The animation phase was incredibly enjoyable but daunting in equal measure. There was a lot of ambitious stuff in my script and I was really worried that I wouldnt be able to pull it off, but once I had a few shots under my belt I started to get the hang of it a little more...
The shots that gave me the most trouble were the ones where both characters were interacting... especially the areas where the the acting needed to be subtle, yet readable. But what I really found difficult were the moments of stillness... and pauses... Animation itself is incredibly difficult, but making the puppet look still and not dead was probably the hardest thing I had to get to grips with... Its easy to over animate and confuse the audience as to where they are supposed to be looking.
I found that in shots where the two characters were interacting, you needed to be confident in where the audience is looking... this balance means that while one puppet has the viewers attention, the other can stay perfectly still, so long as they are in a strong pose (with a few blinks)
The shots that gave me the most trouble were the ones where both characters were interacting... especially the areas where the the acting needed to be subtle, yet readable. But what I really found difficult were the moments of stillness... and pauses... Animation itself is incredibly difficult, but making the puppet look still and not dead was probably the hardest thing I had to get to grips with... Its easy to over animate and confuse the audience as to where they are supposed to be looking.
I found that in shots where the two characters were interacting, you needed to be confident in where the audience is looking... this balance means that while one puppet has the viewers attention, the other can stay perfectly still, so long as they are in a strong pose (with a few blinks)