Case Study 04 - "Man"
"Man" by Steve Cutts
This will be a rather short case study I believe. The reason
I chose this animation is because of the simplicity, and also consistency, of
the character’s performance. The narrative revolves around man and in a way, ‘man’
is represented by the main character as he walks across the lands murdering animals
for selfish needs. The beauty in his performance comes from the consistency. He
literally walks for the whole animation with the exception with when he begins
to dance a little.
This image below is from about 20 seconds into the animation. At this point he has already killed the first creature before this point, so bare that in mind when looking at this image.
This second screenshot below is from around the middle, here he has just killed a lot of fish...and as you can see, his walk is still pretty much the same. This to me seems intentional, the animator must of had a clear image of this one walk through the animation as the narrative progresses and the environment with it.
This third a screenshot below is where he is picking up in his evil antics and he, himself, picks up in pace begins to prance around the screen while continuing towards the left of screen.
So the thing to take away from this case study is that the character may not be a realistic interpretation of a human and he me not move realistically either but since his performance is consistent all the way through we (the viewer) believe in his character. If for some reason he had a change of heart and started moving differently then it would still make sense and make him believable but only if the audience see his change. If a character changes their attitude without it being clear to the audience then you run the risk of them losing interest since the character is no longer believable in that moment.
Summary:
A believable character performance comes from consistency, whether its exaggerated animation or realistic. The animation needs to first establish the performance the character is giving and either stick with it or make it clear when it changes.
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