere realize this and that is why they
continue this approach. I think visual effects
have developed so strongly over the last de-
cade because studios realize that thanks to
The bittersweet ending of CHANGE brings up the them they can earn billions of dollars within a
need to balance thriving human communities with few years. That is unlikely to change anytime
a healthy natural environment. Artwork and anima-
tion by Nguyen Thi Nam Phuong and Jenevieve Ho,
soon. But this kind of work was not always
directed by Isaac Kerlow. https://art-science-media. interesting to me from the creative point of
com/change view. These big-budget blockbuster movies
© Isaac Kerlow jam-packed with effects were in fact one of
the reasons why I loved working at Disney,
precisely because I could contribute to the
process. But this was not always a challenge
in the artistic sense. I always wondered how,
for example, an independent film would look
with this level of technology. I recently saw
"Guardians of the Galaxy" (Gunn 2014).

318
 Insight into 3D Computer Animation

Which is a pretty funny movie. not able to reflect the new realities. And
Yes, it's very amusing and the characters films like "Easy Rider" and other films in the
are unique, especially for this type of film. 1960s, and the French New Wave, all helped
This Hollywood studio film is admirable, and Hollywood to reinvent itself entirely. I cannot
many of my friends earn their livelihood with wait to see that. I imagine it will happen in
productions like this. But what if a young many different types of ways, and I think it
director wanted to shoot a film with a small is going to happen in the most unexpected
team that blurred or completely eliminated way. And that is exactly what I would like to
the boundaries between reality and illusion? see soon. I believe that this will happen in
This seems impossible at the moment. I look many different forms, and I also believe that
forward to the time in a few decades when it can happen in very unexpected ways. I
a truly independent filmmaker can fully re- would be excited to see this, because for me
alize the benefits of these technologies in a it would use all the technology developed
true independent production. Because oth- since the 80s to end the first artistic chapter
erwise, we will keep watching the same kind of 3D computer animation and then create
of film. These films are fun and nice to watch, something completely new, something that
but they represent only a small portion of the no one expected when it all started. You can
films we should actually be making. I would already feel some of it happening in some of
love to see what independent filmmak- the games today. Today’s high-end games
ers would do with advanced high-end VFX are very interesting. It is impressive what
technologies, once they are adapted to their they can achieve in a short production time.
means. This is not quite happening yet, even I believe this is proof that there will be a new
though we have excellent small "indie" pro- way of doing things, for example, like using
ductions today with great but scaled down mobile phones for filming. Making a film
visual effects. with one tenth of the team, with one tenth
I am also certain that big studios will try new of the budget and reach an audience com-
stylistic approaches on a large scale. I can parable to today's blockbusters. I'm eagerly
not predict exactly when this will happen, waiting for that to happen. It will be very ex-
but something similar already happened citing. And this will be implemented by the
with American cinema in the 60s and 70s. generation of today’s 20-year-old "kids". We
Suddenly big Hollywood studios were tak- can help develop this "new something", and I
ing big stylistic risks to seize on the changes am curious to see what the outcome will be.
in technology and the viewing habits of the
new audiences. I believe that what studios
like DreamWorks, Pixar, Disney, Sony and Fox
are doing now, is like milking a cow: Stylis-
tically, the expectations of the audience are
met and this works commercially. The look
and sentiment of these films are similar, they
are funny, there is some melodrama, a lot
of comedy and large audiences love these
films. Well. This reminds me of the Holly-
wood of the 30s and 40s, the Hollywood
that collapsed because the old styles were

319
 Glossary
Animatic this anticipation must be scaled or motion capture can be
A filmed version of the according to the intensity of the combined, and its main features
storyboard that combines movement that follows. can be identified and controlled.
storyboard drawings with More in chapter 2.4) Interview with
limited animation and camera Appeal Isaac Kerlow.
movements to get an impression The quality of the animation
of the final film. For this purpose, design and/or the design of a Blocking
a preliminary version of the character should have a positive Rough work up of timing,
soundtrack and sound effects are effect on the audience. The using just a few key frames.
added as well. design must be convincing and The term is mainly used for 3D
More in chapter 1.1) Script and
coherent for the relevant style. computer animation and for stop
Storyboarding.
motion. More information in the
Arcs respective chapters.
Animation Handout Movements follow the pattern of
In traditional animation, it refers a curved arc line: Breakdown
to a "package" consisting of Each movement follows its own The important or crucial in-
storyboard, layout, dialog sheet arc, which must be checked in between, which defines the path
and directional instructions, animation: “Watch your arcs!“ from key frame A to key frame B.
which the animator receives More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of
from the director. Animation and their Application.
More in chapter 2.2) Animated
Armature
Cartoon.
Physical "skeleton" of a puppet in
puppet animation. May consist Briefing
of metal rods connected with Specific artistic and/or technical
Animation Pass joints. definition of the task.
Repeated trials to improve More in chapter 2.3) Stop Motion.
animation. Each time a better
version should emerge, building Cartoony
from the results of the previous Aspect Ratio Highly exaggerated and
one. Refers to the screen format. stylized form of animation and
More in chapter 1.1) Script and character design: The characters
Storyboarding. are heavily caricatured, and
Animatronic movements usually appear very
Puppets equipped with "snappy".
electronic interior life, which can Augmented Reality
be moved via motors in real time Changing the perception of
(in contrast to the single-frame reality by using computer- Change of Shape
technique used with animated generated techniques, e.g., by Shape change as a principle of
stop-motion puppets). integrating virtual objects into animation.
live-action environments. More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of
Animation and their Application.
Anticipation
Most movements are preceded Blending Motion
by a preparatory movement A special technique of character Character Animation
(anticipation); good example: animation widely used in games Animation, which aims to
The golfer’s backswing prior to and interactive applications, produce an emotionally
hitting the ball. The extent of whereby movements, which are convincing theatrical
based on key frame animation performance of sketched,
constructed or virtual characters.

320
 Glossary

Claymation Compositing Exposure Sheet/X-Sheet

Stop Motion using plasticine as Combining different image Spreadsheet of frames (counted
a material. elements (e.g., live action as single frames) and animation
More in chapter 2.3) Stop Motion. background with 3D character) drawings.
into a visually convincing and More in chapter 2.2) Traditional 2D

Clean Plate uniform frame. Animation.

More in chapter 2.4) Interview with
A "clean" shot of a background
Volker Engel.
setting for VFX, that is, without Extremes
the character, which is later to be The extreme key, anchor or
added in as an animated figure Creature Animation turning points of a movement.
or live-action actor. Realistic animation of real or Often used interchangeably
mythical creatures in the area with the term key frame. Some
Clean-Up of VFX. animation experts disagree (see
Refers to the finalized drawing Digital creatures must be key frames).
created from the previous credibly inserted into a live- More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of

rough animation in traditional action filmed environment. Animation and their Application.
More in chapter 2.4) Interview with
2D animation, which is most
Volker Engel.
commonly reduced to a simple Fade Out/Fade In
black outline of lead or color Means gradually decreasing or
pencil. Cross Cutting increasing the visibility of the
More in chapter 2.2) Traditional 2D Back and forth cutting between image over time.
Animation. two scenes or plot threads.
More in chapter 2.2) Traditional 2D
Field Guide
Animation.
Close-Up Refers to a tool of the traditional
A shot is placing the camera near 2D animation layout, which lets
to a character or object, making Cutout you specify the camera view
it appear big on the screen. The Flat, two-dimensionally cutout in relation to specific paper
shot of choice to show emotion character in traditional or digital formats. It also defines the
(by focusing on details in a animation. distance between the peg bar
face) or to direct attention (by and the respective camera field.
showcasing a specific detail). Dialogue Sheet More in chapter 2.2) Traditional 2D
Animation.
A tabular analysis that
Color Script breaks down the dialogue to
Depicts the dramatically correspond with the single- Finish Storyboards
motivated color sequence across frame numbers in the film. A highly detailed storyboard,
the entire movie. Resembles a which is very similar to the final
colored storyboard, but has a Down Shot "look" of a film, often in color
different function. Camera shot from above, e.g. as well.
More in chapter 1.4)What is Production
from an aerial perspective. Also
Design for Animation?
often referred to as "high-angle Follow Through
shot". A special form of overlapping
Comparison Sheet action (listed there as well),
Depicts the character design in Exaggeration which refers to the continuous
size comparison. Animation should exaggerate: movement of flexible and loosely
More in chapter 1.3) Character Design
Merely copying the forms connected objects. In character
and timing of live-action films animation, it pertains mostly to
produces unsatisfactory results. hair, cloaks, tails, etc.

321
 Frame by Frame Key Frame versions of the character models
Describes the filming technique A key parameter of a movement or even with rough geometric
for animation and is often in which a movement either shapes as "stand ins" of the
considered a defining criterion ends in a pose or carries out characters.
for animation. defining directional changes. More in chapters 1.1) Script and
Used to structure timing of the Storyboarding and 2.4) Insight into 3D

Gestural Drawing animation as well as a scene, Computer Animation.

