In Class:
This week’s class focused on blocking, and how it forms the base of any good animation. George explained that blocking isn’t just about putting down key poses — it’s about using silhouette, timing, and rhythm to tell a clear story. He said the blocking stage is basically the first version of your performance, and we should already be thinking about emotions and clarity even in stepped mode.
George also stressed the importance of contrast in poses — especially when showing effort or weight. For example, a push should feel different from a moment of rest, and that difference should be visible in the shapes and timing. He showed examples where the difference between average and strong blocking came down to how pushed the poses were and how clearly they read.
Finally, George reminded us that reference footage is helpful, but it should be used as a base. We need to exaggerate and adjust our poses to make them clearer and more suited for animation.
My Progress:
Initially, my idea was to show the character pushing a sofa in front of a door, turning around, and reacting to a demon behind them. But after getting feedback from George, he suggested to change it to a push followed by a fall onto the sofa to show tiredness. So I reshot my reference with the fall on the sofa and started to identify key poses that would help me for the blocking.
After finalizing the idea, I brought it into Maya and began blocking out the main poses. I started with FK for the arms, but I couldn’t get the hand interaction to work properly, so I switched to IK. That helped me keep the hands planted on the sofa during the push.