Embrace Flour-y Language

(Psst... did you read the previous post, or do you need to bounce back?)

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"The Flour Sack"

In animation, The Flour Sack serves as an excellent warm-up exercise, as it features a simple design that utilises the concept of anthropomorphism while also being an essential tool in practicing Disney's 12 principles, with heavy emphasis on Exaggeration, Staging, and Appeal; not to mention helping budding animators to get to grips with including the Line of Action, and maintaining appropriate weight and volume. The latter most of which, you'll soon see, I struggled with.

Animation is all about clarity, and so simplifying something to convey an idea on screen is important, making the flour sack the perfect exercise. Going hand-in-hand with the anthropomorphism is the Suspension of Disbelief, a literary term first explored by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. It is when the audience willingly accepts fiction as reality in order to experience catharsis, allowing them to engage with the scenarios that unfold before them.

The Flour Sack exercise is successful with audiences as a foundation in animation due to these concepts.

The Sketch to Animate blog on Flour Sack Exercises also explains how important the task is, as it allows us to practice with going from one emotion to another without being "bogged down with expression or personality of the eyes, or more complex animation", and goes on to state that it is the basis of human expression which, again, is simplified and encourages us to be clear and concise with simplified forms.

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Where technically speaking all twelve principles should, of course, apply, the main principles that The Flour Sack is fantastic for is Exaggeration - making it easy to read; Appeal - strong character design; Staging - the clear presentation of an idea; and Solid Drawing - giving depth to the drawing and making it believable within a three dimensional space. These principles go pretty hand-in-hand with one another.

I love making model sets and reference pieces; particularly because it makes creating scenes and the like a lot more enjoyable and easier to get my head around. This is perfect for good practice regarding Solid Drawing.

I recalled a tweet by one of the head writers of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Russ Carney, sharing his creative thought process for the episode Pizza Puffs, where he demonstrated a concept by making a Play-Doh model. This is something I enjoy doing myself to better convey my thought process as it helps to figuratively oil the creative gears and articulate an idea, and to physically see how it works, which is why I love making model sets out of cardboard and doll house accessories.

Screenshot of a tweet by Russ Carney, a head writer of "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" showing off pre-production concept studies.

The tweet then partially inspired me to go out and buy some Play-Doh to make a model of a flour sack. It's an excellent reference point because it really helps with Squash and Stretch as well as Solid Drawing then, subsequently, Appeal as well.

In terms of the former (Squash and Stretch), no matter the pose, it's the best way to lead into Exaggeration as well with whatever pose you decide to make with it. Additionally, it is a perfect reference tool to aid in maintaining the size of the subject. Particularly with The Flour Sack Animation exercise where the subject is supposed to be extremely malleable, Play-Doh is a toy design to do exactly the same job:

Three different views of the first Flour Sack Play Doh model I made

In terms of Solid Drawing, it is a good idea to start creating model or character sheets. Use basic shapes and apply shape theory. Treat the Flour Sack as a character - because that's exactly what it is - and create turnarounds and expressions for it. One of the major points of the exercise is going from one expression to another, so this is another good way to go about it.

The Flour Sack, as a generic character, already wielding a great deal of appeal in terms of its anthropomorphism, especially considering it is so widely used as a teaching tool to new animators, or as a warm-up for the more seasoned professionals as well, but what you do with your own individual Flour Sack gives you endless opportunities.

I started off with a "Line of Action", and then the use of basic shapes before fleshing out the classic flour sack character

A good Solid Drawing should be able to convey the form as if it is in "a 3D space with volume, weight, and balance", and an excellent way to put this across is to avoid issues such as "twinning" by making the character asymmetrical, for example make it slouch or draw its appendages, such as its "ears" or its "feet", pointing different ways or in slightly different poses.

This, again, leads into character Appeal, which should mean the character design is interesting to look at and is dynamic. Use of basic shapes is a great start and the application of shape theory, however, using a range of different shapes to create a more unique look will take it even further, while still keeping it simple and concise; the difference between animation, and the much more detailed illustration.

Good character design also makes use of the implementation of basic shapes. When I first started sketching out my Flour Sack character, I drew out circles and squares, drawing out the "Line of Action" too as this poses as the character's spine. After having drawn him out in the most basic form, I was able to get the figurative creative gears grinding and, from there, work out what I wanted to do with him and what sort of vibe or aesthetic I was aiming for.

