The document discusses the pose-to-pose animation method. This method involves animating from one key pose to the next, mapping out the major poses on exposure sheets to chart the action over time. Key poses represent the extreme points of motion or accents in expression. Animators first work out rough sketches to refine the poses and action before fleshing out the final drawings. Planning key poses requires awareness of script requirements and storyboarding to define the acting space and shot business.

2. SQUASH AND STRETCH
• THIS ACTION GIVES THE ILLUSION OF WEIGHT AND VOLUME TO A CHARACTER AS IT MOVES. ALSO SQUASH AND
STRETCH IS USEFUL IN ANIMATING DIALOGUE AND DOING FACIAL EXPRESSIONS. HOW EXTREME THE USE OF SQUASH
AND STRETCH IS, DEPENDS ON WHAT IS REQUIRED IN ANIMATING THE SCENE. USUALLY IT'S BROADER IN A SHORT
STYLE OF PICTURE AND SUBTLER IN A FEATURE. IT IS USED IN ALL FORMS OF CHARACTER ANIMATION FROM A
BOUNCING BALL TO THE BODY WEIGHT OF A PERSON WALKING. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT YOU WILL BE
REQUIRED TO MASTER AND WILL BE USED OFTEN.

3. ANTICIPATION
• THIS MOVEMENT PREPARES THE AUDIENCE FOR A MAJOR ACTION THE CHARACTER IS ABOUT TO PERFORM, SUCH AS,
STARTING TO RUN, JUMP OR CHANGE EXPRESSION. A DANCER DOES NOT JUST LEAP OFF THE FLOOR. A BACKWARDS
MOTION OCCURS BEFORE THE FORWARD ACTION IS EXECUTED. THE BACKWARD MOTION IS THE ANTICIPATION. A
COMIC EFFECT CAN BE DONE BY NOT USING ANTICIPATION AFTER A SERIES OF GAGS THAT USED ANTICIPATION.
ALMOST ALL REAL ACTION HAS MAJOR OR MINOR ANTICIPATION SUCH AS A PITCHER'S WIND-UP OR A GOLFERS'
BACK SWING. FEATURE ANIMATION IS OFTEN LESS BROAD THAN SHORT ANIMATION UNLESS A SCENE REQUIRES IT TO
DEVELOP A CHARACTERS PERSONALITY.

4. STAGING
• A POSE OR ACTION SHOULD CLEARLY COMMUNICATE TO THE AUDIENCE
THE ATTITUDE, MOOD, REACTION OR IDEA OF THE CHARACTER AS IT
RELATES TO THE STORY AND CONTINUITY OF THE STORY LINE. THE
EFFECTIVE USE OF LONG, MEDIUM, OR CLOSE UP SHOTS, AS WELL AS
CAMERA ANGLES ALSO HELPS IN TELLING THE STORY. THERE IS A
LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME IN A FILM, SO EACH SEQUENCE, SCENE AND
FRAME OF FILM MUST RELATE TO THE OVERALL STORY. DO NOT CONFUSE
THE AUDIENCE WITH TOO MANY ACTIONS AT ONCE. USE ONE ACTION
CLEARLY STATED TO GET THE IDEA ACROSS, UNLESS YOU ARE
ANIMATING A SCENE THAT IS TO DEPICT CLUTTER AND CONFUSION.
STAGING DIRECTS THE AUDIENCE'S ATTENTION TO THE STORY OR IDEA
BEING TOLD. CARE MUST BE TAKEN IN BACKGROUND DESIGN SO IT ISN'T
OBSCURING THE ANIMATION OR COMPETING WITH IT DUE TO EXCESS
DETAIL BEHIND THE ANIMATION. BACKGROUND AND ANIMATION
SHOULD WORK TOGETHER AS A PICTORIAL UNIT IN A SCENE.

