Emily's Art Blog

1. Already the scenario is great! Who hasn’t answered the phone where they had to inform their parent/guardian? The energy of her calling for mom is felt when she calls for her. 

2. Your use of Overlapping Action for the telephone cord and hair for the girl is present, which I am happy to see! Especially for the telephone cord, as the girl is moving back and forth before handing the phone to her mom. For the girl’s ponytail, the Overlapping Action could be pushed a little more, as her bangs in the front was executed nicely. It feels the ponytail was not as loose in motion, though it did move a bit. 

3. That Arc for the head turn is awesome! I remember we talked about it from your last animation, and seeing it applied here is good. 

4. The last thing to make mention is the Slow In for the last part of the animation (where the girl calls for mom). The The Slow In comes in a little sharp, which adds the pop to the animation. As I watch it more and more, I think it works here with the performance. It doesn’t have to be smooth all the time. Though if you want to smooth it out some more, work with the Spacing for the Slow In for that pose before she hands the phone. 

1. This is a fun animation to watch, and I enjoy the playfulness for this project! I also enjoyed the work done for the water effects for this animation.

2. I do like the interaction with the ball and the dog, and I believe we can look into their performances. Let’s start with the ball: I do like the Arc for the ball in the first shot. What I noticed though that the Spacing for the ball was looking even (see first row in the image below), instead of having a diversity. When that happens, it tends to look mechanical (which does work for something like a watch hand or something technology based). My suggestion is to try to play with the Spacing, and decide which one you would like to use (Slow In or Slow Out) (see second row in the image below).

3. The last note for the ball, because of the even Spacing, I had a hard time wondering what kind of ball it was, based on its motion. We know that all objects have weight, and their weight reacts to gravity a bit differently. This will cause the ball to move a certain way when animating. Is it a racquet/tennis ball? Maybe a small beach ball? What if it was a bowling ball? Or a Poke Ball? 

When you decide on the kind of ball to animate, then animate its weight as well. This will plus your performance even more. :)

4. The dog is fun to watch seeing as s(he) was getting excited before going after the ball in the next shot into the sunset. As the dog is turning his head, the head turn seemed a bit more straight (see image below) instead of an Arc (like the ball). Arcs allows the character to have more life as they move. When you have time, notice how you move hands/arms as you are talking, and you will see how Arcs are being used in daily life. Eric Goldberg and Richard Williams talk about the head turn in their books (Goldberg - Character Animation Crash Course; Williams - The Animator’s Survival Kit) respectively.  

5. Lastly, I really like the detail you brought with the Follow Through/Overlap for the dog’s facial features and ears in the animation. Including the smear/Stretch for the mouth. If you add a Slow In for the smear/Stretch, so the face could settle, it will add to the performance.