Acting for animation final questionnaire

topic picks

tragic heroes

Think about an ACTING-related topic that you want to do a deep dive into.   Here are some the criteria.

1.  It is acting related?

yes the tragic hero is acting related (playing the part of the lead normally)

2.  How can you and your classmates learn something relevant?

the character arc that comes with a tragic hero is the rise and fall of a character that was made for the greater good.

3.  What original content will you provide? 

a few frames with dialogue common to a tragic hero (possibly a short animation with a voice over)

4. Will you work alone or will you do it as a team.

I'll be working alone

5.  Think of it as a TED Talk presentation (Links to an external site.).  How will you make it outstanding?

showcasing tragic heroes from various eras, why we love them, what they say about us, why we need them?

motion capture

Think about an ACTING-related topic that you want to do a deep dive into.   Here are some the criteria.

1.  It is acting related?

yes motion capture is a good way to get the organic feel to animation

2.  How can you and your classmates learn something relevant?

learning about motion capture will make us look at the way we shoot reference in a whole new light.

3.  What original content will you provide? 

a few different shorts with motion capture shots side by side

4.  Will you work alone or will you do it as a team.

i'll be working alone it will make capturing the motion simpler

5.  Think of it as a TED Talk presentation (Links to an external site.).  How will you make it outstanding?

show clips of other examples of motion capture, a brief history and what the future holds for it.

 Lip-Sync Dialogue

Short

• Monses Short clip had a lot of gestures and clear emotional work. 
• she managed to catch the energy of each of the characters.
• good pauses and timing
• humorous ending 
• the camera work helps establish the different characters

Long

• Raimi's pacing is well done
• very emotional
• the way he plays the characters fits the build nicely
• timing plays out well
• can see the disbelief of the other character in regards to the so called king

Medium

• Jacobs timing is spot on in this 
• pauses and thoughts ease out really well
• can tell during it that the character is calculating
• hand gestures help solidify the acting

a lot of gesture work and pauses helped make the scene believable. the timing of each is in step with the emotion the character presents. Raimi's' long has a shaky and desperate feel to it. Jacobs Medium has a calm assurance if not a bit of hesitancy early on. Monses' short has good cut backs with camera work and emotive gestures.

all three had timing that worked out well for the scene. I'll be trying to incorporate appropriate pauses and gestures in my acting.

realizing that there are multiple ways a scene could be done and how timing and gestures effect the animation is important because it brings the fundamentals out of the scene

Status Analysis

 

 Team Expression Analysis

Fear

Fear is an integral part of life, regardless of age or maturity. Fear resonates to us on an instinctual, unconscious level. Some of the fears that we have range from being grounded in mundane concepts to unknowable, abstract entities/ideology, which can frighten anyone at any capacity.

Some Of The Traits We Associate With Fear Are

• Eyebrows Raised and pulled together
• Raised upper eyelids
• tensed lower eyelids
• Jaw dropped open and lips stretched horizontally backwards

Body Language of Fear

• When fear comes our body instinctually tenses up as if bracing us from the danger.
• Our posture slouches making us smaller
• Rapid movement that is occasionally sloppy or clumsy
• Arms crossed or raised as if protecting ourselves is another common trait.
• Hands: when afraid we randomly fidget ball our fists up or hide them as an act of self defense.
• Short, quick, and erratic movements.
• If truly terrified they Freeze

In the above stock photo, a man is bracing himself in fear. He is slouched, his arms are raised and covering his face; and he's not staring at what's incoming. All of these are gestures and expressed actions of fear.

In this shot from the opening of the film, "Us" this scene in which a young girl becomes transfixed in fear demonstrates a great example of the facial anatomy of fear. You can see her eyebrows and upper eyelids raise upwards, her lower eyelid is tense and still, and her jaw drops even more. 