5. FOLLOW THROUGH AND OVERLAPPING ACTION
• WHEN THE MAIN BODY OF THE CHARACTER STOPS ALL OTHER PARTS CONTINUE TO CATCH UP TO THE MAIN MASS OF THE
CHARACTER, SUCH AS ARMS, LONG HAIR, CLOTHING, COAT TAILS OR A DRESS, FLOPPY EARS OR A LONG TAIL (THESE FOLLOW THE
PATH OF ACTION). NOTHING STOPS ALL AT ONCE. THIS IS FOLLOW THROUGH. OVERLAPPING ACTION IS WHEN THE CHARACTER
CHANGES DIRECTION WHILE HIS CLOTHES OR HAIR CONTINUES FORWARD. THE CHARACTER IS GOING IN A NEW DIRECTION, TO BE
FOLLOWED, A NUMBER OF FRAMES LATER, BY HIS CLOTHES IN THE NEW DIRECTION. "DRAG," IN ANIMATION, FOR EXAMPLE, WOULD
BE WHEN GOOFY STARTS TO RUN, BUT HIS HEAD, EARS, UPPER BODY, AND CLOTHES DO NOT KEEP UP WITH HIS LEGS. IN FEATURES,
THIS TYPE OF ACTION IS DONE MORE SUBTLY. EXAMPLE: WHEN SNOW WHITE STARTS TO DANCE, HER DRESS DOES NOT BEGIN TO
MOVE WITH HER IMMEDIATELY BUT CATCHES UP A FEW FRAMES LATER. LONG HAIR AND ANIMAL TAIL WILL ALSO BE HANDLED IN THE
SAME MANNER. TIMING BECOMES CRITICAL TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DRAG AND THE OVERLAPPING ACTION.

6. SLOW-OUT AND SLOW-IN
• AS ACTION STARTS, WE HAVE MORE DRAWINGS NEAR THE STARTING POSE, ONE OR TWO IN THE MIDDLE, AND MORE
DRAWINGS NEAR THE NEXT POSE. FEWER DRAWINGS MAKE THE ACTION FASTER AND MORE DRAWINGS MAKE THE
ACTION SLOWER. SLOW-INS AND SLOW-OUTS SOFTEN THE ACTION, MAKING IT MORE LIFE-LIKE. FOR A GAG ACTION,
WE MAY OMIT SOME SLOW-OUT OR SLOW-INS FOR SHOCK APPEAL OR THE SURPRISE ELEMENT. THIS WILL GIVE MORE
SNAP TO THE SCENE.

7. ARCS
• ALL ACTIONS, WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS (SUCH AS THE ANIMATION OF A MECHANICAL DEVICE), FOLLOW AN ARC OR
SLIGHTLY CIRCULAR PATH. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE OF THE HUMAN FIGURE AND THE ACTION OF ANIMALS. ARCS
GIVE ANIMATION A MORE NATURAL ACTION AND BETTER FLOW. THINK OF NATURAL MOVEMENTS IN THE TERMS OF A
PENDULUM SWINGING. ALL ARM MOVEMENT, HEAD TURNS AND EVEN EYE MOVEMENTS ARE EXECUTED ON AN ARCS.

8. SECONDARY ACTION
• THIS ACTION ADDS TO AND ENRICHES THE MAIN ACTION AND ADDS MORE DIMENSION TO THE CHARACTER
ANIMATION, SUPPLEMENTING AND/OR RE-ENFORCING THE MAIN ACTION. EXAMPLE: A CHARACTER IS ANGRILY
WALKING TOWARD ANOTHER CHARACTER. THE WALK IS FORCEFUL, AGGRESSIVE, AND FORWARD LEANING. THE LEG
ACTION IS JUST SHORT OF A STOMPING WALK. THE SECONDARY ACTION IS A FEW STRONG GESTURES OF THE ARMS
WORKING WITH THE WALK. ALSO, THE POSSIBILITY OF DIALOGUE BEING DELIVERED AT THE SAME TIME WITH TILTS
AND TURNS OF THE HEAD TO ACCENTUATE THE WALK AND DIALOGUE, BUT NOT SO MUCH AS TO DISTRACT FROM THE
WALK ACTION. ALL OF THESE ACTIONS SHOULD WORK TOGETHER IN SUPPORT OF ONE ANOTHER. THINK OF THE WALK
AS THE PRIMARY ACTION AND ARM SWINGS, HEAD BOUNCE AND ALL OTHER ACTIONS OF THE BODY AS SECONDARY
OR SUPPORTING ACTION.

