Thursday, June 5, 2014
Back to Blocking+
Hey guys! As we talked about in class, I reduced everything to 4 key poses. Then went ahead using copied-pairs with linear tangents. And after that started layering more details on top. It does feel cleaner and more clear to me so far but let me know which parts you like and dislike the most. Thanks!
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Hey Zach,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really cool idea. The one note I have right off the bat is to nail down some sort of emotional change when he exhales towards the end. That seems like a huge emotional shift and I think it would be a good idea to have that show clearly.
Is he relieved that the guy can understand him? Is he further embarrassed because the guy giving him the ticket is patronizing him (if it's not the case he might still feel that way?). Is he sad that it didn't work?
Posing wise he may be a bit unbalanced at the moment. A huge part of his upper body is leaning waaaaay forward. Unless he has abs of steel and is holding himself upright, you might want to think about him having his upper body weight solidly planted on the arm holding the book. Maybe his forearm is absorbing the wait. I think him leaning on the counter for support will also convey the fact that he is desperate and out of his element, and make a cool animation exercise as he takes the weight off the arm.
Also, what's that last emotion there as he starts to turn away. He breaks eye contact before he speak but looks like he is happy that someone tried to make him feel better. For me the line is coming across as sorrowful or super embarrassed. Just wondering what your thoughts were!
Thanks, Brandon. I think you're right. The change in the face needs to be more clear. I'm not very worried about the off-balance bit. It feels to me like there is enough support in the hands always being in contact with the counter. We've looked at this bent-over pose for a few weeks now in class and Victor hasn't given me any notes on changing it so I think I'll probably keep it mostly as-is. Also, yes - he definitely has abs of steel! Thanks for the notes, man. I can try to solidify the expression change a bit more before class today - if work allows.
ReplyDeleteCripes! I wrote a bunch of notes and then hit something that took me out of googleland.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'll try again.
Hey Zach! I'm trying to get in the habit of writing notes without looking at what others wrote first, so I apologize if I'm just repeating what Brandon said.
Looks good! I think it's a definite improvement. It reads much more clearly than last week. Although I kind of liked his old hairstyle :)
I like his posture - I think his hunching and the way his shoulders and arms are all squished in reflects his subdued tone of voice well. I also like how you animated to his breaths. Good stuff there!
I feel like having him looking down from the start makes it seem like he is really avoiding eye contact, which makes him feel overly submissive or intimidated. Maybe if you start him off looking up, then have his eyes go into his book or down or whatever, he will come off as more uncomfortable and less submissive, which to me seems more natural.
The last little beat feels unclear to me. If I watch it with the sound off it feels like he is smirking because he just tricked the ticket guy. What is the subtext behind the smile? It might work if he started smiling as he said "It's very kind of you to lie" but right now it feels like a separate beat. I'm also not sure why he's turning away as he's still talking. I feel like walking away mid-sentence makes a pretty strong statement about someone's personality, and it doesn't really fit with what's going on here.
That's all I got! Hope it helps. Good work!
Thanks for the comments, Tyler.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the attitude is unclear and confusing at the end.
I think the subtext beats are as follows:
1. "I'm so embarrased by this" ("I apologize... saying")
2. "Wait, what is this?" (#Inhale... exhale# #sees ticket#)
3. "I'm confused, did you really do this for me?" (#looks up at ticket guy#)
4. "Thanks for trying to be nice but I know I'm an embarrassment" ("It's very kind... lie")
I don't think he ever fully gets to enjoy the fact that he got the ticket since he's so uncomfortable and self-conscious the entire time. So I'm taking out all smiles from the shot. He never quite gets there emotionally.
Him avoiding eye contact at the beginning was something we talked about in class that Victor suggested so I would like to stick to it. As far as him walking off mid-sentence at the end, I don't want him to seem rude - just show more of that discomfort - he's trying to get out of there as quickly as possible to save himself and those around him from any further embarrassment.