This animation by Margaret Hayford is about making an ice-cream and it being eaten by a dog. Quite a few of the “12 principles” can be found in this short animation. For example, there is a “follow-through” action after the corgis ate the ice-cream that the dog’s ears and hair were still waving after finishing the movement. The speed of the dog’s action of opening mouth shows the “ease in” principle, that the corgis opened the mouth from slow to quick, and closed it all in a sudden, represented the changing of speed. To some extent, the circling movement of ice-cream making can be regarded as a representation of “arcs” principle. Also, there are “secondary action” in the animation, such as the slight drop of the cone, the ice-cream melting and the animal’s winking. The dog opening mouth widely is a kind of “exaggeration”, and the overall cute appearance of the dog can be seen as the “appeal” principle.
Although it is a very short animation, a good number of details can be found representing elements in the 12 principles. When reading the 12 principles, I found some common factors shared by multiple principles. For one, we should make the major movement more realistic, closer to real life. We have to think about the shape changing, the pre-movement, the speed changing in movements, and also secondary movements. Such things are details that could make the major movement more vivid and easier to understand. For the other, we should make use of the advantages of animation to simulate things cannot happen in real life. The exaggeration and beautified appeals are not real, but they are characteristics that separate animation from other media, to convey feelings and ideas in a more dramatic way.
Reference
Hayford, Margaret. “Panimation Gif”. Margarethayford, https://www.margarethayford.com/panimationgif.
Ritchie, James. “The 12 Principles Of Animation (With Examples) – Idearocket”. Idearocket, 2017,https://idearocketanimation.com/13721-12-principles-of-animation-gifs/?%3Futm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=animation-principles.