Fast, sketchy drawing, which and (in traditional 2D animation)

reduces the character to the to ensure the consistency Leica Reel
essence of its pose. Hence, an of character representation. A Leica Reel is a type of animatic,
ideal training tool for animation. Richard Williams strictly limits in which the shots throughout
More in chapter 1.2) Figure Drawing for
the term key frame to a step the production are replaced
Storyboard and Animation.
of the animation that is critical step-by-step by the latest version
to understanding the story of the production: in 2D, the
(storytelling drawing). In this storyboard drawing is replaced
Green Screen book, however, we use the term
A green screen in front of which, by rough animation; rough
largely interchangeable with animation is replaced by clean-
for example, stop-motion the term extreme. "Extreme"
characters or actors may be up, clean-up is replaced by the
and "key frame" are often used final rendered/colored version.
filmed. The green background congruently in other animation
screen can be replaced later by In 3D accordingly, storyboard
reference books as well. See also is replaced by previz, previz by
keying with a virtual or live- the interview with Andreas Deja
action filmed background in playblast, playblast by the final
for a deeper discussion of this rendered version.
compositing. topic. More in chapter 1.1) Script and
More in chapter 2.4) Interview with
More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of
Storyboarding.
Volker Engel.
Animation and their Application.

Hard-Surface Modeling Lighting

Keying Virtual lighting in 3D computer
Modeling of objects with hard, Isolating image portions, e.g.
smooth, non-organic surface animation.
background for certain visual More in chapter 2.4) Insight into 3D
structures: i.e. predominantly features, such as chromaticity or Computer Animation.
technical objects such as luminance. This allows for these
machines, spaceships, buildings. image portions to be replaced by
More in chapter 2.4) Insight into 3D
other image elements. Ligne Claire
Computer Animation. Comic style, the best known
example:
Layout "Tintin" by Hergé.
Hold/Moving Hold A layout or 3D layout goes one
Standstill of animation as key Caricatured representation of
step further than the storyboard, characters with uniform black
frame/minimally animated key and precisely specifies field of
frame. outlines is combined with
view, camera movements and detailed realistic backgrounds.
More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of
camera angles during a shot.
Animation and their Application.
Layouts provide the basis for the
subsequent animation of the Limited Animation
Inbetweens shots. A concept that is mostly used
The drawings or generated The 2D layout is created in a for 2D animation. It uses three
frames that connect the key traditionally or digitally drawn or more exposures per single
frames with each other. form. drawing. For example, each
More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of The 3D layout is created as drawing is held for six frames.
Animation and their Application. previsualization: generally It is also used for animation, in
rendered as low-resolution

322
 Glossary

which characters are only partly Can be implemented in 2D and Momentum

animated (e.g., where only the 3D versions. In the 3D version, Dynamics of movement.
mouth moves). the painting is often projected
onto three-dimensional Mood Board
Line of Action geometric shapes. Compilation of visual reference
More in chapter 2.4) Interview with
Representation of one or several materials to narrow down
Volker Engel.
main directions of movement the look of a project in visual
wthin a pose. development.
It helps to define the essence of Miniatures
movement(s) within the body. Reduced in size and true to Motion Blur
More in chapter 1.2) Figure Drawing for scale physical models used in Rendering out of focus to create
Storyboard and Animation. live-action scenes, which were the illusion of fast movement.
mainly used in VFX shots, but
Line Test are now increasingly replaced by
virtual sets. Motion Capture
Filmed version of rough The modern form of rotoscoping:
More in chapter 2.4) Interview with
animation in traditional The movements of real actors
Volker Engel.
2D animation to assess any tagged with motion markers
improvements needed for the are filmed and transferred to
animation. Modeling digital characters, using special
More in chapter 2.2) Traditional 2D The modeling of digital objects software.
Animation. and characters in 3D computer More in chapter 2.4) Interview with
animation. Volker Engel.
Look Virtual sculpture, for organic
The appearance of a character or objects such as characters
increasingly carried out with Motion Control
a virtual world. Allows for programmed
More in chapter 1.4) What is Production
more intuitive software (e.g.
ZBrush). execution and exact repetition of
Design for Animation?
More in chapter 2.4) Insight into 3D
camera movement, for example,
Computer Animation.
to combine different image
Loop elements. Hence, an important
An animation that works with a technique for visual effects.
limited number of frames that Model Sheet Also used to enable camera
can be repeated endlessly: After Particularly used in traditional movements in single-frame takes
the last frame, the first one is 2D animation for depicting for stop-motion shoots.
repeated. a character from different More in chapters 2.3) Stop Motion and
More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of
perspectives and in different 2.4) Interview with Volker Engel.
Animation and their Application.
actions and moods.
Helps the animator to
understand the vision of the Non-Photorealistic Rendering
Match Cut character designer correctly and (NPR)
A cut that continues a to implement it accordingly - the Rendering techniques, which
movement precisely and without character stays "on model". are not concerned with
a break. Essential, in order to ensure photo-realism, but with the
More in chapter 1.1) Script and
consistency of character representation of artistically
Storyboarding.
representation, even with imaginative textures. An
different animators. example would be the digital
Matte Painting More in chapter 1.3) Character Design.
conversion of watercolor or oil
Today, mostly digitally created painting.
painting that creates the illusion
of a live-action setting.

323
 Outlines Pixilation effects. By now an indispensable
The outlines of a character Special stop-motion technique, part of all complex VFX-based
in traditional and digital 2D in which live-action actors are film productions.
animation. animated frame-by-frame. More in chapter 2.4) and the interview
More in chapter 2.2) Traditional 2D More in chapter 2.3) Stop Motion. with Volker Engel.
Animation.

Playblast Principles of Animation

Overlapping Action and Follow It is a preview film version of a The original 12 principles of
Through computer-generated animation, animation, as defined by Frank
Because of their weight and which is accurate to frame but Thomas and Ollie Johnson in
physical nature, the stomach lacks the final shading and their book "Illusion of Life" (1995)
and arms, for example, move rendering. Effectively the digital and slightly expanded and
in different rhythms, thus version of line tests in traditional modified for this manual.
overlapping in time. The same 2D animation, which enables the More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of
applies to loose appendages assessment of animation quality Animation and their Application.
of the character’s body: the and any necessary corrections. 1.) Timing
blowing coat, hair or the tail 2.) Spacing
of the squirrel etc. The bounce Pose 3.) Slow In und Slow Out
of these loose pieces is called Posture of an animation (deceleration/acceleration)
follow through. character. Usually the key or end 4.) Straight Ahead and Pose-
point of a movement and often to-Pose Animation
Pass exaggerated. 5.) Overlapping Action, Follow-
see Animation Pass Through
6.) Secondary Action
Post-Visualization, also Post-Viz 7.) Anticipation
Peg Bar Analogous to previz, it is the 8.) Squash and Stretch
A bar for animated films that is post-processing of scenes shot 9.) Arcs
used to keep the stacked sheets with VFX, thus the combination 10.) Solid Drawing
of drawings in register. of all the image elements in 11.) Exaggeration
More in chapter 2.2) Animated a uniformly appearing film 12.) Weight
Cartoon. sequence. 13.) Appeal and Strong Poses
More in chapter 2.4) Interview with
14.) Staging
Volker Engel.
Pipeline also Production 15.) Change of Shape
Pipeline 16.) Counter-Action
The structured production Pre-Production
flow of all forms of digital Everything that precedes the Procedural Animation
animation. Since combinations actual production stage, i.e. for Computer animations generated
and hybridization of animation the most part script, storyboard, by simulation.
techniques have become character design, production More in chapter 2.4) Interview with
increasingly complex, it has design and layout. There may also Volker Engel.
become an essential part of be some overlap with the actual
animation and it is widely used production process.
far beyond the conventional 3D Prop
computer animation. Object that is part of the
Previsualization, also Previz animated film world or
More in chapter 2.4) Insight into 3D
Basically another name for 3D something characters use.
Computer Animation.
layout that is used in the area
of VFX in order to plan and
simulate the subsequent shoot
of elaborate and (sometimes)
live-action scenes with special

324
 Glossary

Public Domain the information of movement in parameters allows us to perceive

Term for freely available artistic order to obtain the desired results materials as plastic, glass or
works where the copyright has (masters of this craft were Disney metal, for example.
expired. animators Milt Kahl and Marc More in chapter 2.4) Insight into 3D
Davis). Computer Animation.

Puppet Animation
Stop-motion technique, which Rough Animation Shooting Board
uses built puppets, mostly Not yet finalized version of A refined version of a storyboard
combined with live-action built the animation used for all that contains additional
and illuminated miniature sets. techniques except stop motion. information about the position,
More in chapter 2.3) Stop Motion. It is refined up to a final version angle, and movement of the
prior to clean-up in traditional camera. Used primarily for
Reference Map 2D animation, and prior to the accurate production planning in
Compilation of visual references final rendering and compositing live-action and stop motion.
that influence the visual in 3D computer animation. More in chapter 2.3) Stop Motion

development of a project.
Scripting Shortcut
Rendering Special form of programming Key combinations on the
The elaborate calculation of using scripts. For example, computer keyboard.
the final surface structures and the software “Python”, which
textures with the final lighting is frequently used for 3D Simulation
settings - required for all forms of animation, can be used for The animation of complex
digital animation. scripting. effects, such as water, storms,
fire, etc., which are created with
Rigging Secondary Action computer simulation. In contrast
Technology in 3D computer A "secondary action" that to key frame based animation,
animation: Bones, joints, supports or even counteracts the animator has very limited
and objects controlling the the primary action of a control of the simulation.
animation are created in character. It is important that More in chapter 2.4) Insight into 3D

and around the objects and this secondary action does not Computer Animation.

characters to be animated. The dominate or drown out the

complexity of the rig depends primary movement: It must be Sketch
on the character’s mobility noticeable, but must remain Another name for scribble.
requirements within the scenes secondary.
to be animated later. Skribble
More in chapter 2.4) Insight into 3D Shading Sketchy drawing, often very
Computer Animation. Properties applied to the lively due to its intuitive nature.
digital model in 3D computer
Rotoscoping animation that describe
the material and surface in Slow In und Slow Out
The once frequently used (Cushioning)
process in 2D animation for greater detail, such as color,
luminosity, reflective properties, Movements generally accelerate
realistic characters is based on initially (gradual wider spacing of
frame-by-frame tracing of live- transparency and other surface
details. Various settings of these drawings) and slow down again
action sequences. These must (gradual narrower spacing of
be adapted to the respective drawings) before they come to a
animation characters. Not unlike standstill or go into a key pose.
the motion capture process, an
experienced animator has to
thoroughly adapt and modify

325
 Smear Squash and Stretch Storyboard
Distorted drawing in traditional Physically induced deformations Converting the script into
2D animation, simulating motion of objects when forces act on cinematic shots in the form of
blur. them: drawings.
More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of Squashing and stretching. At first glance very similar to
Animation and their Application. a comic, but with a constant
Staging aspect ratio.
More in chapter 1.1) Script and
Snappy Action An action or movement
Storyboarding.
Animation, which is highly is staged, so that it can be
dynamic. This is achieved by communicated best to the
strong contrast in timing and viewer. Here, almost all other Straights/Curves
spacing. principles of animation come The graphically attractive
More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of into play, including the layout in contrast of straights and curves
Animation and their Application. relation to the specified image in contouring.
format.
Solid Drawing Straight Ahead and Pose-to-
Animated objects should always Stereoscopy Pose Animation
retain their original overall 3D technology that creates Two methods of animation that
volume when undergoing the illusion of spatial depth in are usually combined:
any deformation. In computer projection and requires the In straight ahead, the animator
animation, this step is audience to wear special glasses. works straight ahead from
performed by the computer, The term "stereoscopic" avoids the first drawing in the scene,
which calculates any relevant being confused with the term 3D without planning the detailed
deformations on the basis of computer animation: movement in advance. In pose-
preconfigured volumes. The general term for computer to-pose, the animator plans the
More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of animation that is created scene on the basis of defined key
Animation and their Application. in virtual 3D space on the poses or key frames, which are
computer, but often projected connected by inbetweens.
Spacing two-dimensionally. More in chapters 2.1) The Principles of

Spatial arrangement of frames Since every 3D computer Animation and their Application. and

(inbetweens) between the key animation basically has all the 2.2) Interview with Andreas Deja.

frames of an animation. necessary spatial information,

it is relatively easy to create Strong Poses
stereoscopic versions. Expressive poses.
Special Effects More in chapter 2.4) Insight into 3D
Practical effects that are Computer Animation.
produced directly on the set Style Guide
or in the camera: This includes Visual guideline in the form of
traditional matte paintings, or Stop Motion illustrations and text to ensure
animatronics. Frame-by-frame exposure consistency of the production
of two-or three-dimensional design for the animation film.
(mostly physical) objects. For More in chapter 1.4) Production Design.
Speed Lines each exposure, the objects are
An abstract graphic suggestion gradually changed, in order to
of fast movement, primarily create the illusion of movement. Thumbnail
found in comics, but with only More in chapter 2.3) Stop Motion.
Thumbnail sketch. Ideal for
limited justified use in animation. planning animation sequences.

326
 Glossary

Time Lapse Up Shot Walk Cycle

A single-frame technique for Camera shot from below, e.g., A special form of loop, where
takes, in which time elapses the frog’s eye view. Also often a character can walk “in
between each exposure. Often referred to as "low-angle shot". place”. In combination with
used in pixilation. a (mostly) horizontal pan of
Visual Development the background, it creates
Timing Development process of the illusion of a character in
The number of drawings/frames the visual style during the locomotion.
More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of
defines how long a movement production design and character
Animation and their Application.
will last "on screen". design of a film.
More in chapter 1.4) What is Production

Title Safe Area Design for Animation? Waves

The area within the framing, Wavy movements in animation.
More in chapter 2.1) The Principles of
which does not overlap with a Visual Effects (VFX)
Animation and their Application.
possible cut-off area when using Digitally generated effects - as
different projections. Titles in opposed to practical effects,
this area are therefore not cut or which are produced directly Weight
blocked. on the film set or in the camera The animation character, which
and are correctly called special is actually weightless, needs to
Toon Shader effects. be “given weight" convincingly:
Special 3D shading technique More in chapter 2.4) Interview with To achieve this, timing, spacing,
that creates the impression Volker Engel. squash and stretch, overlapping
of a traditional 2D cartoon action, anticipation, etc. all must
animation. Visual Storytelling be combined skillfully.
More in chapter 2.4) Insight into 3D The telling of a story with
Computer Animation. images, or in combination of text Wireframe
and images (comics) or dialogue/ 3-dimensional definition of a
sound /music and images (film). character in computer animation
in the form of a virtual “wire
frame"

327
 Bibliography/Picture Credits

Chapter 1.1 (2010), animated short film, 6 min. Chapter 1.3

Andrews, Mark; Chapman, Brenda (di- Kubrick, Stanley (director): "2001: "British fashion plate, mostly men and
rector): "Brave" (2011), animated fea- A Space Odyssey" (1968), feature boys" (1885). Public Domain. P.83,
ture film, 93 min., Walt Disney Pictures, film, 161 min. (release version), Met- bottom left.
Burbank/Pixar Animation Studios, ro-Goldwyn-Mayer (production and Image source (Download):
Emeryville (production), Walt Disney distribution), Los Angeles. http://theathertonian.com/?attach-
Pictures (distribution), Burbank. ment_id=545
Lauenstein, Christoph and Wolfgang
Baker, Cordell (director): "The Cat (director): "Balance" (1989), animated H.A. Thomas & Wylie Litho. Co.: „Tuxe-
Came Back" (1988), animated short short film, 7 min., Kunsthochschule do & bowler hat” (ca. 1896),
film, 7:40 min., National Film Board of Kassel, Hochschule für Bildende Kün- New York City. Public Domain. P.83,
Canada (production), Montreal. ste Hamburg (production). top right.
Image source (Download):
Baker, Mark (director): "The Hill Farm" Lean, David (director): "Lawrence
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
(1988), animated short film, 18 min. of Arabia" (1962), feature film, 222
File:Tuxedo_%26_bowler_hat_1896.jpg
National Film and Television School min, Horizon Pictures (production).
(production), Beaconsfield. Columbia Pictures (distribution), Los "Overcoat (left) and topcoat (right)"
Angeles. (1872) from "The Gazette of Fashion".
Cochran, Robert; Surnow, Jon (creator
Public Domain. P.83, bottom right.
of series): „24“ (2001-2010), Lee, Ang (director): "Hulk" (2003), fea-
Image source (Download):
TV series, 8 seasons with a total of 192 ture film, 138 min., Universal Pictures,
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
episodes, Imagine Television, Universal Universal City/Marvel Enterprises, New
File:Mens_Coats_1872_Fashion_Plate.
City/20th Century Fox Television, York City/Valhalla Motion Pictures, Los
jpg,
Los Angeles/Realtime Productions, Angeles/Good Machine (Production),
Chatsworth/Teakwood Lane Produc- Universal Pictures (distribution), "Punch, or the London Charivari"
tions, Los Angeles (production), 20th Universal City. (Magazine), Vol. 158, February 18th,
Television (broadcast/distribution), 1920. Various illustrators.
Rall, Hannes (director): "Das kalte
Los Angeles. Public Domain. P.83, top left and
Herz" (2013), animated short film,
center left.
Dudok de Wit, Michael (director): "The 29 min.
Image source (Download):
Monk and the Fish" ( "Le Moine et le
Verbinski, Gore (director): "Rango" http://www.gutenberg.org/
Poisson") (1994), animated short film,
(2011), animated feature film, 107 min, files/16401/16401-h/16401-h.htm
6 min., Folimage (production), Valence.
Nickelodeon Movies, Los Angeles/
"Street Costumes" (excerpt) from
Filoni, Dave (director (supervision/ Blind Wink, Pasadena/GK Films, Santa
"Antique Wanamaker's Catalog" (no
direction)): "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" Monica/Industrial Light & Magic, San
date). Public Domain. P.83, right edge
(2008-2014), animated TV series, 6 sea- Francisco (production); Paramount
of image.
sons with a total of 121 episodes, Lu- Pictures (distribution), Los Angeles.
Image source (Download):
casfilm, San Francisco and Singapore
Chapter 1.2 http://thegraphicsfairy.com/fa-
(production), Trifecta Entertainment
thers-day-clip-art-victorian-family-dad/
and Media, Los Angeles / New York Mattesi, Mike (2009), "Force: Dynamic
City; Disney-ABC Domestic Television, Life Drawing for Animators (Force „Victorian Gentleman”.
Los Angeles; Netflix (broadcast/distri- Drawing Series)", 2nd Edition, Focal Public Domain. P.83, far bottom right.
bution), Los Gatos. Press, Burlington, Massachusetts. Image source (Download):
http://thegraphicsfairy.com/victori-
Fischinger, Oskar (director): "Motion Stanchfield, Walt (2009), "Drawn to
an-gentleman/
Painting No. 1" (1947), animated short Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master
film, 11 min. Classes Volume 1 + 2: The Walt Stanch- Chapter 1.4
field Lectures", Focal Press, Burlington,
Gagné, Michel (director): "Sensology" Illustration of Bayeux Tapestry. Public
Massachusetts.
Domain. P.114, bottom left.

