11

Department of Education-Region III

DIVISION OF BALANGA CITY
BALANGA CITY, BATAAN 2100

TVL-ICT
ANIMATION NC II
Quarter 1: Week 4
Learning Activity
Sheet
 ANIMATION NC II

Name of Learner: Quarter 1: Week 4

Section: _ Date: _

PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS OF ANIMATION

Background Information:
In their book, The Illusion of Life, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas present the twelve
principles of animation used in animated films produced for Walt Disney. Most of these concepts
were developed when Disney sent his animators for drawing classes at the Chouinard Art
Institute in Los Angeles. These principles have become the industry standards and are still used
to this day.

Learning Competency: TLE_ICTAN9-12CI-IIa-j-1

LO 2. Identify the Twelve Principles of Animation

1.Explain the history of the principles of
animation. 2.Define the twelve principles of
animation.
3.Identify the principles in a commercial film.

TWELVE PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION

1. Straight Ahead versus Pose to Pose
- These are two ways of drawing animation. Straight ahead action is where you
draw each frame of an action one after another as you go along. With pose-
to- pose, you draw the extremes – that is, the beginning and end drawings of
action
– then you go on to the middle frame, and start to fill in the frames in-between.
- Pose-to-pose gives you more control over the action. You can see early on
where your character is going to be at the beginning and end instead of
hoping you’re getting the timing right. By doing the main poses first, it allows
you to catch any major mistakes early. The problem with it is that sometimes
it’s too neat and perfect
- Straight ahead action is less planned, and therefore fresher and more
surprising. The problem with it is that it’s like running blindfolded… you can’t
figure out where you’re supposed to be at any one time.
- Mastering both techniques and combining them is the best approach to being
a successful animator because then you can get both structure and
spontaneity. And incidentally, this distinction is just as important in computer
animation, where molding a pose at each keyframe is the equivalent of
making a drawing.

2. Arcs
- Almost all-natural motion is in some form of an arc. If a ball is thrown, it usually
follows an arched path. Pivot points often define the arc. The pivot point for the
thigh is the hip and the pivot point for the calf is the knee. Most human motion
follows an arc. If a boxer throws a punch, the motion of his glove follows an arc.
- Life doesn’t move in straight lines, and neither should animation. Most living
beings – including humans – move in circular paths called arcs.
- Arcs operate along a curved trajectory that adds the illusion of life to an
animated object in action. Without arcs, your animation would be stiff and
mechanical.

3. Timing
- Timing is about where on a timeline you put each frame of action. To see what
this means in action.
- Timing is the number of frames used as an object moves across the screen.
Timing can imply weight. Light objects have less resistance and move much
 quicker than heavy objects. Actors work with their timing to get the maximum
impact from their lines. Speed can imply emotion. A fast walk may mean
happiness and a slow walk may mean depression. An animator must determine
how many frames are needed for a given movement. A stopwatch or video
reference can be helpful.

4. Slow In and Slow Out

- Also known as ease in and ease out. Most motion starts slowly, accelerates, and
then slows again before stopping. Imagine a car that went 40 mph immediately
when stepping on the accelerator and went to 0 mph when hitting the brake.
Gravity has an effect on slow in / slow out. When a ball bounces, it increases in
speed as it gets closer to the ground. It decreases in speed at the top of the arch.
- When you start your car, you don’t get up to 60 mph right away. It takes a little
while to accelerate and reach a steady speed. In animation speak, we would call
this an Ease Out.
- Likewise, if you brake, you’re not going to come to a full stop right away. (Unless
you crash into a tree or something.) You step on the pedal and decelerate over a
few seconds until you are at a stand-still. Animators call this an Ease In.
- Carefully controlling the changing speeds of objects creates an animation that
has a superior believability.

5.Squash and Stretch

- Living flesh distorts during motion. Exaggerated deformations will emphasize
and impact. Although objects deform like rubber, they must maintain volume while
being squashed and stretched. A bouncing ball will squash or elongate on impact
and stretch vertically as it leaves the point of impact. This is the most well-known
and often used principle.

6. Anticipation
- Imagine you’re about to kick a soccer ball. What’s the first thing you do? Do you
swing your foot back to wind up? Steady yourself with your arms? That’s
anticipation.
- Animation can occur before an action. Before you jump, you bend your knees.
By exaggerating this action, the animator can guide the viewer’s eyes. The
formula for most animations is anticipation, action, and reaction.

7.Follow Through and Overlap

- Follow through is the action that follows the main action. It is the opposite of
anticipation. When a baseball bat hits the baseball, it does not stop abruptly. A
boxer does not freeze at the moment a punch land. Overlapping actions means
that all elements do not stop at the same time. A good example of overlapping
action is the movement of an animal’s tail.
- When a moving object such as a person comes to a stop, parts might continue
to move in the same direction because of the force of forward momentum. These
parts might be hair, clothing, jowls, or jiggling flesh of an overweight person. This
is where you can see follow-through and overlapping action. The secondary
elements (hair, clothing, fat) are following-through on the primary element, and
overlapping its action.

