 Welcome back to another acting analysis and this time I'm gonna talk about true blood. It's going to be a short clip I'm also not gonna talk too much because I'm still getting over my cough so I don't want to go through the whole thing. It's gonna be short and sweet but it is a clip that I show to my students all the time. I think it's a very important aspect and principle of how you can take your animation clip and make it your own despite relying on audio. So in this clip she's asking her grandmother, aren't you gonna tell me to be careful? And she replies with, you're always careful, Suki, about what cat helps and I can depend on that. Isn't that right? And the cool thing is that then she goes I can depend on that. Isn't that right? So for me the cool thing is that she's not asking her she's not saying I can depend on that right? I can depend on you you're gonna do the right thing. It's more like I'm telling you that you are going to be careful. And I know it's going in also in her delivery she is kind of telling her I know it's not a straight-up question in how the voice comes across and everything but the main thing where I'm showing you this clip is because she doesn't say you're gonna be careful right? I can depend on that right? Or whatever question that you might ask or whatever audio you're gonna use for your shot. The cool thing is that she goes I can depend on that. Isn't that right? So I know again the voice is kind of saying you know the tone of voice says I'm telling you to be careful but the cool thing is that she is lifting her head and it goes from a question to a command. I'm telling you what to do. It's like you ask someone you're gonna clean your room because I'm a parent I'm gonna ask that question versus you're gonna clean your room right? And then you can go you're gonna clean your room right? So just by lifting the head it's a simple technically a simple animation tweak but it changes the tone of the shot and the thing is you can then add your own character choices you own acting on top of the existing audio. One of the pitfalls is that if you use audio for a lip sync piece which a lot of animators obviously are using is that you're too bound to the audio clip you're too bound to the timing delivery and kind of the acting choices or kind of the emotion behind it and it might end up being too similar to the original source when you have moments where you can change how a posture is or a head tilt or the way they look is it a strong eye contact or the look away so you can add subtext you can add your own inflections you can add your own acting choices on top of an acting audio piece and that's why I think this shot is so powerful because it's from an animation point of view super simple it's just a rotation up which opposite with arcs and you can add your own little you know like polish to it but technically it's simple to go from I'm asking a question versus I'm telling you what to do it's kind of weird seasons are my nostril little boogers in there but anyway I thought that is super cool again this is super short it's a very simple scene in a way but it's one of the first things that I showed to my students where I implore them to take action and make your shot your own you can add your own acting choices just like when I showed the shot from midnight special where someone would ask a question and there's a pause and during that pause the character can look away and go that guy or can smile or whatever you want to add during that pause where you can do your own acting choices and be more original and be more creative in this case I think it's really cool that just by lifting the head you're kind of changing the intent behind that question where the question turns from a question to a commands to something where I'm telling you what to do so when you look at her natural reacts you can see by the pause the look and that nodding okay she gets it this wasn't just a question she's telling her what to do and it's a hidden command so next time you use an audio clip look for those moments look for pauses but look for those moments where you can change the posture of a character how they sit how they stand how they look again eye contact or looking away but also simple things like artists saying something like this like that like that or throughout the line raising the head for a different meaning simple yet to me at least I find that super powerful and a very cool way of taking ownership and making the shot your own thing where you can say I brought this new thing to the shop this is my creative input where I took the original and made it something new which to me will be very interesting and very positive when someone wants to hire you where you say well I'm not just replicating what I'm hearing in the audio here this is my take on it and I can do a twist on it and make it potentially better or just at least more creative with my own spin and my personality on it that's about it I'm glad I went through this thing without coffee and if you like this as always I'd appreciate it a like and if you want all the notifications for all the uploads hit the subscribe button and hit the bell so you get all the notifications and as always if you watched the whole thing till the very end thank you very much and I will see you next week or if you're tuning in tomorrow and FNA Friday