Why Animators Need a Change of Expression

"Ruber" animation by Alex Williams

One of the most common mistakes made by junior animators is the “frozen face.” A character might be moving beautifully through space—walking, talking, gesturing—but if their expression never shifts, the scene feels flat and lifeless. 

Why? Because real people don’t hold one expression for long.  In real life, our faces are in constant, subtle motion. Even when listening quietly, tiny changes in the eyebrows, mouth, or eyes reveal attention, doubt, curiosity, or impatience. These micro-shifts keep us alive and believable. In animation, a lack of change reads as stiffness or, worse, lifelessness.

Why Animators Like Assymetry

Mickey Mouse from "The Illusion of Life"

One of the most common mistakes made by junior animators is for their character poses to be too stiff and symmetrical.  One of the fastest ways to make a character feel stiff and lifeless is to pose them symmetrically.  

Perfectly mirrored limbs, identical angles, and evenly balanced weight all scream “mannequin,” not “living being.” Real life — and good animation — is full of asymmetry.

Why Animators Need to Hold Poses Longer

Animation by Mark Masters

One of the common mistakes made by junior animators is the “default face.” A character smiles, frowns, gasps — and then, almost instantly, snaps back to a bland neutral expression.  It’s as if the performance forgets itself. 

This also happens in lipsync; where the character will make a vowel or consonant; then snap back into a default mouth shape much too quickly. Much better to hold the vowel or consonant longer, and really get the most out of the pose. 

Character Animation by Muhanad Al Dasoqi

Above is an excellent piece of character animation by BNU animation masters' student Muhanad Al Dasoqi.  Having a great character animation piece on your demo reel is an important step in landing that crucial first job in the animation industry.  Animation studios are looking for animators who have good technical skills - but can also create genuinely entertaining work - the animation "X factor".

"Is It Good?" by BNU Animation Grad Lee Caller

"Is it good?" from Lee Caller on Vimeo.

Above is a fine acting shot animated by BNU animation graduate Lee Caller, who now teaches animation at Escape Studios in London.  The shot above is one of a number of pieces of animation that Lee has started as a student demo, but - as he puts it - "rarely gets to finish".  In this case, the purpose of the demo was to show students that great animation it not always all about over-the-top super-exaggeration, but more about subtle facial expressions and understated, believable acting choices. 

DA702 Character Performance Starts 9 Jan 2023

11 Second Club winning entry by Robin Herrmann

DA702, the second animation module on our online masters' degree in 3D animation, starts on 9 January 2023.

The module is titled DA702 - Character Performance, and builds up to an entry into the March 2023 Eleven Second Club competition.  

On March 1st 2022 the club's official line of dialogue will be released, and our students have until the end of March to submit their finished work.  DA702 PR1 assignment is due on Thursday 30th March 2023 at 2pm.

Nine Ways to Create a Great Pose

How do you create a great pose in animation? Creating great poses is a necessary skill for all animators to learn. In the video above, I suggest nine ways that an animator can create a great pose - the key starting point for a great acting scene. 

Video Introduction to DA702 PR1

Above is a short five minute introduction to DA702, the second module in our Online MA in 3D Animation. DA702 PR1 is the practical assignment in the module, with a 70% grade weighting, and involves entry into the monthly 11 Second Club animation competition. To see more about this module and how to get the best out of it, read this blog post. 

How to Animate "Eye Darts"

Eyes - Window to the Soul

"Eye darts" are fast moving micro-changes of eye direction. Eyes are the window to the soul - it's the thing the audience will look at most, and one of the most common mistakes made by junior animators is fail to pay enough attention to their character's eyes.

Our eyes are very expressive, and the eyes are what we look at when we watch a character on the screen.  When we talk, we seek signals for how another person is thinking and feeling - we watch their eyes, and we often dart from one eye to another.  So, how does an animator animate eye darts?

DA702 - Character Perf Module Starts 6 Jan

11 Second Club Entry by Victoria Bailey

Starting in the New Year our masters' students tackle DA702, the second animation module on our online masters' degree in 3D animation. Classes start on 6 January 2020.

The module is titled DA702 - Character Performance, and builds up to an entry into the April 11 Second Club competition.  On April 1st 2020 the line of dialogue will be released, and our students have just under 3 weeks to animate their shots.

Royce Wesley and the Pixar Workflow

Incredibles 2

Pixar animator Royce Wesley was in London recently, talking about his experience working on Incredibles 2, and also explaining his own personal animation workflow.