328
 Bibliography/Picture Credits

Image source (Download): (2014), Concept illustration for the film Public Domain. P.112, center.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ "As You Like It". P.109, bottom left. Digitized by the Internet archive and
File:Bayeux_Tapestry,_scene_40.png available on:
Ma Yuan (1200-1230), “Scholar with
http://www.archive.org/details/
Bacher, Hans (2013), "Light Tower" servants on a terrace".
mythsofthenorsem00gueruoft
Illustration. Public Domain. P.108, center top.
Image source (Download):
P.114, image 2 from top. Image source (Download):
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
https://one1more2time3.wordpress. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File%3ANorsemen_Landing_in_
com/?s=lighttower File:Ma_Lin_Painting.jpg?uselang=de
Iceland.jpg
Bacher, Hans (2012), Color Script McKay Savage (3/1/2006), "China
Rall, Jochen (2013), Design study for
for "Das kalte Herz" (2013, director: Yangshuo 1- beautiful landscape".
the film project "As You Like It" (direct-
Hannes Creative Commons License. P.108,
ed by Hannes Rall)
Rall). All images pp.129-130. top left.
P.114, image 4 from top.
Image source (Download):
Chen, Minglou (2008), "A trip to Hills
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Yew Ee Venn (2013/14), "Wang Liui-
and Lakes in Spring".
File:China_-_Yangshuo_1_-_beauti- ang". P.108, far right.
Public Domain. P.108, bottom left.
ful_landscape_(140903344).jpg?use- Illustrations for URECA (Undergradu-
Image source (Download):
lang=de ate Research on Campus) project at
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
the Nanyang Technological University
commons/thumb/8/81/A_part_of_Gi- Meier, Michael (2008), Concept illustra-
Singapore.
ant_Traditional_ tion for film project.
Chinese_Painting.JPG/1280px-A_part_ P.109, top left. Interview Hans Bacher
of_Giant_Traditional_Chinese_Painting. Allers, Roger; Minkoff, Rob (Director):
Ormston, Thomas (9/28/2007),
JPG?uselang=de "The Lion King" (1994), animated
"Photography of Viking Longhouse
feature film, 88 min., Walt Disney
Emitchan (2008), "Sanqingshan". from Þjóðveldisbærinn in Iceland".
Public Domain. P.108, center bottom. GNU license for free documentation.
Feature Animation (Studio), Buena
Image source (Download): P.112, top.
Vista Pictures Distribution (distribu-
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Image source (Download):
tion)
File:SanQingShan10.jpg?uselang=de http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
Burbank.
File:Stöng_Viking_Longhouse.jpg?use-
Fang, Congyi (1365), "Sacred Moun-
lang=de Bacher, Hans (2007), "Dreamworlds
tains and Precious Groves".
Production Design for Animation"
Public Domain. P.108, top, image 2 Praefcke, Andreas (2/10/2013), “Fool’s
(2007), Focal Press, Burlington, Mas-
from left. Jump in Weingarten on Carnival Sun-
sachusetts.
Image source (Download): day, 2013, Narrenverein Wikinger 1977
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ e.V. (Weingarten)”. Creative Commons Bancroft, Tony; Cook, Barry (director):
File:Fang_Congyi_Divine_Mountains. License. P. 113, right. "Mulan" (1998), animated feature film,
jpg?uselang=de Image source (Download): 87 min., Walt Disney Feature Anima-
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ tion (studio), Buena Vista Pictures
Keeshu (1/3/2004), “Knob of a Viking
File:Weingarten_Narrensprung_2013_ Distribution (distribution), Burbank.
Sword from the Haithabu Museum in
Wikinger_01.jpg?uselang=de
Germany". Clark, Les; Geronimi, Clyde; Larson,
GNU Free Documentation License. Wergeland, Oscar (1909), "Norsemen Eric; Reitherman, Wolfgang (director):
P.112, bottom. Landing in Iceland" Illustration in: "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), animated
Image source (Download): Guerber, H. A. (Hélène Adeline) (1909). feature film, 79 min., Walt Disney Fea-
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Myths of the Norsemen from the ture Animation (studio), Buena Vista
File:Viking_sword_pommel.jpg Eddas and Sagas. London : Harrap. This
illustration constitutes the endpaper. Distribution (distribution), Burbank.
Lim Wei Ren Darren; Rall, Hannes

329
 Dindal, Mark (Director): "The Emperor's Jackson, Peter (director): "The Hobbit" short film, 20 min.
New Groove" (2000), animated feature (trilogy):
Reiniger, Lotte (director): "The Adven-
film, 78 min., Walt Disney Feature An- 1.) "An Unexpected Journey" (2012),
tures of Prince Achmed" (1926),
imation (studio), Buena Vista Pictures feature film, 169 min.
animated feature film, 65 min .; Hagen,
Distribution (distribution), Burbank. 2.) "The Desolation of Smaug" (2013),
Louis (production), Berlin.
feature film, 161 min.
Geronimi, Clyde; Luske, Hamilton;
3.) "The Battle of the 5 Armies" (2014), Ruhemann, Andrew ; Tan, Shaun
Reitherman, Wolfgang (director): "101
feature film, 144 min. (director): "The Lost Thing" (2010),
Dalmatians" (1961), animated feature
New Line Cinema, Los Angeles/Met- animated short film, 10 min., Passion
film, 75 min., Walt Disney Feature
ro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Beverly Hills/Wing- Pictures (production), Melbourne.
Animation (studio), Buena Vista Distri-
Nut Films, Wellington (production),
bution (distribution), Burbank. Russell, Chuck (director): "The Mask"
Warner Bros Pictures (distribution),
(1994), feature film (hybrid of live
Hand, David (director): "Bambi" (1942), Burbank.
action and animation), 97 min, Dark
animated feature film, 70 min., Walt
Kentridge, William (director): "Ubu Horse Entertainment (production),
Disney Feature Animation (studio),
Tells the Truth" Studio City; New Line Film Produc-
RKO Radio Pictures (distribution),
(1996-97), animated short film, 8 min. tions. Inc. (distribution), Los Angeles.
Burbank.
Kuhn, Jochen (director): "Neulich 1" Švankmajer, Jan (director): "Dimensions
Trousdale, Gary; Wise, Kirk (director):
(1998), animated short film, 4 min. of Dialogue" (1982), animated short
"Beauty and the Beast" (1991), animat-
film, 14 min., Kratky film (distribution),
ed feature film, 90 min., Walt Disney Leaf, Caroline (director): "The Meta-
Prague.
Feature Animation (studio), Buena morphosis of Mr. Samsa"
Vista Pictures Distribution (distribu- (1977), animated short film, 10 min. Thomas, Frank; Johnston, Ollie, (1995),
tion), Burbank. National Film Board of Canada (pro- "The Principles of Illusion" in: The Illu-
duction), Montreal. sion of Life: Disney Animation, Disney
Trousdale, Gary; Wise, Kirk (director):
Edition, New York 1995, pp. 47-69
"Atlantis - The Lost Empire". (2001), an- Park, Nick (director): "Wallace and Gro-
imated feature film, 95 minutes, Walt mit" (series of animated short films): Williams, Richard (2002), “The
Disney Feature Animation (studio), 1) "A Grand Day Out" (1990), 24 min., Animator's Survival Kit", 2nd Edition:
(distribution), Burbank. The National Film and Television pp 35, 320, 323, Faber & Faber,
School, Beaconsfield/Aardman Stu- London.
Chapter 2.1
dios, Bristol (production), BBC Channel
Chapter 2.2
Baker, Mark (director): "The Hill Farm" 4 (broadcast), London.
(1989), animated short film, 18 min. 2.) "The Wrong Trousers" (1993), 30 Deja, Andreas (May 20, 2014), "Xerox"
National Film and Television School min, Aardman Studios (production), http://andreasdeja.blogspot.de
(production), Beaconsfield. Bristol; BBC (broadcast), London.
Geronimi, Clyde; Luske, Hamilton;
3.) "A Close Shave" (1995), 31 min,
Bird, Brad (director): "The Incredibles" Reitherman, Wolfgang (director): "101
Aardman Studios (production), Bristol;
(2004), animated feature film, 115 min, Dalmatians" (1961), animated feature
BBC (broadcast), London.
Pixar Animation Studios, Emeryville film, 103 min, Walt Disney Feature
4.) "A Matter of Loaf and Death" (2008),
(production); Buena Vista Pictures Animation (studio), Burbank; Buena
29 min, Aardman Studios (produc-
(distribution), Burbank. Vista Distribution Company Inc. (distri-
tion), Bristol; BBC (broadcast), London.
bution), Burbank.
Cakó, Ferenc (director): "Ab Ovo"
Patel, Ishu (director): "Afterlife"
(1987), animated short film, 7 min. Jacob (March 30, 2014), „Milt Kahl –
(1978), animated short film, 7:16 min.,
Animator – The AristoCats“, http://
Hubley, Faith; Hubley, John (director): National Film Board of Canada (pro-
adreamer49.wordpress.com/2014/03/
"Moon Bird" duction), Montreal.
30/milt-kahl-animator-the-aristocats/
(1959), animated short film, 10 min.
Petrov, Aleksandr (director): "The Old
Trousdale, Gary; Wise, Kirk (director):
Man and the Sea" (1999), animated

