Faking It

Animator (and Animation Guild Local 839 prez) Kevin Koch has a useful post on his blog entitled “Faking It”, which addresses the topic of what’s an animator to do when assigned to animate shallow and superficial characters. Having working in the animation department on seven DreamWorks features, Kevin is certainly well qualified to speak on the subject. Koch offers a number of solutions, including just doing the job as well as you can:

“If you’re not in a position to make story/character contributions, if that superficial character and shallow, unbelievable story aren’t going to improve no matter how many suggestions you make, then just do the best you can. There are times when I have to remind myself that I’m a pro, I’m being paid to do a job, and the least I can do is a solid professional job. Think of those shots as a technical problems. Look for ways to emphasize the basic principles of animation. Are the arcs as full as they could be, can you pack in a touch more overlap and follow-through, are your poses as clear and well staged as they can be? If you’re stuck having a minor character walk around for no particular reason, make it the sharpest walk in the movie, without upstaging the main action. Remember the oft quoted line, “There are no small scenes, only small animators.”