Design Vids

Hey all! Here are some character design videos I found during my morning surf. Enjoy!






Stephen

Animation Exercises

Hey Everyone! Just wanted to share some exercises I found via AnimatorIsland.com. :)

http://www.animatorisland.com/51-great-animation-exercises-to-master/

TED Talks on Animation

Greetings once again! Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been super busy finishing up my shot. I just finished so I'll be able to get back to posting more. I'll post my shot for this term as well soon enough. But in the meantime, here are some TED talks on animation that I saw a while back. Enjoy!

Andrew Stanton on Story

Jason Schleifer on Animation

Enjoy!

Stephen

Body Language

No Bouncin' Ball this time! Just a History Channel documentary on Body Language. Enjoy!

Stephen

Bouncin' Ball #6: Control

I think the topic that I'm going to cover today has been referred to in a couple of different ways. I remember reading about it on Jean Dean Haas' blog and he referred to it as "animation jerk off". I'd just like to refer to it as "Control". Animate with control. This is another one of those things that students just beginning to learn animation struggle with as well: the discipline to not animate just to animate. More often than not, all of the animation that you create should be character driven. Don't just animate something a certain way just because it looks good "animationally" (I coined that myself =D), it should be necessary and it should be genuine to what the character feels at the moment. Now, just as with all things in animation and all rules, there are exceptions, but most of the time you're striving to achieve the right balance of what looks good "animationally" and what feels good acting wise. Just because a certain movement or gesture may look nice and be pretty to watch, it may still feel very empty and not very genuine. The most resonating performances always affect people emotionally, they move people, they connect with people. That doesn't just go for animation, that goes for any art form. So as tempting as it is to "move stuff because it's awesome" practice control and let the character speak their mind and not just you yours. Work together with your character and find out how both of you can get the most satisfaction out of what you create so that hopefully you can create a resonating performance for the normal audience and beautiful animation for the animation audience. Remember, "Control", and keep that ball bouncin'!

Stephen 

Bouncin' Ball #5: Animation Goggles

There's one place that I know we've all been to: The Zone. Everyone's been in "The Zone" and not even necessarily when animating, it could be while doing other things. It's that point of focus where you can't see anything else, can't hear anything else, and can't do anything else. It's sometimes the preferred mode that you want to work in because you feel like (and this quite possibly may be true more often than not) you get a lot of good, quality work done. But, where is that point in "The Zone" that isn't so beneficial anymore? That point where you've been in "The Zone" too long and can't see the big picture anymore? Being in "The Zone" may sometimes become a determent to our animation. It's something that I like to call "Animation Goggles" (quite similar to beer goggles). Whether you've been trying to re-work timing, finesse an arc, get just the right amount of drag and follow-through, just enough overshoot and settle, we all get to a certain point where we're looking at our shot with Animation Goggles and can't really tell whether there are better animation decisions that you can be making. What's so funny is that when you're looking through those goggles, you can't really tell what else to do or what else to fix after a while, but then when you look back on it at a later date you say to yourself "What the heck was I thinking???". But, have no fear (well, maybe a little), the best remedy I've been told and found to Animation Goggles is to SHOW PEOPLE YOUR WORK. Which I'll cover in another post. Keep that ball bouncin'!

Stephen

Animation Gold

Hey Everyone! Sorry for the delay between posts, I just started getting back into the groove of everything again (work, school, etc.). For this post I wanted to talk about some Animation Gold. If knowledge is power, and books are full of knowledge, than books are gold! I have plenty of animation books, but there's a set of books that I got recently that are probably the best ones I've gotten so far. They're the latest addition to the Disney Animation Archive Series: The Nine Old Men.

This set is a box of nine flip books, every one of them done by one of the nine old men. Each one of the flip books contains scenes from different classic Disney movies. Being able to flip through these is such a good resource to have. It's amazing how strong their principles are and how apparently you can see them. I HIGHLY recommend it. I ordered this in the earlier part of last year and they finally came in. This is the fifth installment of the Disney Animation Archive series. The previous books before this set are fantastic also.

You can find all these books an Amazon here. Keep that ball bouncin'!

Stephen

Class Is Back In Session

Happy new year, everyone! Class is back in session and I can't wait to get that ball bouncin'! So as I've mentioned in my first post, I am an animation student and I thought now would be a good time to shed some light on that subject. I'm an Animation Mentor student. I had applied a few times previously, but for one reason or another, it just wasn't the right time (financially, life, time, etc.). Then finally, the stars aligned and I was able to fully commit to attending. Then, what was even better, was that Advanced Placement had just opened up as I applied. So I submitted my reel and the mentors felt that I was ready to start at Class 04! Score! So, last term was my first term and it was Class 04: Intro to Acting. I learned SO much and it was SO much fun! Now, I'm in Class 05 and after getting a taste of acting in Class 04, I'm craving it more and more! It's just so fascinating with all of the little details, the nuances, and the complexity of it all. A lot of what I learn and have learned through my time at AM will influence a lot of what I write on the blog as well as my past experience at an Art School that didn't turn out to be what I was looking for in a school, but more about that in another post. So in case, you're curious, and so that you can size up how bad (or good) I am, I'm going to put myself out there and post some reels. The first is my progress reel from my last class, Class 04: Intro to Acting. The second reel is the reel that I used for advanced placement full of material that I had accumulated while working. Until here! And remember, keep that ball bouncin'!

