"Normon" is a delightfully simple character to draw, adopted from Goldman's animation student text, which makes him perfect for learning tthe basics of animation principles. These are a few of my 1 second clips starring Normon.
Fresh from my success bouncing a ball and swinging a pendulum, I fail significantly at "Squash and Stretch." Not that Normon being startled by a snake isn't adorable, but there is no real S&S here.
The "Arc," the turning of the head without simply moving the face one side to another. Above or below, never straight across. Here, Normon is the unfortunate witness to a plane crashing into a mountain side, oh no!
Normon demonstrates the "Take," as a happy little vampire floating across the screen, determined to scare someone with his nasty, sharp, pointy teeth! Somehow... he just doesn't come across as intimidating. Even vampire Normon is adorable and fun to draw.
Here we are introduced to "Normon, the Enchanter!" Anyone not familiar with the reference should watch Monty Python's Holy Grail. My first attempt at a spoken animation, 5 seconds long.
Advancing to the "Walk Cycle," a most necessary and vital part of character motion. Getting the proper motion for the character is especially important. The walk of a character can tell you almost everything about personality, mood, attitude, even behavior. If you can't nail the walk, you've got nada.
What does Normon's walk here say to you?
No comments:
Post a Comment