9. TIMING
• EXPERTISE IN TIMING COMES BEST WITH EXPERIENCE AND PERSONAL EXPERIMENTATION, USING THE TRIAL AND ERROR
METHOD IN REFINING TECHNIQUE. THE BASICS ARE: MORE DRAWINGS BETWEEN POSES SLOW AND SMOOTH THE ACTION.
FEWER DRAWINGS MAKE THE ACTION FASTER AND CRISPER. A VARIETY OF SLOW AND FAST TIMING WITHIN A SCENE ADDS
TEXTURE AND INTEREST TO THE MOVEMENT. MOST ANIMATION IS DONE ON TWOS (ONE DRAWING PHOTOGRAPHED ON TWO
FRAMES OF FILM) OR ON ONES (ONE DRAWING PHOTOGRAPHED ON EACH FRAME OF FILM). TWOS ARE USED MOST OF THE
TIME, AND ONES ARE USED DURING CAMERA MOVES SUCH AS TRUCKS, PANS AND OCCASIONALLYFOR SUBTLE AND QUICK
DIALOGUE ANIMATION. ALSO, THERE IS TIMING IN THE ACTING OF A CHARACTER TO ESTABLISH MOOD, EMOTION, AND
REACTION TO ANOTHER CHARACTER OR TO A SITUATION. STUDYING MOVEMENT OF ACTORS AND PERFORMERS ON STAGE
AND IN FILMS IS USEFUL WHEN ANIMATING HUMAN OR ANIMAL CHARACTERS. THIS FRAME BY FRAME EXAMINATION OF FILM
FOOTAGE WILL AID YOU IN UNDERSTANDING TIMING FOR ANIMATION. THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO LEARN FROM THE OTHERS.

10. EXAGGERATION
• EXAGGERATION IS NOT EXTREME DISTORTION OF A DRAWING OR EXTREMELY BROAD, VIOLENT ACTION ALL THE TIME.
ITS LIKE A CARICATURE OF FACIAL FEATURES, EXPRESSIONS, POSES, ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS. ACTION TRACED
FROM LIVE ACTION FILM CAN BE ACCURATE, BUT STIFF AND MECHANICAL. IN FEATURE ANIMATION, A CHARACTER
MUST MOVE MORE BROADLY TO LOOK NATURAL. THE SAME IS TRUE OF FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, BUT THE ACTION
SHOULD NOT BE AS BROAD AS IN A SHORT CARTOON STYLE. EXAGGERATION IN A WALK OR AN EYE MOVEMENT OR
EVEN A HEAD TURN WILL GIVE YOUR FILM MORE APPEAL. USE GOOD TASTE AND COMMON SENSE TO KEEP FROM
BECOMING TOO THEATRICAL AND EXCESSIVELY ANIMATED.

11. SOLID DRAWING
• THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DRAWING FORM, WEIGHT, VOLUME SOLIDITY AND THE ILLUSION OF THREE DIMENSION
APPLY TO ANIMATION AS IT DOES TO ACADEMIC DRAWING. THE WAY YOU DRAW CARTOONS, YOU DRAW IN THE
CLASSICAL SENSE, USING PENCIL SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS FOR REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. YOU TRANSFORM THESE
INTO COLOR AND MOVEMENT GIVING THE CHARACTERS THE ILLUSION OF THREE-AND FOUR-DIMENSIONAL LIFE.
THREE DIMENSIONAL IS MOVEMENT IN SPACE. THE FOURTH DIMENSION IS MOVEMENT IN TIME.

