Here we go, we have now officially started the 2 characters acting shot, which will mark the end of Animation mentor’s first part training.
The 2 characters shot dialogue is one of the hardest things to do as it encompasses all the things we have seen so far: principles of animation, body mechanics and introduction to acting.

After selecting 3 interesting audio clips last week, we had to shoot the video references and work on the layout for that sequence.

The task is overwhelming. This is the first time we are gonna have to set few cameras and establish the cuts between them. Obviously we also have to make the two characters interact with each other in a believable manner.

Here are my video reference for this week (last week actually) and my 2d planning. I will show you the layout once I updated it, taking into consideration Morgan’s comments.

Video reference. This is something crucial to communicate in a rapid manner to your fellow animators or your supervisor what you are going for. It also allow you to explore different ideas and see what would or would ‘t work.

Preparation sketches. Sketches is an other way to explore ideas through thumbnail poses and sequences of thumbnails. I normally operate a back and forth between Sketches and Video reference.