AM - Class 5 / Week10- Lecture

Walkthrough: Subtext and Subtlety.

Subtext in animation is what's going behind the scenes, what's the character is not really saying, what's his/her thoughts internally.   Its the message behind the words.

Subtext can changes the meaning of a sentence entirely, you can say the same words but with completely deference subtext & it will deliver the viewer a completely different message. 

In the real world, subtext is always there, the gestures we do with our hands as we speak, the subtle facial expressions, smile, squint, all will tell you what this person is thinking or feeling without even listing to what he's saying.  Sometimes a person will say something but there is a hidden thought beneath the words that is contradicting with what's actually being said.

In this lecture,  Matthew Munn animator at Sony ImageWorks breaks down a shot he animated from Surf's Up where a character is delivering a line & the subtext is contradicting from what the character is saying. such a great shot!

Few notes:

- Subtext is very important in animation because its a powerful tool to add reality to the shot.

- Subtext can go a long with the spoken words, or it could be completely the opposite.

- As an animator you have the time to inject real life performance into the characters, & add a subtle movement to make the characters look believable.

- Subtext will reveal the nature of your character to the audience.

- Subtext is not an afterthought, its something to be considered in an early stage of animation.

- Ask questions about your character, What kind of person is he? whats the mood he's in? what he's thinking?

- Before shooting a video reference, put yourself in your character's shoes, think the way there supposed to be thinking when delivering there line of dialog, and subtext will show naturally in your reference.

- In the polishing stage, pay extra attention on emphasizing the subtext.

Matthew's advice at the end of the lecture was to always stay passionate about animation; keep a close relation with the team members around you, bounce feedback to raise up the quality of everybody's work.  The minute you forget what animation is all about & start treating it as a job you will lose the ability to learn and develop your skills, & that will reflect back on your work.