Boy character

The main action in this scene is emma's character putting their arm around Becky.
This is emphasised in the first half of the footage with the use of anticipation. The anticipation is created through emma's glances and

Note emma's body position, she begins further on her seat as her courage builds and she follows through with the action her position shifts physically closer to Becky.

 On the build up to the action, Emma makes 5 clear glances to her surroundings, this indicates her awareness of her surroundings and possibly her insecurity in the action she is about to perform which the lack of eye contact and initial hesitancy also suggests.

The completion of the action is signified by Emma's smile as her arm rests round Becky, we can also read this as relief, as the tension from Emma's body is released in this position (note the free hand drop as a sign of relaxation).

Katie's Action Analysis

My action analysis is of the typical scenario of a girl and boy at the cinema, where the boy puts the classic 'moves' on the girl and he is not so gracefully shot down. I chose this scenario as I found the subtle differences in facial expression and choice of eye directions would make an interesting analysis of action.

Here is the video footage. Whilst viewing it we notice the hesitancy in emma's character, with her glances around and small shifts in position. Becky's character is clearly unaware demonstrated by her focus of attention straight ahead.

Frame Timing:

Becky to walk up ladder = 369

(from base of ladder)

Becky to reach box = 24

Becky to pass box =320

Katie to recieve box = 56

Katie to re-adjust grip = 47

Katie to turn around =63

on heels

Katie to walk off = 60

By comparing the frame timings we can see that becky tends to move a lot slower than Katie does, as it takes her a few hundred frames to climb the ladder, and also to pass the box. Her general movement is fairly smooth, and exaggerated (as she stretches greatly when reaching for the box and climbing the ladder) but it is very slow.

Katie tends to move with stiffer but quicker movement, it only takes her 60 frames to walk off, although watching the motion slowly we can see that there is very little movement occurring in the joints; she shuffles rather than walks.

On this contact sheet I have drawn in annotations to support my notes above

Looking at timing:

• It takes 38 frames for Emma to walk into frame with 18 frames for the body weight to follow through.
• Pauses and slight actions are sometimes more important than larger actions as the awkward pause between the two characters takes 111 frames and Katie's sarcastic wave takes 48 frames.
• Down movements are quicker than up as Emma puts the box down in 27 frames but stands up in 59 frames.
• Katie turns - 35 frames
• Katie's lifts box - 44 frames
• Katie up ladder - 297 frames
• Box on shelf - 75 frames
• Pause - 77 frames
• Down ladder - 94 frames
• Jump (including follow through action) 38 frames

I found this little sequence interesting even though it is only a very small amount of movement:

 

As Katie's arms move her back curves and arches slightly.

Also this captured movement was not meant to be part of the scene but the motion of Emma sat on the floor and twisting round is a good one to note:

 

Her arm arcs down first as her head starts to look around which twists the spine and the top half of the body. The hair then follows through in a secondary movement before the legs swing around correcting the spine. The weight balance shifts from being sat onto her hand. I found this interesting as it is a good example of a simple movement not having everything happening at one time as a continuous movement but something more complex when analysed.

In terms of the jump one foot is released, then both hands push off before the remaining foot pushes full weight of body up and off. The body and feet twist slightly in the air but once she is on the ground the feet are obviously still but the body continues to twist.
On landing the knees brace and the body is at a slight diagonal; after impact the body rights itself and the knees straighten whilst the arms have a follow through movement. The left arm jerks upwards more because it has had a greater distance to move on the body twist. The top part of the arms move first before the bottom and the elbow catches up.

Katie's first attempt to take a step onto the ladder is unsuccessful. As her leg lifts upwards the body rotates backwards with the movement due to the awkward height of the box, her foot has to be placed on the floor again to right the body and box before the foot can be lifted safely.

