013 - James- Dean

Now I know that some people do go on and on about James Dean but truth is there is a reason for the fuss. He was an intelligent actor. He approached scenes in a way that seems so obvious but somehow escapes the minds of actors when they play out the scene. It’s easy to know what to do and then do it (fair enough, many scenes can be well acted out this way) but to take what your instructed to do and act it out as though you have no idea of the out come or what follows second after second is a step of ingenious.
In this particular clip Jamie boy hits the nail on the head. The way he says, “I don’t want any trouble”, and his honest approach to the knife being thrown in his direction. He acts as if he has no idea what to do. He knows its ‘bad’ (probably due to popular culture that he’s exposed to) yet he contends with it, picking it up, moving it along the edge. Still not sure if he should actually use it for what it’s intended for in this situation. He’s obviously nervous but still puts up his fists in a very clear act of trying not to show he’s a wimp even though he’s extremely anxious. He also shows more of this when he puts up this hands on the wall and exposes his chest as if he’s trying to show he’s not worried but fidgets too much that it holds no weight to the pursuer. He then crosses his arms and slumps over showing such an internal struggle painted all over his body language. Even though I’ve see more intense fight scenes, this one still gets me nervous for him. He brings out just the kind of response someone of his generation and upbringing would do.



As animators or even illustrators we should be approaching this in the same way. There’s far too many over acted animations out there. Now I’m not talking about Looney Toons or Ren and Stimpy kind of over acting (that kind of exaggeration complements the style and scope of those characters). I’m talking about that unnecessary over acting that looks almost like it was a rotoscope of some bad acting silent film actor. As if the animator found it necessary to preach the emotions of the character because he/she firmly believes that the audience is stupid. Although this is terrible, what’s even worst is seeing animation that is so to the point that it looks like the animator just drew it one time and thought “that’ll do”. That’s like asking the Runner or Grip to go on set and just, “Walk over there, and then sit there, ok, now pick up the knife and wave it around like you just don’t care.” Every animation, every still picture has to be approached in a way that complements its subject according to it's essence. A character that is crafted by a hand that cares and looks after its character causes the viewer to stop and see the character for what it projects. If you value your character and be honest with it, people will show an interest in it. Good produce doesn’t come from farmers that look 3ooyrs old for nothing.