This week, Ting’s lecture focused on acting and subtext, exploring the idea that what a character says is often different from what they actually mean. She emphasized the importance of “show, don’t tell” and how great acting comes from understanding the thoughts and intentions beneath the dialogue. We looked at examples from animation and discussed how body language and acting choices can communicate meaning without explicitly stating it. Ting also introduced us to the 11 Second Club, a long-running animation challenge where animators create their own interpretations of the same 11-second audio clip. I found it fascinating how the exact same line could result in completely different performances depending on the animator’s choices and the subtext they wanted to convey. This became the basis for our first assignment after the Easter break. Although we were not expected to begin animating immediately, Ting encouraged us to spend the break thinking about the hidden meaning behind our chosen dialogue and how we wanted to communicate it through acting rather than simply illustrating the words.
Alongside this, we were given another assignment based on the previous week’s industry talk. The task was to interview a professional artist we admired, with the aim of practicing professionalism while also gaining insight into the realities of the industry. I was fortunate enough to interview freelance 3D artist and animator Ali Tomineek, whose work I have admired for years, especially through Instagram. I was surprised by how generous he was with his time and how openly he shared his journey. He spoke about transitioning from video editing into animation, building an audience online and choosing the freelance route because of the creative freedom it offered. One thing that stood out to me was his emphasis on passion and experimentation. He described learning animation as similar to learning how to swim: you can only truly learn by jumping in and doing it. Hearing about the realities of freelancing and his ability to maintain a distinctive artistic voice made me think differently about the many paths available in the industry.
Over the break, I also revisited my “Heavy Object / Change of Mind” shot. Taking Ting’s earlier advice to start again, I approached the assignment with a completely different mindset. I switched to using the Bony rig, which made it easier to separate the body into sections and animate them in passes. Instead of trying to animate everything at once, I focused on the hips first, then the back, arms and other body parts. I also changed my workflow by making sure that different controls shared the same keyframes. Previously, I had a tendency to key things inconsistently, which often left me lost when making adjustments. Keeping controls aligned made the animation process much smoother and easier to manage. Although starting over initially felt like admitting defeat, it ultimately resulted in a much stronger shot and taught me the importance of having a workflow that is both organized and flexible.
Looking back, this week tied together many of the themes we have explored throughout the term. Whether through acting, career advice or body mechanics, the common thread seems to be intentionality. Strong performances come from understanding what a character is thinking, successful careers come from being deliberate about the kind of artist you want to become, and effective animation workflows come from making clear decisions rather than working chaotically. It felt like a fitting way to conclude the term before moving into more dialogue-focused work after the break.