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)

Yoda

 

YODA: a character analysis

by Emilio Lopez

In the prequels, Yoda is presented to us as a grand leader who leads the Jedi Order in peace and can always 
sense darkness, but underneath, he is slowly revealed to be blinded by his arrogance and pays for this with
the fall of the Jedi order. Because of this, Yoda casts himself into exile and waits for the chosen one who

will defeat the Sith and bring balance to the Force. When Luke comes to him on Dagobah, Yoda agrees to train him

for this purpose.

Character Analysis

Name  Yoda
Gender  Male
Age     900 
Ethnicity                                Unknown
Family                                   The Jedi
Cultural background              The Jedi teachings and the ways of the Force
Intelligence (IQ)                    Very advanced intelligence
Education                                The Jedi Order
Occupation                             Grandmaster Jedi 
Religion/Philosophy               The Force
Sexual orientation                  Asexual
Goals, ambition, dreams        To maintain/restore peace in the galaxy and destroy the Sith. 
Secrets                                  That Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father
Fears/Phobias                        The Sith overtaking the galaxy, and when they do, is eventual fear is that Darth Vader
                                               and the Emperor will seduce Luke in to the Dark Side.
Sense of humor                     He is funny in an elderly sort of way when he can be. 
Adrenaline moments             When ever he has a duel like with the Emperor or Count Dooku, otherwise
                                               he is always calm and clear-headed.
Physical description              Yoda is short, very wrinkly and green. He has ragged robes and he uses his looks to make his
                                              opponent underestimate him.
Physical disabilities, if any    Yoda has no physical disabilities except for his old age. But he makes up with this in his
                                               ability with the Force.
Action                                     Yoda can fight with a lightsaber very well, move objects with the Force, and is 
                                                incredibly agile in a duel.

                                                

Character Poses  Three poses that represent Yoda

In this pic, Yoda is in his resting state of calm. Yoda doesn't brew in anger or think emotional thoughts.

Instead, he spends most of his days meditating and putting his mind at rest.

In this pic, Yoda is using the Force to lift a ship out of a swamp bog. Even though the X-Wing is extremely heavy, 

he lets the Force flow through him and can clear his mind enough to accomplish feats like this.

While Yoda is a skilled practitioner and always uses the Force in defense, and never in attack, 

he can beat almost anyone

in a duel, and is one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy.

Yoda's Gestures:

In this gesture, Yoda bows his head in disappointment. Because Luke is a stubborn and slow 

learner, Yoda does this a lot throughout the original trilogy. But, being a wise and patient mentor,

he continues teaching him.

In this gesture, Yoda shows his comedic side and hits R2 with his walking stick.

He does this to see if will Luke underestimate him and test his ability to sense the trick.

In this last gesture, Yoda absorbs Count Dooku's force lightning attack. This is an example of 

Yoda's quote: “A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.”

While Yoda knows that he can attack and beat Dooku in a fight, he doesn't make the first move 

and allows him to attack first, blocking and redirecting the lightning.

Power Center:

Due to his old age, Yoda relies on a crutch when he is at rest or doing ordinary tasks. His shoulders

slump forward and he limps.

But when he is drawing from the force to battle, he takes a powerful and confident stance.

His shoulders roll back and his chest puffs, and he flips around and is extremely fast.

   

Yoda will also pretend to be a feeble and weak old man in front of his enemies so they will

underestimate his strength. Much like Gandalf when he pretended his staff was just an

old man's walking stick.

Yoda character sequence analysis:

Lifting the X-Wing

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back | Yoda Lifts X Wing | 4K HDR - YouTube

Execution

When Yoda tells Luke to lift the X-Wing out of the swamp, Luke claims it's impossible.

But after Yoda tells him that nothing is impossible and only seems difficult in his mind, Luke

tries to lift it and fails. To show him his failure in doubt, Yoda lifts the X-Wing. 

Intention

What is the message or emotion you are communicating in the scene?
What are your choices?

