— ARTICLE RESPONSE: FACIAL ANIMATION

                      — FACIAL ANIMATION 101 by Dana Boadway-Masson


                                    Facial animation is one of the most important parts when animating, clearly
                           showing the characters emotion and response to an external trigger, therefore
                           creating a story and making the audience feel an emotion. It's the basis of any
                           action, and "reveals what is being processed through the mind of your 
                           character" (Boadway-Masson.). Being able to show this action leads to a more
                           consistent, interesting story and animation that will make your work come to 
                           life, and help your viewers relate to the characters. Dana Boadway-Masson 
                           explains wonderfully certain tips and things to keep in mind while animating                                         a character. She clearly illustrates the importance, and includes real-life and
                           drawn examples to take ideas from.

                                     Masson creates a clear four step guide into learning the basics of showing
                           emotion, this process is called the 'KISS' Method. "Keep It Simple, Silly!" At first
                           reading that might invoke some confusion, (which is an emotion, silly.), but after
                           explaining it further, the author makes a lot more sense. Breaking the shot down,
                           creating key poses and frames and writing little notes of what the emotion is and 
                           why it is occurring can help you go a long way! She uses a perfect example of 
                           a scene in Sherlock Holmes, where one character shows multiple emotions in a 
                           matter of one sentence! Now that can be confusing if it wasn't for a simple 
                           breakdown and explanation of the emotion, before replicating the actual emotion.
                           Bringing it back to the times of a bouncing ball or pendulum, Masson reminds us 
                           that there is a special timing for emotion as well! There must be an initial emotion,
                           a factor to trigger a response (this would be the 'emotional hang-time', considered a 
                           neutral face), and then the next emotion. Seems simple, right? She trails off of to the
                           next topic — discussing dialogue blocking and jaw movements. This part was a bit
                           confusing to understand when animating, but Masson explains it clearly. She gives
                           the tip of using ones own body to understand the movement, pressing your fingers
                           against your jaw and moving your mouth to the words to find the emphasis and 
                           dominating vowels in the sentence. You may look silly while doing it, but it's better 
                           to look like a fool than to have your animation look like a fool! The examples she
                           used were very clear, showing proper stretch and squash, and further delving into 
                           another wondrous process of animation; emphasis! All of these factors tie in together
                           to create a beautiful piece of art, and Masson highlights this perfectly.

                                    Honestly, I'm super impressed by this article. It was well thought out, clear,
                           and straight to the point!  Her examples also made me squeal on the inside a bit, as 
                           for my interview, I used the exact same reference to practice my 'stretch and squash' 
                           of faces! Seeing those beautiful examples again made me smile to know I was doing
                           things the right way, and I had a little 'you're one step ahead!' moment. Besides that,
                           I was having a bit of trouble on my own when trying to show emotion in my eleven
                           second club animation. With her steps of KISS (I laughed a bit at that.) and
                           breakdown of "input - pause - output" and "initial action - event - reaction" made it
                           a lot more simple than me just winging it and hoping for the best! I plan to use her 
                           jaw theory some time as well, if my style allows me to attempt a jaw movement. I 
                           could also use that for 3-D however, so the tips won't go to waste! I loved this article
                           and honestly believe it to be one of my favorite ones to be posted so far!

                                    Facial expressions have proven to be the basis to any good story, emotion 
                           being the driving cause of a story and animation. However, figuring out where to
                           put emotion, how to use it to your advantage, and how to perfect it, can be quite the
                           challenge when faced with a big animation project! There is hope however, the easy
                           and simple guide posted by Dana Boadway-Masson on emotion timing, jaw motion,
                           and implicating emphasis and stretch and squash into your face, clearly outline tips 
                           and tricks to wash your troubles away!

——————— WEEKLY RESPONSE 11/18/18

                            ————————— WEEKLY COMMENTS —————————



                          ♕  — LEARNED : This week, we had a lot of demos. I'll pick just one to talk
                                                           about, cut out puppets! It was pretty easy to grasp, however
                                                           my curse of technology made it a bit harder. Connecting,
                                                           using drawing substitution, and the node library proved to be
                                                           pretty overwhelming! But I think I've got the grasp of it.



                          ♕  — WANT TO LEARN: 3-D animation! I'm so excited to start rigging, I feel like
                                                                       I'll do a lot better on a technical standpoint rather than a
                                                                       creative standpoint! I'm used to rigging from using one
                                                                       program called MMD, so it really should come easy!



                          ♕  — FRUSTRATED: The biggest thing that frustrated me would be the cut out
                                                                 puppets and key framing it. For some reason, my brain
                                                                 refused to comprehend the directions and left me absolutely
                                                                 confused if I was doing it right. I was definitely frustrated,
                                                                 but now that the project is done I'll never touch it again!
                                                                 Thank everything holy.



                          ♕  — HAPPY: I'd have to say I've been about how my 11 second club has turned
                                                    out so far. I'm going to have to cut a few scenes out to make up for
                                                    time, but otherwise I'm making good progress and strides! Especially
                                                    considering I don't draw my ocs that often. I'm adoring the fact I get
                                                    to draw Braxel over and over again! And, I also went to Ari's B-Day
                                                    party yesterday! That was incredibly fun.


                          ♕  — INTERESTING LINK: This week I'd like to bring attention to another one of
                                                                            my favorite movies (sadly another anime one. Licata
                                                                            must be seething with my terrible interests in anime.)
                                                                            called "A Silent Voice." This movie details two kids
                                                                            in junior high struggle with depression and anxiety,
                                                                            while the 'bully' becomes the 'bullied' and learns how
                                                                            to accept forgiveness, and himself. The film handled
                                                                            the personality a deaf character as well, using sound
                                                                            to portray what she, the deaf character is feeling in a
                                                                            a way. This article describes more of the storyboard
                                                                            process and in depth explanations of the film!