12. APPEAL
• A LIVE PERFORMER HAS CHARISMA. AN ANIMATED CHARACTER HAS APPEAL. APPEALING ANIMATION DOES NOT
MEAN JUST BEING CUTE AND CUDDLY. ALL CHARACTERS HAVE TO HAVE APPEAL WHETHER THEY ARE HEROIC,
VILLAINOUS, COMIC OR CUTE. APPEAL, AS YOU WILL USE IT, INCLUDES AN EASY TO READ DESIGN, CLEAR
DRAWING, AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT THAT WILL CAPTURE AND INVOLVE THE AUDIENCE'S INTEREST.
EARLY CARTOONS WERE BASICALLY A SERIES OF GAGS STRUNG TOGETHER ON A MAIN THEME. OVER THE
YEARS, THE ARTISTS HAVE LEARNED THAT TO PRODUCE A FEATURE THERE WAS A NEED FOR STORY CONTINUITY,
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND A HIGHER QUALITY OF ARTWORK THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PRODUCTION.
LIKE ALL FORMS OF STORY TELLING, THE FEATURE HAS TO APPEAL TO THE MIND AS WELL AS TO THE EYE.

13. pose to pose
animation

14. POSE-TO-POSE ANIMATION METHOD
THIS METHOD OF ANIMATING FROM ONE POSE TO THE NEXT, HENCE THE TERM 'POSE TO POSE' ANIMATION, ALLOWS THE ANIMATOR TO MAP OUT
THE ACTION IN ADVANCE WITH ‘SIGN POSTS’ BY CHARTING UP THESE KEY POSES ONTO ‘EXPOSURE SHEETS’ OR ‘DOPE SHEETS’, OR INDEED INTO
THE TIMELINE OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE. IT IS A PARTICULARLY USEFUL ANIMATION METHOD WHEN A CHARACTER MUST PERFORM CERTAIN
TASKS WITHIN A PREDETERMINED TIME OR WHERE A SERIES OF ACTIONS MUST SYNCHRONIZE ACCURATELY WITH A RECORDED SOUND TRACK.
THE TECHNIQUE HELPS ENSURE THAT CHARACTERS ARRIVE AT A PARTICULAR PLACE ON SCREEN AT A PRECISE POINT IN TIME.
The ‘key pose’ technique is still the most widely used method of animating. It is also the method of choice within
most 2D and 3D digital animation packages these day
'Key poses', ‘key drawings’ or just 'keys' are terms used to describe those critical positions of an animated
character or an object which depict the extreme points in its path of motion, or accentsin its expression or
mood. For this reason they are also called 'extremes'.

16. WORKING ROUGH
• WHEN DEVELOPING KEY POSES, ITS A GOOD IDEA TO EXPERIMENT WITH THUMB-NAIL SKETCHES FIRST TO REFINE THE
POSES AND IDEAS. INITIALLY, THE ANIMATOR’S KEY POSES MAY BE NOTHING MORE THAN ROUGH SCRIBBLES TO
BLOCK OUT THE ACTION. THIS IS OFTEN DONE WITH A BLUE PENCIL. THERE IS NO POINT DOING LOTS AND LOTS OF
HIGHLY FINISHED DRAWINGS AT THIS STAGE IF THE ACTION DOES NOT WORK. BESIDES, WORKING ROUGHLY AND
QUICKLY SKETCHING OUT THE MAIN SHAPES, FORMS AND LINES OF ACTION KNOWING THAT THESE DRAWINGS ARE
JUST A FIRST STEP IN A BIGGER PROCESS, ALWAYS LEADS TO FRESHER ANIMATION.
An illustration showing how an animator might work in rough scribbles to find the key masses and shapes and
then to refine various lines of action to give the drawing purpose and intent before finally fleshing in the
character's final form.

