Literature Review

A lot of four legged character animations had been produced in two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) forms. There are some difficulties to animate a four legged character. This is because it is quite hard to handle its body structure. Moreover it is not that easy to express a four legged character. Sometimes they become too stiff and not attractive at all.

As the reason, to animate a four legged character in an easier way, a lot of four legged characters had been produced based on the human body structure. So the four legged character can be express by using both of the front legs as the hands instead of walking. Now these "four legged characters" can have a lot of acting just like human. But they may lack of their own original uniqueness. It is for sure that, every kind of animal has its own behaviours and movements. It needs to be shown out in an animation to make it more interesting and convincing.

However, acting is one of the most important elements in film and animation. In order to animate a four legged character in a successful way, principles of acting are the most needed by creating a lively, interesting and attractive character together with its own characteristics and movements. So, an exploration on principles of acting, and the characteristics such as movements, poses, gestures and behaviours of the particular character is needed.

Basically, the content of the thesis is all about the analysis on the principles of acting and the analysis of four legged character animation - Dog. The flow of the thesis is like this: (Introducing - Explanation - Analyzing - Evaluation - Summarise - Identify - Suggestion - Conclusion). The thesis will be divided into 4 different chapters.

The Chapter 1 is mainly about the analysis of "Principles of Acting" in film and animation. In this chapter, there will be an introduction about the meaning of "Principles of Acting" and explain the importance of it. Then there will be introduction and explanation of the elements of "principles of acting". Next, there will be an analysis of "principles of acting" in film and another is in animation, which is mainly about the evaluation of the application of "principles of acting" such as methods of execution, the value, efficiency, techniques, and etc. Lastly, there will be a summary of the analysis on chapter 1.

After that, in the next chapter which is Chapter 2, it is mainly about the analysis of Four Legged Character Animation - Dog. In this chapter, there will be two types of analysis on dog, which is the real dog and cartoon dog. The analysis of dog includes the body structure, behaviour, movement, acting and etc. Some evaluations will be made according to the animation efficiency of cartoon dog. Next is to identify the differences between real dog and cartoon dog. Lastly, there will be a summary of the analysis on chapter 2.

Then comes to the Chapter 3, which is mainly about Incorporating Principles of Acting onto Four Legged Character Animation. In this chapter, an introduction of Principles of Acting onto Four Legged Character Animation will be made includes its methodologies. Next, there will be a listing of methods on how to create a convincing four legged character animation. Lastly, there will be a summary of the comparison on chapter 3.

Finally in the Chapter 4, this is mainly about the conclusion from Chapter 1 until Chapter 3. Last but not least, the objective of the thesis is to achieve a convincing and interesting four legged character animation by incorporating the principles of acting. The task is to explore on principles of acting and apply it onto four legged character - dog's characteristics by producing a dog animation such as movement and acting based on the characteristic and behaviour of dog. As the result, four legged character is more complex than two legged character because of its own unique characteristic and by incorporating principles of acting onto it, an animation will be more convincing and interesting.

Chapter 1

After looking at all the 14 principles or the methods of acting in theatre and film, it is obviously that the principles of animation really play an important role in acting lesson for the actors to perform a good quality of acting. Besides that, each of the principle has it own importance and purposes of usage; some of the principles also have strong relationship with each other. This is because all the principles and methods are executed in a chain, which means that these principles work together to create perfect guidelines for actors. If it is well executed, acting would be far more interesting and believable. Then with a believable and realistic acting, the story will be successfully built up in the theatre or film which can generate the interest from the audience. In my point of view, in order to achieve all the key of the principles and be a good actor is not easy at all, it requires a lot of practice in physical and mental, to gain more experience in getting the essence of acting. Moreover, I believed that an actor's job is to study humankind and the world it lives in, and to bring the results of that observation to acting in a realistic way. I think that's the spirit of acting.

Chapter 2

As the conclusion of this chapter, after analyzing both of the real dog and cartoon dog, there are some minor differences in terms of the body structure, the behavior, the movement and the acting. But, basically the cartoon dog is animated based on the real dog's behavior, movement and their acting. Every single of their behaviors, movements and acting have their own special meaning and purpose. Part of the animations had achieved the essence of the uniqueness of the dog. But some of them may lack of it. The animation of the four legged character is not easy to achieve.

Since the four legged character is more complex and interesting than the two legged character, a further study and analysis on the particular character are most required for the animators to create a lively, believable and interesting animation.

Chapter 3

In my point of view, the principles and method of acting is indeed one of the most important elements in film and animation. In order to show the unique characteristic in character animation, principles of acting are most needed by creating a lively, believable and attractive character. On the other hand, a lot of four legged character animation had been produced base on human formation which may lack of its original uniqueness. But compared to four legged characters, the animations are more convincing and interesting. This is because they have their own unique movement and acting which is more attractive than others. In my opinion, to make the four legged character convincing by the understanding of dog may not enough to convey the message to audience. But with the incorporation principles of acting add onto it, the animation will be more convincing and interesting because it is a mixture essence of the acting and animation. So I hope that the animators will make a deep study on the four legged character to remain its uniqueness and also keep practicing the principles of acting, master it and then incorporate them into the animation which can level up the efficiency and the quality of the four legged character animation.

Chapter 4

Based on the discussions and information above, the review concludes that while an animators is supervising in the four legged character animation, besides knowing all the animation knowledge and skills; their also need to keep practice and utilize the principles of acting in the process of animating the character. This is to make acting in animation as real as possible. This is because principles of acting play an important part in film and animation process.

Moreover, in order to show the unique characteristic of four legged character in animation; besides principles of animation and acting, another important key is to make a full study on the particular four legged character characteristic. So that the animator can actually handle the character easily to create a lively, believable and attractive character. Therefore, this review had come out with some suggestions and methods of creating a convincing four legged character animation by incorporating the principles of acting into it.

Nevertheless, I hope that the animators will make a deep study on the four legged character to remain its uniqueness and also keep practicing the principles of acting, master it and then incorporate them into the animation which can level up the efficiency and the quality of the four legged character animation. As the result, a believable and convincing four legged character animation will be created successfully.

Methodology

In order to successfully complete my research, the first and most I read about was about the dog including dog magazines, articles and information on the Internet to gain more knowledege about dog. Besides that, I watched quite a numbers of dog programs, cartoons and movies to enhance my knowledge about dog. Other than that, books and information on four legged character animation were read as to find out the techniques, especially in dog.

For the principles of acting part research, most of the information that I get is from the internet because the information was hardly found in books and magazines. The sources from internet are easier to get like online articles, web sites and so on. Then, I tried to put some question in the forum. Hoping that can get some reply.

With these references, I can understand the principles of acting deeper. Lastly, discussions were also being carried out with different people including tutors, friends and lecturers in order to get more advises and informations.

Findings/Conclusion

The principles and method of acting is indeed one of the most important elements in film and animation. In order to show the unique characteristic in character animation, principles of acting are most needed by creating a lively, believable and attractive character. On the other hand, a lot of four legged character animation had been produced base on human formation which may lack of its original uniqueness. But compared to four legged characters, the animations are more convincing and interesting. This is because they have their own unique movement and acting which is more attractive than others. In my opinion, to make the four legged character convincing by the understanding of dog may not enough to convey the message to audience. But with the incorporation principles of acting add onto it, the animation will be more convincing and interesting because it is a mixture essence of the acting and animation.