Animation Foundations Gesture

What makes a great animated character? One key component is gesture. Gestures are how we express ideas or feelings through the body; creating natural gestures makes our characters feel believable. Directing animator Andrew Gordon, currently at Pixar, walks us through the principles of gesture in animation, from hand and facial gestures to whole body poses. He shows how to incorporate reference material, add physicality, and avoid clichés. In chapter 2, he’ll help you add polish to your animated scenes, making the poses cleaner and maximizing the character’s interaction with their environment. Plus, take two challenges to practice your acting and observation skills. This course is software-neutral and features reference footage of actors and examples from well-known films, as well as clips created just for the class.

Topics include:

What are gestures?

Cliché and illustrative gestures

Using reference for gestures

Gesturing with other body parts

Polish of gestures

001 Welcome 002 What you should know 003 What are gestures_ 004 How animators use gestures 005 Cliche gestures 006 Illustrative gestures 007 Hand gestures 008 Facial gestures 009 Acting patterns 010 Reference for gestures 011 Intent of gestures 012 Over-gesticulation 013 Subtle gestures 014 Gestures with other body parts 015 When not to gesture 016 Challenge – Gestures vs. no gestures 017 Polishing a gesture 018 Spline work on gestures 019 Weight and physicality of a limb 020 Challenge – Telephone with gestures 021 Next steps

  Channel    and      Group