Most of you remember John Kricfalusi for his work on The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse, Ren & Stimpy and Ripping Friends. John K also has a great animation blog where many of the topics that he discusses apply just as well to clowning as they do to animation.
Click the title of this post to be taken to John K's STUFF and his recent post on the importance of "anticipation".
2 comments:
I'm too old for this crap! Give me the Looney Tunes gang every time and throw in a dash of Max Fleischer's gang (Out of The Inkwell).
Classic Traditionalist
Among Buster Keaton's MANY wonderful attributes, he was a MASTER at anticipation, both preparing for an action (see "Pest of the West" a few days ago, waiting to get hit on the head) and preparing for one action but doing another (not a perfect example, but like the surprise of hitting the woman in "Pest"). Keaton's reputation as the Great Stone Face obscures the fact that he was perpetually ACTIVE. He was constantly aware of the people and events around him, constantly ready to react.
I think the usual clown lesson that big arenas require big actions is a misunderstanding of this principle. Sure, big actions can be read at a distance but so can something as tiny as a finger, IF it's clear. (Watch Lou Jacobs. He did both big and small moves, expertly.) What's crucial is that clarity--i.e., no spaghetti. Showing anticipation helps create clarity.
Traditional Classicist?
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