 It's Friday and that means F&A Friday and today we're going to take a look at the Innkeepers for an example of how to take a weight assignment to the next level One of the common item each exercises is a weight assignment So you have your character standing there and usually lifting a box, which is not that interesting Yes, it gets a job done It's definitely an exercise that you have to do But if you want to take your shop to the next level or have it for your demo reel I would suggest adding something more to it in terms of character give the character some problems to overcome So that the shot ends up being about the character doing something and it happens to involve a weight assignment It happens to involve weight in terms of lifting pulling pushing grabbing someone throwing that You know a drunk friend into the car or lifting a heavy sofa into your office Or like in this case for the Innkeepers, which is a fantastic movie by Taipei It's a highly recommend that you watch it in this case It's one of the main characters there too But she's the main character where she takes out the trash and has to put it into the garbage container as she does that She struggles through a couple things that make the job harder But it's done in such a funny and quirky way that gives her character It's just more about how does she overcome all those obstacles to get there and you don't really look at it as a Weight assignment now, of course as you watch a movie you wouldn't really think of it as a weight assignment But I like this example in terms of how you get there. What does the character do before the weight assignment? What happens when he or she lifts the weight? What is there a problem can she or he not get there and what is the character coming up to solve that problem? So let's take a look at the sequence and I'll walk you through those elements that I like So this is a longer sequence. I would technically not recommend doing this for you reel in terms of length It's obviously way too long But what I like about this is the beginning I mean, I like the whole thing but this is already very telling and we can already look at this here where you have the character Holding this far away from her. Why was it's garbage and it's dirty. It might be stinky It might be leaking whatever it is, but she doesn't like it So that as a beginning pose already tells me something that she is holding this it's heavy But she doesn't like it near her But what does she do to get there again? This is very very long. You know, this uses a classic moment of very flat perspective Someone against just the wall and doing something quirky Which is being used in a lot of movies where you have that type of camera angle and that can be just for a specific short moment That can be a whole setup where it's kind of the style of having Especially having people walk in front of a big blank wall and the character is small It's kind of a trope to kind of reinforce the comedy element But in this case, I'm looking at in terms of what is the character doing you know What is the backdrop? I mean you can use the set to kind of help to tell your story But in this case, I'm looking at what is the character doing and what is the Relationship between a character and the object so instead of just having the character lift something heavy in and that's it Is there something else going on with that object that the character is lifting? So going back to this I Like that she takes those tiny tiny little steps So this here is so it gets a bit better But I like those quick little steps quick quick quick quick quick quick and then she comes to a rest So this could already be the beginning where instead of the character just standing there Hunching over and then lifting the box or whatever the object is How is the character getting there is if the character is holding it is it kind of a yeah I can do this I can maybe maybe a character is pulling something at some wheels and or you're very relaxed and very arrogant I can do this and then when they lift the actual heavy object Oh, this is kind of heavier than I thought and then the Arrogant facade of the character breaks down and then you can see the character struggle So how you get to the moment of lifting the heavy object could be something interesting and it could be something where you show Character and it's kind of your your moment to show acting and bit more character development I mean the shot will be short. I don't know how much development you can show but I'm talking in terms of going beyond just movement I'm not just showing animation where I portray weight But I show how the character is struggling or not struggling or overcoming the struggle while lifting something heavy So again instead of just standing here's the object I'm gonna lift it What if you show how the character gets there and again, this could be Q contrast of fast fast fast fast fast Slow move with her going. Oh So there could be already a lot of Q timing cute information about the character and contrast in timing where you have quick quick quick Stop and then you go into your weight assignment. She's very very cartoony in her delivery I mean, that's kind of the character in the movie But it's very cool in terms of animation where clean silhouette holds that away from her as she stops She is exhausted and you got your c-curve and reverse c-curve So that is very clear very Animationy and then she goes, okay I gotta put this and she lifts it up and it's a clear little pause of shrink to the audience This is my object. Okay. I got to put this into this. So we know this Has to go into here and there's a clear connection between that's the object that I'm gonna put this into here And that's where it has to go then she starts off and Tries it and fails. Oh, what I like a lot about that is a this introduces conflict It doesn't work. She can't put it in and now as an audience. I'm interested because that didn't work What is she going to do? I'm more invested instead of just lifting the assignment or