12 Principles of animation with Andrew Gordon

Squash and Stretch

Arcs

Dancing patters have nice arcs and movement
Pole Vaulting, the body moves in arcs and the Limbs move in a pattern
Head Turns have arcs, if you attach a ball to the end of the nose or limb you can see the arc pattern

Anticipation

Used for localization, Ex: Stand/Squat/Jump or BuildUp/Run
Used for acting, in a video clip I saw 7 anticipations in the acting shot. The character scratched/picked/walk/stop
Anticipations in acting will prepare the audience on what’s going to happen next.
Large vs. Small Characters, Large creatures have slower anticipation, while smaller creatures are faster
Best to have an intro to an action, when getting ready to show the primary action.

Drag and Follow Through

Used for anything flexible like a ball with a tassel
Gravity and the weight of an element describe how heavy or light something could be.
When moving the arm in walk cycle, the wrist will drag
Breaking the joint, Is used for more extreme arm movement "Flicking a Rock" You want to break the joint of a wrist and arm in-between poses to get illusion of speed and drag
What Not To do - Some movies added to much follow through like chicken little, or to little follow through which creates a stiff object. This will become noticeable in a bad way, you want to have a nice balance in your drag and follow-throughs, so people don't see it they feel it.

Timing and Spacing

Timing is everything
Video Ref - Character pointing in a direction and saying, “He’s over there, he’s over there”. He made 9 different poses that were timed differently from each other. 1-2--3----4-------5---------6-----7---8-9
Fast-Fast-Slow-Med-Fast-Fast, For every pose, Andrew animated using the spline curves for all the in between.
Its all in the spline curves
You want to have a nice rhythm, hang on to the beats and have a nice texture to your shot.

Slow in and Slow out

Used to improve natural movement, and ease in when getting into a pose
Slow in and out is very important on so many levels
Heavy vs. Light Animal, Rhino takes time to accelerate, but can also have the same speed as a lighter object. When a Rhino move it’s feet, the amount of drag may be 1 frame drag-time on the ground. Rhino walking, the heavy foot spends more time on the ground. Lighter creature walks spend more time in the air

Secondary Animation

Used more for acting proposes.
Video Ref - A man talking and making primary actions and gestures to deliver his line. Secondary action, he brushes himself off, this help make this character seem more believable to the audience

Staging

Used for presentation for the idea
We want the viewer to understand what the scene is all about and where to look
Having lights set up correctly on the targeted character will help guide the eye there
Video Ref - Full metal Jacket Bathroom scene says it all.

Appeal

Used for psychological ways of gesturing the face or fingers
It's the understanding on how to control the audience by using simple shapes
Exaggerate by pushing the idea
Video Ref - Monster’s Inc. Dumpster scene, the way Sully reacted to the death of the little girl Boo

Pose to Pose

You want to get good poses to help design the idea
Blocking Pose to Pose Method, Start out with strong poses, and fix all your timing. Make sure the root of the animation is well thought out, this will only help down the road.
Layering Method, Set up all your poses, by posing only the root and spine, Then animate the limbs one by one. Flesh out the details.

Kiko Buyo - Animator