8. Secondary Actions
- Secondary actions are actions caused by the impact of another object. They
movement of a ball that has been kicked is a secondary action. Secondary actions
are also minor actions that occur due to a major action. Most people blink their
eyes when they turn their head. Facial expressions are secondary actions.
- Secondary actions are gestures that support the main action to add more
dimension to character animation. They can give more personality and insight to
what the character is doing or thinking.
 9. Staging
- When filming a scene, where do you put the camera? Where do the actors go?
What do you have them do? The combination of all these choices is what we call
staging.
- Staging is the clear presentation of an idea. The animator can use the camera
viewpoint, the framing of the shot, and the position of the characters to create a
feeling or strengthen understanding.
- Staging is one of the most overlooked principles. It directs the audience’s
attention toward the most important elements in a scene in a way that effectively
advances the story.

10. Exaggeration
- Exaggeration is used to increase the readability of emotions and actions.
Animation is not a subtle medium. Individual exaggerated poses may look silly as
stills but add dramatic impact when viewed for a split second. Animators should
use exaggeration to increase understanding of feeling, but be careful to not over-
exaggerate everything.
- Sometimes more is more. Exaggeration presents a character’s features and
actions in an extreme form for comedic or dramatic effect. This can include
distortions in facial features, body types, and expressions, but also the character’s
movement. Exaggeration is a great way for an animator to increase the appeal of
a character, and enhance the storytelling.

11. Solid Drawing

- Solid drawing is all about making sure that animated forms feel like they’re
in three-dimensional space.
- To get maximum feeling from the audience, animated characters must be
drawn or modeled precisely. Proper drawing and modeling can reveal a
character’s weight, character, and emotion Proper drawing and modeling are
needed to give the character proper depth and balance. When creating animated
characters, it is a good idea to not add too much detail.

12. Appeal
- Animated characters need to have a unique personality and have a wide range
of emotions (happy, excited, fearful, embarrassed, angry, scared, etc.). Character
flaws are actually a good thing. Audiences can be sympathetic to characters that
have a flaw or two. Complex personalities and moral ethical dilemmas add to
character appeal.
- People remember real, interesting, and engaging characters. Animated
characters should be pleasing to look at and have a charismatic aspect to them;
this even applies to the antagonists of the story.
- Appeal can be hard to quantify because everyone has a different standard. That
said, you can give your character a better chance of being appealing by making
them attractive to look at.
- Play around with different shapes and proportions of characters to keep things
fresh. Enlarging the most defining feature of a character can go a long way to
giving the character personality. Strive for a good balance between detail and
simplicity.

ASSESSMENT
Part 1
DIRECTIONS: Match each principle listed in column A with the appropriate definition or
description from column B.
 Column A Column B
1. Anticipation A. Also known as ease in
2. Appeal and ease out.
3. Arcs B. Number of frames between
4. Exaggeration poses.
5. Follow Through C. Animated characters need to
and Overlap have a unique personality and
6. Secondary Actions have a wide range of
7. Slow In and Slow Out emotions.
8. Solid Drawing D. Animation can occur before
9. Squash and Stretch an action.
10. Staging E. Drawing the frames in
11. Straight Ahead versus Pose sequence versus creating
to Pose strong posed (keyframes)
12. Timing first and adding the in-
between frames later.
F. Living flesh distorts during
motion. Exaggerated
deformations will emphasize
motion and impact.
G. Minor actions that occur due to
a major action.
H. The action that follows the
main action; actions do not
stop at the same time.
I. The basis for almost all-
natural motion; created using
a spline curve.
J. The clear presentation of
an idea.
K. To get maximum feeling from
the audience, animated
characters must be drawn or
modeled precisely.
L. Used to increase the
readability of emotions and
actions.

Part II.
DIRECTIONS: Identify the animation principle that is best illustrated by each
description provided below.

13. Before a character throws a punch, he pulls his fist back.

14. A roller coaster comes to a stop at the end of the ride.
15. A girl’s pony tail moves up and down as she jumps rope.
16. As a ball hits the ground, it changes shape but maintains volume.
17. The main character is positioned using the rule of thirds.
18. As a character turns his head from left to right, he dips his chin.
19. An animator decides to animate a water splash in a frame-by-frame manner.
 20. An animator decides how many frames it should take for an apple to drop to
the ground.

Reflection:
 What I’ve learned:

 How this lesson will help me?

References

https://idearocketanimation.com/13721-12-principles-of-animation-gifs/
https://studylib.net/doc/13963653/lesson-plan

Answer Key

Prepared by:

RYAN M. TIANGCO
Teacher I
City of Balanga National High School-Senior High School