Blog 5: Animation and Mood

            "In most instances, the driving force behind the action is the mood, the personality, the attitude of the character--or else all three.  Therefore the mind is the pilot.  We think of things before the body does them."  This quote by Disney is a summation of how the mind and its many chemical and neurological processes work in conjunction with the body - in essence, these 'signals' that convey messages between the brain and the body.

            In order to understand this and apply this to animation, it's important to remember that the key to conveying a realistic (even if exaggerated) animation is to understand the way in which the body moves and the processes behind that movement.  Take, for example, moving your arm.  Just the simple action of moving it - again, this is a basic and general description - is generating a neurological signal from your brain to the nerves in your arm, which then causes you to move your arm.  While very simple, the process behind this also carries over into animation.

            Whether it be moving a limb or using the mouth to speak, the idea is that behind each physical movement is a neurological 'pilot' to guide the correct and appropriate action to the correct appendage or area of the body.  When speaking, your mind is forming the words used to communicate orally using sound and motion of the mouth.  The same process carries over into animation.