Getting There
The aspiring ballerina limped to a chair, sat down, then carefully removed her toe shoes. "Oh...it hurts. It hurts a lot," she complained surveying the bleeding sores on her feet.

"Of course," snapped the teacher.

"But it looks so easy when they do it," said the student pointing to a group of more experienced dancers.

"That's because they hide the pain."

There is no easy answer to excelling in the arts. Becoming good will often require sacrifice, or discomfort. I refer to it all as growing pains. So remember, although the finished creation of the artist will always appear effortless, boundless and euphoric, the pathway getting there will be frought with disappointment and pain. Get used to that. Make it look effortless.

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Get it into your head that artistic growth is a never ending process. Although you may strive for it, you will never arrive at "great" in the universal sense. Perfection is an ongoing endeavor. You will recall the words of Charlie Chaplin. "We are all amateurs; we don't live long enough to become anything else." The amount there is to know is simply overwhelming. But here are a few good tips. Compete with yourself and not your peers. Learn something new about yourself and your art every day. Lay out a plan for becoming excellent; you will not simply meander into it. I have known so many artists how upon acquiring a certain commercial skill level, relax their grip. They stop being a student, unaware that they are on the road to stagnation.

Action Analyzed
In this issue, the discussion about animation deals with movement, specifically movement that will entertain an sudence. he inspiration for you animated characters will be the movement you observe in the world around you; but, if you simply duplicate it on paper, you will miss the entertainment mark. You must say something about it. How do you see it? What do you see? How do you see it? What do you feel about it? When you draw it, exaggerate what you see, so the viewer cannot miss what you are feeling. Inspire me; thrill me; scare me; make me laugh; entertain me; or leave me alone.

Look! A tall skinny man walks down the street on a windy day. His arms, legs, hands, and feet don't work in concert with each other. Disjointed and awkward, he ambles about more like a scarecrow who just slipped off his pole. Wow! Look at his clothes. They don't fit. He clutches tensely to his hat so it won't blow off. This makes his ears stick out in a goof-ball way. Suddenly, you let your fancy take flight. Why this is not a man at all, but a goofy lizard dressed in baggy clothes. You laugh loudly.

"What's so funny," I ask.

"That," you say pointing to the man.

"I don't get it."

"Look at him," you say and double over.

Share your sense of humor. Don't duplicate what you see when you animate the man's walk. Draw what your imagination sees, or you may go on laughing alone.

Action Defined
All actions fall into one of two categories.

1. REAL ACTIONS -- These movements are manifestations of a force either living or mechanical.
2. APPARENT ACTIONS -- These movements are things that appear to be moving but are not.

As you ride in your car, it appears that the telephone poles and trees are moving by. But, you and the car are the real action, the movement ot the landscape is only apparent.

Now real actions are divided into two categories:

1. PRIMARY ACTION -- This is a movement that generates itself. It has its own life. It is not caused by another action. A walk, a jump, a run, a spin, a dialogue are all primary actions. All actions generated by the thought process are primary.
2. SECONDARY ACTION -- This movement is reactionary. It has no life of its own. This is the movement caused by the persistent force of gravity or a primary action.

A ballerina spins around; the drapery of her dress moves in response to the turn. The dancer is the primary action, whereas the dress, scarf, and her hair are all secondary actions. Unless there is first a primary action, there can be no secondary action.

Gravity
The first time I was cast as an animator on a feature was Disney's ROBIN HOOD (between 1971-2, though the film was released in 1973). I was a real rookie in those days. I was often taken off guard with what I thought at the time were bizarre questions. Try this. I presented Frank Thomas with a scene of Robin Hood leaping up to a parapet of the castle. Frank perused the action of my scene, and then asked, "How much does the fox weigh?"

"I don't know." I responded.

"Well, you better find out! Gravity will play a big part in how you move him. Oh, and by the way, what is the texture of the clothes he is wearing? Gravity affects that also."

Scene under my arm, I ambled back to the drawing board. What does a fox weigh? I had never thought about it. Obviously.

