We looked in class for videos that demonstrated the 12 Principles of Animation as we might apply it to our project:
- Squash and Stretch
- Anticipation
- Staging
- Straight Ahead & Pose to Pose
- Followthrough & Overlapping
- Slow in and out
- Arcs
- Secondary Action
- Exaggeration
- Timing
- Solid Drawing
- Appeal
Here's what I found:
You can tell in these animation tests from "James and the Giant Peach" some real character in the spider just in her movement, for example the way she sneaks up on the grub around 1:00 and quickly wraps it up. This is also an example of exaggeration. We find this particular action funny and APPEALING because it's exaggerated - it's faster than any spider could actually wrap, but it makes sense for her predatory, fastidious character.
Additionally, there's great ANTICIPATION as she descends on the baby at 1:16. She doesn't go directly towards it, rather she ARCs around to the back, pauses, and then pounces.
Again, at 2:01 a great example of EXAGGERATION as Mrs. Spider wakes up and stretches, her legs stretching to their maximum length
As the spider moves, her hands provide a lot of secondary action, adding character but not helping to facilitate the movement. Ideally, body posture alone should be enough to convey an emotion. In the spider's case, the secondary action of the hands isn't necessary, is just helps to reinforce the story.
Overall in the animations, the arcing motion of the spider's body is very interesting to watch as the legs counter around it. At 1:45 as the spider lands solidly on its legs, the body FOLLOWS THROUGH, absorbing the impact of the land. It seems like it's going to be important in the rig to figure out some kind of IK to get the spider body to move independantly of the legs.
