Nick Bruno - How he studies animation

So I guess the lost boyz of Blue Sky have a blog going. (like spline doctors, or speaking of animation)

Big 'ol long post by Nick Bruno about how he studies animation, don't want to lose it before I get a chance to read it so I'll stick it here.

Here's his questions, obviously new questions occured while he was going through this shot (unless he made the whole thing up on the spot, not just some of it. ) But this list seems a decent place to start asking questions from.

Pick a shot that resonates with you

Context:
1. brief description of the scene
2. if not stand alone, what's the context?
3. Why did you pick this shot?
4. Initial thoughts on why you responded to this shot?
5. What is the shot saying? (that she is in pain but needs to put that aside for now and find a way out)
6. What does that mean? (that there are more important things at stake then just her personal well being)
7. How does the moment feel?
8. Why do you think it feels that way?
9. How would I have screwed up that shot?
10.Is there anything else you respond to in this shot?

Mechanics of Performance:
1. What is the storytelling pose of the shot? (image)
2. Why? What does that pose communicate to audience?
3. Why is that the most important thing?
4. What are the beats? (Goals, & thought processes through the shot)
5. How is the thinking sold?
6. Quick description of the character. How did the animator convey that?
7. Can you personally relate to the characters experience in this shot?
8. Disect the poses:
8a. Body poses
8b. Facial poses
8c. Hand poses
9. What is the texture to the timing? Do different body parts have different speeds?
10. Quality of spacing texture, soft vs sharp? Do different body parts space differently consistently?
11. How does rhythm of dialogue/score affect animation? (eg. Hit beats, move lyrically)
12. What patterns of movement do you see?
13. Where are there reversals?
14. Does the animator do more then just getting the story point over?
15. What is motivating the movement?
16. Silhouette? Shapes in front of shapes?
17. Where is the viewers eye? Any choreography between elements? How is the eye lead?
18. Any twinning? How was it handled?
19. How were contacts handled?
20. How was keep alive handled?
21. Any subtle cues from the audie incorporated or ignored?
22. How is the point delivered without sound ?
23. What animated details where added?
24. Is the character an animal? How did the animator keep us reminded of that?
25. Was there anything bad in the shot?

Principles of animation
Just frame by frame through it looking for every example of every principle you can find.






Pretty cool get your energy back up post by Stewart Shaw