Acting

Big moments in your story and animation – storytelling tip

Acting, Storytelling
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Here are 2 ways how you can make your stories and animation performances feel more epic and meaningful. 😮😍

If something feels big to your character, it will also feel big to your audience. We empathize with something being important as we have things that are important to us personally.

This can be seen from two sides:

Life changing moments

Life changing moments are one of the most important tools for storytelling. They can mark the start of the plot or be the big character change in the end.

They can come from the character actively seeking to change or stop something OR they could be the result of something that is done to the character.

Adrenaline moment

An adrenaline moment rushes the character with feelings and emotions.

These are usually those moments in life in which we are so happy, sad, angry or (most of the time) embarrassed that we will never ever forget them.

Story and Animation of “In A Heartbeat”

Acting, Analysis, AnimatorIslandTV

By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube A while ago the beautiful animation short film “In a Heartbeat” went viral. A great opportunity to learn for our own projects. In this video we have a closer look at the story and animation of this heartwarming film.

Love Your Characters – more quick FMX story tips

Acting, Storytelling

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Last time in the FMX 2016 lecture series we discussed four story elements that help define your protagonist. For the next two articles, we’ll be focusing on a few things to keep in mind as you begin creating your story and your characters. The advice in this article is summarized and expanded upon from the FMX lectures given by USTAR Professor Craig Caldwell in his master class on story, and from speaker Christopher Lockhart (story editor at WME) in his lecture on cinematic stories. So, let’s get right into it with these quick and inspiring expert tips!

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4 Character Components Every Story Needs – FMX Story Lecture

Acting, Storytelling

Here are four basic ingredients that you have to think about when creating characters for your story. They seem surprisingly obvious and simple, but even Hollywood messes these up on a regular basis – so don’t take them too lightly. This list is based on a lecture that USTAR Professor Craig Caldwell held at the FMX conference.

Intention Cues

Acting, Animation Advice

Intention Cues header

Humans are terrible liars. Our body language constantly gives away what we are thinking and what we are about to do next. These are called intention cues and have landed countless criminals behind bars. For animators they are a treasure trove of gestures to sprinkle on your animation for extra believability. Learn how and when to use them here.

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Animation is Not About Movement

Acting, Animation Advice, Workflow and Production

The 11 Second Club forum recently returned to normal service after a bit of buggy downtime, and I’ve been posting there a lot more since the fix. One thing that keeps springing up lately is an obsession with movement. Unfortunately what a lot of animators seem to be forgetting is: Animation isn’t about movement.

Acting Tips from Ed Hooks

Acting, Animation Advice

I had the pleasure of attending the Acting for Animators workshop by Ed Hooks at this year’s FMX conference in Stuttgart Germany. Here are a few tips and tricks he mentioned to improve your animation! If you ever get a chance to attend one of his workshops, don’t miss that opportunity!

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