Animation Principles Presentation - Arcs

Gif from: Luca

Example 1: Spongebob Squarepants

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DurEmmf3xyE (Full Clip)

In this clip, Spongebob and his friend Patrick are explaining to Squidward that in order to have fun, you must have an "imagination". Throughout this conversation, Spongebob repeats the ARC gesture that turns into the shape of a rainbow. The ARC principle is executed throughout the clip to follow the shape that a rainbow makes. The ARC gesture is repeated to represent the path of the hands that make the shape of the rainbow. The ARC principle also emphasizes hand gestures just like these ones. For example, a waving is shown through an ARC because it takes the path of an ARC.

Example 2: WALL-E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iCwHhDa4Mk (Full Clip)

This clip from the movie WALL-E shows the robot surrounded by a bunch of bouncy balls. There are several moments in the clip where the balls are bouncing in an ARC pathway. This principle is being used to emphasize the movement of the balls and animate an accurate representation of a ball bouncing or being thrown around. The ARC principle is relevant to all animation because it visualizes objects and their relationship with gravity once they are receiving some sort of force. ARCS capture the realness of gravity and the understanding that once something goes up, it must come down.

Example 3: Toy Story

https://youtu.be/DDwcDGxjXtY?t=7 (0:07-0:25)

This last clip is from the classic movie Toy Story. The main character, Woody, gets trapped in the evil neighbors house and uses a line of lights to throw across to his house. In this action, the lights are thrown in the path of an ARC. The ARC principle is being used to show the length of the throw and emphasize the pathway an object takes when it is thrown into the air. ARCS are also a great way to accurately visualize gravity. If this was not being executed, Woody would throw the lights, and they would not come down, which does not make sense. OR it could be an inaccurate visual. This means the animator could have had the lights be thrown on a straight plane across, but that is not accurate. In this example as well, ARCS are also capturing the realness of gravity and the understanding that once something goes up, it must come down.