#study animation

My grandpa's office screams dark academia as well,

ANIMATION DEFINITIONS

As promised here is my list of Animation and Animation-related definitions that I’ve developed since 2016. Again I’ve compiled these based on my experience, based on conversations with peers, adapting the dictionary, reading news articles and watching online videos. Just another helpful internet resource.

Animation - The technique of creating the illusion of movement through the use of successive drawings, photographs or computer-generated imagery (CGI). See previous post of a breakdown of this definition

Animator - An individual who practises the technique of creating animations.

Frame - In animation, a frame refers to a single picture or image in a series of sequential pictures that form a video or motion picture .

Frame Rate - Refers to the speed at which frames are projected to an audience. Frame rate is measured in frames per second (fps). In animation, the standard frame rates are 24 fps or 12 fps. This means it takes 24 or 12 individual frames to produce one second of animation 

Live Action - A motion picture featuring real people, places, objects, and animals. Animation, on the other hand, uses visual effects and features characters, places, objects and animals that have been created by the animator.

Set (or Film Set)  - A set is a location in which filming is taking place. The set features scenery, furniture, and other objects and accessories that are fitting of that particular environment. These items are often purposefully created for the filming of a particular production. Both animation and live action motion pictures can make use of a set. In animation, a set can be physical (often miniature) or virtual (using digital animation software programs).

Feature-length film - A film that is about 90 minutes or more in length. This applies to both live action and animation films.

Key Pose - A pose in animation refers to a character’s body language, facial expression, and overall attitude. Key poses are the main poses of a character’s action or an object’s motion that make up the overall animation.  These are also known as extremes (Johnston & Thomas, 1981: 64; Williams, 2001: 48). I referenced the book Disney Animation - The Illusion of Life for this one - page 64 & The Animator’s Survival Kit pg 48

Breakdown - A pose in between two key poses or extreme that further describes a character action or an object’s motion (Pontoja, 2017). Check out Toniko Pontoja’s YouTube channel. He explains this very well.

In-between - An In-between, also spelt Inbetween, is a single pose or a series of poses used to finalise a piece of animation and create smooth or fluid motion. In-betweens have subtle changes from one frame to the next, whereas key poses and breakdowns have extreme changes from one pose to the next. 

Supervising Animator - An animator that leads a team of animators in achieving a particular performance within a piece of character or effects animation. The supervising animator oversees entire sequences of animation and is charge of leading the entire performance of a single specific character. (See page 160 of Disney Animation - The Illusion of Life). The supervising animator reports to the director and helps to guide the animation team towards the director’s vision and goal for the animated production.

Weight - Showing the effect of gravity on an object or character

Balance - Having natural asymmetry and a believable distribution of weight and sizing proportions. If there is imbalance in a design, it must be an active drawing choice with specific intentions

Depth - Showing a character or object in space, especially perspective drawing

Visualisation -  The experience of imagining or creating a physical representation of an imagined idea or image. The process of imagining the final result of an animated production. I had help from the good old fashioned dictionary with this one.

Concept Art - Artwork specifically created to represent an idea. Concept art often takes the form of an illustration, but it can also be in the form of sketches, paintings, or built models. Concept art can be created traditionally - through analogue media such as paint, pencils, or clay - or digitally, through design software. (Also have a look at this link - could be useful)

Animatic (or Story Reel) - A rough draft of an animated sequence or live-action film. It is made up of: images from a storyboard, rough audio, dialogue, and sound effects. Its purpose is to visualise the story of an animated production before stepping into the animation process. It is useful for introducing new ideas to a production and gaining feedback before full-colour animation. See also Disney Animation - The Illusion of Life pg 211

Visual Development - The formal process of visualising an animated production. Visual development involves the use of various digital and traditional techniques to determine the overall look and mood of an animated production (Also have a look at this link - could be useful).

Pre-production - All of the preparatory work done in the early phases of the production of an animation. It is a vital step in visualising the final animation. The process involves steps such as: character design, concept art, storyboarding, prop design, and animatics or story reels.

Export - To transfer all the frames of an animation created in an animation program into a format that is playable in another animation programs or using a video player.  Exporting animations allows the animator to share the animation as a closed file, meaning the animation is final and no longer editable 

THAT’S IT FOR NOW. MIGHT COME BACK AND UPDATE THIS LIST IN THE FUTURE.