Gravity is an ever present force which causes secondary actions. During our lifetime, gravity relentlessly pulls us downward to press against the earth's mass. We exercise and struggle to stand tall and erect. Remember natural law would have you lying flat on the ground...or perhaps under it. Walking, running, or even standing is a struggle against gravity. All life forces (primary actions) are fighting against this downward pull. What is a walk but each leg, in turn, catching the body from a fall. We are in a constant state of falling and regaining position.

Before I animate any character, I always ask myself how much he weighs. You do the same. It will affect your approach to the movement.

One of our greatest assets here at Don Bluth Studios is our background painting staff. THE SECRET OF NIMH was accomplished with three background artists, creating an excess of one thousand different backgrounds and special overlays in less than twenty-four months. If you consider the number of "pan" backgrounds (which doubles, triples or quadruples the size of each background" the creativity and dedication of each of these artists is phenomenal.

A special attitude must be adopted by these artists, as their art must show off the animation, not distract from it. Detail is inferred and is softened so the character will appear clearly and feel dimensional. It is very similar to art direction or set design and color for a live action film or a good character actor supporting the show's star. And that is, to be great but do not upstage or detract by being flamboyant or overstated.

The artist's expertise shows up in his subtleties and ability to hide his brush strokes. Our intent is to make the audience believe what is happening on the screen. To make the artwork appear effortless and not remind the viewer that we are here drawing and painting.

These artists are special to us and many times the publicity and hoopla over the animation itself, overshadows the contribution made by these dedicated painters.

DON MOORE attended Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, El Camino College in Torrance, California and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

He has worked in the film industry for twenty years with experience in graphics and matte painting for pictures such as TO THE MOON AND BEYOND (1964), SILENT RUNING, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE.

Don's first encounter with an animatd feature was here with us on NIMH. Don's work can be seen in these sequences: The Great Owl, The Fight (Jenner vs. Justin), Mr Ages, Inside The Rosebush, Nicodemus' Chambers, The Amphitheatre and The Boat Sequence. Don, in many cases, keyed sequences with the others following his style. He is a gifted artist with a quient demeanor and a fantastic output. He has contributed to the style and look of DRAGON'S LAIR, SPACE ACE and DRAGON'S LAIR II: TIME WARP as well.

RON DIAS is a background artist well known in the animation industry. Ron has contributed to almost all of the animation studios in this city for television, commercials, feature films and educatoinal films. He has over twenty years experience and loves to be involved with a quality product.

Ron keyed and painted the Brisby Meets Jeremy Sequence all the way through The Mill Sequence and The Tractor Sequence. He also contributed to many other sequences including the end titles of NIMH.

Ron's talent goes beyond background painting into merchandising art and art for promotions and advertising. If you refer to the last issue of the newsletter, Ron did the cover art of Banjo.

His personal attitude toward high quality entertainment for the whole family adds to the commitment of this studio. Ron also contributed to DRAGON'S LAIR, SPACE ACE and TIME WARP.

DAVID GOETZ, a graduate of U.C. Santa Barbara and the Art Center College of Design, came to the studio after an interview at the Art Center. His determination to get into this industry was unbelievabable. He tried painting backgrounds at home, on his own, for six to eight weeks before we finally saw someting of a spark, an understanding of color application and style that would fit our desired approach to background painting.

Dave went to work on NIMH as an apprentice background painter, then assistant and became a full journeyman background artist by its completion.

He is a strong draftsman and has a competitive personality. He continues to explore and gain knowledge every day. He has contributed to NIMH, DRAGON'S LAIR, SPACE ACE, DRAGON'S LAIR II: TIME WARP and many of our color presentations for future projects.

BILL LORENCZ came to us as a book illustrator to work on the Western Publishing art for THE SECRET OF NIMH products which included coloring books, their covers, puzzles and storybooks.

Bill has had much experience in the animation industry and was dying to get involved in the background department. He has painted backgrounds for several television animation studios and worked in commercial studios for nearly twenty years (beginning right out of high school).

Bill came on to help in background at the end of NIMh and has gone on with us to contribute on all three games and other projects around the studio.