Why is Acting Important in
Animation?
When you're animating you should be doing more than just moving the character
around. Yes, you're creating the movements but there is so much more that goes into
each animation you do besides making them obey the laws of physics and move in a
believable way. Everything the virtual character does is controlled by you. As an
animator you're essentially an actor with a computer and some software. Being an
animator really adds a whole new level of complexity to traditional movie acting
because not only do you need to create a performance for this character but you also
have to think about every little action they take. If your character is scratching their
head, how is the arm going to travel up? Does the shoulder move first? And how fast
should the action be? With traditional acting the actor doesn't need to think about how
their arm should move in order to scratch their head, it's just natural; they only need to
ensure their performance is believable. You must make the audience feel like your
character is alive and not alive because they're moving around on screen but because
they're thinking and have a personality that makes them unique. In short, the audience
should forget this character is fake. The same way you watch your favorite movie and
feel attached to the characters, when watching the movie you probably don't consider
them an actor just playing a part. If a character dies you feel sadness or hatred toward
the antagonist. Your animations should evoke these same feelings toward the audience,
even if it is just a
cartoon.
Some excellent examples of acting for animation are in a lot of the 2D Disney movies.
The scene in Tarzan when the Gorilla king Kerchak was shot by the main antagonist you
felt empathy toward him. Even though for the most part leading up to that moment he
was not very likeable, but you were able to see his real character show through. You
forget these characters are just a series of drawings played over a certain amount of
frames.
What Makes Good Acting?
The two most important elements you should be thinking about when animating
performances is that the acting should be believable and appealing. These two
principles are key to a successful acting shot. If you watch a movie with a bad actor it
takes you out of the story and the world, what's happening in the movie is not
believable. Whatever type of character this actor is trying to portray is not convincing,
bad acting can potentially ruin a movie. In the same way bad acting means bad
animation, this can mean a bad movie, short film or game. Sure, technically you're
animation might be spot on, weight and movements is right, but if the acting is not
believable it can ruin the entire shot.
How to Have Better Acting in Your
Animation
Having better acting in your animations is actually a pretty simple step; you yourself
must become a better actor. OK, so maybe that's easier said than done. You may have
heard before it's a good idea to take acting classes as an animator and that's true, it
can really help create more believable and appealing performances for your
animations.
But being an animator it's likely you're not one to enjoy getting up on stage and acting
things out, in fact, drama class may have been your least favorite subject in school.
Even so, you have the acting genes in you and animation is your way of being able to
share your performances with the world without ever having to step in front of the
camera yourself. You can watch your favorite movies and study the acting, what made
their performances so believable and well done? You can try to incorporate these
feelings into your own animations. Get into the head of your character; understand who
they are, where they're from and what their personality is. Are they shy or outgoing, do
they have a short temper? These questions can help determine the performances you
create. These things will most likely be established in the story and script department
but even then you may only get a storyboard with a few slides to go off of. For instance,
the script might say the character walks into a room and is happy to see the other
character. It's up to you to ask important questions like were they excited and bust
through the door? Or did they casually walk in, notice the other character
and then become happy? Maybe they opened the door very carefully because they
wanted to surprise the other character. Try to make your characters think. They
shouldn't just react or act on immediate instinct. Find places where you can show the
thought process of your character. It can be something as simple as a kid quickly
checking their surroundings before reaching for a cookie. One of the best ways to come
up with acting ideas is to act it out yourself. Shoot video reference, you don't have to do
this in front of anyone else, grab your camera and go into a quiet room. Play the
dialogue and act it out how you feel it should be done. Go through all the potential
scenarios and performances you feel best match your character's personality. Since
you're the one acting it out you'll see your movements and acting choices shown
through into the CG character. That's why it's so important you study acting.
Timing for Acting
Timing is a very important principle for not only creating believable movements but also
for creating more appealing acting in your animations. How you time out your actions
can mean more interesting acting or boring acting. Even timing throughout a shot can
cause it to become uninteresting with not much personality. Something as simple as a
shot where a character is running down a flight of stairs to see their loved one back
from a trip may not have any dialogue, but how you time out the actions can create
more believable and appealing pantomime acting. For example, instead of the character
running down each step with even timing you can switch it up, have the character walk
down the first few steps slower and as they continue down they become more excited
and their steps increase, showing their thought process as they see their loved one.
Maybe they skip the last few steps and jump straight to the ground. Having the thought
process and reaction adds much more believability into your animations and adding
variety in the timing of the actions creates for more appealing movement. It's important
every action you create for your character has a reason. Acting is essentially a series of
reactions, the character reacting to other characters or the environment or any other
number of things. Make sure your character's reactions are indicative of their
personality. For instance, with the example above of a character running down a flight
of stairs, maybe that would work for an outgoing character but if this character doesn't
get excited very easily, then it probably wouldn't be consistent of their personality. As
an animator you should be considering your character's personality and who they are
when coming up with the performances. Make sure you're using these techniques in
your animations to ensure you have believable acting in your animations and you're
utilizing the different principles to ensure it's appealing. To learn more about acting for
animation check out Animating a Dialogue Scene in Maya and more 3D animation
tutorials or share your thoughts in the comments below!