Stephen Eusebio Class 04 Animation Mentor Progress Reel from StephenE on Vimeo.

SAE Demo 2011 from StephenE on Vimeo.

Stephen

Bouncin' Ball #2: KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid

Animation is hard... and rightfully so. If that's the case, then it would only make sense to keep things as simple as possible right? Right! So, why don't we keep things simple? It seems like after being told that over and over and over again, it continues to elude all of us at some point in time: whether it's the first time we're tackling something animation-wise, or we really already know better from experience but are choosing to over complicate things for one reason or another and will end up having to blow away a lot of our keys later on. 

As simple as we think we're making it, MAKE IT SIMPLER! It's already challenging enough making sure that all of the principles are being executed correctly, why add more on top of that? Boil things down to their root essence, the bare bones in a sense, the pure guts and make it sing. This is especially true when you're still paying your dues and learning to animate and is even still true when you're working in a professional environment. 

I hate to call it this, but it's somewhat of a rookie mistake, even though as I've mentioned previously in a post that there are no rules set in stone in animation. There quite a few rookie mistakes, or animation traps that we all tend to fall into while learning. I'll get around to more of those in later posts, but in the mean time, KISS! Keep It Simple Stupid and Keep that Ball Bouncin'!

Stephen

Bouncin' Ball #1: Everything's a Bouncing Ball

“Everything’s a Bouncing Ball.” I wish I fully understood exactly what this meant as soon as I started. This one hit much later than I care to admit when I first went to college. It makes so much sense to me now and why we all started with the bouncing ball when learning how to animate.

The bouncing ball exercise contains all of the foundations of animation and everyone knows that, but I didn’t realize it’s full application until way later on. The bouncing ball exercise shows you how the principles are applied in animation and because the subject matter is so simple it’s so easy to understand. But, as soon as the subject get’s a little more complex, than all of what we learned quickly goes out the window. When applying those things to more complex subjects, that’s where it becomes a challenge because it’s so easy to get lost in so many other different things. The same can be said for the transition out of body mechanics to acting, but that’s another topic for another time. The ball strips ALL of that away and really forces you to see those principles in action.  

It’s a little frustrating hearing from other/newbie animation students and listening to them say, “I already know how to do a bouncing ball”, and yet it’s clearly evident that they haven’t applied any of the principles in their work. What I don’t think they understand is that it isn’t about the ball, it’s the principles behind them that are so important. Those same principles are what really makes animation sing and can be applied to all aspects of animation in one way or another. It’s the foundation. You don’t bake a cake by starting with the icing. Just as the saying goes in animation, everything really is a bouncing ball. Whether its the root of a character, the wrists on an arm, the ankles on a leg, or a corner of a mouth: Everything’s a bouncing ball.

Keep that ball bouncin’!

Stephen

Ira Glass on Being an Artist

Hello all!

Just thought that I would add this to the blog as well since it certainly relates to the topics that will be covered. I found this a while back but decided to re-post it since it's so good. Personally, as a student/artist (because when you decide to become an artist for the rest of your life, you also decide to become a student for the rest of your life), I wish I had seen this when I started as clear as I do now. Keep that ball bouncin'!

Stephen

The Bouncin' Ball Blog

Hey there! 

Welcome to The Bouncin’ Ball! The Bouncin’ Ball is a blog on animation theories, principles, lessons, findings, teachings, philosophies, and all of the above. All of which I encounter, experience, or am exposed to through learning this magnificent craft. Since there is no wrong method, workflow, or any drop dead rules in animation, I thought it’d be very interesting to hear what others have to say about many of the things I encounter or think about along my journey. 

These entries are based off of my experiences through animation life (what I learn, read, research, watch, etc.) and are just my opinions and ramblings. I was an animation student, graduated from an animation school in 2008, have been working since then, and have recently become a student again. 

A lot of what I will bring up will be closely related to what I initially learned in college and how that compares to what I’m re-learning now. I’ve already experienced a number of occasions where what I’m learning now completely transformed how I thought about certain things in animation that I’ve learned in the past if not shattering them altogether and I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks about them. It may also be about what I encounter while at work. There are things that I learned in school that were more or less true when it came to the workplace. 

So in short, yes, this is just a place for me to empty my brain and rant. I hope you decide to join me on this adventure through animation. Keep that ball bouncin’!

Stephen