Still very sketchy at this stage, however, the form is becoming much more refined; he becomes softer and more cute or "welcoming", and then I started playing around with stretching out the form a bit more. I prefer working from references though so I know where my limitations are at. Again, the Play Doh is perfect for this because I can maintain the mass of the subject all the while achieving a fantastic and reliable reference point for engaging the animation principle of Squash and Stretch (S&S), then leading onto another principle exaggeration, all the while maintaining mass accuracy and staying on model.

That said, although I want to stay within these realms, some animations, such as Teen Titans GO! or OK KO: Let's Be Heroes, break these rules where they encourage their animators to go off model as it fits those shows' style of humour. Storyboard artist for The Casagrandes, Nic Parris, commented in an educational web interview conducted by Nickelodeon on how he did not pass an animation test for Teen Titans GO! because he stayed on model; it can greatly depend on the style of the show.

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Charlie Chaplin's 1915 silent films The Tramp, and By the Sea for the exaggerated theatrical acting and staging, perfect example for "show-don't-tell", prominent of the era as research for inspiration of more authentic movements in the Flour Sack exercise.

Charlie Chaplin's most iconic character at the beginning of his eponymous 1915 silent film "The Tramp" doing a tumble after nearly being hit by a car the first time

Charlie Chaplin's most iconic character at the beginning of his eponymous 1915 silent film "The Tramp" recovering from a tumble after nearly being hit by a car the first time

Charlie Chaplin's most iconic character at the beginning of his eponymous 1915 silent film "The Tramp" recovering from a tumble after nearly being hit by a car the second time

• Inserted rabbit-like attributes. In particular, big expressive "ears" that evoke both his inquisition, as well as his reaction. He moves around by hopping from A to B;

• Flour Sack hops into frame. Notices something on the ground nearby. Expresses curiosity. Hops over to the thing. Folds over to get a better look. Doesn't like whatever it is, and expresses this through body language and the drastic change of shape to his ears. Recoils and rolls back original spot he hopped into frame in. When he stops, he gets dizzy and shakes it off.

Expressions sheet with just a few basic Flour Sack sketches utilising the Line of Action, and going from one emotion to another.

• Lots of instances of the "show, don't tell" rule of motion pictures and incredibly theatrical movements and stage direction.

Super rough go at The Flour Sack exercise. More of a rough animatic than an animation at this stage. Second play around with Toon Boom Harmony, so still working out the software, hence the high level of roughness of this GIF.

• I am horrendous at maintaining the mass of the subject, but I'm going to go ahead and blame the fact that I'm using an ancient tablet that I can't look at while I draw
  

Slowly but surely getting the hang of using the layers window and having fun fleshing out this silly little aniation

• Still a bit tricky trying to use a non-display tablet to draw with

• Referencing the Charlie Chaplin "tramp" character stills for the little fall and subsequent sit up
  

All I could think of while animating Flour Sack was this glorious shot in Tim Schafer's point-and-click adventure game "Day of the Tentacle"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW283uY3sLI

• The judges' interesting, wiggling "walk" cycle happens at 1:55:14 in, then again at 1:55:32 in the other direction.

• The human prisoners' anticipation, reaction, and fun stretching upon seeing a "skunk" occurs at 2:09:45. [Accessed: 18/10/2021]

Still quite rough and more of an animatic in places, but he's getting there!

• I think there needs to be something in between these two frames to anticipate his reaction better

Box Drawing and Improving Solid Drawing

• Toniko Pantoja via YouTube: "How to Improve Your Solid Drawing Skills" Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_ZB90XqI9E [Accessed: 11/10/2021]

• I found this so intimidating the first time I watched this video back in January 2021 and kept putting it off. It's such a great idea though! It works and is extremely effective, especially for figuring out a solid character within a 3D space, which is exactly the purpose that Solid Drawing serves;
  

• Practicing box drawing and solid drawing using Toniko Pantoja's suggestion, using the stills I took from Charlie Chaplin's The Tramp where he tumbles after nearly being struck by a car:

Solid Drawing study using Charlie Chaplin's "The Tramp" as inspiration, and my Play Doh flour sack as a point of reference

• I tried to do some box drawing during the life drawing class I took hosted by Figure This at Accidental Theatre as well and, despite finding box drawing quite difficult and daunting, it was incredibly helpful for improving the Solid Drawing and depth of the actual figure drawing I was emulating on paper

I just wanted to move drawings/layers/frames around, but Toon Boom wouldn't let me without being difficult. I wasn't sure how to freely move frames around at this point, hence there are a couple of animations on top of each other.

