Madagascar

I've been reading a lot of the blogs, getting a feel for the Animation Mentor program, and possibly a head start in thinking about the work to come. The insites have been invaluable, not only for preparation, but just animation knowledge as a whole. So, when my wife and I, in a rare moment of baby-less-ness went out to see Madagascar, I had an even more sharpened appreciation for the work that goes into making a feature length animation. Wow. I don't need more inspiration, but seeing how they approached the shots, the camera angles, the application of the principles discussed so often in the blogs and what I knew already, and then just the level of originality, taking those tools and applying them in a way that looks fresh and interesting...Impressive.

I don't think I ever watched an animated movie and paid so much attention to the individual qualitities of the characters or paid as close attention to how the audience reacted to them, for instance, listening for when they laughed, or didn't when they were supposed to, (which was rare). Also how who the characters are and what we know about them affects how they move. It's about physical limitations and potential, emotional tendencies and expression...it has become more and more obvious why a course like this one is so important, to get the tools out of the way, make them second nature so you're not thinking about that anymore so you can focus on really bringing the characters to life. Giving them the individuality and definition to really play well as a personality.

I also recommend sticking around for the credits. It has has become a mainstay of animated features to give you a few more neat little playful moments. In this case, they take all of the main characters (and some secondary characters) and they all dance to the same song, one my one. It's a study in how just what we know about each character affects how they move and dance to such an extent that they are all unique. I was mezmorized.