Silent Movies

I have decided to look at silent movies because without speech, they had to show through body language the narrative of the film. This is a very important reference when looking at acting in a character animation. They have to act out each pose perfectly to fully represent the narrative of the film they are acting in - which is similar to how posing is key in animation to bring the characters to life. If I can manage good posing in my characters, with good timing between the movements, then I think I will be able to achieve a decent character animation.



Buster Keaton is particularly famous for having amazing poses in his films. He is probably as close to being an animated character as a person will get. The perfect exaggeration and timing of secondary action in his acting means that there really is no need whatsoever for any narrative - making him the perfect silent move actor.




Like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin was also very talented in posing. They both had the knack for getting rid of the need for narrative, and relying on their body language and acting skills.



This film was shot in a very abstract way, with a twisted sense of reality. In terms of filming something that shows the fear in a character, The obscure angles and strangeness really help create an atmosphere, and draw you into the strange world in which the film is set.



The shadows used of Dracula in Nosferatu create suspense and the feeling that there is an impending doom looming towards the characters. In a chase scene, suspense is key to keeping the interest of an audience, and also in creating believable emotion from the characters being filmed or animated. This is a perfect example of how to draw out the emotion of fear in a film.