The IMPORTANT Principles

• Squash and Stretch

This applies primarily to clay animation. It could be used with other kinds of puppets or objects, but only if they're made from the right materials and can be manipulated properly. The concept is when a rubber ball hit the floor, it squashes out - it flattens a little. Then when it bounces back, it will stretch. This is also the basic principle of animation. This is easy when you're working with clay, because you are actually using a solid mass.

• Anticipation

Also know as the biggest problems in beginner animation. It's often hard to tell what is going on, because things all seem to happen at the same time and characters just do things suddenly for no apparent reason. Example if a puppet is just standing there and suddenly his arm flies out and he throws something, the viewer was probably looking at whatever the current point and was caught off guard. And by the time they look at the new action, it is already over. There are times when it is best to not use anticipation, but that's a case of every rule having its exception.

• Follow-Through and Overlapping Action

Follow-through is the countermeasure to anticipation. It occurs after an action, and is the direct physical result of it. Personally, I think I would have grouped Follow- Through with Anticipation, and put Overlapping Action with Secondary Action, but alas, I didn't create the list. For Follow-Through, lets continue using the example of a man throwing a ball. Wow, that ball has sure got a workout so far, hasn't it? After releasing it, his hand won't just stop dead, it will continue in its arc a little ways. Actually his entire body will continue in its action, though that might be very subtle. Even if it barely shows in the animation, you should be aware of it when animating and getting the feel of follow-through into the puppet or the object.

Now Overlapping Action is one of those things that, as written by the Disney guys, applies primarily to drawn animation - becauseit's generally done in several passes by the artist(s). First they'll draw in the major forms of the body and get the main action (let's say that windup and throw again); and then they'll come back over those drawings, and do a second pass, drawing in the smaller forms like flowing hair or loose clothing that will sort of drift and follow the major forms of the body in their arcs. And while a stopmotion animator can't go back and add in secondary actions after already shooting his major pass, you can still keep the basic idea of secondary, smaller forms in mind and think about how they would follow along.

• Arcs

Everything in nature will tend to move in arcs. The main reasons being the jointed nature of the skeleton - and gravity.Walks are full of arcs... the body moves up and down as well as forward, so the head and every other part will describe a series of arcs. As for gravity, if you throw something it will tend to arc up toward its high point, and then arc down toward the ground.The Disney dudes basically decided that everything looks better if it all moves according to arcs.

• Ease in and Ease out

Also alternately known as Slow-in and Slow-out, or Acceleration and Deceleration.

• Timing

When it's wrong, you'll know it. When it's right, you'll know it!!

• Secondary Action

Secondary Actions are little movements that aren't essential but that help to add meaning to an action. Example: a boy is lifting a sandwich up to his mouth to eat it. If he licks his lips along the way, it adds a shade of meaning to the action. Hence this is a secondary action.

• Exaggeration

Exaggeration is a good way to add emphasis to certain movements and thereby draw attention where you want it. Filmmaking (including animation of course) is basically the art ofdirecting the viewers' attention where you want it.

• Staging

It's a director's tool, used in all kinds of filmmaking. Staging is one aspect of Cinematography, which is the art of using camera angle, camera movement, lighting, composition, placement of figures and etc to direct the viewer's eye.