Performance and Character: Research II (Empathy and Silhouettes)

Empathy: In this lecture we firstly learned about the importance of empathy vs. sympathy, we were referred to this video: Brene Brown- Empathy vs. Sympathy

I feel that this is something I have known for a while. Empathy is to experience the feelings of another person Unlike sympathy, which is caring and understanding for the suffering of others. Both words are often confused with each other. These two states of understanding could be considered analogous- (Comparable in certain respects, typically in a way which makes clearer the nature of the things compared). In order for us as animators and to an extent, actors have the tools to distinguish the two states, we must have the: Emotional intelligence, i.e. The capacity to be aware of control and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. Silohuetting: We have also been referred to George Maestri's book Digital Character Animation 3 to teach us on the significance of silhouetting.

What I learned from this is the significance in what can be learned from the principles of staging and exaggeration in order to clearly convey to the viewer what a character is doing. I noticed in my wall climb animation that there was the occasional good example of silhouetting with my character but they were not very long on screen, sometimes only lasting a couple of frames: I like to think here that what makes these frames the most appealing is the exaggeration with some of the limbs being outstretched to clearly reveal the shape of a figure.

Because of the staging in this scene a lot of the character is hidden and thus, there is no clear outline of his actions. It does indeed make him not really stand out at all, for the most part this is what made my animation look 'flat'. Solid drawing also has a part to play as the figures mass changes constantly and it doesn't look right at all.

Helvetica is a typeface that also operates in silhouetting and utilises it greatly to become one of the most used fonts in all latin alphabet languages.

As you can see the influence within transport and airport signage design heavily utilises the helvetica text.

The nature of the typography creates perfect silhouettes of each letter, making them easy to read from a distance. "You should be able to read a character in performance by silhouette alone!"

(Example Above): Mickey Mouse. This is something that I aim to replicate within my own work. Particularly in the walk cycles. By blocking out the key poses,

I can identify the silhouettes of my character and assess if these translate well to a subjective viewer. I have to ask myself, what I am trying to 'convey?'.