lifting the assignment lifting the object and go Okay, that was a cool display of weight and I'm kind of done You can show what it fails and now you can show more about the character If the character is exposed to a problem to conflict the character has to make a choice to solve that problem So now as an audience, I'm interested Well, how is he or she going to solve that problem and depending on that choice? We know more about the character one of the examples that I bring up in my classes Which is kind of mean but it kind of it's an exaggerated point is if you have your computer on fire with all of your animation And you work on there and your puppies on fire, which one are you gonna save? The computer now you're not you are saving the puppy of course But it always gets a reaction with my students because you know your character could be nice and save the puppy or could be the villain and save the computer and That's a future FNA. I your character doesn't always have to be nice You can also animate villains but going back to the conflict I like to see when a character is faced with the problem with conflict and seeing the choices that the character makes to Overcome that problem and in this case what I like a lot is that if you look at this She can't make it, but she is not just giving up She does this and you can see for a couple frames. She tries and tries and tries So even though it's very clear that this whole piece here is not gonna go over into the container She is still trying which shows her character. She is trying. She's determined She wants to really fix this even though it's pretty clear It's not gonna work and it's a showcase of her character. So it's not just again lifting something heavy But no, no, I'm gonna show you who I am. So as she is failing with this We are clear about what we want to do again. She brings it back This is what I need to do and I like those little things that little adjustment in the leg It's it's not just a to be just kind of like this little detail work that I like in animation and now she goes all right, well, let me try something else and That didn't work either. So instead of holding this she lets go and again look at that super clear silhouette It's beautiful and then she fails and what I like about that is contrast She's not repeating things over and over which makes it boring. So I tried it one way I got to try it a different way and in your animation you should strive for contrast So there is texture to to your animation your character choices to the visual poses Whatever you have because if it's always the same thing it gets kind of boring in one note So in her case she does change the approach to it and it makes it more interesting And it shows us that she can problem solve and she has different creative ways of fixing that problem now As she failed she's gonna try again And this is where I would say don't do this and of course the shot is ready really long I wouldn't say copy this and try that for your weight assignment because it's way too long You have to kind of take those ideas and what I'm saying here is still that into something shorter But in general I wouldn't do this part because it's a repetition of she did the first time So now she tries it the same way it doesn't quite work But now she tries a different method and I like these two in terms of timing because that swinging is pretty long It's not like she just grabs it and goes all right one Two and go this usually kind of you things on threes one two three or if it's a bird It's flat flap flap. It's just a good It's a good set of rhythm to kind of break things up if you do fours It might be one two one two or one two three boring and then one I think threes is a good way to break things up So in her case she pushes that kind of runs me of some of the South Park or other Animated TV shows where they really push the timing really really really long to the Uncomfortable realm and then even more not that this is doing that to that extreme But it's still going against your expectations and she swings for quite some time. So let's go back She failed this. Let me do something in you again It's interesting because of contrast and she swings and swings and swings and then she finally does it and It's done steps away clear silhouette We clear we have a clear understanding of separation here and then look what happens liquid comes down and That's a new set of problems. So sometimes you can finish a shot You can be done with the main objective and just add one little button to that as a one more thing Or sometimes when you have a pose and you hold a specific pose and that's your instead of just going for a Hold you can do a pose and then a sub pose. So if I point it could just be huh That's everything I know why I was angry But you can do a point and then do a little twist in there and it's still the same idea It's the same story points kind of the same pose But you kind of giving it a little bit more texture or again a pose and then a sub pose to kind of mix it up A bit give it some extra flair and in this case she did it She put it into almost put it completely in the container But now there's one more thing and that can be a movie sometimes you have a little joke there And it just like one little thing like it's added. So in her case, what does she do? She realizes ah, this doesn't work and again, look at that clear clear silhouette It's such a good pose. I know this is not intentional in terms of I have to think about clean silhouette because it's an actor And it's going to be a lot more natural in the performance towards the camera But I for me this animation wise would also be really really clear so you can see that Okay, well, I got to fix this and then she does this and again I'm gonna go back here just for that moment. Look at that. She holds this pose here hand out finger here Again, it's a very very clear silhouette I'm just really smitten by her posing in this sequence or in this very long shot It's like one continuous long shot, which is also very