330
 Bibliography/Picture Credits

"Beauty and the Beast" (1991), animated feature film, 97 min., Walt bution (distribution), Burbank.
animated feature film, 90 min., Walt Disney Feature Animation (studio),
Pollock, George (director): "Murder,
Disney Feature Animation (studio), Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures
She Said" (1961), feature film,
Vista Pictures Distribution (distribution), Burbank.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Beverly Hills,
(distribution), Burbank.
DeBlois, Dean; Sanders, Chris (direc- George H. Brown Productions (produc-
Interview Andreas Deja tor): "Lilo and Stitch" (2002), animated tion), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Beverly
Allers, Roger; Minkoff, Rob (director): feature film, 85 min., Walt Disney Hills (distribution), Los Angeles.
"The Lion King" (1994), animated Feature Animation (studio), Buena
Reitherman, Wolfgang (director): "The
feature film, 88 min., Walt Disney Fea- Vista Pictures Distribution (distribu-
Sword in the Stone" (1963), animated
ture Animation (studio), Buena Vista tion), Burbank.
feature film, 79 min., Walt Disney Fea-
Pictures Distribution (distribution),
Dindal, Mark (Director): "The Emperor's ture Animation (studio), Buena Vista
Burbank.
New Groove" (2000), animated feature Distribution (distribution), Burbank.
Bacher, Hans: "Dreamworlds Produc- film, 78 min., Walt Disney Feature An-
Reitherman, Wolfgang (director): "The
tion Design for Animation" (2007), imation (studio), Buena Vista Pictures
Jungle Book" (1967), animated feature
Focal Press, Burlington, Massachusetts. Distribution (distribution), Burbank.
film, 78 min., Walt Disney Feature
Bancroft, Tony; Cook, Barry (director): Geronimi, Clyde; Jackson, Wilfred; Animation (studio), Buena Vista Distri-
"Mulan" (1998), animated feature Luske, Hamilton (director): "Cinderella" bution (distribution), Burbank.
film, 87 min., Walt Disney Feature (1950), animated feature film, 74 min-
Sharpsteen, Ben (director): "Dumbo"
Animation (studio), Buena Vista utes, Walt Disney Feature Animation
(1941), animated feature film, 64 min-
Pictures Distribution (distribution), Los (studio), Burbank; RKO Radio Pictures
utes, Walt Disney Feature Animation
Angeles. (distribution), Los Angeles.
(studio), Burbank; RKO Radio Pictures
Berger, Ludwig; Powell, Michael; Geronimi, Clyde; Jackson, Wilfred; (distribution), Los Angeles.
Whelan, Tim (director): "The Thief of Luske, Hamilton (director): "Peter Pan"
Stanchfield, Walt (2009), "Drawn to
Bagdad" (1940), feature film, 106 min, (1953), animated feature film, 76 min-
Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master
London Films (production), London; utes, Walt Disney Feature Animation
Classes Volume 1 + 2: The Walt Stanch-
United Artists (distribution), Burbank. (studio), Burbank; RKO Radio Pictures
field Lectures” (2009), Focal Press,
(distribution), Los Angeles.
Clark, Les; Geronimi, Clyde; Larson, Burlington, Massachusetts.
Eric; Reitherman, Wolfgang director): Geronimi, Clyde; Luske, Hamilton;
Trousdale, Gary; Wise, Kirk (director):
„Sleeping Beauty" (1959), animated Reitherman, Wolfgang (director): "101
"Beauty and the Beast" (1991), animat-
feature film, 79 min., Walt Disney Fea- Dalmatians" (1961), animated feature
ed feature film, 90 min., Walt Disney
ture Animation (studio), Buena Vista film, 103 min, Walt Disney Feature
Feature Animation (studio), Buena
Distribution (distribution), Burbank. Animation (studio), Burbank; Buena
Vista Pictures Distribution (distribu-
Vista Distribution Company Inc. (distri-
Clements, Ron; Musker, John (director): tion), Burbank.
bution), Burbank.
"Aladdin" (1992), animated feature
Williams, Richard (2002), “The
film, 90 min., Walt Disney Feature An- Hand, David (director): "Bambi" (1942),
Animator's Survival Kit", 2nd Edition: P
imation (studio), Buena Vista Pictures animated feature film, 70 minutes,
256, Faber & Faber, London.
Distribution (distribution), Burbank. Walt Disney Feature Animation
(studio), Burbank; RKO Radio Pictures Zemeckis, Robert (director): "Who
Clements, Ron; Musker, John (director):
(distribution), Los Angeles. Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988), feature
"Hercules" (1997), animated feature
film (hybrid of live action and anima-
film, 93 min., Walt Disney Feature An- Lounsberry, John; Reitherman,
tion), 104 min., Amblin Entertainment,
imation (studio), Buena Vista Pictures Wolfgang; Stevens, Art (director): "The
Silver Screen Partners III, Touchstone
Distribution (distribution), Burbank. Rescuers" (1977), animated feature
Pictures (studio), Buena Vista Pictures
film, 77 min., Walt Disney Feature
Clements, Ron; Musker, John (director): Distribution (distribution), Los
Animation (studio), Buena Vista Distri-
"The Princess and the Frog" (2009), Angeles.

