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About Me Member Deviously Deviant rhianimated22/Female/Australia Recent Activity Deviant for 1 Year
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Friday Arvo Ramble

Thu May 21, 2009, 11:03 PM
I went to a siggraph meeting in Sydney a few weeks ago called "Acting skills for character animators", and the guy who ran it (who was an actor/acting coach) brought up the very interesting notion of actors, and therefore animators, building up their own little stockpiles of live-action reference footage that they find particularly inspiring. Youtube clips, interviews with famous and 'everyday' people, clips from films or tv shows, sporting feats, miscellaneous facial expressions and actions and pieces of dialogue and any random little things that make you take a second glance are worth collecting - and we see so many faces and bodies in movement every day, all the time, it's worth taking the time to analyse something that grabs our attention.

So here is something from my collection that I never get sick of watching (or listening to!) - the King's Singers performing the 'Barber of Seville overture' (in 1982).

[link]

There's a lot to be said about this clip; it's a great reference in caricature for starters - the lineup of different shapes and faces and how they suit the part they're singing. But I particularly like the use of facial expressions and nuances between the different singers, and the way they manage to inject so much humour, subtle interaction, character and gesture/emotion into the song (especially when there's no actual dialogue) - it's an engaging performance with a lot of texture, for something that's essentially a bunch of guys all dressed in the same thing standing on the spot and singing a piece of classical music. Also the progression from serious performance to comedy act is a good study for comic timing, and building up momentum in a performace. It's also good for lip-sync, watching the shape their faces and postures have to take to produce particular sounds. And hey, the singing' aint half bad, either! :D

Here's another one (from the same concert) for you Randy Newman fans:

[link]

Bill Ives (the short one) is pretty adorable :B

  • Mood: Big Grin
  • Listening to: King's Singers
  • Watching: my work scene unzip....slowly
  • Drinking: coffee....('...you can sleep when you're dead!)

Devious Info

  • Current Residence: Sydney
  • Interests: Animation, Books, Welsh language, Disney, Choir, Medieval re-enactment, Discworld
  • Favourite movie: Sleepy Hollow, Plots with a View, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney version)
  • Favourite band or musician: The Beatles, Howard Jones, The Police, John Dowland, The King's Singers
  • Favourite genre of music: Jazz, Classical, Celtic folk, 80's, soundtracks (they count, don't they?), Madrigals
  • Favourite artist: Arthur Rackham, Paul Kidby, Chris Riddell, Walt Disney, Tony DiTerlizzi, plus a million others
  • Favourite poet or writer: Terry Pratchett
  • Favourite style of art: Cartoons and comics, Medieval and 19th Century art
  • Operating System: Windows
  • MP3 player of choice: Finally got an iPod after my discman died
  • Favourite game: chess...at least I assume it will be when I learn how to play properly...
  • Favourite cartoon character: Too many! Although I've realised that I undoubtedly classify as a Clopin fangirl...dear Lord.
  • Personal Quote: 'Ah, ok'
  • Tools of the Trade: Pencil/ink/Paper, Photoshop 7, Wacom

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Comments


golly your lineart is so darn awesome. Clean, smooth, expressive... baaaah! WANT.

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:bucktooth:
Thankyou so much :D I personally think I would make the animation industry's worst ever cleanup artist, but it's lovely to hear some positive feedback on my linework, so thankyou! I must say though, I owe 90% of the smoothness of my more recent digital stuff to the fact that I've started inking in Toonboom; it's a wonderful, fluid program to sketch in.

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'Look at me, mates! I'm a bloody wizard! Magic, magic, magic!' - The Last Continent, Terry Pratchett
Ooo, toonboom, I've heard of that. That's not an animation program is it? Not like flash?

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:bucktooth:
It is! It's sort of like Flash and essentially does similar things, but it's more geared towards people who want to create character animation as opposed to web graphics etc and has special tools to help with that :D I think it's bigger in Europe and Canada at the moment, but it's a great program!

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'Look at me, mates! I'm a bloody wizard! Magic, magic, magic!' - The Last Continent, Terry Pratchett
oh my gosh. I'd love to get that program. *drool* Well, keep at it, the work's fantastic!

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:bucktooth:
love ur work - Rincewind in the XXX bar is brilliant!

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"Life is a long preparation for something that never happens"
Thankyou kindly for such a lovely compliment! :D

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'Look at me, mates! I'm a bloody wizard! Magic, magic, magic!' - The Last Continent, Terry Pratchett
you're welcome! - and i seem to be missing an "x" in my previous comment o_O
:giggle:

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"Life is a long preparation for something that never happens"
Your gallery is awsome !
I really like your style ! And specially your Discworld work !!

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THE GUARDIAN CONTEST [link]
Thankyou so much! :D

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'Look at me, mates! I'm a bloody wizard! Magic, magic, magic!' - The Last Continent, Terry Pratchett

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