AN EXPLORATION OF CHARACTER ANIMATION AS A NARRATIVE DEVICE IN STORYTELLING
by Dulcie Tillinghast
One key component of animation is it's relationship with action and emotional storytelling. Through animation, the emotions a character expresses can be carefully superintended and exaggerated; it gives creatives complete control over what is depicted, allowing them to add and remove ambiguity around what the character is feeling, in order to unfurl the narrative of a story in a structured way.
My extended project is an exploration of how character animation can be used as a narrative device in storytelling. I have produced three animated character walk cycles that encapsulate individual emotions, paired with an explanation of what their movement and expression communicates to the audience in relation to the narrative surrounding them.
ANGER
Anger is a high-energy emotion that will grab the attention of others by reflecting the reaction to an emotional event or circumstance. Angry animation that properly engages an audience should offer an emotionally charged performance grounded to not only the context of the character, but also to the content in the narrative of the story. The specific input causing this emotional response is what will truly contextualise the physical and emotional reaction the character expresses. The audience may be influenced by their anger, though whether this is directed at the character under observation due to lack of proper justification or if they’re emphasizing with them and sharing their angst depends on the narrative surrounding them and the input that influenced this character in the first place.
In my animation, this character has tight shoulders and balled fists, with a heavy, powerful and purposeful walk. They look straight ahead, possibly towards the target of their anger, with deep-set eyebrows as well as a set jaw. They have a wide length of stride which carries them in their direction rapidly. This communicates to the audience that this character is clearly wound up about something and is prepared to do something about it, exuding a threaning poise.
CONFIDENCE
Generally speaking, confidence is something that is much more centred around the context of the character rather than the content of the narrative surrounding them. There are positive and negative translations of this; on the one hand, carelessness and recklessness in their actions regarding themselves or others due to an inflated sense of self-confidence could make them unreliable or dangerous in the face of pressure and responsibility. On the other hand, it could mean that a character is in a positive mood, and feels self-assured in their appearance and behaviour. The audience may be influenced to experience anger over the series of consequences set into motion by their arrogance and ignorance. Alternatively, the audience may have a positive response to a confident character, as it can come across as charming or pleasing; this variation in reaction will depend on the context of the character and the content of the narrative surrounding them.
In my animation, my character has a very visual sense of confidence in their upright, open posture that draws attention to themselves as well as a puffed chest and a jutted-out, lifted chin. Their legs swing out as they walk, and their hands are in their pockets, which communicates confidence in a much more primal manner as it leaves them vulnerable to approaching threats.
SADNESS
Sadness is not a loud emotion. Characters who are sad don't want attention drawn to themselves; they want to shrink. The thing about that, though, is that when it comes to character animation, audiences generally receive much less information. In comparison to live-action performance, where the smallest, most subtle indicators in body language and facial expression can convey the thoughts and emotions of a person in a way that is immediately recognisable to the audience, animation has to be perfectly crafted in order to depict exactly what the creators want the character to think and feel based on how it will influence the audience. So, when it comes to animating these quieter emotions like sadness, exaggeration becomes the heart of the craft. Performance based on tiny, subtle movements may be lost or impossible to achieve in animation, so broader movement and facial expression are much more effective, adding a particular charm that live-action cannot compete with. It isn't dissimilar to theatre performances; big, expressive movements are required to project to a large live audience, from the front of the crowd, all the way to the back.
That is why I have drawn my animation as I have. The hunched shoulders and the crestfallen facial expression are exaggerated in order to communicate to the audience that this character is well and truly upset. The character design further pushes this in that I've used rounder shapes that soften their appearance, giving them a more vulnerable quality in comparison to a character constructed around squares or triangles.
Canterbury College: Department of Music, Media and Performing Arts
UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production & Technology - Digital Design, Web & Animation
Unit 13 Extended Project