• I seem to prefer Pose-to-Pose animation to get the key drawings made up, so I have a point of reference to work from. That said, I also get carried away very easily, then end up falling into Straight-Ahead methods as I come up with ideas while I'm drawing. I kept confusing the two for a while for whatever reason, though I wonder if being fickle between them in practice had something to do with it!

• I'm not used to fixing up the Timing in Toon Boom just yet; it doesn't seem to easily let me do that without thinking I want it to do something else. It gets very frustrating and confusing when I'm not sure what's going on, or how to address the issue that's happening and, subsequently, how to take steps to rectify it. It's more frustrating for me because I have a bit of a chaotic way of working, but one that works out for me (at least, as long as the software allows it)
  

• There needs to be more Anticipation just before he notices the pizza. For example, he turns the other way before looking straight towards it:

Figured out how to clean it up a bit more. Still working on it. He's a lot easier to see now though at least.

• The Squash when he Anticipates his jump needs more attention

• (Missing in-betweens, though that's more a case of things left to do to it than an actual critique at this stage)

• The little zip he does to get closer to the pizza box made me laugh so much. Not sure if it's because it's terrible, or worked better than I'd hoped;

• Need to revise it though; it goes a little too quickly so consider using an animation smear or some such to make it flow a bit better. My eyes seem to glaze over quite a lot when trying to figure out what I need to do, even when I watch it back after staring at it so long during the process of actually making it... though I'm also easily confused, which is a personal frustration. I mean, I can tell what I need to do, it's just tricky working it out;

• I love how the loop makes it look as though he forever forgets how terrible the pizza is so keeps trying; he's in denial a pizza could be that horrible! Someone call the turtles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86tqKH3zxuM

• I find timing charts a little difficult to get my head around, but I understand their usefulness and want to be able to utilise them in the best way possible. They are incredibly handy for working out inbetweening and breakdown drawings which is vital to, of course, effective Timing of your animations, something that needs worked on in my Flour Sack animation to help the flow and readability

This exercise bleeds into Staging, Anticipation, and Storyboards - Oh My!, so check that out to continue reading about him and see the finished animation or, if you'd rather, you can jog on to the next post.

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List of reference material:

• Timing: Ordering Layers, via Toon Boom docs. Available at: https://docs.toonboom.com/help/harmony-10-3/Content/HAR/Stage/007_Timing/052_H3_Ordering_Layers.html [Accessed: 17/12/2021];

• Introduction to Animation: X Sheet View, via Toon Boom. Available at: https://learn.toonboom.com/modules/introduction-to-animation/topic/xsheet-view [Accessed: 17/12/2021]; Above are links for working out the X Sheet (also known as a dope sheet or an exposure sheet) in Toon Boom Harmony, something else I'm finding difficult to grasp but I understand how useful they are, so I want to get to better grips with. For both timing charts as well as the x sheet, I understand how much more efficiently they make the work flow, so I know I won't want to work without them as much as possible once I figure them out and they become second nature. I'm putting it down to being a "numbers thing" and my brain switching off and refusing to retain the information while I'm trying to study them

• Nickelodeon Cartoon Universe, via YouTube. 12th December 2020. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6GJohy0w84 [Accessed: //2021];

• Toniko Pantoja via YouTube: "How to Improve Your Solid Drawing Skills" Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_ZB90XqI9E [Accessed: 11/10/2021];

• "Back To Basics/Flour Sack Exercises/Sketchtoanimate", by SketchToAnimate via YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHWGew4xMAw [Accessed 23/09/2021]

• "Toon Boom Harmony Tutorial for Beginners: How To Make a Cartoon!" by Jesse J. Jones via YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI65MRdKfIY [Accessed 27/09/2021];

• Charlie Chaplin's 1915 silent films The Tramp, and By the Sea;

• Fantastic article with supporting and informative videos: https://sketchtoanimate.com/2020/05/flour-sack-exercises/ [Accessed: 10/2021];

• Carney, R., via Twitter. Available at: https://twitter.com/RCoA/status/1264054596302827520 [Accessed: //2021];

• Williams, R. (2001) The Animator's Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators. USA: Faber and Faber;

• Thomas, F. and Johnston, O. (1997) The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. USA: Hyperion;

• Whitaker, H. Halas, J. Sito, T. (1981) Timing for Animation. 2nd edn. Oxford: Focal Press;

• http://livlily.blogspot.com/ [Accessed: 27/09/2021]

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