Animation

I developed this monologue performance in Autodesk Maya in the course of 1 month to explore a seamless combination of character performances and body mechanics. The scene centers on a high-tension emotional arc as this frustrated and exhausted character deals with a selfish, ungrateful peer. Inspired by audio from a YouTube video I found, I filmed my own reference footage to capture the nuances of weight shifts and facial micro-expressions, ensuring the medium-shot framing maximized the emotional impact. I then transitioned to blocking the main physical poses before moving on the facial emotions. I eventually added in between poses and experimented with timing and spacing, leading to smoothing out the animation in spline mode. Finally, in the polish pass, the character performances and body mechanics ultimately blended seamlessly with the audio.

This assignment, which was created via Autodesk Maya for 2 months, features a combination of all 12 principles of animation through an immersive and cinematic sequence emphasizing character performances and body mechanics. Therefore, the goal was using a scene from the superhero series Supergirl to create a fully realized 3D performance, balancing technical body mechanics with the emotional weight of a medium-shot dialogue scene. Using the reference clip I found, I began by framing the camera for each scene and then blocked the main poses, mouth shapes, and facial expressions, thus experimenting with timing and spacing, especially in the arcs. I then went to splining where I smoothed the transitions to create fluid, natural arcs in both the body and the spine, moving away from robotic shifts toward believable human body mechanics. With that, the facial character performances and body mechanics were able to seamlessly blend with the voice over.

This Final Knockout assignment is a culmination of 1.5 months of intensive work in Autodesk Maya, blending meticulous body mechanics with nuanced character interaction. The narrative follows a classic underdog arc: a blue robot, brimming with overconfidence, ridicules his opponent—only for the red robot to find the strength to rise and deliver a decisive, unexpected defeat. I started by storyboarding the fight sequence involving the 2 characters. With help from a friend of mine, I recorded custom video references to map out the physical struggle and the precise timing of the impact. I then proceeded to blocking the main poses before the facial expressions, which led to experimenting on timing and spacing to make the body dynamics feel believable. I began adding in-between poses to smooth out the arcs (particularly the arms), focusing on the weight distribution as the red robot shifts from a state of defeat to a surge of momentum. I finally refined the facial expressions and bodily movements, ensuring the robots’ performances helped create a believable fight sequence.

This project is a deep dive into high-stakes performance animation, focusing on a character’s descent from explosive anger into weary exasperation. Over a one-month production cycle in Autodesk Maya, I utilized all 12 principles of animation to translate an emotional arc into a fluid, believable performance. Inspired by a famous monologue scene from the Emma Stone film Birdman, I began by recording my own video references to internalize the pacing and physical tension of the monologue. I then highlighted the main bodily poses (such as squashing and stretching the spine) before moving on to the mouth shapes and facial expressions in the blocking stage. I transitioned to refining the weight, spacing and timing to ensure the character’s movements (such as the arcs in the arms) felt reactive and believable prior to doing the final polishes. With that, the facial character performances and body mechanics were able to seamlessly blend with the voice over.

This assignment, which was created via Autodesk Maya for 2.5 weeks, emphasizes character performances and body mechanics. Therefore, the goal was creating a dialogue scene between 2 characters - in which these 2 characters are shown on a quest sequence. Using audio I found from a clip from the fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time, I began by recording my own reference video where I acted as 2 characters inside a spaceship environment, framing the scene in a medium close up shot. I then blocked the main poses, mouth shapes, and facial expressions, thus experimenting with timing and spacing, especially in the arm arc movements. I then added in-between poses to ensure that the movements could flow smoothly when going to splining to create believable, natural human body mechanics. As I finally progressed to the spline stage, the facial character performances and body mechanics were able to seamlessly blend with the voice over.