AAU Character Animation Class: Acting Reference: Disturbia

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Acting Reference: Disturbia

This sequence has a number of goodies in it. Let's take a look at how Shia gets out of the car. Nice struggle but what I liked is the thing he does with his hand on the ground.

There's shattered glass everywhere so he can't just put his hand flat on the ground otherwise he'd get cut. So watch how his fingers are off the ground and how only the ball of his palm ( can you say that?) is touching the glass.

I know it's a tiny thing, but if you would animate a guy crawling over glass, I'd love to see details like that.

Speaking of hands, watch how he grabs the door after limping around the car. It's not the typical FK to IK snap with a locked off wrist once its holding on to the object. There is a re-adjustment which would add some nice complexity to your animation.

And finally the look of horror as he sees his dead father. No giant screams, no bursting into tears, no flailing arms. Just a look of shock. I'm always for "less is more" when it comes to acting and this moment works pretty well in that regard.

It also reminds me of telling you guys to think about RE-acting. Many people say acting is reacting and I think it's crucial to your performance, especially when you have multiple characters. Pay attention when two people are talking to each other. Are they really listening to each other and reacting to what each person is saying? Or is one actor just waiting for the other actor to finish his line so that he/she can continue?

So how about having your character react to great dialogue instead of being the one who says it, that could be a good challenge.

Simple shot, Shia is asleep and wakes up. It's not your typical yawning or one eye opening before the other, etc. it all feels fairly natural, but what I liked, besides his sleepy expression and way of getting up, is how he slips before he gets up. It's funny, not exaggerated and adds a nice touch.
One classic assignment is having a character getting out of a chair.
That slip would be a great little detail.

Another simple shot but I like how he throws the phone away and how restless he gets. There are obviously a number of ways of throwing something and this one I think is a funny way of doing it.