Temple of the Seven Golden Camels

[Rodney]

Mark Kennedy's 'Temple of the Seven Golden Camels' is perhaps the most linked blog here in the A:M forum.

There is good reason for that.

 

He has recently posted on the subject of Staging which I find to be really important stuff:

 

Basic Principles of Staging (Part 1)

 

 

 

Added: PDF version of the article.

Basic_Staging_Principles__Part_1_.pdf

[robcat2075]

Good find. He's always very good about showing examples of what he's saying.

 

And "Staging" is one of the famous "12 Principles" of animation.

[Gerry]

Well I just started reading it but here's the money quote, and also a a basic comic book drawing technique:"But in the end, as I suspected, moving the villain up high in the scene and moving the other characters in the sequence down low made all the difference and fixed all of the problems."

[Rodney]

Mark Kennedy has posted Part 2 of his Basic Staging Principles.

He doesn't name any one area as a principle in this post but mentions several throughout.

Perhaps 'Clarity' is at the heart of this one?

 

http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/2009/11/ba...les-part-2.html

 

Mark knows his stuff and has great instinct.

He tends to be a bit apologetic where he doesn't need to be.

We read his blog because we want his opinion. That should be good enough.

Others may disagree or prefer another option.

Thats okay... its their art.

 

One of the points he passes on in this part is:

When a character is supposed to feel lost, abandoned, or alone, a wide shot with a lot of empty space around them is always effective.

 

A reoccurring theme for Mark is his use of flat staging or depth to heighten the sense of humor or drama.

Basic_Staging_Principles__Part_2_.pdf

[Rodney]

I've taken a quite a few liberties but here are my interpretations and outtakes from Mark's post...

 

 

 

- Staging is subjective (it implies the point of view (POV) and perspective of real characters… whether seen or not) Stage Action clearly without dialogue to resolve specific problems and clarify ideas (where possible without resorting to props).

 

- Stage every Action and Emotion clearly for the audience. Find the staging that best expresses the character's feeling. Use staging to get the character's emotion across.

 

- Starting on a closeup on a character then cutting back to see the character's surroundings will embed the character in the midst of their environment. When a character is supposed to feel lost, abandoned, or alone, a wide shot with a lot of empty space around them is always effective.

 

- Staging in a very flat way (with action perpendicular or parallel to the camera) will create a comedic feel. Use this to advantage when staging scenes meant to be funny. Avoid symmetry (and twinning) as it will flatten out a picture (unless emphasizing dull, robotic or funny moments).

 

- Actions staged in depth will be dramatic and exciting. For dramatic scenes use staging to gain a sense of depth. Use diagonal lines (rather than perpendicular) to stage dramatic compositions.

 

- Consider the composition of staging with respect to the frame and negative space. Lines parallel to the edges of the frame flatten out a shot and will enhance comedic effect. Laying out a scene flattly will make the animator's job tougher. (Flat staging is harder for an Actor to overcome)

 

- Stage the character's face clearly where possible. Being able to see the expression in a character's face will gain the audience's empathy as they will experience what the character feels through the character's emotive response.

[ruscular]

I thought closeup were use when actor fighting skills were lousy or there an intimate love scene with a stand in involve. I also thought that maybe Europeans were used to closeup when socializing while us Americans growing up in the plains enjoy the space.

 

Don't laugh! I just watch a Korean film and I notice that although the apartment and hallways were tiny and crowded the actor had their bubble and only when there is romance settling in, the spaces were tighter and closeup. Very little closeup scene was in this film "Over the Rainbow"

My thoughts were that maybe there is differrence in culture and whatever deem comfortable for them are under consideration.

 

Rules for 3D set design, is only construct the part that will be seen, and the more close up you have the less scene construction will be needed. That's the lazy part speaking.

 

This open my eyes in how to use spaces to tell a feeling for the character. I never thought stages could be use in that way in the same manner that music and color are use to convey a feeling.

 

I am partially deaf and I rely on body language to communicate. I am not too fond of overuse of closeup, as I call them Porn budget movie making.

[Rodney]

I am partially deaf and I rely on body language to communicate.

 

We can learn a lot from watching a sequence with the sound turned off.

Scenes that rely heavily on dialogue (and therefore most likely use Close Ups) will be inherently harder to 'read' based on body language.

 

Non verbal communication (body language) is useful in more than just animation.

For most of the basic necessities, you can use it in another country where your language isn't spoken and be understood easily.

 

(Note: As a byproduct, the wild gesturing is likely to produce the universal language of laughter because the effort will look so funny)

[Rodney]

Mark Kennedy has posted another update (and an announcement of a new Disney book).

 

While his new post isn't titled 'Basic Staging Part 3' the topic is still relevant to the subject with a focus on composition.

As far as I'm concerned more pure gold in its simplified form.

Entirely appropriate for 3D animation.

 

Here's an appropriate quote from this update:

I sure wish someone would have told me this stuff when I was at CalArts, anyway, it would've saved me years of crummy drawings...

 

If you can afford it go to Cal Arts.

But first read Mark Kennedy's blog:

 

http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/2009/12/co...dout-pages.html

 

Edit: Added the five pages of handouts in PDF format.

Composition.pdf

[NancyGormezano]

Those tips are gems!...thanks

[Animus]

Thank you Rodney!

Very useful.

 

Michel

[Rodney]

Mark Kennedy has posted (again) and this time he adds a Part 2 to an earlier discussion on 'The 180 Degree Rule'.

In this case its:

 

The 180 Degree Rule and Ways Around It

 

Very useful when considering camera movement.

 

In the post Mark says the following regarding these 180 degree rule exceptions, noting that they are mostly used in live action:

they aren't really that common or useful in animation. In the animation world, we are creating every environment from scratch and we plan out all of our cuts and camera moves in the storyboard and layout stage, so really there's no reason to end up with shots of different screen direction that need to be bridged together.

 

One of the places these exceptions most likely SHOULD be used in animation is where you are trying to give the audience a sense of seeing the film through a live action camera. While this may seem a trivial distinction, my initial instinct is to say this will occur more often than we'd realise. Most of the time we will WANT our animation to look as if filmed with a 'real camera'.

 

Edit: PDF version added.

The_180_Rule_and_Ways_Around_it.pdf

[Rodney]

It's been a couple years since I plugged Mark Kennedy's blog... as a premiere storyboard artist his perspective is still very much worth watching.

 

Mark is currently setting his sights on an exhaustive look into Squash and Stretch. I recommend checking it out. He's very open to feedback so ask him questions and leave him a word of encouragement or commentary. It takes time to put together that stuff.

 

Here can see the first installment on Squash and Stretch on the Seven Camels blog:

http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/2011/10/sq...h-part-one.html

 

 

Added: And don't forget to read through his older posts!

[mouseman]

It's been a couple years since I plugged Mark Kennedy's blog...

[...]

Added: And don't forget to read through his older posts!

I have his blog on an RSS reader. Good stuff.