Another animation exercise I tackled before animating dialogue was the “head take”. It’s a character reaction, and in a lot of ways it’s very similar to the classic head turn. You have two poses with a transition in between them. Sounds familiar! But unlike the head turn, where the focus is on the first and last poses, the emphasis is instead on the poses in-between.

It’s a really quick motion. But within those limited frames are a couple extra elements that you won’t necessarily find in my head turn animation.

In total we have four different poses. The starting pose, the anticipation, the exaggeration, and the settle. Let’s break that down!

Starting Pose: Establishes the character’s initial expression and pose.

Anticipation: A brief moment where the character starts moving in a contrasting or opposite direction in preparation for a larger movement. In this instance, her head and torso come downward and forward right before she springs upward and backward.

Exaggeration: The driving force of the reaction. This only lasts a frame or two, but it should be an extreme and noticeable pose. It’s really goofy seeing this single frame here, but it’s a pose that should be felt rather than really seen.

Settle: The last pose, and one that’s much less extreme than the previous one. Here the character comes to a place of rest. It’s the end of her reaction, and allows the viewer to clearly see her expression.

These are the most basic elements of a character reaction. But you can also have some fun by removing a pose or two and really alter the feel of the reaction. Here I got rid of the settle and emphasized the exaggeration pose.

Totally changes the whole thing! Now it’s a lot more cartoony and wild. And I could’ve pushed the timing and poses a bit more too.

I did this exercise shortly after trying the original head turn animation a few years ago. Since it has a few more poses than the head turn, it was a great follow up. Really got me to apply even more of those fundamental principles of animation to a simple motion. I was inspired to do this by following along with Chiara Porri’s I Want to Be…An Animator tutorial & exercise series. She’s created so many excellent and informative animation tutorials that have help me immensely. Please check out her website if you get a chance!

Ruby Rig by Amine Kefi

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