WEEK 9 – Advanced body mechanics

Autodesk Maya

In our first class of the new term, George jumped into the world of Advanced Body Mechanics Planning, with a particular focus on introducing Pantomime techniques.
He elucidated that Pantomime encompasses various dramatic or dance performances where stories are conveyed through expressive bodily or facial movements of the performers. Emphasizing the importance of exaggeration to infuse a cartoon-like style, George encouraged us to select our preferred acting to animate. The options were:

• Dances and musical performances
• Slapstick and comedy
• Plots and characters

Opting to explore Slapstick and comedy, I immediately started searching for reference materials, to find existing body mechanic animations to get inspiration from.

In class, George stressed the significance of crafting clear, full-body expressions to effectively establish staging, incorporating elements like characters, props, and the set. He emphasized the need to strategically position our cameras to capture all elements optimally, advising against excessive movement for a clear shot.

He reminded us of the KISS principle: keep it simple, stupid. Simplified staging, perhaps with just one camera movement, without overdoing it on the action, serves as the foundation.

After scouring for references, I began filming my own references, aiming to stay true to the animations I’d researched while injecting my unique acting ideas. I approached it with a cartoonish flair, drawing inspiration from videos of people acting for mockup animations, and carefully positioned the camera to mirror the setups seen in the animations.