From the previous posts, I had mentioned numerous times (And I apologize for that) how body language would be one of the more important factors in my animation, seeing as my character does not exactly have a face and will not be speaking, the expressiveness of its poses and movements would be more important than ever.
And so it only makes sense to look up on good old fashion slapstick comedies to use as my research and references (I also need to thank my lecturer for the suggestions). The older ones especially had no audio (And only a few simple lines would be shown in between scenes if it was truly required), and so depended far more on exaggerated poses, actions and movements to bring out what the characters are actually feeling or trying to do.
While their more cartoony and zany actions are most definitely amusing, I wounded up studying at these comedians' more discreet mannerisms (Such as running, the way they flinch or wince, and even when they are just sitting down). I really had tried adding in more goofy bits during the storyboard process, but in the end I think it was better to just go with something more discreet, instead of making it seem like an exact copy to the works of these genius comedians.
Charlie Chaplin
Buster Keaton
Harold Lloyd
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Now this one might seem like an obvious bit of reference to use for my animation, but in all honesty, aside from all the energetic dancing, at the time I was taking into consideration about whether I should add a little rain to the animation (Because I still find it weird to carry an umbrella just because it's windy, but well people still do that apparently...) and so I studied the way the character got soaked and how rain droplets and puddles would respond when the character comes in contact with them as he strolled and danced.
"Make 'Em Laugh"
I believe this musical number was of a bigger aid to my project as compared to the previous one as it presented much more slapstick humor and oh so much self inflicted pain for the sadistic enjoyment of us the viewers… (You really have to respect the folks that acted in this film, that's for sure…)
Another obvious piece of reference, though you probably expected me to look up on the main character herself as she gracefully descends with her umbrella. But let's not forget that the character in my animation will in no way show such grace (The complete opposite really), and so I instead looked to this scene.
The visuals are also quite helpful as the characters are only actually shown as silhouettes for a couple of scenes during this song, with a simple but suitable night sky background. I am just taking into precaution some alternatives should I run out of time...
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