This week, I was introduced to what a logo stinger is and how to create one using Adobe Illustrator and After Effects. To help inform this week’s project, I read another chapter of Animated Storytelling by Liz Blazer and learned about the twelve principles of animation.

Chapter 9 / Technique

Blazer explains that selecting the right animation technique is crucial and should be considered early in the pre-production process of your project. Animation technique refers to what medium is being used, and there are five primary ones: hand-drawn, 2D stop-motion (cutouts), 3D stop-motion (claymation), 2D CGI, and 3D CGI.

This is important to think about early on because each medium has distinctive characteristics that can help or hurt the story you want to tell. You can also blend mediums to create something unique to your vision.

Some Research

After watching the above video about the 12 principles of animation, I set out to find a few examples of my own. This is easier said than done since the styles differ so heavily, which makes it a bit tricky for a beginner like me to spot the subtleties.

Anticipation

The first principle I noticed was anticipation, which is basically the wind up or momentum that builds to an action. In the video below, the character preps herself to bite at the cereal box by leaning her upper body backwards first.

Follow Through

This next principle is subtle in the example below but is not overpowered by any other action. Follow-through is the idea that any appendage, whether clothing or otherwise, will lag slightly behind the body’s movements before catching up. This example involves hair, which is one of the most common elements that use the follow-through principle. As she turns her head and stops, her hair follows shortly behind, which gives the audience a sense of its density and texture.

Arc

Even though arcs are the foundation for almost all movement in animation, finding a clear example was tricky for me. In this animation, a dog shakes its head in a swooping motion, which clearly demonstrates an arc and helps the dog’s movements appear more realistic.

Straight Ahead

This principle is also tricky to pick up on, but seems to appear in the water splash below. The straight ahead principle refers to how an artists chooses to approach the animation process. Straight ahead makes sense for non-linear elements such as water and fire.

Secondary Action

Secondary action can be seen at the end of this animation. While on the ground laughing, the child also grabs his belly and kicks his feet to drive home just how tickled he is. Secondary action gives the audience more context to what the character may be feeling by including more than one main action at a time.

My Turn!

The principles of animation helped me greatly to create my logo stinger. I primarily work with Adobe Illustrator for my professional projects, so I already had my logo made. To get it ready for animation, I broke the logo into 4 layers. After bringing the logo into After Effects, I animated each part separately. I took my best shot at including squash/stretch and an arc in my stinger to vary the movement and make the animation feel more organic.