331
 (production), Zeitgeist Films (distribu-
Chapter 2.3 Pal, George (director): "Puppetoons" tion), New York City.
(1932-1947), series of animated short
Stop Motion Webber, Rich (director): "Purple and
films.
Anable, Graham; Stacchi, Anthony Brown" (2006), animated film series,
(director): “The Boxtrolls” (2014), Parker, Trey; Stone, Matt (creation of 13 episodes, Aardman Animation
animated feature film, 96 min. Laika series): "South Park" (1997 - ongoing) (production), Bristol; Nickelodeon (TV
Entertainment (production), Hillsboro; TV animation series, 18 seasons with a broadcast), New York City.
Focus Features (distribution), Universal total of 257 episodes, Comedy Central
Chapter 2.4
City. (production and distribution), New
York City. Insight into 3D Computer Animation
Butler, Chris; Fell, Sam (director): "Para-
Burton, Tim (director): "Alice in
Norman" (2012), animated feature PES(director): "Human Skateboard"
Wonderland" (2010), feature film, 108
film, 92 min. Laika Entertainment (2008), animated short film, 0:31 min.
min., Walt Disney Pictures, Burbank/
(production), Hillsboro; Focus Features
Reiniger, Lotte (director): "The Roth Films, Santa Monica/The Zanuck
(distribution), Universal City.
Adventures of Prince Achmed" (1926), Company, Los Angeles/Team Todd,
Gondry, Michel (director): "Come Into animated feature film, 65 min., Hagen, Burbank (production), Walt Disney
My World" (2002), animated music Louis (production), Berlin. Studios Motion Pictures (distribution),
video 4.12 min. Burbank.
Reiniger, Lotte (director): “Kalif Storch"
Harris, Noah (director): "Ford Fiesta (1935), animated short film, 9:24 min. Cameron, James (director): "Avatar"
Zeitgeist" (2011), animated commer- (2009), feature film, 161 min.,
Reiniger, Lotte (director): "Papageno"
cial, 1 min. Lightstorm Entertainment, Manhattan
(1935), animated short film, 10:40 min.
Beac/Dune Entertainment, Los
Haskin, Byron (director): "The War of
Selick, Henry (director): "Coraline" Angeles/Ingenious Film Partners,
the Worlds" (1953), feature film, 85
(2009), animated feature film, 100 min, London (production); 20th Century
min., Paramount Pictures (production
Laika Entertainment (production), Hill- Fox (distribution), Los Angeles.
and distribution), Los Angeles.
sboro; Focus Features (distribution),
Cameron, James (director): "Termina-
Johnson, Stephen R. (director): Universal City.
tor 2: Judgment Day" (1991), feature
"Sledgehammer" (1986), animated
Selick, Henry (director): "The film, 136 min, Carolco Pictures/Pacific
music video, 5:01 min.
Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993), Western/Lightstorm Entertainment,
Jutra, Claude; McLaren, Norman animated feature film, 76 min., Manhattan Beach/Le Studio Canal +
(director): "A Chairy Tale" (1957), Touchstone Pictures/Skellington SA, Paris (production); TriStar Pictures
animated short film, 12 min., National Productions (production), Buena Vista (distribution), Los Angeles.
Film Board of Canada (production and Pictures (distribution), Burbank.
Fincher, David (director): "The Curious
distribution), Montreal.
Shynola (director): "Strawberry Swing" Case of Benjamin Button" (2008),
Laven, Orie; Nathan, Merav and Yuval (2009), animated music video, 4:13 min. feature film, 166 min, The Kennedy/
(director): "Her Morning Elegance" Marshall Company (production),
Starevitch, Ladislas: "The Beautiful
(2009), animated music video, 3:36 min. Santa Monica; Paramount Pictures (US
Lukanida" (1910), animated short film.
distribution, Hollywood; Warner Bros.
McLaren, Norman (director): "Neigh-
Švankmajer, Jan (director): "Food" Pictures (global distribution), Burbank.
bours" (1952), animated short film,
(1992), animated short film, 17 min.;
8:06 min., National Film Board of Fuchssteiner, Felix; Schöde, Katharina
Kallista, Jaromir (production), Zeitgeist
Canada (production and distribution), (director): "Sapphire Blue" (2014),
Films (distribution), New York City.
Montreal. feature film, 116 min., Tele München
Švankmajer, Jan (director): "Conspir- Fernseh Produktionsgesellschaft
Nagashima, Kizo; Roemer, Larry (direc-
ators of Pleasure" (1996), animated (TMG) (production), Munich, Concorde
tor): "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
feature film, 85 min.; Kallista, Jaromir Filmverleih (distribution), Grünwald.
(1964), TV Special, Rankin / Bass Produc-
tions (production), New York City.

332
 Bibliography/Picture Credits

Goedegebure, Sascha (director): "Big Scorsese, Martin (director): "Hugo" House Down" (2013), feature film, 131
Buck Bunny" (2008), animated short (2011), feature film, 126 min., GK min., Centropolis Entertainment, My-
film, 10 min., Blender Foundation (pro- Films/Infinitum Nihil, Los Angeles thology Entertainment (production),
duction), Amsterdam, The Geeworld (production), Paramount Pictures Columbia Pictures (distribution), Los
Studios (distribution), Los Angeles. (distribution), Los Angeles. Angeles.

Heffron, Richard T. (director): "Future Spielberg, Steven (director): "Jurassic Interview Isaac Kerlow
World" (1976), feature film, 104 min., Park" (1993), feature film, 127 min, Gunn, James (director): "Guardians of
Aubrey Company/Paul N. Lazarus III Amblin Entertainment (production), the Galaxy" (2014), feature film, 122
(production), American International Universal City; Universal Pictures min, Marvel Studios (production), New
(distribution), Los Angeles. (distribution), Universal City. York City; Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures (distribution), Los Angeles.
Jackson, Peter (director): "The Lord Tykwer, Tom; Wachowski, Andy;
of the Rings: The Two Towers" (2002), Wachowski, Lana (director): "Cloud Kerlow, Isaac (2009), "The Art of 3D
feature film, 179 min, WingNut Films, Atlas" (2013), feature film, 171 min., Computer Animation And Effects", 4th
Wellington/The Saul Zaentz Company, Anarchos Productions/Cloud Atlas edition, Wiley, Hoboken, New Jersey.
Passaic (production); New Line Cinema Productions/X-Filme Creative Pool
Osborne, Mark; Stevenson John
(distribution), Los Angeles. (production), Warner Bros. Pictures
(director): (2008) "Kung Fu Panda"
(distribution), Burbank.
Lasseter, John (director): "Toy Story" (2008), animated feature film, 92 min.,
(1995), animated feature film, 81 min, Wyatt, Rupert (director): "Rise of the DreamWorks Animation (production),
Pixar Animation Studios, San Fran- Planet of the Apes" (2011), feature Paramount Pictures (distribution), Los
cisco. Walt Disney Pictures, Burbank film, 105 min, Chernin Entertainment, Angeles.
(production); Buena Vista Pictures Santa Monica/Dune Entertainment,
Verbinski, Gore (director): "Rango"
(distribution), Los Angeles. Los Angeles/Big Screen Productions/
(2011), animated feature film, 107 min,
Ingenious Film Partners, London
Leterrier, Louis (director): "Clash of Nickelodeon Movies, Los Angeles/
(production); 20th Century Fox (distri-
the Titans" (2010), feature film, 96 Blind Wink, Pasadena/GK Films, Santa
bution), Los Angeles.
min., Legendary Pictures, Burbank/ Monica/Industrial Light & Magic, San
The Zanuck Company, Los Angeles/ Interview Volker Engel Francisco (production); Paramount
Thunder Road Pictures, Santa Monica Emmerich, Roland (director): "Inde- Pictures (distribution), Los Angeles.
(production), Warner Bros. Pictures pendence Day" (1996), feature film,
All internet sources were accessed on
(distribution), Burbank. 145 min., Centropolis Entertainment
06/01/2015.
(production), 20th Century Fox (distri-
Lucas, George (director): "Star Wars"
bution), Los Angeles.
(1977), feature film, 121 min, Lucasfilm
(production), San Francisco; 20th Cen- Emmerich, Roland (director): "2012"
tury Fox (distribution), Los Angeles. (2009), feature film, 158 min.,
Columbia Pictures (production), Sony
Reeves, Matt (director): "Dawn of the
Pictures Releasing (distribution), Los
Planet of the Apes" (2014), feature
Angeles.
film, 130 min, Chernin Entertainment,
Santa Monica/TSG Entertainment, Las Emmerich, Roland (director): "Anon-
Vegas (production); 20th Century Fox ymous" (2011), feature film, 130 min.,
(distribution), Los Angeles. Anonymous Pictures/Centropolis
Entertainment/Relativity Media Stu-
Sakaguchi, Hironobu (director): "Final
dio, Los Angeles/Babelsberg Motion
Fantasy: The Spirits Within" (2001),
Pictures, Berlin (production), Columbia
animated feature film, 108 min, Square
Pictures (distribution), Los Angeles.
Pictures (production), Tokyo; Columbia
Pictures (distribution), Culver City. Emmerich, Roland (director): "White

