Week 13 was mainly divided into two parts. The first part continued to discuss Dialogue Shot Blocking Plus, focusing on feedback for the short dialogue animation and li
From this feedback, I found that my dialogue shot blocking still needs more improvement. My blocking is currently missing some keyframes, so the transitions between actions are not complete enough, and some parts of the performance are not clear enough. The tutor mentioned that the character’s facial direction and body direction need to stay consistent. Especially for the exaggerated “V” facial expression, it should not only stay on the face. The body should also support the same direction. In other words, the performance should not only come from the head and facial expression. The body also needs to be involved.
This class also helped me understand the order of facial movement more clearly. Facial expression changes do not usually happen all at once. They can start from the eyes and eyebrows first, and then move to the nose and mouth. This can make the expression feel more natural and layered. The tutor also reminded me that some keyframes could be more exaggerated, so the character’s emotion and performance can be easier for the audience to read.
The second part of the class started to introduce Creature Study. The tutor used the PDF to explain some basic ways of observing animal movement, and also arranged next week’s group animation task. For this task, we need to choose an animal, analyse its movement, create a PPT, and give a presentation. I chose to join the feline animal group. Next, we need to observe and analyse cat movement, such as walking, running, jumping, body weight changes, spine movement, and how the tail works with the body.
Through Week 13, I realised that dialogue animation needs more careful control of keyframes, facial rhythm, and body movement. At the same time, I also started to learn about creature animation. Feline movement is a very interesting direction for me because their actions are light, flexible, and have clear body structure and rhythm. Next week’s group task will help me observe animal movement more systematically and translate these observations into animation analysis.