Royce is an experienced character animator whose animation credits include Brave, Coco, Robots and Inside Out. He visited us in London to mentor our animation students and help make sure we are hitting the highest levels of quality in character animation.

Understanding how to plan your work is one of the key parts of the animator's skill set. Every animator has their own unique approach, and it's important to develop a workflow that you can rely on to get your shots approved without too much stress.

How to Plan a Dialogue Shot

This month our MA students are animating a dialogue shot, preparing to enter the monthly 11 Second Club competition.

But how do you get started with dialogue animation? One of the most common problems encountered by student animators is how to block out a shot from scratch, starting with nothing but a blank screen and a line of dialogue. How do you begin?

After all, in animation you get nothing for free. You start off with a digital puppet, usually in a stiff "T-pose", and have to figure out the rest yourself.

Masters Students Tackle Character Walks

"Monty" character walks by MA graduate Neil Whitman

Our masters students' first assessed animation exercise, the assignment brief for DA701 PR1 (the first practical assignment for the first animation module), is to create a scene based on character walks. 

Character walks are one of the most important parts of the animator's toolkit. Using the online materials at Animation Apprentice, students learn how to take a basic walk cycle and, with just a few tweaks, completely change the character's mood and personality.

The students' first assessed brief is to take these character walks and turn it into an entertaining scene. 

Acting for Animators in London from Sept 24

Sarah Perry of Shapes in Motion is teaching an 8 week evening class in London, titled "Acting for Animators", starting on Monday 24th September.

The course runs from 7-10pm once a week, for 8 weeks, until Monday 18th November.

The class is a practical, physical workshop in acting skills, aimed specifically at helping animators to  create more believable, authentic acting choices in their work.

Character Walks Webinar Escape Studios 5 June

"Monty" character walks

I'll be hosting a free webinar on character walks at Escape Studios at 6pm on Tuesday June 5th.

The event is completely free, and there will be plenty of time to take questions during the demonstration.

Character walks are one of the most important parts of the animator's toolkit, and I will be showing how you can take a basic walk cycle and, with just a few tweaks, completely change the character's mood and personality.

London Mime Festival 9 Jan - 4 Feb 2017

The London Mime Festival is about to launch its 40th anniversary season in London.  Artists include acrobat-genius Mathurin Bolze (Cie MPTA), Charleroi Danses’ Kiss & Cry and Mossoux Bonté, German Mask-theatre experts Familie Flöz, and Gandini Juggling with a hugely expanded version of its glorious Pina Bausch tribute, Smashed.

But why should Bucks animators watch mime? Because mime is the basis of great animation. If you can tell a story without words or dialogue, then you have the makings of a great piece of animation. Our animators at Bucks have to master the art of body language and facial expressions long before they learn the dark arts of lipsync and dialogue.

Calling All Bucks Graduates - Apply Now for the Aardman Certificate in Character Animation

Aardman's Certificate in Character Animation

Aardman and the NFTS are offering an intensive three month Certificate in Character Animation, aimed primarily at graduates and taught by industry professionals at Aardman studios in Bristol.  The course is headed up by Loyd Price, Head of Animation at Aardman, with the aim of "bridging the gap between education and industry" and "enabling students to develop the core practical skills needed for them to become competent professional animators and to create believable characters through acting and performance".

Spartan Spear Throw by Jack Hubbard

Jack Hubbard, one of our first year animators, did this animation of a Spartan warrior throwing a spear as part of his first year animation module. The brief was simple - animate a character throwing something. As with all the best animation, the animator has here gone beyond the brief to give us a performance that isn't just technically impressive but also entertaining, in part by collaborating with one of our sound design students, George Jones. Congratulations to Jack and George on an excellent piece of work.

Mery Rig Now Live! And Free!

The Mery rig is now live! One of the many benefits of animating with Autodesk Maya (the main animation software we use at Bucks) is the large and growing global community of artists who collaborate on freeware projects, bringing to life excellent animation rigs like Norman and Morpheus. The latest character rig to be released is The Mery Project - now available to Maya users free of charge. Of course there will be bugs and glitches - but all rigs have their strengths and weaknesses. We're excited to see what our students can do with this new, free download.

James Chiang Explains What Makes a Great Animator

The animator who brought you surfing penguins

Animator, Director and artist James "JC" Chiang has worked as an animator on many feature films including Robots, Ice Age - The Meltdown, Surf's Up and Open Season, and was animation director on the 2008 Veggie Tales movie. He teaches animation, and is a also an accomplished fine artist in his own right. We asked him to explain what, exactly, makes a great animator.