"Oh well, I guess my dress will just have to wait." Cinderella was about to begin creating her own dress for the ball, when her stepmother calls for her with more duties.
Actress Helene Stanley gives a nice performance here to help the animator in his work.
This is really the thing about Disney live action reference:
1 - The action and acting was always carefully planed and staged. And the actors were amazing performers, who understood what kind of footage the animators were looking for. They understood the characters' emotions deeply.
2 - The animators worked with the reference, they pushed the timing as well as the composition.The animation never seems "floaty", which would happen, if the photostats were simply traced.
Below a few sketches by Marc Davis showing the dress the mice and birds made for Cinderella.
Awesome...did you use any live action references? If so, which characters and what was your approach?
ReplyDeleteHello, Master Andreas! My name is Aleeia, but you can call me Alee. I have a few questions, and I hope they don't come across as too strange.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the way animators work based on an actor’s performance—is it true that some animators observe voice actors during their recording sessions so they can incorporate those nuances into the drawings afterward? I believe that’s how you’ve approached your work as well, right? On the flip side, I’ve heard that some animators have such a rigid vision for a character that the voice actor’s actual performance doesn't really influence how the character moves. My question is: is it obvious to the audience when that happens? Can you tell the difference between a character born from a true collaboration between animator and actor versus one where the animator just stuck to their own vision?
Also, I have one more thing that’s been on my mind since 2020, back when a friend and I were discussing a specific series. I’ve been waiting for a chance to ask an animator about 'floaty' characters. This particular series ran on Disney around 2012–2016, and I think there’s even a sequel series coming up (I won’t name it to avoid any heated debates!). My friend mentioned that the characters look like they are floating or sliding across the screen. I know their observation is valid because that’s what they are seeing, but as someone who listens to these descriptions, I’m curious: what does an animator’s eye see in these cases? Is 'floatiness' intentional, an artistic choice, or is it just subjective? Since I cannot see, I really want to understand both perspectives—does an animator see the same 'floating' effect as an ordinary viewer, or do you see something deeper that the rest of us miss?
Thank you, Master! I hope my questions aren't out of place; I’m just really curious.
hi Andreas, all praise for this wonderful site
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if you have any more drawings you could share related to the discontinued Misstres Masham Repose project?
oh yeah, revisiting some of the animated movies from the 90's, I think some of them stuck too closely to the live action reference, and it definitely can lead to odd-looking movement and acting that feels limited.
ReplyDeleteWhich ones? Pocahontas is really the only one that comes to mind for me...
Deleteyeah I definitely think some characters in Pocahontas have it too. I was thinking of Anastasia and some of the other Bluth human characters.
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