Re: Ed Hooks, Acting for animators

  • From: Stefan Andersson <stefan@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: bohmation@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:27:04 +0200

Har ar lite av det som ed skickade till mig som han kommer att ga igenom.



Acting Theory:
1) Thinking tends to lead to conclusions; emotion tends to lead to
action. We must establish the relationship between thinking and
emotion in order to grasp this concept.
2) Audiences empathize ONLY with emotion. They will put up with
thinking to get to the emotion.
3) Scenes begin in the middle, not at the beginning (moment before and
moment after)
4) Your character should play an action in pursuit of an objective
while overcoming an obstacle.
5) There are only three kinds of obstacles/conflict: (A) Conflict
with self, (B) Conflict with situation and (C) Conflict with another
character.
6) Acting requires action, but the actual movement can be minimal.
In other words, if you are multiplying 365 x 1245 in your head, that
is an action even if you are very physically still. The problem

animators get into is when their characters aren't doing anything.
7) Emotion in and of itself carries no theatrical currency. It must
be action. Emotion tends to lead to action. Just because you can
make a character look sad or happy, that does not equate to good
acting. It is better described as an illustration of an emotion.
Illustration is not acting.
8. Acting has almost nothing to do with words. It is all about
action, intention, emotion.
9. A scene is a negotiation.

Eye Movement
Weak eye movement is a primary reason we are still in the Uncanny
Valley. Blinking, for example, is very important to the way we
Communicate with one another. That is why the experience of
conversation with a blind
person feels somewhat different.

Performance Capture
We'll talk about this, but we won’t be teaching anybody how to get in
the rubber suit and
do it. I have conducted entire workshops for directors of performance
capture. Many of
them know a lot about animation and computers, but they do not know
enough about how
to direct actors. I can help with that.

Listening
Active listening versus passive listening is important. It is always
easier to animate the character that is talking, but the audience
tends to watch the one who is listening. It works backwards than it
does in a stage play, where the focus is on the person talking.

Power Centers
You can move a character's power centers all over her body and achieve
different effects. A nosey librarian, for example, may have a power
center in her nose. The old lady in "The Triplets of Belleville" had
a power center in her club foot. We work on this with a couple of
volunteers from the class.

Status Transactions
All of us, all day and every day, are engaged in status transactions.
You can negotiate status transactions. Again, we work on this with simple
improvisations involving volunteers from the class.

Paul Ekman
Professor Ekman is an expert on the expression of emotion in the human face. His
work was used by the animators who created Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings”. In
the workshop, I show a inter-active CD-ROM that identifies and
demonstrates the seven
basic emotions.

Comedy
Discussion of how comedy works, as opposed to drama. Drama has to do with man’s
potential. Comedy has to do with his limitations.

Charlie Chaplin.
Chaplin brought empathy to comedy. I explain his approach and screen
several scenes
from his movies, followed by discussion.

Heros and Villains
We discuss the definition of each.

Psychological Gesture
A gesture does not have to be an illustration of the spoken word,
although it frequently is.
It can speak of a deeper emotional truth. We discuss and demonstrate
the psychological
gesture.

Movie Clips
In this workshop, numerous clips from animated and live action movies
are screened and
deconstructed to illustrate acting principles. The precise clips I
screen really depend
upon my sense of what a particular group of students needs to see.

A Character Template
In this workshop, I show animators how to construct a character
biography, the type of
thing that might go into a studio’s “character bible”.

Q&A
I make certain that time is allowed for any questions. In fact, I
invite debate particularly
if an animator were to disagree with something I teach.




2010/8/12 Alli Sadegiani <alli@xxxxxxxxx>:
>
> såg honom på fjolårets fmx oxo.. intressant man, men kommer nog oxo
> vara på vift tyvärr!
> hoppas ni får tillfället att se honom
>
> Best regards,
> Alli
>
> ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
>
>  Alli Sadegiani       +1 310 - 774 18 94
>  www.embrya.se    +46 70 - 409 11 77
>
>
>
>
> Den 12 augusti 2010 12:50 skrev  <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>>
>> Såg honom som sagt i Tyskland på FMX han var riktigt bra. Väldigt
>> inspirerande att se. Kan varmt rekommenderas. Skulle varit kul att se men
>> jag befinner mig nog i Australien.
>>
>> /Jonas Forsman
>>
>> 12 aug 2010 kl. 09.51 skrev Stefan Andersson <stefan@xxxxxxxxxx>:
>>
>>>
>>> Nu ni jävlar. Jag har fått Mr Hooks on my hook! :)
>>>
>>> Jag skulle vilja veta hur många från Bohmation som skulle vilja gå på
>>> en 2 dagars workshop med Ed Hooks? Just nu så sitter jag och bollar
>>> lite priser (eftersom det kostar en del att ta hit honom). Så jag vill
>>> veta hur många som skulle kunna tänkas komma.
>>>
>>> Dagarna är mella 10-15 med lunchpaus.
>>>
>>> Som det ser ut nu, men mycket kan ändras, så kommer priset ligga runt
>>> 5000-7000 per person. Ed Hooks kan också tänka sig att köra detta
>>> under en helg, men det kan då bli svårare med lokal för oss. Jag
>>> kollar runt lite och ser vad som finns och vad det skulle kosta.
>>>
>>> Jag tänkte någonstans i slutet av November.
>>>
>>> vad tror ni? hur många blir vi? hur många kommer från olika företag?
>>>
>>> tjopp!
>>>
>>> -stefan
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Stefan Andersson
>>> Creative
>>>
>>> Mad Crew
>>> Roddargatan 8
>>> 116 20  Stockholm
>>> SWEDEN
>>>
>>> mail: stefan@xxxxxxxxxx
>>> phone: +46 (0)8 668 27 13
>>> cell: +46 (0)73 626 8850
>>> web: http://www.madcrew.se
>>>
>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message is intended only for the
>>> above-mentioned recipient(s). Its content is confidential. If you have
>>> received this e-mail by error, please notify us immediately and delete
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>>> action based thereon. Thank you.
>>
>
>



-- 
Stefan Andersson
Creative

Mad Crew
Roddargatan 8
116 20  Stockholm
SWEDEN

mail: stefan@xxxxxxxxxx
phone: +46 (0)8 668 27 13
cell: +46 (0)73 626 8850
web: http://www.madcrew.se

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