Secondary Action
Jaden McGrath 12/14/18
Our next of the 12 Basic Principles of Animation that I will be discussing will be Secondary Action, how it is used, why it is used, and why it is an important aspect in animation in general. Secondary Action can really help your demo reel or animation really stand out. It energizes your shots and will mark the difference between you being just a competent animator or a very entertaining visual animator/storyteller. You must learn, embrace, and understand Secondary Action if you ever want to eventually become a film animator. And to just make things clear, Secondary Action is NOT secondary animation or secondary motion. Secondary animation/motion is a movement that is dependent on other active motions. These two aspects fall into the category of another one of the 12 Basic Principles of Animation, Follow-Through and Overlapping Action.
Although the name might throw some people off, Secondary Action is a lot more behavioral than it is actually physical. You see, the primary action of a scene is the thing that the entire scene is about. while the Secondary Action is something that the same character is also doing along with it's main movement. Like if you want your character to bob his head back ad forth like it's listening to heavy metal music, you can add Secondary Action by maybe having their shirt move a bit or maybe have them make their hand and arm rock back and forth with devil horns like some people do at rock concerts. If you strip away the Secondary Action from the shot, the primary action should still be clear. Sure it might be less interesting to watch, but it should at least still be clear to you and others.
But at all costs, please try and avoid adding lazy and generic Secondary Action into your animation. Your Secondary Action should always be specific to that character in particular with that specific context. If who your character is, what context or situation they're in, or how they're feeling in that situation are left vague, then it'll be a lot harder to design any good Secondary Action in your animation. Now if you want to know two ways to add great Secondary Action in your animation, well there are two. The first of which is to add and include a prop for your character to use. Something like pam pams, sparklers, jump rope, a book, etc. Just to name some examples. Or if you don't want to include a prop, then you should try making Secondary Action using your character's body language. An example of which wold be the heavy metal concept I used earlier.
I have to say, I quite enjoyed reading this article. Maybe even more than the other ones. Before reading the article, I had a very vague understanding of what Secondary Action was or how to use it. This article has expanded my understanding and know I know enough more about the subject to use it in better context. For example, I learned that secondary animation/motion was not the same as Secondary Action. And I also learned that Secondary Action is more behavioral than physical.
Unlike my other blogs on the 12 Basic Principles of Animation, I actually do have a few questions. Questions like, "What would be the best props to use in an animation?" "What kind of body language would be best for your animation?" And finally, "Can there be too much Secondary Action in your animation?" But like my other blogs on these principles of animation, I don't disagree with the article at all. It seems just as well said and thought through as the other articles on the 12 Basic Principles of Animation that I have read. Secondary Action is an important factor to consider when doing an animation because without it, your animation would look more generic and boring. Secondary Action will make it look a lot more interesting and unique.
Our next of the 12 Basic Principles of Animation that I will be discussing will be Secondary Action, how it is used, why it is used, and why it is an important aspect in animation in general. Secondary Action can really help your demo reel or animation really stand out. It energizes your shots and will mark the difference between you being just a competent animator or a very entertaining visual animator/storyteller. You must learn, embrace, and understand Secondary Action if you ever want to eventually become a film animator. And to just make things clear, Secondary Action is NOT secondary animation or secondary motion. Secondary animation/motion is a movement that is dependent on other active motions. These two aspects fall into the category of another one of the 12 Basic Principles of Animation, Follow-Through and Overlapping Action.
Although the name might throw some people off, Secondary Action is a lot more behavioral than it is actually physical. You see, the primary action of a scene is the thing that the entire scene is about. while the Secondary Action is something that the same character is also doing along with it's main movement. Like if you want your character to bob his head back ad forth like it's listening to heavy metal music, you can add Secondary Action by maybe having their shirt move a bit or maybe have them make their hand and arm rock back and forth with devil horns like some people do at rock concerts. If you strip away the Secondary Action from the shot, the primary action should still be clear. Sure it might be less interesting to watch, but it should at least still be clear to you and others.
But at all costs, please try and avoid adding lazy and generic Secondary Action into your animation. Your Secondary Action should always be specific to that character in particular with that specific context. If who your character is, what context or situation they're in, or how they're feeling in that situation are left vague, then it'll be a lot harder to design any good Secondary Action in your animation. Now if you want to know two ways to add great Secondary Action in your animation, well there are two. The first of which is to add and include a prop for your character to use. Something like pam pams, sparklers, jump rope, a book, etc. Just to name some examples. Or if you don't want to include a prop, then you should try making Secondary Action using your character's body language. An example of which wold be the heavy metal concept I used earlier.
I have to say, I quite enjoyed reading this article. Maybe even more than the other ones. Before reading the article, I had a very vague understanding of what Secondary Action was or how to use it. This article has expanded my understanding and know I know enough more about the subject to use it in better context. For example, I learned that secondary animation/motion was not the same as Secondary Action. And I also learned that Secondary Action is more behavioral than physical.
Unlike my other blogs on the 12 Basic Principles of Animation, I actually do have a few questions. Questions like, "What would be the best props to use in an animation?" "What kind of body language would be best for your animation?" And finally, "Can there be too much Secondary Action in your animation?" But like my other blogs on these principles of animation, I don't disagree with the article at all. It seems just as well said and thought through as the other articles on the 12 Basic Principles of Animation that I have read. Secondary Action is an important factor to consider when doing an animation because without it, your animation would look more generic and boring. Secondary Action will make it look a lot more interesting and unique.
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