333
 Hannes Rall, Kathrin Albers (Stop Motion) and Melanie Beisswenger (3D Computer Animation).

Recommendations for Additional Reading

Some preliminary remarks: The should think outside the box Burlington, Massachusetts.
following list represents only and seek inspiration from areas An outstanding book, which
a limited selection of what we other than animation, such uses a very comprehensive and
believe to be some of the most as live-action movies, theater, effective combination of image
important and most useful ballet, modern and classical fine and text to introduce the basics
books on their respective topics. arts, graphic design as well as of cinematography and visual
Waging into the decision was, interactive applications. It’s the storytelling for film.
of course, the extent, to which only path to innovation and to
Eisner, Will Graphic (2008),
this literature constitutes a leaving the worn paths behind!
"Graphic Storytelling and
meaningful addition to the book
Visual Narrative", WW Norton &
at hand. Fortunately, the number
1.1) Script and Storyboarding Company, New York City.
of interesting publications
Building on that:
on animation has increased Top Tip: Alexander, Kate; Besen,
Eisner, Will, (2008), "Comics and
exponentially in recent years, Ellen; Mintz, Aubry; Sullivan,
Sequential Art: Principles and
and with so many good books Karen (2013): "Ideas for the
Practices from the Legendary
on the market now, it is simply Animated Short: Finding and
Cartoonist" (Will Eisner
impossible to buy them all. Building Stories", second
Instructional Books), W.W. Norton
extended Edition, Focal Press,
& Company, New York City.
An animator, of course, can Burlington, Massachusetts.
never have enough books, One of the very few books on the Glebas, Francis (2008): “Directing
particularly when considering market that specifically deals with the Story: Professional
the very beautiful art books on the development of stories for Storytelling and Storyboarding
special films, which are published animated short films, providing Techniques for Live Action
with almost every major film useful details with many examples. and Animation”, Focal Press,
production. Burlington, Massachusetts.
Bacher, Hans (2015), "Sketchbook:
Composition Studies for Film" Glebas, Francis (2012) : "The
The Internet offers endless
Laurence King Publishing, Animator's Eye: Adding Life to
resources as well, often free of
London. Animation with Timing, Layout,
charge. Prompt and valuable
Design, Color and Sound", Focal
information is available for Top Tip: Beiman, Nancy (2012),
Press, Burlington, Massachusetts.
almost every aspect of animation, "Prepare to Board! Creating Story
including blogs and websites and Characters for Animated Hart, John (2007), "The Art of
with artistic examples on all Features and Shorts: 2nd the Storyboard: A Filmmaker's
those topics discussed here. Edition ", Focal Press, Burlington, Introduction, Second Edition",
Almost any film imaginable is Massachusetts. Focal Press, Burlington,
available for purchase online, and If you want to invest only in one Massachusetts.
many others are available free of book on the subject, then Beiman's
Katz, Jason; Lasseter, John (2015):
charge. This is especially true for work is perfect: It successfully
"Funny!: Twenty-Five Years in
many artistic short films, which combines story development with
the Pixar Story Room", Chronicle
are otherwise only shown at film character design and storyboard.
Books, San Francisco.
festivals. Therefore, we can only Easy to understand, funny and
encourage you to continue your superbly illustrated. Top Tip: Mateu-Mestre, Marcos
study, particularly in the detailed (2010): "Framed Ink: Drawing
Top Tip: Brown, Blain (2011),
(frame by frame!) analysis of and Composition for Visual
"Cinematography: Theory and
these resources. And - more Storytellers", Design Studio Press,
Practice: Image Making for
important than ever - keep an Culver City.
Cinematographers and Directors",
open mind! Animation designers In my opinion, simply the best book
2nd Edition, Focal Press,

334
 Recommendations for additional reading

when it comes to the concepts of site I have found so far on these Series)", 2nd Edition, Focal Press,
composition, cinematography, specific topics! Burlington, Massachusetts.
lighting, lenses and film editing Building on that:
in the storyboard. Add to this Mattesi, Mike (2011): "Force:
1.2) Figure Drawing for
the brilliant drawings which Animal Drawing: Animal
Storyboard and Animation
beautifully explain the concepts. Locomotion and Design
The reader will be able to learn Top Tip: Chelsea, David (1997): Concepts for Animators (Force
so much just by studying these "Perspective! for Comic Book Drawing Series)", Focal Press,
illustrations. Artists: How to Achieve a Burlington, Massachusetts.
Professional Look in your Mattesi also sets a standard by
Top Tip: McCloud, Scott (1994),
Artwork", Watson-Guptill, New showing animators with his wealth
"Understanding Comics", William
York City. of illustrations, how to best utilize
Morrow Paperbacks, New York
Building on that: and implement drawing according
City.
Chelsea, David (2011): "Extreme to model. He then applies the same
Building on that:
Perspective! For Artists: Learn the basic concepts to the drawing of
McCloud, Scott (2006), "Making
Secrets of Curvilinear, Cylindrical, animals in the second book. There
Comics: Storytelling Secrets of
Fisheye, Isometric, and Other is an accompanying website below.
Comics, Manga and Graphic
Amazing Systems that Will Make
Novels", Harper Paperbacks, New Top Tip: Stanchfield, Walt (2009),
Your Drawings Pop Off the Page”,
York City. "Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of
Watson-Guptill, New York City.
Yes - this is about comics. And there Disney Master Classes Volume 1 +
Chelsea, not unlike McCloud,
are differences between comics 2: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures",
congenially uses the comic
and animation. Nevertheless, there Burlington, Massachusetts.
medium to explain the concepts
are a lot of similarities in terms of These two volumes based on the
of perspective drawing in an
visual storytelling, and animators sketchbooks and notes of the
easy-to-understand and pragmatic
can learn a tremendous amount longtime drawing instructor at
manner.
here. The stroke of genius is the Disney Feature Animation, Walt
fact that McCloud explains the Top Tip: Hultgren, Ken Stanchfield, are an absolute
principles of visual storytelling (1993): "The Art of Animal must. The perfect addition and
in comic form - virtually Drawing: Construction, Action expansion to Mattesi’s books
demonstrating the relevance of Analysis, Caricature (Dover Art - much more focused on the
his theory/theories in a practical Instruction)", Dover Publications, specific connection between the
example. Mineola. requirements of animation and the
Little text, but the wonderful practice of figure drawing.
Wright, Jean Ann (2005),
illustrations are virtually self-
"Animation Writing and Websites
explanatory. Probably the best
Development: From Script Mattesi, Mike, "Drawingforce.
drawings that successfully
Development to Pitch", Focal com"
combine high realism and
Press, Burlington, Massachusetts. http://www.drawingforce.com
anatomical precision in animal
The website of Mike Mattesi.
Websites: representation with the stylization,
Top Tip: Kennedy, Mark: "Temple exaggeration and simplification
of the Seven Golden Camels”, needed for animation. A master of 1.3) Character Design – Virtual
sevencamels.blogspot.com his craft. Casting Couch for Animated
The blog of a storyboard expert Film Stars
Top Tip: Mattesi, Mike (2009):
who offers an incredibly broad
"Force: Dynamic Life Drawing Amid, Amidi (2006), "Cartoon
and valuable selection of posts
for Animators (Force Drawing Modern", Chronicle Books, San
on visual storytelling for (mainly)
Francisco.
animation and comics. The best

335
 Canemaker, John (2014), "The Art updated treasure trove for
Bancroft, Tom (2006), "Creating and Flair of Mary Blair (Updated inspiration with a stylistically open
Characters with Personality: For Edition): An Appreciation (Disney perspective. Visually very analytical
Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, Editions Deluxe)" Disney Editions, and always in good taste in the
and Graphic Novels", Watson- Glendale. selection of outstanding examples
Guptill, New York City. of animation, film, comics,
Top Tip: Ghez, Didier
Building on that: illustration and visual art.
(2015-ongoing), "They Drew as
Bancroft, Tom (2012), "Character
They Pleased: The Hidden Art of
Mentor: Learn by Example to
Disney's Golden Age Vol. 1-3", 2.1) The Principles of Animation
Use Expressions, Poses, and
Chronicle Books, San Francisco. and their Application
Staging to Bring Your Characters
A book series about the (hidden)
to Life", Focal Press, Burlington, Top Tip: Blair, Preston (1994),
art of the Disney Concept Artists
Massachusetts. "Cartoon Animation", Walter
of the 1930s into the 1990s. So
Foster Publishing, Irvine.
Denicke, Lars; Thaler, Peter (2012), relevant, because these concept
This book, designed in 1947 by
"Pictoplasma - The Character studies were often much more
animation veteran Blair (among
Compendium", Pictoplasma daring, elaborate and more radical
others Disney, MGM), remains a
Publishing, Berlin. than what was later - in part due
stroke of genius for me: In an easy-
to technical reasons - seen in the
Kato, Bob (2014), "The Drawing to-grasp manner, he explains the
completed movies. An ideal source
Club: Master the Art of Drawing 12 basic principles of animation
of inspiration for designers in the
Characters from Life", Quarry with unsurpassed simplicity and
digital age, who after all, have a
Books, Beverly, Massachusetts. clarity.
whole new world of technological
Top Tip: Mattesi, Mike (2008), possibilities available to them. Top Tip: Goldberg, Eric (2008),
"Force: Character Design from Of course, it’s best to acquire all "Character Animation Crash
Life Drawing (Drawing Force (yet to be published) volumes of Course!" Silman-James Press, Los
Series)", Focal Press, Burlington, this series, in order to see the full Angeles.
Massachusetts. stylistic range of that period. Disney Animator Goldberg
This is another book, where Mattesi (responsible, among others, for
Polson, Tod (2013), "The Noble
pursues a very interesting and the Genie in “Aladdin”) provides
Approach: Maurice Noble and
unusual concept: What does the a comprehensive, systematic and
the Zen of Animation Design",
drawing of real people bring to easy-to-understand introduction to
Chronicle Books, San Francisco.
character design? the basic principles of animation.
Websites: Like Blair’s book, it is an excellent
Top Tip: Amidi, Amid, “Cartoon introduction “from the ground
1.4) What is Production Design
Brew” up”, but also of great interest
for Animation?
http://www.cartoonbrew.com for advanced animators, if only
Top Tip: Bacher, Hans (2007), Very important website, always because of the excellent drawings.
"Dreamworlds Production Design with up-to-date reports about With accompanying DVD, where
for Animation", Focal Press, artistic developments in the you can view the examples from
Burlington, Massachusetts. mainstream and independent the book in motion.
Established as the standard sector! Worth checking out daily.
Hooks, Ed (2011), "Acting
reference on the topic, it explains
Top Tip: Bacher, Hans: for Animators", 3rd edition,
extensively the concepts for
“One1more2three3’s Weblog”, Routledge, London.
production design in animation,
https://one1more2time3.wordpress.
using beautiful illustrations Top Tip: Williams, Richard (2002),
com
throughout. "The Animator's Survival Kit,"
An inexhaustible and constantly

