Animation Tips You can Learn From South Park
There's no denying the success of the four boys from South Park, the show on Comedy Central. They've been cursing their way across both the big and little screens for many years now. While the animation and character design is certainly simplistic, there are several useful tips you can use to make your own cartoons even better.
Story is Everything
It's impressive how comparable South Park is with Pixar when it comes to story, despite having remarkably different production timelines. South Park has been known to create a new animation in less than two weeks (their September 11th episode) while it takes Pixar three years to sculpt their films.
Despite this inherent difference they both know how to craft their stories. The plot drives the humor instead of the other way around.
It's not necessary to create a several episode story all at once. Lay out the major plot points and then begin the detail work of scripting and adding humor to the situations your characters get in.
Simple Movements Can Sell Emotions
It's natural for an animator to try to make a character talk with their hands. While helpful, "hand talking" should be a secondary action. A basic head nod can relay just as much information and depth as a character that's flailing their arms.
Somebody is Always Talking
The most surprising tip to learn is that there is very little "dead audio", either a character is talking or music is setting up a scene. Have you ever watched a show like The West Wing and thought, "man, those guys talk fast, and almost on top of each other"? That same dialog would actually work in a cartoon.
A good test to see if your animation suffers from this malady is to not watch it at all. Turn your speakers up, hit play and then go sit on the other side of your computer and just listen. Are you able to get a sense of what's happening on the screen without the visuals?
Gradients are Not Always Necessary
The gradient tool is not the savior you think it is. Your cartoon will likely read better if you keep it simple: simple shapes, simple colors. The time you'll save not fussing over every gradient detail is a bonus.
Crazy Camera Moves Add Complication
We're all directors at heart - in the end that's all an animator is. A beginner animator has grand visions of wide sweeping shots. The problem is that that kind of camera move is expensive, both in time and momentum.
How many ideas have you started with excitement in your heart, only to watch that idea die a slow painful death from lack of action? When you overly complicate your cartoons by adding unnecessary camera moves you are increasing the chance that the animation will never be completed. Keep it simple!
Bleeping Out Curse Words is Funnier
Who would have thought that censorship could be funny? The kids from South Park are known as foul-mouthed little hell raisers. However it's unusual for them to speak an actual curse word (the movie and the infamous "shit" episode aside).
If you've been known to talk like a sailor, record your audio as you normally would but then overlay a bleeped tone over the cursing. You'll make your cartoons more accessible to a wider audience and may find that the bleep is hilarious.
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What a nice post for my birthday Will...a South Park post! I'm a huge fan of SP and am probably no where near their target audience :). One I'd add to your list is: Character. This is what keeps us watching...Cartman and the boys. If you really 'get to know' your characters you're creating, plot ideas are almost limitless. Put great characters anywhere and the story/gags will come. I see what you're saying about the sound, but I tend to go the opposite view. I advise people to turn the sound OFF and see if the cartoon works. It is a visual medium and if it works as a 'radio play' then why bother all the work animating it? You can run the risk of creating 'talking head' animation. Acting and shot choice can tell a visual story so much better. Then dialogue should enhance it. Yes SP has tons of dialogue but it also has strong visuals. Just my opinion (the story artist in me). The last thing I'd add is: Timing. Check out their timing in dialogue and acting. Those pauses say a lot! Learn good timing (it's an art in itself) and you will make better cartoons. Good post...hope you don't think I'm trying to hi-jack it! Cheers.
Great post and some spot-on observations. I strongly agree with Karen though, depending on audio to tell the story fights against the idea that [animation] film is a visual medium. Just think about almost any classic Chuck Jones or Tex Avery cartoon. How could you possibly understand these masterpieces simply by listening to the audio? They're classic animation gems mostly because the visuals are so strong and they can be understood anywhere in the world across the language-barrier...
Excellent points, I certainly agree about animation being a visual medium. I think the main point I was trying to make is that the audio is important - something beginning animators forget. I did not mean to suggest that the audio should drive the story.
I was showing some of my early work to friends and was watching them watch the screen. Even though I knew what was going on on the screen, I had trouble picturing the mood because the background music was poor (something I still struggle with today).
I suppose that a better test is to try it with the sound off as well as with the sound on. The point should come across clearly on both.
I of course agree about Character and Timing as well. Strong characters yield strong stories.
Thank you both for your comments!
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