17. PLANNING KEY POSES
• OBVIOUSLY WHEN PLANNING A SET OF KEY POSES FOR A SHOT OR SCENE, THE ANIMATOR NEEDS TO BE ACUTELY
AWARE OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SCRIPT AND THE PARTICULAR ACTIONS AND EVENTS THAT ARE NECESSARY
TO PROGRESS THE STORYLINE. BACKGROUND LAYOUTS WILL DEFINE AN 'ACTING SPACE' WHILE STORYBOARD
FRAMES WILL INDICATE THE 'BUSINESS' OF EACH SHOT. WHAT IS ENTIRELY UNDER THE ANIMATOR'S CONTROL IS
THE WAY THE CHARACTER 'ACTS' OUT THESE EVENTS AS INFORMED BY AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHARACTER'S
PERSONALITY TRAITS, VISUAL DESIGN AND CURRENT EMOTIONAL STATE. THE KEY POSE PLANNING PROCESS GOES
HAND-IN-HAND WITH THE IDEA OF STAGING EACH ACTION IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT 'READS' WELL AND
COMMUNICATES CLEARLY. SEVERAL KEY DRAWINGS MIGHT BE REQUIRED TO DESCRIBE THE SUB-MOVEMENTS
INVOLVED IN EVEN THE MOST SIMPLE OF ACTIONS - TAKING A PAIR OF SOCKS OUT OF A DRAWER, FOR EXAMPLE. IF
WE WERE TO GO STRAIGHT FROM THE FIRST DRAWING OF OUR CHARACTER STANDING BY THE CUPBOARD TO THE
FINAL POSITION WITH SOCKS IN HAND, THE RESULT WOULD APPEAR AS IF A PAIR OF SOCKS HAD JUST MAGICALLY
APPEARED IN OUR HERO’S HAND. OBVIOUSLY THERE IS INFORMATION MISSINGWHICH HAS TO BE SEEN BY THE
AUDIENCE TO EXPLAIN JUST HOW THE SOCKS GOT INTO THE CHARACTER’S HAND.

18. Consider the above information. The story may call for the character to
get a pair of socks out of the drawer, but if these are the only poses we
use, the effect is of the socks appearing out of thin air. We often need a
number of key poses to adequately explain even the simplest of
actions.

19. EXPRESSIVE POSES
• ANIMATION USUALLY OPERATES IN THE REALM OF CARICATURE IN WHICH EXAGGERATION BECOMES AN IMPORTANT
FACTOR IN ORDER TO CAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF THE ACTION BEING DEPICTED. GOOD STRONG KEY POSES EMPHASIZE
AND COMMUNICATE THE INTENT OF AN ACTION MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN ILL-CONSIDERED ONES. PUT SIMPLY,
STRONG KEYS LEAD TO STRONG ANIMATION. IT IS THEREFORE VITAL TO SPEND TIME AND THOUGHT WORKING OUT
THE KEY POSES UNTIL THEY DO THEIR JOB AS EXPRESSIVELY AS POSSIBLE AS IT WILL PAY DIVIDENDS AS IF THESE
WORK WELL. "LIMITED" STYLES OF ANIMATION ARE BASED ON KEYS ONLY, AND THIS LABOUR SAVING TECHNIQUE
DOES NOT NECESSARILY AFFECT THE AUDIENCE'S ENJOYMENT OF A PIECE.
Poses should have both function - depicting the physical extreme of an action or setting up the character
for an action to follow by loading its 'muscles', and impact - an expressive pose with a dynamic quality that
implies what has gone before, what is about to come, and which registers and emphasizes the inner
emotional state of the character.

20. Although these drawings are perfectly static, they are nevertheless highly expressive, possessing a dynamic
quality that suggests action. Such poses are the beginning of strong animated sequences.

22. WHAT ARE INBETWEENS?
•‘INBETWEENS’ ARE THOSE DRAWINGS WHICH DEFINE THE TYPE OF
MOVEMENT AND THE TIME THAT PASSES BETWEEN EACH KEY POSE
DRAWING OR POSITION. HOW YOU ARRANGE THEIR SPACING GREATLY
INFLUENCES THE LOOK OF THE RESULTING MOVEMENT. THESE
INTERMEDIATE DRAWINGS ARE CALLED 'TWEENS' IN USA CARTOON
ANIMATION STUDIO JARGON WHICH MAKES AN INVENTED VERB,
'TWEENING'.