— ARTICLE RESPONSE: WEEK OF 11/4/18

                      — FOLLOW THROUGH: THE 12 BASICS PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION.



                      This week's wonderful article is about follow-through, also known as overlapping
                      action, and mainly relies on physics. More specifically, Newton's laws of physics
                      and gravity. The law states that an objects in rest will stay in rest, and objects
                      in motion, will remain in motion (unless stopped by a greater force.) 
                      A great example to explain this would be a demon tail, the base moving and end
                      of the tail (a spade) will flick and swish behind it, even when the base stops moving. 

                      Now you may be wondering, how does this beautiful law of motion help animators?
                      The answer is simple — the flick and swish, the continuous movement after a stop, 
                      animation much more lively and fluid. If everything just stopped, the pause would be
                      so sudden that the viewer wouldn't have time to digest the movement. To perfect your
                      animation, you must keep in mind that fluid motions follow Newton's law of gravity.
                      Drew Adams, author of "Follow-through and Overlapping action" (an article dedicated
                      to teaching young and old animators the ins-and-outs of animation) firmly believes that
                      "overlapping action give your animation a natural feel" (Adams). That being said, both 
                      professionals and animators agree that overlapping actions allows for fluid movements.

                      Now putting this into use may become hard, but with practice, it becomes much easier
                      to implement overlapping action into your own artwork. The most important tip to
                      using overlapping-action would be to remember that the 'tail' is "along for the ride"
                      (Adams). Never have the tail being the main focus, always have it drag along to create
                      a flowing motion. Another great tip, is to maintain volume within the flicks and action,
                      and to never have the flow exert more energy than the main action that caused it. Think 
                      of a pendulum, when you swing it, the second swing is never more powerful than the 
                      first. It slows, and the ball follows along to the rope. 
                      
                      My own thoughts on this subject is as follows: Important. Of course you need to obey
                      the laws of physics when animating, it's the only way to make a fluid and realistic
                      animation- even if your style is cartoony. I believe strongly in the principles of 
                      animation, and agree that it's a brilliant concept. Drew Adams explains it well, and his
                      examples of the tail, car crash with and without seat belt, perfectly demonstrate how
                      the motion works. He explains force and inertia well, and sticks to basic descriptions
                      instead of long, drawn out beat-around-the-bush vocabulary. 

                      This article is informative, and imperative for any animator to use. I myself struggled
                      with overlapping action, leaving a stiff tail in my ball-and-tail animation project. After
                      reading this article, and having more experience with understanding the laws of
                      physics, I believe strongly I would be able to fix and re-animate that project to become 
                      more fluid, and realistic.

                      I conclude that the animation principle, overlapping action and follow through, is 
                      extremely important in creating fluid, realistic motion that abides by the laws of 
                      physics that Sir Issac Newton created years ago. Drew Adams, an article author
                      explained this clearly with examples of car crash testing, tail and ball motion, and
                      spine movements. 

— WEEK OF 11/4/18

                            ————————— WEEKLY COMMENTS —————————



                          ♕  — LEARNED : We learned about camera movements recently!
                                                           Now, I had immense trouble figuring out how to work
                                                           the motion and how the depth (z-axis) functioned, but
                                                           eventually it became much easier and I think I've figured
                                                           It out. I have bad luck with new features, I think!



                          ♕  — WANT TO LEARN: So excited for lip syncing, I can't wait! It's something
                                                                       that I love to draw- mouths and facial expressions! And
                                                                       once I apply it to my own drawings and characters, I'll
                                                                       be able to make short comics and advance in my art skill.
                                                                       In total, I can't wait to learn about it!



                          ♕  — FRUSTRATED: Honestly this week wasn't too bad. That weird glitch on my
                                                                 flour sack messed me up, but I was more confused than
                                                                 frustrated? Suddenly, my entire layer reflected itself and
                                                                 undo stopped working. Even Ms. Licata couldn't figure it
                                                                 out, so I suppose I'll just let it be and make sure to save more
                                                                 often.



                          ♕  — HAPPY: Hm. I'd have to say finishing the flour sack made me happy,
                                                    I'm super proud of the outcome and worked hard to make sure
                                                    the take was visible. Other than that, I'm really happy that I spent
                                                    the weekend with my boyfriend and friends. I also went to my
                                                    school's play, David and Lisa! I super adored it, and thought it was
                                                    meaningful to today's kids.


                          ♕  — INTERESTING LINK: Alright, I might get points taken off for this, but
                                                                            I really want to show you guys about Funamusea.
                                                                            Funamusea is a game maker and artist in Japan, with
                                                                            a unique style. Their games revolve around morality
                                                                            and mental illness, and relationship dynamics. It's
                                                                            gorey, gruesome, and sometimes downright awful.
                                                                            But they are absolutely amazing at character design,
                                                                            with over 300 characters with all different aesthetic
                                                                            and personality. I'm enamored by them, and they're
                                                                            my biggest inspiration. I'm leaving a link to their
                                                                            Youtube, and biggest animation projects! Here is their
                                                                            channel, and Curse of the Sun and Poison Bugs, are
                                                                            favorite animation projects they've done! Turn on
                                                                            captions for English Translations. I know this isn't a
                                                                             deep article, but this artist means a lot to me, and I
                                                                            wanted to share their animations and art work.