Acting Reference #80

Here's a classic piece of reference from The Godfather. Great example of thought process & eye movement.
Acting Reference #80 from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Animating Creatures For Games

I'm going to be rerunning my creature animation class this September. We'll be animating quadrupeds, spiders & dinosaurs. Hope you see you there! Click the image to go to the course promo page. And check out some awesome work created by 2 of my previous students.

Alex Alvarez

Alex Alvarez - Spider Reel - April2014 from Alex Alvarez on Vimeo.

Alexander Antoniade

Creature Cycles ( Albertosaurus, Spider and Dog ) from Alexander Antoniades on Vimeo.

Toy Story Midway Mania Reel

Never made a showreel for the Toy Story Midway Mania ride I worked on, most the shots were just sprinkled in my otherdemo reels, so thought I should make one. This isn't all the animation I did for it, but a good chunk of it. Was a blast to work on!
Toy Story Midway Mania Reel from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Acting Reference #79

Here's a clip from Killing Them Softly. I love the reaction Scoot McNairy has when the name "Dylan" is mentioned. It starts subtle but you can clearly see the fear wash over him. Great stuff
Acting Reference #79 from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Video Game Animation

I'm rerunning my video game animation class this June (June 9th-July 7th)
Right now there is an early bird special - sign up by Thursday and receive $50 off
Hope to see you guys there!

Anim: Oka with Sound

Played around with adding some sound to this animation I did about 2 years ago.


Oka Free Run with Sound from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Acting Reference #78

Here's another great example of simplicity. Without spoiling too much, in this clip from The Last of the Mohicans Alice has been captured and is being taken away. Uncas, who loves her, is telling his father I'm leaving and going after her. But instead of saying this through dialog, he simply puts his hand on his shoulder and shares a look with him. This is much more powerful that any dialog could have been. There's also nice varied timing in the beats of this shot. Noticing the girl, putting the hand on the shoulder and then looking into his father's eyes.

Acting Reference #78 from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Anim: Who Would Be So Bold?

Little personal test for fun using one of the Dota 2 rigs. Pretty happy with result considering its limited controls


Who Would Be So Bold? from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Acting Reference #77

Amazing clip of Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years A Slave. So much raw emotion. Great reference for eye darts, building emotion, thought process. I highly recommend this movie, though extremely intense, it has some wonderful performances in it.


Acting Reference #77 from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Last Week For Sign Ups

Last week to sign up for my Animating Creatures For Games class. Check out the animations I'll be creating step by step




Here's the link to sign up! Hope to see you there :)

Acting Reference #76

Nice clip from Searching For Bobby Fischer. Though Ben Kingsley has most the lines, I like how the focus in on the boy. When animating to dialogue, we often just cut to whoever is speaking. Instead of doing this, you should make sure the camera is cutting to what's most important, regardless of who is talking. In this scene for instance, the most important thing is showing the boy struggling, trying to figure out this test. So instead of cutting to the speaker, they kept the focus on him. This movie was shot by the late great Conrad Hall, who in my opinion is the greatest cinematographer ever.


Acting Reference #76 from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Anim: Feb 11 Second - Spline 01

Started cleaning up the first part


Feb 11 Sec Club - Spline 01 from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Animation Reference #1

So I've been doing Acting Reference on my blog for quite some time, I want to start doing Animation Reference as well. My plan is to add very short shots to really be able to see/analyze what is going in animation wise. So without further ado, here's the first one from Frozen

Anim: Feb 11 Second

If time permits I hope to enter this months competition. Here's first pass blocking



Feb 11 Sec Club - Blocking 02 from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Acting Reference #75

Ben Mendelsohn has quickly become one of my favorite actors. Here's a great clip of him in The Place Beyond the Pines. He always just feels so natural and real. I love the shoulder shrug he does and how he licks his lips towards the end. Really excited to see him in Rogue One this winter.

Acting Reference #75 from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Acting Reference #74

Short little clip from The World's End. Really like the little head gesture Simon Pegg makes after he says "Newton Haven", has a lot of personality in it. There's also a lot of nice contrasting speed in his movement. He's got some quicker head moves and then a nice slow one at the end. Contrast in speed can add a lot to your shot!

Acting Reference #74 from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Promo Video

Here's the promo video for my upcoming Animating Creatures For Games class
You can sign up here

Acting Reference #73

Here's a nice little clip from Road To Perdition. I love how much character there is in such a simple action as taking and opening a letter. Also a nice example of varied speeds in a shot. Some of his actions are very quick, but he also has some longer pauses & more slow/subtle movement. Varying the speeds of movements in your shot will add a lot of visual interest & appeal