Short Dialogue Shot [Character Performance - Unit 07]

Character Performance 

15/07/24

Introduction

Continuing the trend of the last animations this shot explores lip synch and dialogue again, however, moves from one word to a short sentence. I’d initially thought this would be a lot more work, however, words are delivered so quickly sometimes that we don’t need a pose for every word but we do need to consider where the action are. The goal in this animation was to explore this idea and gain more practise ahead of starting the assignment.

Now that we had more words the key learnings I explored from this unit was really analysing the dialogue and picking out the words that were emphasised. The goal was to ensure that your poses matched this and you create contrast in the accents so that the emphasised words really stand out. If everything is emphasised then nothing would stand out.

Project Management

Progress is on track following the plan that I set out. The images below show an update of where I am at now.

Audio and Concept

I reviewed an array of audio clips and found this clip (Is anybody there?, no date) which I thought would work well for a short dialogue shot. I had the idea that that this could be someone looking into a sewer pipe or well so I added an echo to the voice clip using Audacity.

I looked a little for reference, however, couldn’t really find anything to spark my interest. The voice clip was from an animated movie too (Disney’s Hercules) so I didn’t want to use this as reference. Instead I decided to focus on creating thumbnails to create a foundation for the animation instead. 

Thumbnails

This shows my exploration through the thumbnails that I felt was working particularly well. The concept is particularly simple but suits the voice clip perfectly. I also like the idea that the camera angle will be a little more interesting than a traditional standing or sitting shot. You can also see my short analysis of the audio clip with emphasis on the word ‘there’ with an equally exaggerated pose.

Scene Setup

I modelled a simple pipe and a straw hat. I had in my mind that this character would be a farmer so I thought I’d create a little accessory to personalise the character a little further.

Animation

Blocking :

16/07/24

Blocking Plus :

Spline Refine - Including Offset and Graph Editor Tweaks :

Facial Animation - Mouth :

17/07/24

Further Facial Animation Passes :

18/07/24

Hand Refinement and Facial Tweaks :

Conclusion

This was a really interesting animation to explore and again I feel is higher quality than my previous animations in this module. I explored thumbnails in more depth during this exercise compared to the previous animation where I spent more time exploring acting to lay the foundation for the animation. This one was particularly difficult to act out due to the environment so it made more sense to explore thumbnails to build a foundation. 

The quality of this piece is good - I particularly like how I’ve introduced the animation with a single hand the reaches out before the rest of the character follows through. The lip synch is working well and there is a strong connection between the visuals and the delivery of the words. The subtle motions in the hands as the weight shifts from the body as the character leans in are also one of the strengths of this piece. The transition to the end pose as the character says ‘there’ could be a bit snappier with a slightly longer ease out opposed to the longer in between frames which would have made it a little more snappy but still keep the drawn out vowels on the word. 

The learning outcomes, listed below, have been achieved because :

1. Thumbnail sketches have been created to plan out the animation sequence. The idea for this animation made it difficult to capture live action reference, therefore the thumbnailing process was considerably more important.
2. Proficiency in animating character has been shown through the exploration of the animation production pipeline from thumbnailing to blocking and beyond.
3. Whilst the Willy rig hasn't been used a more advanced rig has been used to animate the character's face. This explores an array of nuanced facial expressions and short dialogue to convey an animation sequence.
4. Body language has been conveys through the initial passive look around followed by a more confident lean in and delivery of the voice line.
5. As mentioned, the full production pipeline has been followed to develop an interesting animation sequence. This is a potential candidate for being developed further into a longer sequence for the assignment.

Learning Outcomes

1. Create detailed thumbnail sketches as a planning tool for animating dialogue.
2. Demonstrate proficiency in animating characters speaking medium-length lines of dialogue.
3. Master the use of the "Willy" rig within Maya, applying its features to animate nuanced mouth movements and expressive facial animations in dialogue sequences.
4. Learn to blend technical lip-sync skills with facial expressions and body language animation to create emotionally rich and engaging dialogue scenes.
5. Carry out a full dialogue animation project from initial thumbnail sketching to the final animation.

Reference List

1. Is anybody there? (no date) Movie Sounds. Available at: https://movie-sounds.org/disney-movie-sound-clips/quotes-with-sound-clips-from-hercules/is-anybody-there (Accessed: 12 January 2025).