"Even Strain" Process

Even Strain Animation Process from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Body Mechanics Class

Another session of my Body Mechanics class is set to run this March.

You can sign up HERE

And check out these two awesome shots that were created during my last class

Pranav Panicker
Body Mechanics - Pole Dance from Pranav Panicker on Vimeo.

Pooja Krishnan

Figure skating animation from pooja on Vimeo.

Water Bears VR Trailer

Latest VR experience from Schell Games - I did animation on these little guys

 

Behind the Camera: Conrad L. Hall

Acting Reference #91

I'm posting this clip from The Piano because it shows off some really nice body mechanics. Most my clips involve acting, but I want to get into posting some more involving mechanics as well. The shot of the girl dancing is just gorgeous. It has a great carefree and childlike quality to it. Definitely check out this movie as it has some great performances in it as well, especially from Anna Paquin & Holly Hunter.

Acting Reference #90

Short little clip from Ex Machina (great acting in this, check it out!)
I really like the small facial expression Oscar Isaac makes when he exhales. And the hand gesture he makes towards Domhnall Gleeson is very nice. Often when we think of gesturing towards a second character, the finger point is the first thing that comes to mind, but there are many different ways to gesture towards someone.

 

Anim: Even Strain

Quick little dialogue test I did over the Holidays

Anim: Surfing

Quick little "animation sketch" I did. Took about 5 hrs to complete

 

The Keys: Zootopia

Very excited for this!!

I did not create:
For educational purposes only
Copyright Disney

Buster Keaton - The Art of the Gag

Anyone interested in animation, or any type of storytelling should watch

Acting Reference #89

Time to start getting excited for Star Wars! Love the hesitation Alec Guinness has before answering Luke. This is a very tough question to answer and that definitely shows before his line delivery. When animating, make sure your characters are thinking...even when they are not speaking

 

Animate the Whole Face

Quick little tip I wanted to post. One of the biggest issues I see with people first starting animation (and especially when animating dialogue) is they don't think of the whole face as a unit. And I was a victim of this as well when I first started. I needed the characters' mouth to open, so I grab the jaw controller, open it up and move along. Not once thinking about how the face works and how its connected. Open your mouth as wide as you can right now....what happens? You probably widened your eyes, raised your eyebrows, your mouth corners pulled in...the whole face is involved. Think about the face as a whole unit, not just one jaw controller you open & close - it will breath so much more life into your animation.

Quick and dirty example I made - see how much more life there is once you start involving the whole face

Making of Aliens

I love watching making ofs to get inspired - here's an awesome 3 hr making of Aliens

Acting Reference #88

Classic shot of Robert De Niro in Goodfellas. In this shot - SPOILERS - De Niro is coming to the conclusion that he's going to have to kill a member of his crew.

I want to talk about his eye focus/direction. Often when we look at things, and especially people, we're not able to look directly at them for long periods of time. When animating, we often make our characters dart their eyes around, not focusing on things for too long to make it feel more real. But look at this example. Though his eyes are looking around, once they focus on something they stay locked. De Niro's character in Goodfellas is a very intense person who commands respect. When he looks at someone, he stares directly at them, no eyes darts looking away. He's commanding respect/daring someone to challenge him. It's like how a predator would look around a room, and that's what he is...a predator. Keep in mind who your character is and how that changes how they look at things in their world.

Animation of The Order: 1886

Nice GDC video on the animation of The Order

The Keys: Inside Out

The Keys: Inside Out from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Crazy awesome poses

For educational purposes only
copyright Disney/Pixar

Acting Reference #87

Nice clip from Hanna. I really like the swallow the guy does before he delivers his last line. Breathing and swallowing are details that are often overlooked in animation and they can really plus up your shot.


Acting Reference #87 from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.

Body Mechanics Class

I'm rerunning my 8 week Body Mechanic class, starts October 5th - you can sign up HERE


Body Mechanics from Kyle Kenworthy on Vimeo.