23. SMOOTHING OUT THE ACTION
• ONE OF THE QUESTIONS I'M MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED BY STUDENTS IS "WHY IS MY ANIMATION SO
JERKY?" STUDENTS OFTEN SPEND A LOT OF TIME CREATING DRAWINGS ONLY TO BE DISAPPOINTED BY
THE RESULTS. SMOOTH ANIMATION IS NOT NECESSARILY A RESULT OF DOING LOTS OF INBETWEENS,
ALTHOUGH AS WE KNOW, THIS WILL SLOW DOWN THE ACTION SO THAT IT MAY APPEAR SMOOTHER.
It is more to do with the considered placement of inbetweens upon a path of action or 'motion
arc'. It can even be greatly aided by strong intelligently worked out key poses in which two
drawings account for how the various forms, masses and shapes will animate in a way that
has some logic behind it.

24. TIMING AND SPACING INBETWEENS
• BROADLY, INBETWEENS WHICH ARE CLOSELY SPACED WILL MOVE SLOWER THAN THOSE SPACED FURTHER APART. IF
YOU SPACE MOST OF THESE DRAWINGS CLOSE TO THE START OF AN ACTION AND PROGRESSIVELY SPACE THEM
FURTHER AND FURTHER APART TOWARDS THE END, THE ACTION WILL START SLOWLY AND BUILD TO A PUNCH. THE
OPPOSITE WILL BE TRUE IF MOST OF THE INBETWEENS ARE SPACED CLOSE TO THE END - THE ACTION WILL COME TO A
GENTLE HALT. THIS VARIATION IN SPACING IS CALLED 'FAIRING' THE MOVEMENT, OR 'SLOW IN' AND 'SLOW OUT' OR
'EASE IN' AND 'EASE OUT' AND BECAME ONE OF THE 12 PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION DEVELOPED BY DISNEY STUDIOS.
Fast or slow, straight or curved, smooth or jerky, more than any other factor, timing via the placement of
inbetweens defines the weight of an object and the inertia required to get it moving or to slow it down. Two
objects of identical size and shape can appear to have vastly different weights simply by manipulating the
spacing of their inbetweens. A heavy goods train with massive inertia, might take several kilometers of
railway track to build up to its final running speed.
This works against almost everything we observe in nature and we read this type of motion as a 'bump'
when its starts and a 'bump' when it finishes. This also applies to digital camera moves which can look
particularly unnatural when no fairings have been used to start and stop the movement.

25. MOTION ARCS - PATHS OF ACTION
• MACHINES MAY MOVE IN STRAIGHT LINES BUT ANIMAL OR HUMAN CHARACTERS RARELY DO. THEIR
INBETWEENS ARE VERY OFTEN PLACED ALONG A PATHS OF ACTION THAT DESCRIBE CURVES OR ARCS.
• WHEN AN ANIMAL MOVES, VARIOUS PARTS OF ITS BODY WILL MOVE IN SWEEPING ARCED PATHS OF
MOTION RATHER THAN IN STRAIGHT LINES. WHEN ANIMATING FROM ONE POSE TO ANOTHER IT IS VITALLY
IMPORTANT THAT WE CONSIDER HOW THE INBETWEEN ACTION IS ARRANGED IN ORDER TO CREATE A
SENSE OF FLOW, WHICH IS AT THE HEART OF ALL GOOD ANIMATION.
• WHILE KEY POSES DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENS, INBETWEENS DESCRIBE HOW IT HAPPENS - THE NATURE
AND QUALITIES OF THE MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE KEY POSES OR THE 'EXTREMES' OF AN ACTION.

26. CLEAN UP ANIMATION
• IN TRADITIONAL HAND-DRAWN ANIMATION, THE "CLEAN-UP" PHASE (USUALLY DONE BY SOMEONE CALLED
A CLEAN-UP ARTIST), IS WHEN THE ROUGH KEYS, BREAKDOWNS, AND IN-BETWEENS ARE "CLEANED UP"
INTO NICE, SMOOTH SOLID LINES AND FORMS. IN A SENSE, THE CLEAN-UP ARTIST IS TRACING THE
ANIMATOR'S
OFTEN ROUGH DRAWINGS, BUT IT'S MORE THAN JUST TRACING.