ANIMATION ANARCHY: THE ART COLLEGE CRASH COURSE – LESSON 12
ANIMATION ANARCHY: THE ART COLLEGE CRASH COURSE – LESSON 12
(Or: How to Ruin Your Life 24 Frames at a Time)
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🔥 WELCOME BACK TO ANIMATION ANARCHY – WHERE ART SCHOOL DREAMS GO TO DIE 🔥
This is Animation Anarchy. The blog where we:
✅ Expose the art school scam.
✅ Teach you what actually matters.
✅ Prepare you for the painful reality of frame-by-frame animation.
I wasted six figures on an art education, and now I’m giving it all away for free—because if I had to suffer through my first bouncing ball animation, at least you’ll know what you’re in for.
🚨 SUBSCRIBE TO THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL NOW 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@mrbraylabs
(Unless you enjoy spending 10 hours animating something no one will notice.)
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LESSON 12: ANIMATION BASICS – HOW TO RUIN YOUR LIFE 24 FRAMES AT A TIME
(Or: Why Animators Look Dead Inside After the First Week of Class)
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🎨 CONGRATULATIONS! TODAY, YOU WILL LEARN THE ART OF MOVING PICTURES.
You walk into class, thinking:
🚨 “Animation is just drawing cool characters, right?” 🚨
Your professor smiles ominously.
🚨 “Let’s start with a bouncing ball.” 🚨
What follows is a soul-crushing experience that will break you down as a person.
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🔥 THE HARSH REALITY OF ANIMATION BASICS
Animation seems fun until you realize:
💀 It’s not about drawing—it’s about drawing the same thing slightly differently, forever.
💀 One second of animation = at least 24 individual drawings.
💀 Even the simplest movement requires an ungodly amount of planning.
At some point, every animation student asks:
🚨 “Why did I choose this?” 🚨
The answer? Too late. You’re trapped now.
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🔥 THE 12 PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION (THAT YOU WILL IGNORE AT FIRST AND THEN REGRET LATER)
Created by Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, these principles are the laws of motion that separate good animation from “why does this look like hot garbage?”
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🚨 1. SQUASH & STRETCH – WHY THINGS SHOULDN’T LOOK STIFF
• Objects shouldn’t move like rigid statues.
• Everything deforms based on weight and impact.
• Even a bowling ball stretches a little at high speed.
🔥 HOW TO USE THIS:
✅ Make your characters feel alive by exaggerating movement.
✅ Give weight to objects when they hit the ground.
✅ Use sparingly—unless you want your character to look like rubber.
🚨 COMMON FAIL:
❌ A bouncing ball that looks like a rock rolling downhill instead of bouncing.
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🚨 2. ANTICIPATION – HOW TO MAKE MOVEMENT LOOK NATURAL
• Before an action happens, the character must prepare for it.
• Example: A pitcher doesn’t just throw a baseball—they wind up first.
• Without anticipation, movements feel robotic and unnatural.
🔥 HOW TO USE THIS:
✅ Make characters lean back before jumping forward.
✅ Show a split-second buildup before a punch, kick, or sudden movement.
✅ Even subtle actions (like blinking) have micro-anticipations.
🚨 COMMON FAIL:
❌ A character jumps without bending their knees first. (Congratulations, you animated a superhero with no physics.)
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🚨 3. SLOW IN, SLOW OUT – WHY MOVEMENT LOOKS WEIRD WHEN IT’S TOO LINEAR
• Nothing in nature moves at a constant speed.
• Objects start slow, speed up, then slow down again.
• Example: A car doesn’t instantly go 60 mph—it accelerates.
🔥 HOW TO USE THIS:
✅ Ease into and out of movements for a natural look.
✅ Use more frames at the start and end of an action.
✅ If your animation feels stiff, check if it’s missing easing.
🚨 COMMON FAIL:
❌ A character moves at the same speed from start to finish, like a haunted animatronic.
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🚨 4. ARCS – HOW TO AVOID ROBOTIC MOVEMENT
• Most movement happens in arcs, not straight lines.
• The human body moves in curves, not stiff angles.
🔥 HOW TO USE THIS:
✅ Animate arms, legs, and heads following natural arcs.
✅ Even inanimate objects (like swinging doors) follow arcs.
✅ Use arcs to make movement feel fluid, not mechanical.
🚨 COMMON FAIL:
❌ A character’s arm moves straight from Point A to Point B with no curve. (Welcome to discount motion capture.)
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🚨 5. FOLLOW-THROUGH & OVERLAPPING ACTION – WHY NOTHING STOPS INSTANTLY
• When something moves, not all parts stop at the same time.
• Example: If a dog runs, its ears keep moving slightly after it stops.
🔥 HOW TO USE THIS:
✅ Hair, clothing, and accessories should react naturally.
✅ If a character turns suddenly, their ponytail or cape should follow slightly after.
🚨 COMMON FAIL:
❌ A character stops moving, but their hair and clothes are frozen in place like plastic.
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🚨 6. SECONDARY ACTION – WHY DETAILS MATTER
• Little extra movements make animation feel alive.
• Example: A character sighing and slumping their shoulders slightly.
🔥 HOW TO USE THIS:
✅ Think about what body language adds to the main movement.
✅ Use secondary motion to emphasize emotions.
🚨 COMMON FAIL:
❌ A character runs but their hair and hands stay stiff like an action figure.
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THE OTHER SIX PRINCIPLES (THAT YOU’LL ALSO IGNORE UNTIL YOU REALIZE THEY MATTER):
🚨 7. Timing – How fast or slow things move.
🚨 8. Exaggeration – Pushing movement beyond realism for appeal.
🚨 9. Solid Drawing – Making sure things don’t look flat.
🚨 10. Appeal – Making sure characters don’t look generic or creepy.
🚨 11. Straight Ahead vs. Pose to Pose – Two different approaches to animating.
🚨 12. Staging – Directing attention where it needs to be.
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🔥 HOW TO SURVIVE ANIMATION WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SANITY
1️⃣ Start simple.
• If you can’t animate a bouncing ball, you’re not ready for a full fight scene.
2️⃣ Use references.
• Real-world movement is the best teacher.
3️⃣ Don’t over-animate.
• Not everything needs to move all the time.
4️⃣ Be ready to suffer.
• Animation is pain. Accept it.
🚨 THE SECRET: If you make it past your first five animations, you’re officially unhinged enough to be an animator. 🚨
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🔥 FINAL THOUGHTS: ANIMATION IS A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE
Here’s the truth:
🎨 Animation is fun… for the first 10 minutes.
💀 Then it becomes a test of endurance.
🚀 If you stick with it, though, you’ll have the power to bring anything to life.
And if all else fails, just make stick figure flipbooks like a lunatic.
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🚨 THE SOLUTION: JUST WATCH THIS SERIES INSTEAD.
I wasted six figures so you don’t have to.
🔥 Next lesson drops soon!
🔥 Subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss it:
👉 https://www.youtube.com/@mrbraylabs👈
💀 COMING NEXT: Lesson 13 – The Animator’s Survival Kit: Why You’ll Never Escape Richard Williams’ Ghost
💬 Drop a comment: What was your first animation disaster? 🎨💀😂
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🚨 ANIMATION ANARCHY STARTS NOW. 🚨
🚀 The revolution will not be graded.
