Guillermo del Toro: “Animation is a medium, not a genre.”
Stella Adler: “Acting is reacting.”
Core Principles of Believable Acting in Animation:
- Objective: Characters must have a clear goal or desire, and their actions should reflect efforts to achieve it—good acting highlights what the character wants and obstacles they face.
- Specificity: Answer “Why does my character move?” by linking movements to thoughts, feelings, or reasons (e.g., a thief stealing a safe, an archaeologist finding proof of Atlantis).
- Personality: Every movement should mirror the character’s unique traits and their relationship to the situation (e.g., a shy character fidgets; a proud character puffs their chest).
- Thought Process: Animation should “breathe”—characters appear to think before acting (e.g., pauses, eye movements, posture shifts convey inner thoughts) to build believable motivation.
- Key Elements: Clear Poses, Interesting timing, Staging, and the “Keep it simple” principle.
light & heavy box fall down:
Let them have a scenario (blocking):