Context of Practise 3: Body Language Exploration Gestures

Context of Practise 3
Body Language Exploration Sketches

• This week:

• Before rough animations for each character, I wanted to create some body language explorations in my sketchbook to further understand their acting.
• What went well:
• Using these tests, it made me feel a lot more comfortable about drawing each of the characters and understand them better for when I animate. This also allowed me to practise trying to stay on model with them, and be more fluid with my drawing.
• I was able to determine a set of traits and quirks for each of the characters, which I could then refer to when I animate. This is something I had learnt initially from my research into acting and analysing the character performances of Delbert Doppler, Mabel Pines and Tiger. Each of them having their own quirks and mannerisms which fed into their performances. Here are my tests and analysis:

• For Bertie, I determined that:
• His facial expressions would usually consist of a frowned expression, furrowed brows and his eye movements contributing to a lot of his expression. Of all of the three characters, his facial body language is most important.
• He would always keep his chest puffed and his feet together as much as possible. The idea is that it makes him appear larger but also has arrogant connotations. This is also why I'd like to try add a stiffness to how he moves, like he always needs to keep his body up straight and head held high.

• For Sal, I determined that:
• As she an anxious, but inquisitive cat, I thought she would occasionally chew/nibble on her paw when she is thinking about something. She seems to be in thought often/in her own head.
• She is also a cat who is easily frightened. This could lead to interesting situations, with her curiosity, so she approaches things with caution, such as by tapping on objects to test what they are before playing/eating/interacting with them. 
• As she is a cat, her body language will also be shown through the body language of a cat - this is usually through the tail and ear movements. So, tail up is happy and inquisitive and tail down is anxious and afraid.

• For Mimo, I determined that:
• His very open and excitable personality means that he would have a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the way he moves, so uses his wings a lot to express himself.
• Similarly to Bertie, his facial expressions will be the centre point of his body language - using his eyes, brows and beak to show his thoughts and feelings.
• An interesting quirk I wanted to add was leg leaning/standing onto one leg a lot. This could also be used as a way to show he can't really sit still, he has a lot of energy and needs to keep moving, thus leaning either side on his legs.
• What could be improved:
• Whilst these expression and body language explorations do help me a lot for the animating process, I need to consider how it can be applied through motion and acting. What something looks like as a still may not work as effectively as an animated motion. I will have to interpret this as I animate, then.
• I think that some of the illustrations went a little bit off-model. As I had noted before, this is something I still need to practise, so I need to keep this in mind when I start my animation testing.
• Next time:
• I will start animating rough tests!