The younger the audience, the more obvious the performance.  Children are adults-in-training, and their parameters for thinking and emotion are much more narrow than that of their parents. Most major animated feature films today are designated “Family” films.  But a family is comprised of a number of individuals of different ages and life experiences.  Is there really such a thing, really, as a “Family” film?  After all, Walt Disney did not make “Family” movies like those we see today.  He made movies for kids, and then charmed the adults into coming also.

The decision to be a professional artist is unlike any other.  There is no single well-trod path to success and, anyway, how is success measured when it comes to an art?  Is it a dollar amount?  Is an animator who worked on, say, “Up” more successful than one who worked on, say, “Waltz with Bashir” or “Triplets of Belleville” or the game “Fable II”?   Or perhaps you consider animation to be a craft more than an art?

Moving illustrations are not the same thing as acting. Acting means the character is actually doing something.  To act is to do - action in pursuit of a provable objective while overcoming an obstacle.

Let’s talk about acting!  Animators do not perceive or apply acting theory the same way that stage actors do.  The primary variable is that stage actors work “in the present moment”, and animators work with an illusion of a present moment – 24 frames make a second. Animators need to know the connections between thinking, emotion and physical action; they need to understand theatrical structure, the way that performance relates to story and how both relate to the audience.

My least favorite thing to do is lecture.  I much prefer to discuss acting theory with you.  Ask me questions.  Challenge me.