impressive So what she's going to do is try to put this in here Using her finger no way she can do that obviously just pushing this massive thing with her fingers It's not gonna work, but that is it for me an interesting character moment instead of going brute force like maybe you can do it like this This is it's a cute quirky trait It's an interesting character moment and again It's one of those opportunities where you as an animator can put more character stuff into your animation So it's not just weight and just movement from A to B and I'm showing weight You can show how is the character dealing with this weight with this object or with the conflict and the problem by Whatever the objective is in your shop So again, that's to me. It's a really really cute moment and then she does it and again clean She does this look at that clean clean silhouette beautiful arc She is a full-on animator and when she is done with that cleans up and then even this We talked about doing a 180 I was talking about person of interest in the clip from yesterday Where you could take someone that sits down and not maybe show the whole thing like I showed in the sequence where it's potentially Again too long, but you can start with someone standing like this and then turning around to then sit down Just that 180 turn is pretty complex in terms of body mechanics But you can show off body mechanics that way which is kind of hidden within the grand Idea of the character just sitting down. So in her case, she could be done and just do like whatever hands are on their body But she's kind of done turns around so a the complexity of a 180 is there So in terms of body mechanics, that's interesting to animate and it's challenging and you can show off your skills But it's also kind of visually she turns her back towards the problem. I'm done with this I'm turning my back and in the way she does it too. She does this and then does that will shake with the head I don't know if something came up into her face as she did this with the arms But again, it's one more add a cute little thing kind of random me of syndrome and Incredibles when he walks And he has that little arm twitch There's just some moments that characters do that you might say they have nothing to do with the story But to me to add an extra cute or quirky or threatening or whatever layer it is to your character That's just entertaining to watch now in this case It also helps her turn around and then look at the window so we can see this because that Character plays a big part in the movie and I'm not gonna spoil it But you should watch a movie because the movie is great and that ends the sequence. She says highly I show this example in every class just to me It's such a cool progression of what you can do with a weight assignment. It doesn't have to be just about weight I'm just showing something where the character is lifting something and that's it No, no, no, you can take your character and put that character into the environment and then choose that object that fits environment And then look at what could I come up with in terms of problems and conflicts? That would make the character more interesting to see how the character overcomes those hurdles And then you can use that to show something where in this case She tries and tries and tries to put the trash in a container But maybe you could do something where the character There's a second character coming in and they use that character for something mean I don't know what it is to get that trash in there I mean there's so many ways you can change this around and make your character sympathetic or a villain Whatever it is, but it goes beyond just the A to B movement of showing weight That's my dog Good boy dog My god, hope he's very excited. Oh, he wants to go out. I gotta go and open the door I'm back. Anyway, where was I? I think that's it. I think I'm gonna stop this clip Yeah, the dog is gonna go crazy. So again, if you have an assignment It's absolutely fine to go through A to B because you need to do the assignment You need to get used to the bottom mechanics and practice practice practice But once you don't meet the assignment you want to go just a bit further and just add more character to it You don't have to ditch the assignment You can still show off weight or whatever the assignment is that you want to kind of hide in your shop But then think about it in a more cinematic way or just at least in a character driven way What could you do to make this character a bit more interesting? And one of the things to make a character interesting is by giving the character an obstacle So what is he or she going to do to overcome that obstacle? And those character choices will make it interesting for the viewer and you know as an anime It's also interesting to anime and to come up with those things and again It could also just be a villain doesn't have to be a hero Which gives you so many opportunities to show off your skills your acting skills your mechanics skills and so on and so on Next week. I'm gonna finish up the series of how to take your animation to the next level I got some more examples so I can really drill home the process of taking an idea or an assignment and just Escalating and go crazier and crazier if you like this and you thought that was helpful Give this a like if you have any questions any comments leave a comment if you watched your whole thing till the very end as As always, thank you so much for taking the time and I will see you Next week for another acting analysis for an FNA Friday or something else that I might post at the beginning of the week And if you prefer to just listen to those things I got my podcast I'm starting to release more more episodes so I can kind of catch up and all those themes and topics that I'm choosing for my YouTube channel I will talk about in podcast as well So if you want to listen to something during your commute or something else There is a podcast available link in the description and that's it for me. Thank you