In this scene, Yoda wants to show Luke that nothing is impossible, and that his stubbornness

and lack of imagination prevent him form doing great things. To show him this, he does it himself

and proves that even a little, green old man can lift something 20,000 times heavier if you believe. 

Subtext

The implicit meaning of a character or scene

Body acting and speech could contrast each other

Yoda says: "No, only different in your mind" 

(Your mind is too stubborn to accept that a rock and a ship are no different in how

they relate to the force)

When Luke says, "I don't believe it", Yoda says, "That is why you fail".

(Because you doubt and think things are too difficult to accomplish, you prevent yourself

from accomplishing anything)

Specificity

Yoda's goal in training Luke is to defeat the Sith and bring back peace in the galaxy.

In order to prepare Luke, Yoda needs to break down the walls that Luke has built up in himself,

but Luke doubts himself more than anything. Creating an example will help Luke

see that anything is possible.

Caricature

Yoda says, "No, no different, only different in your mind" when Luke claims that lifting a 

space ship and a rock is totally different. While it is obvious that a rock and a space ship 

are different objects, the point is that how they relate to the force is no different, and self doubt

in which one is easier to lift is what makes them different.

Alya Cesaire Character Analysis By: Monserrat Sanchez Lopez

Character Analysis: 

 Name                      Alya Cesaire 

 Gender                      female 

 Age                          15 

 Ethnicity                  unknown 

 Family                      She has a father named Otis Cesaire who is a zookeeper, a mother named 

                                    Marlena Cesaire who is a head chef, an older sister named Nora Cesaire 

                                  who is a kickboxer, and two little twin sisters named Ella and Etta Cesaire. 

 Cultural Background          She lives in an apartment with her family.  

Intelligence                      She is a quick thinker when it comes to curtain situation and aware of                                                         everyone's behavior.  

Education                      She is a student and class deputy of the school blog. 

 Occupation                  She is the creator of the Ladyblog. 

 Religion/Philosophy          None 

 Sexual orientation              Straight 

 Goals, ambition, dreams              Her dream is to become a journalist and sought out the truth. 

 Secrets                                  Since her identity as a superhero has been exposed she is now 

                                                responsible to keep the main character's identity who is also 

                                                her best friend and protect the items from the main villain. 

 Fears/Phobias                      Her fear is not being able to protect her family and friends, and if 

                                                she can be there for the main character. 

 Sense of humor                  Most of the time she is serious but when she is with her friends she 

                                            can crack up a few jokes. 

 Adrenaline moments            When she transforms into her superhero form ( Rena Rouge) to 

                                                help the main character and her partner from time and time again.

 Physical description                Curvy body with Ombre hair. she has brown shin with a mole on 

                                                    her right forehead. She has hazel eyes, wear glasses,  wears a 

                                                    plaid shirt and jeans. 

            3 Poses

                                                This picture shows that Alya have confidence.

                      This is her superhero costume when she helps the two main characters.

                      

                    This picture shows her friendship with the main character. 

               The scene

        Intention 

                  In this scene Alya's intentions are genuine, she wants her friend to be honest and let's                                her know that she is there for her no matter what. 

           Subtext

     You go ahead girls I just have one last thing to say to Marrinete  -

                        

                           (Something is still bothering Marrinete I need to talk to her alone.)

     I won't try to figure it out or force it out of you if you can't tell me what's in your heart, it's your                 right. - 

                            (I am worried about you.)

    Marrinete I'm your very best friend - 

                            (There is nothing that would push me away from you, I am here for you.)

        Specificity 

            This character have slowly developed into  great character. 

        Execution

        animation

        Confidence 

        Concern

            

        Compassion

        

        

        Caricature

        Alya's posture in this scene shows that she cares about her friend and shows compassion 

            towards her. 

        Power center

                       Alya's power center is her shoulders, mostly around the upper body area.

        Gesture 

                            This is Alya's basic transformation into Rena Rouge.

            The first time she transform she was so excited to be a superhero and shows her skills.

                  When she was a villain in one of the episodes she still uses her upper body to get 

                    her point across. 

                                            This express her silly side towards her friend.