336
 Recommendations for additional reading

second edition, Faber and Faber, shows countless examples of A “bible” for any stop-motion
London. beautifully drawn character filmmaker, which will never be
The "Bible" -the undisputed animation. He usually combines outdated. Purvis, a renowned
standard reference, unmatched clips with images of original animation filmmaker, provides
level of detail and author’s drawings. Ideal for analyzing and deep insight into the complex
wealth of knowledge. Minor learning! world of puppet animation,
limitation: Can be overwhelming including practical tips and precise
for beginners and, in my opinion, production processes. However,
2.3) Stop Motion
focuses too much on walk cycles. this book goes beyond the status
Builds on this book and is therefore Top Tip: Lord, Peter; Sibley, Brian of a simple "how-to-do" book and
a great addition! Excellent DVD (2010) "Cracking Animation- The offers an intellectually engaging
and iPad editions are available Aardman Book of 3-D Animation", discussion on the subject, enriched
as well. Thames & Hudson, London. by entertaining interviews and
Not only for fans of the long- reports from professionals in
standing Aardman Studio in Bristol. the industry. Purvis talks about
2.2) Animated Cartoon
It provides insight into the world of his personal experiences, which
(traditional 2D animation)
"Wallace and Gromit", "Gumpy" and lends credence to his sincerity and
Top Tip: Deja, Andreas (2015), "Shawn, the Sheep", but unlike many enthusiasm for puppet animation
"The Nine Old Men: Lessons, other making-of books (which are in each chapter, making this an
Techniques, and Inspiration from often nothing more than a self- inspiring reference book! Suitable
Disney's Great Animators", Focal promotion of studios), it is a very for anyone interested in animation
Press, Burlington, Massachusetts. easy-to-read and straightforward and for every student at any level.
Top animator Deja about the manual. The many pictures help
Top Tip: Purves, Barry (2014),
legendary "Nine Old Men”, the the reader to understand the
"Stop Motion Animation: Frame
(early) golden era at Disney. It is individual production steps and
by Frame Film-making with
interesting that these masters to get introduced to the subject
Puppets and Models (Basics
of traditional 2D animation had matter. Very suitable for beginners
Animation)" (2nd Edition),
fundamentally different artistic and especially those readers, who
Fairchild Books, London.
personalities. Contrary to what one are interested in clay animation
Less extensive than the above
might think, this work also offers technique.
mentioned work, and instead
great information on diverse and
Top Tip: Priebe, Ken (2010), "The focusing only on production. It
very different concepts.
Advanced Art of Stop-Motion is based on stop-motion films by
Top Tip: Halas, John; Whitaker, Animation", Cengage Learning, renowned filmmakers and explains
Harold (2009), "Timing for Boston. various techniques and processes
Animation", Sito, Tom (Editor), This book provides a very in an easy-to-understand and
Focal Press, Burlington, comprehensive insight into the practical manner. It adequately
Massachusetts. professional work of stop motion. covers every production step,
Another classic, which could And while it does not take a distinct but is mainly focused on
also be listed under the heading look at the animation form itself, it character animation. Best suited
"Principles of Animation". provides highly practical, detailed for advanced beginners and
reports on all areas of puppet animation enthusiasts in general.
Websites:
animation production.
Top Tip: Deja, Andreas, "Deja Websites:
View". Top Tip: Purves, Barry (2007), Top Tip: www.dragonframe.com
http://andreasdeja.blogspot.de "Stop Motion: Passion, Process Website of Dragonframe, the
Excellent addition to the interview and Performance", Focal Press, currently most popular and
in this book. On his blog, Andreas Burlington, Massachusetts.

337
 professional stop motion software. 2D and CG", Thomson Course Digital Sculpting Human
It provides many good (especially Technology, Boston Anatomy", Wiley, Indianapolis.
technical) tips and many links to The focus of this book is on
Vaughan, William (2011), "Digital
current productions from which character animation and is aimed
Modeling", New Riders, Berkeley.
you can learn a lot. Professionals at both 3D and 2D animators who
and beginners alike love and use want to transfer to and/or improve Websites:
this software. their skills with 3D animation. IT'S ART
The authors cover special features www.itsartmag.com
and challenges in 3D animation
2.4) Insight into 3D Computer CGSociety
and deepen the basics of
Animation www.cgsociety.org
animation and acting.
fxphd
Amin, Jahirul (2015), "Beginner's
Top Tip: Kerlow, Isaac (2009), "The www.fxphd.com
Guide to Character Creation
Art of 3D Computer Animation
in Maya", 3dtotal Publishing, 3DTotal
and Effects", 4th expanded and
Worcester, UK. www.3dtotal.com
revised edition, Wiley, New York
Top Tip: Birn, Jeremy (2013), City.
"Digital Lighting and Rendering" Isaac Kerlow provides a
Third Edition, New Riders, comprehensive insight into
Berkeley. the various aspects of modern
This book not only elaborates on computer animation and shows
the software-independent practical the historical development of
implementation of lighting and techniques and their applications.
rendering, but it also deals with This book is a good introduction
the broader-reaching artistic into the subject matter, but is not
fundamentals, in order to achieve primarily a guide for practical
effective image design and staging application.
through lighting. Principles of
Top Tip: Osipa, Jason (2010),
photography, cinematography and
"Stop Staring: Facial Modeling
visual arts are covered as well as
and Animation Done Right", Wiley
the specific types of lighting used in
Publishing, Indianapolis.
3D animation application.
The animation of faces in 3D is
Cantor, Jeremy (2013), "Secrets of a special artistic and technical
CG Short Filmmakers", Cengage challenge that Jason Osipa
Learning, Boston. presents with this classic for
3D setup of faces. He presents
Dunlop, Renee (2014),
complex facts and processes in an
"Production Pipeline
easy-to-understand manner, thus
Fundamentals for Film and
providing a solid introduction to a
Game", Focal Press, Burlington,
complex topic.
Massachusetts.
Roy, Kenny (2014), "Finish
Gress, Jon (2014), "Visual Effects
Your Film! Tips and Tricks for
and Compositing", New Riders,
Making an Animated Short in
Berkeley.
Maya", Focal Press, Burlington,
Top Tip: Jones, Angie. Oliff, Jamie Massachusetts.
(2006), "Thinking Animation:
Spencer, Scott (2010), "ZBrush
Bridging the Gap Between

338
 New Animation Projects by Hannes Rall

New Animation Projects by Hannes Rall

Visual development for the animated short films "All the World's a
Stage" and "As You Like It"
(being developed) - based on William Shakespeare.
Director: Hannes Rall. Script: Daniel Keith Jernigan.
Visual Development: Hannes Rall, Jochen Rall and Lim Wei Ren Darren.

Character Designs by Hannes Rall (roughs) and Lim Wei

Ren Darren (clean-up). These designs show the design
influences of traditional art, the silhouette films by Lotte
Reiniger and the minimalistic/puristic design style by
designers like Saul Bass.

Design sketches for the

film "All the World's a
Stage" (2016), directed by
Hannes Rall.

Production Painting for the film "All the World's a Stage" by

Hannes Rall. The film has been screened at over 100 interna-
tional festivals and won 4 awards.

339
 Design study for the prologue
sequence of "As You Like It" by
Hannes Rall.

Prop designs by Hannes Rall

(design/roughs) and
Lim Wei Ren Darren (clean-up and
color design).

Additional design studies for the

prologue sequence by Hannes Rall.

340
 Future Animation Projects by Hannes Rall

Visual Development for the animated feature film "Die Nibelungen"

(being developed)
Director and script writer (with dialogue co-author Simon Rost): Hannes Rall.
Script Advisor: Alex Buresch.
Visual Development: Hans Bacher and Hannes Rall.

Expressionist study.
© Copyright Hans Bacher.

Production Painting:
Brunhilde confronting
King Gunther.
© Copyright Hannes Rall.

Production Painting: Siegfried in the forest Character design of Siegfried.

© Copyright Hans Bacher. © Copyright Hans Bacher.

341