Principles of Animation Part 2: Fred's 14 Points and Additional Info

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Here is the rest of the principles of animation as a continuation of the first blog posted a few weeks ago!

Today, I'll list off and explain Fred's 14 Points of Animation as found in

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation using examples from the movie The Incredibles

Fred's 14 Points of Animation:

1. Appeal in Drawing: Focusing on the audience and how they feel toward a specific character.
- Giving a character a unique attribute, like the Incredible family and their red suits with their signature "i" in the middle of their suits.

2. Staging: Focusing on main parts of the scene for the viewers. 
- The current motion of a character, or facial expressions as well

3. Most interesting way? What can you do to make each and every character interesting to all types of audiences?
- A character that is playful, yet sometimes serious is easy to relate 

4. Is it the most entertaining way? Making sure that the character is intriguing.
- Make them funny, or super sarcastic! In the Incredibles, everybody had super powers! Pretty intriguing.

5. Are you in character? When creating that character, get into character yourself. Try to relate to the character.
- Mr. Incredible is probably the most relatable character to middle aged dads, which are probably the ones who created him.

6. Are you advancing the character? Make sure the characters are advancing in time just like people do in real life. 
- Mr. Incredible does advance throughout the story, from frustrated cubicle worker to back to a super hero with his family

7. Is this the simplest statement of the main idea of the scene? Do not overdo your work.  Simple can be more in some cases.
- Each scene is important in The Incredibles, from introducing characters, to advancing the plot without giving too much detail.

8. Is the story point clear? Keep the story simple so it is easy for the audience to follow.
- Super heroes need to defeat bad guys, pretty simple.

9. Are the secondary actions working with the main action? Making the characters as realistic as possible.
- In some scenes, the family acts like a normal family, making them more relatable despite being super heroes. 

10. Is the presentation best for the medium? Always remember to make sure that the animation will successfully present in any medium. 
- The aesthetics of the movie fits very well with the medium.
11. Does it have 2-Dimensional clarity? When viewing on a flat surface, make sure the characters are visually simplistic.
- All the Incredibles can be seen pretty clearly

12. Does it have 3-Dimensional solidity? To be sure that it can also be in 3D form as well as 2D.
- Yup, its done pretty well

13. Does it have 4-Dimensional Drawing? Making sure that when these things come together that they still look acceptable. 
- The movie does this perfectly

14. Are you trying to do something that should not be attempted? Do not do things to the characters that may take away from what they have to offer.
- No character in the movie goes away from what is expected form their character

Additional 12 Points of Animation:

1. Inner feelings and emotion: Give each character a personality!
2. Acting with clear and definite action: Get to the point and keep it clear.
3. Character and personality: This draws the audience to the characters.
4. Thought process through expression changes: This makes good animation along with creating reality.
5. Ability to analyze: Be sure to proof your animation.
6. Clear staging: Keep in mind how it will look on screen and go from there.
7. Good composition: How does the scene look as a whole?
8. Timing: Deals a lot with the frames per second
9. Solidity in drawing: Good drawing+good animation=solid work
10. Power in drawing: This adds drama to the story.
11. Strength in movement: Gives characters powerful traits
12. Imagination: Imagination is what creates animation!

9 Ways Animation Builds Emotion in the Imagination of the Audience 

1. Rear View
2. Shadows
3. Shadows over the characters
4. Overlays
5. Dramatic Layout
6. Pictorial Shot
7. Effects Animation
8. Held Drawing with Camera Moves
9. Offstage Sounds