How do you analyze character animation in a way to sound like you're autistic and an expert? Thad Komorowski and John Kricfalusi used to do blogs that were really technical. What are some things to look out for? Pic related because I like this character animation here.
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>To sound like you're an expert
Read and cite the writings of Richard Williams, Don Bluth and other classic animators.
>To sound like you're an autist
Read and cite TV Tropes or your favorite cartoon video essayist.
nono just Richard Williams
Richard Williams, Don Bluth, and Ralph Bakshi, the masters of silent generation animation. Also practice with Preston Blairs book
It's ok anon, I get your dilemma
Sometimes I want to express why I like/dislike something but I'm not very good at articulating why
have you considered learning to illustrate and/or animate
No because I suck at it and find no joy in trying to draw anything. I'm a little like a cuck for animation. I'm more of a writer. Thad Komorowski drew some too but that was not his forte.
Well then your criticism is always going to be vague and unstructured because without learning how the sausage is made you can't properly talk about the process.
That doesn't make it useless, but you can't analyze details you don't even know exist
Not really. Knowing how it's made means you can make some insights but a critic is just a guy with highly sensitive taste.
There's a pretty wide gulf between being a critic and being an analyst
Might be semantics really. I guess most movie critics respond to elements of movies that can be written down, such a dialogue and story. But verbal analysis of visual things is difficult. And moreover, an animated movie probably gets no props for good character animation, because the viewers either take it for granted or don't care. A good critic is an analyst I think.
>might be semantics
OP is specifically talking about speaking as an expert on animation, one seen as having lots of both practical and esoteric knowledge
The way you do that is by being an expert.
well a good critic is also an expert, at least in the craft of writing, also I am OP.
Then study animation. You don't have to be an animator to learn the 12 principles.
Those Frank and Ollie rules?
There's the principles of animation, but the hard truth is that, like with most art, if it looks good it is good. So, sometimes ask yourself - why do YOU think it looks good?
Well I like the shot in OP because it really communicates the attitude Mei has in this moment. At ease with herself and sassy with her little head bobs and her smartass posture.
Yes, study how animation works. Read the frick out of Richard Williams and Preston Blair. But one thing to do that no anons here are saying is to STUDY THE FRICK OUT OF EVERY ANIMATOR YOU FIND INTERESTING
Yknow how artgays have been screaming to the high heavens about studying classical painters? It's the same shit with animators and cartoon art - reading about animation only does so much, you need to study the experts too. You need to think like a sakugagay.
Read the credits for movies you find interesting in terms of character animation and find out what they did. Figure out how to single them out by their quirks and find their links between animation.
John is an autistic expert because he not only studied the ever loving frick out of cartoons, but he also directly reached out to artists he found interesting and asked them questions. Granted, a lot of this was because he directly worked with some of them and he was in the industry, but we're in the age of the internet where you can literally email people if you have questions.
Yeah I emailed a lot of animators once for a cringe reason. Also once I emailed Rodolphe Guenoden to let him know about some kung fu panda fan art on YouTube. I also used to be connected to some animators on LinkedIn but I was not in the cartoon business
Another thing to keep in mind is that animation is a variation of acting. Some animators will even film themselves acting out a shot to use as video reference, as well as trying to mimic real actors when it comes to body language.
Not to derail things but I am surprised no one has complained about Turning Red so far in the thread
The tides are turning, fellow TRbros. One day /co will accept that TR was kino.
If you want a genuine answer then watch some of these videos
https://vimeo.com/showcase/8547084
ooh wow, that looks absolutely amazing. Thank you, anon
Are you asking how to be an imposter expert? How to write as an expert (be one). Or just Express why you like something eloquently?
If it's the later just read reviews of animation or old school art by experts. You dontbhave to agree with them. just pay attention to how they express themself. Think about why you like this and not something else. What context you like it in.
If that's your goal it's s commendable one.
thanks for that. Yeah I just want to understand and express my appreciation for animation better.
Learning good writing is just reading people better than you and practice. Find a site that let's users write reviews and use that for practice. That's what I did. You WIll develop an audience because people there WANT to read reviews. And you can use them to see if your ideas got across.
sadly most reviews now seem to be published on letterboxd. Anyways as to my own reviews of Turning Red, I was in a distraught stage in my life when it came out and I really liked the movie. So I said some things that might have been weird and someone said so and I came to not trust my own judgements. As for critics I like I think Walter Chaw cuts to the bone of the theme of the movie very well, even if his prose is sometimes purple. He did not like Turning Red though.
Also. The review I most reccomend is roger Ebert's review of power rangers the movie. It's the most boomer take ever but he words it do well and is not afraid to express how he feels at all.
lmao. I like some power rangers but like it's not a good thing overall. The action they took from the Sentai was really good effects and choreography though. Yes I know the Power Rangers movie doesn't take from a sentai show. I watched it as a kid. I also love me some roger ebert and wish he was still around at age 82
Thad Komorowski once basically said that Japanese animation akin to Hayao Miyazaki's is not applicable to the tradition of character animation in America. As if there was "no squash and stretch". But I don't think that's necessarily true. Movies like Akira have great charatcer animation in them.
also here's another crappy gif from the movie that I like. I feel the sense of animation timing here is great.
>Possibly the greatest character animator alive.
>Is a Bong.
How?
I think Frans Vischer's criticisms of Wish are the most mainstream animation critique has gotten.
https://www.disneyfanatic.com/former-disney-animator-trashes-wish-sw1/