The twelve principles of Animation, which were first developed by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their book “The Illusion of Life; Disney Animation,” sets the foundation for all animation to this day.
Written in 1981 and based off of Disney animation techniques from the 1930s, this book was soon considered by most professionals to be the “Animators Bible” and became an integral part of learning animation. In 1999, it was voted “Best Animation Book of All Time” in an online pole hosted by Animation World Network.
Today, These 12 principles are taught in every animation classroom across the world and is an integral part of Animation of all mediums. From Traditional 2D animation to modern CGI, all of these principles are taught to the animators behind these incredible movies. Including the marvel cinematic universe and most live action media.
1, Squash and Stretch.
Squash and Stretch is a technique used to help create fluid movement and the feeling of weight, form, and flexibility for both 2D and 3D animation by molding the animation to move and act as an exaggeration of real life. Ironically, this exaggeration of life creates the feeling of more lifelike movement. On the flip side, making movement perfectly realistic, unless for artistic or stylistic reasons, makes the movement feel stale and unbelievable.
This simple animation is an example of an animator practicing “Squash and Stretch” with a ball as a simple exercise meant to introduce new animators to the practice.
2, Anticipation
This Technique is used to help prepare the audience for an action, so that it doesn’t seem so sudden. If your brain cant predict and anticipate a movement it feels as though its going too fast and can be quite jarring for anyone consuming the piece of media. Though sometimes a lack of anticipation can be used artistically to catch the viewer off guard.
This image is a fantastic example of anticipation. The character squats down for a moment in an active position, letting the viewer know that he is going to jump. This way your brain has time to process the action before it happens, making it easier to understand what is happening.
(This image is also an example of squash and stretch, with the character stretching as he goes up fast and shortening the slower he goes.)
3, Staging
Staging, just like on a movie set or in theatre, is the act of positioning the characters or objects in relation to the viewer to tell a certain story. The composition of the scene holds great importance to what the viewer will or will not understand.
This is a great example of staging. In this image the orange character is obviously hiding from the red character, that can be easily seen without anyone explicitly stating it. But lets say if the intent were to the intent of harm on the red character, you would need a scene with a close up shot of a weapon in the orange characters hand as well as the red character in the background walking by. This would communicate the idea of intent to harm the other character, creating tension between them.
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