Weirdly I have really enjoyed learning walking! Not only has it been fun to create something that feels a bit more like a finished product, it’s been really enjoyable to create something with personality and interesting movement.
I found recreating the movement myself invaluable for these cycles and really benefitted from creating specific movement that I was able to record and reference.
The bipedal walk cycle was created making a 12frame loop, 6 for each stride which then repeat. The combination of visual resources and physical experimentation made the process so much simpler. By breaking down each step/stride into its basic keys I was able to better understand weight distribution, the swings of the arms and the placement of the feet, knees and legs. I would love to experiment further with walking cycles including variations of speed and the inclusion of emotion/personality into the walk.
The mood change walk was something I really enjoyed working on. Creating a character that had purpose, personality and had to react was a really enjoyable process. Again, creating visual references and exploring the walk physical was something I found invaluable.
For the mood change specifically, I found roughing out a sort of ‘proof of concept’ draft version to work out the rhythm and beats of the animation. This allowed me to experiment with character and style before having to worry about consistency and the mechanics of the walk. For the more refined version I also played around with smears and motion lines to create more dynamic movement.
The quadruped walk was okay all things considering, due to missing the initial class I decided it would be prudent to focus on doing one thing well rather than trying to finish both the walk and the run.
Using both live references and animation examples from Richard Williams’ handbook and Stephen Cunnane’s online tutorials, I was able to create myself a 5 frame basis to work from in terms of movement mechanics. I was then able to do research into different animal movement styles and anatomy to then build off of this basic structure of movement.
Taking time to study animal skeletons at the Grant Zoology Museum was really beneficial to understanding the anatomical structure needed to create movement and consistency in the body. Despite the species being different from my chosen final piece, it was helpful to look at different foot types in person and in particular understanding the shoulder placement and action of the shoulder blade.
