Looking back over the different animation processes and knowledge needed to produce realistic motion and a believable animated performance I realise that in preparation for these projects I will have to use observation as the main research method.
Power talks about what he calls the importance placed on 'emotional realism' rather than visual realism (2009) while discussing Chris Landreth's Ryan and Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir (2008) He does so in referenced to the stylistic choices in those films but I think this 'emotional realism' also applies to the achievement of 'realism of motion' discussed by Rowely. (2005) Whether the final animation originates from motion capture performance or from an artists interpretation of movement what is important is to have the emotional core of any piece of work the main focus, not so much to achieve realism but something believable in both emotion and movement.
It has been said that 'animation dramatises predominately through its movement rather than dialogue.' (Wells, 2009) and that is exactly what I want to achieve with these projects. This idea also resonates within acting. 'It was considered the highest achievement if an actor could reveal the scheme of a scene by means of purely physical actions or with the minimum number of words.' (Toporkov, 1998 p160)