In this scene from "The Shining" her expression doesn't show that much fear in the beginning, but once the axe breaks through the door. You can clearly see the fear in her eyes as her upper eyelids and her eyebrows raise and her jaw drops. 

Although this isn't a live action example, Fear is a major character in Pixar's Inside Out; the eponymous emotion is embodied a skinny skittish, fearful entity. Below is a picture of him.

This picture is from season one episode 3 when Alya was kidnapped and realize she is the being sacrificed. This situation clearly intimidates her and thus is screaming at her incoming potential fate, crying for help.

In the scene I chose, Maximus is kneeling as he is about to be executed for treason. we see his brow furrowed, eyebrows together, his mouth slightly open and lips pulled back horizontally.

Marlin sees Squirt get flung out of the EAC and is beset with fear of his child's fate. His upper eyelids and brow raises and his jaw hangs down.

Facial Expression Fear

 now with the way Maximus is portrayed there are only a few instances when the character is really afraid finding screen caps of that hasn't been easy. even with the threat of death looming in front of him he still manages a brave face.

the scene I picked was the one where he is sentenced to death early on.

Here we see fear in his eye, this is moments before his execution at the hands of praetorian guards.

his mouth slightly agape eyes unfocused. this is the face of a man who's fear of death is very real.

he exhibits the traits that we associate with fear, eyebrows raised and pulled together, raised upper eyelids, lips slightly stretched horizontally back to ears.

here we see the look of fear on Elizabeth Olsen, mouth agape, eyebrows raised and together, lips slightly pulled horizontally back

we see a similar look on ROBERT DOWNEY JR. as Sherlock Holmes and RACHEL McAdam's as Irene Adler, mouth agape, eyebrows pinched together and raised

these are some stills of the scene

his face shows the tell tale signs

eyebrows together and raised upper eyelids up 

Body Language- Confidence

Signs of Confidence 

One sign of confidence is to use a Power Stance. This stance is where you put your hands and/or fist on your hips and stick your chest out as big as you can. It is most commonly seen in superhero movies or tv shows. 

• In this clip Peter Parker has just recently obtained a new power that makes him stronger and faster and brings out his "Dark" side. With this he gets a raise at work for providing pictures of a new Black Suit Spider-Man and boost his confidence even more.

• This frame shows Peter Parker with his back on the wall, laid back. Parker has his leg up on the table and is on the phone with Dr.Conners who is warning him about the new power he has just obtained. Parker then brushes his warning off by ignoring him and asks for more cookies. 

• In this frame Peter is sitting in his bosses chair with his legs kicked up on the table, because he is the only person at work who can get pictures of the new Black Suit Spider-Man. Through body language you can see how confident he is.

• Here is Peter walking out of a store with a brand new dark suit. He flicks his jacket showing how confident his new look is. His chest is big and wide, his posture is straight up, and he then continues to dance in public. 

• A good example of an open chest with arms wide open. Tony Stark is confident in the weaponry he created. 
  

Gesture

Thumbs up

Commodus from The Gladiator holds his thumb up but this thumb carries a mans life on the line.

the thumb is the deciding factor in who lives or dies in the coliseum aside from the crowd that is.

such a simple gesture can have a huge impact with enough social understanding that it translates without words.

the thumbs up is generally viewed as a positive gesture. in all of these the only version that brings more weight is the one in ancient Rome at the coliseum where a thumbs up meant the difference between Life and Death.

the look on Commodus' face changes drastically with his face becoming serious and void of expression. he knows he's just sentenced a man to death and his look shows he thinks nothing of it.

this last thumb is when he finds out Maximus the main character lived and the crowd siding against the emperor. the look of anguish on his face as he see's the man his father chose to lead beloved by the people.

here are few other looks at the thumbs up in a more light hearted setting.

 Globo gym spokesperson and founder

White Goodman

Chuck Norris

both are friendly gestures. Ben's character is posing for a photo op and Chuck is giving a solid Thumbs up to commend a good play these are both scenes in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)