Her body angle is awkward as she climbs up the ladder, her spine is twisted to allow room for the box and to allow her legs to walk normally up the ladder. As each step is taken  the box is shifted in a circular motion with the rotation of the shoulder to help shift it up the ladder.
When at the top of the ladder it is all about balance and weight shift, initially she can only place the box on the shelf with one hand but as the box gets pushed further back she can lean forwards to a more comfortable position where her body weight is balanced over both feet and she can use both hands.

An interesting movement in the sequence is the way Katie turns with the box in hand.

In the role of the child throwing a tantrum at her mother, Katie turns round with the box in an exaggerated manner where her head swings round dramatically before her body follows through with this action and starts to turn.

The tilt of the head along with the purposefully exaggerated movement suggests the character to be young and childish.

I have broken the sequence down into key poses:

 

Emma keeps eye contact with Katie throughout and she even walks away backwards so she can do this. Her movements are quicker than Katie's and have more purpose and force. 

Katie's body posture is slouchy and relaxed and she purposefully doesn't always keep eye contact which reads as disrespectful towards Emma.

Looking at Emma's walk: once her legs stop moving her body carries on in a follow through action which then joins up in one continuous action to shove the box at Katie.

There appears to be an attempt at a switch of status and authority as Emma bends to put the box down Katie then stands up and appears to lean over her in what could be considered a challenging manner.

Katie is quick to pick up the box after Emma has put it down and lifts it with just one hand whilst waving sarcastically with the other which emits an "I don't care attitude" and as if to prove the easiness of the task. There is a continuous power struggle between the two throughout.

This is the video I have taken for character analysis.
Character 1 is Emma. I asked her to take on the role of a parent who is dealing with a stroppy child. She has a higher status than the child, but the child is creating the tension.
Character 2 is Katie. She has the role of a stroppy child, who knows she has to do what her mother tells her however she doesn't like this fact and doesn't mind showing this.

Research: Character Interaction

This is my initial character interaction research video, however I then opened it up in premier, and edited it so that its more obvious which bits are interesting to focus on:

-Character 1 is Katie she is an old man, helping his wife up a step ladder to retrieve an old box full of photo albums

- Character 2 is Rebecca, she is an old woman, climbing up the step ladder to retrieve the box

- I chose to record the action in front of the grids on the wall as it gives a clear back ground for the sequence

-There is one physical interaction between character 1 and 2 before the box is retrieved; katie first holds out her left hand as a support for Becky to grab onto whilst climbing, after this katie's hand moves to the ladder to support her from there. This interaction lasts for

100 frames

- Katie and Rebecca are playing an old couple fetching something from the attic, i think this is reflected in their fairly slow movement, and the care that Katie is taking over ensuring Rebeccas safety; such as holding her hand when she takes the first step, and also always keeping one hand on the ladder.

- As Becky brings the box down, she twists her spine as her knees are in a fixed position on the step ladder

- Next she moves the box in an arc so as to avoid the shelves and the top of the step ladder

-I particularly like Katie's walk off at the end as although it isn't really how old people walk, it is fairly stiff at the knee joints, but still has a bounce to the step. She is also holding the box in a fairly interesting way, suggesting that it is supposed to be heavy, as when she first takes it, she re-adjusts her hand positions to the bottom of the box for extra support (0:37)

-Rebecca's stretch for the box is also interesting as she first uses one hand to reach out to it before then constantly re-adjusting her hold around it until she has it off the shelf, as she is at first uncertain of the objects weight, so is unable to choose a definite lifting position at first

-Although Katies wave at the start wasn't supposed to be recorded, i still think it is interesting. It takes 46 frames, during which the wrist leads the action. The palm of her hand then follows and lastly the fingers drag behind.

- At around 0:06 both characters look to each other for re-assurance, this is just as Becky is about to place all of her weight on the first step, suggesting that they are both slightly anxious about the action

Flight Research; Live Action

Not fantastic quality.. and sideways on (sorry) but here I was filming a swan taking off as some of my initial research

A swan flexing it's wings.. Also side ways on, i'm not a fan of Blogspot.