Assignment #5: Sit Part 1

Resources:


Part 1: Video Reference

ACT! Take video reference of yourself stepping or walking up to a chair and sitting down. Remember to take reference from more than one view and multiple times. Try different things. Experiment! There are many different ways to convey the same emotion/character trait. See what poses and actions are more readable.


Part 2: Sit Down

Sitting down is a complicated action. You will need to study your reference and figure out how the body shifts weight. You will also be required to incorporate emotion and acting into your character for this assignment. What he does and how he feels is completely up to you. However, the action should be clear and the emotion easily read. Please start your character in a standing position, and end in a sitting position with acting throughout; be creative!

Try not to spend too much time modeling extra props. Create rough models or just use primatives instead; our focus is on the motion and acting in your work. Start early! Animating a piece that includes acting should not be done within a span of two days. Spacing out your working time over the entire week will allow you to look at what you have with fresh eyes and spot problems that might otherwise be overlooked. To help us help you, we will be requiring two sentences from you due Sunday February 7th by 10:00pm. One sentence will need to describe the personality of the character you will be animating and the other sentence will describe the circumstances surrounding the sit. Please ask questions if you have any before you send in your final sentences for our review.

Since this is a two week project your animation does not have to be complete next week, but all of your key poses need to be blocked out. These are the most import poses in conveying the emotion and story of your character. Also, as will usually be the case in production, you will be animating from a single, fixed camera angle. Specifically, the camera needs to be about 3/4 to the front and your character's full body should be in view throughout the entire animation. All of your motion arcs and silhouettes will be relative to this camera. Don't be afraid to exaggerate your poses such that they only look good from this view. However, remember that you still need to pay attention to weight shifts on all sides, as those shifts will still affect how your character moves through space.

What to do:

  1. Submit two sentences as described above. Please send an e-mail to Barbara and the 464 TAs with "Assignment 5 plan" in the subject line. This part is due on Sunday Feb. 7, at 10:00pm.
  2. After reviewing your reference exhaustively, draw sit planning sheets. Be creative with your poses. Extract ideas from your reference, but try not to be too literal. Exaggerate to make your poses more interesting and readable.
  3. Animate!

Turn-in Checklist: