My shot analysis presentation, "Hiccup Confronts Stoic", from Dreamworks' "How To Train Your Dragon", one of my favourite films from recent years.
I chose this particular shot as I found it to be full of lots of interesting design and staging choices. Staging in animation has become very interesting to me, more so than the other animation principles, I believe without good staging, any animation, no matter how great, is lost.
The above quote from Simon Otto, Head of Character Animation on the film, I think sums up most of the problems faced throughout the film, especially the ongoing conflict he faces of trying to live up to his father Stoics', leader of the Viking tribe, expectations. This shot in particular shows the pairs ongoing conflict with each other, actually brought about by their own stubbornness. Seems this father and son pair are more alike than they realise, they just won't admit it to one another.
The clip itself can be broken down into 9 separate shots, cutting back and forth between Stoic and Hiccup as they try and discuss Hiccups future within the tribe.
Out of those 9 shots, three are repeated, and become the visual basis for the pairs discussion to play out over. Each shot is carefully framed, and adheres to the tried and trusted "rule of thirds." as we know, the rule of thirds is used by artists and film makers alike to keep a shot or image, interesting. By aligning characters or artefacts with the intersecting lines and avoiding symmetry, a visually pleasing composition is produced.
HOWEVER, symmetry is not always something that should be avoided. The opening, establishing shot for this clip shows Stoic, waiting for Hiccup to return home. The atmosphere is heavy, full of tension, the last the two spoke each, Hiccup was reprimanded for interfering in a dragon raid on the village, subsequently causing havoc and destruction. Symmetry does not naturally occur in nature, so when it does appear, is often associated with feelings of unease. Note how Stoic is framed exactly in the middle of the shot.
Even Stoics, design, his shoulder plates and huge beard, make him a very symmetrical character, immediately telling the viewer he is a force to be wary of.
Symmetry shows up again, later in the shot, when Hiccup is trying to explain what other jobs, rather than fighting dragons, he could be suited for.
The shot is clearly divided by one of Stoics' huge swords, hanging on the wall behind Hiccup. Even in Hiccups home, symmetry, and with it, the feeling of unease, of not quite fitting in, is apparent.
I think it is also important to note, how Hiccup is completely dwarfed, and boxed in by more of Stoics' battle momentos, shields and weaponry decorating the walls, again, echoing Otto's initial description of Hiccup not fitting in.
And yet, if we rewind to the beginning of the pairs discussion, we see a lot of similarities. Both characters share the same pose, and if we follow their lines of action we see that they not only mirror each other, but lead into each other.
Even their eye lines mirror each other. They may not be looking at each other, but they are looking into the same space as each other. An indication of how alike they are deep down.
EDIT: ADD CLARITY SLIDES HERE
slide 1 + 2 Hiccup sillouette, negative space, reads well
slide 3 - Stoic, more trouble. Large, hunched character, dopesn't read too well. Solution? Rim lighting, picks out important features such as movement, arms for gestures etc.
Throughout this shot, Stoics movements are kept to a minimum. Being such a large character, any larger movements would look heavily exaggerated, and so most of Stoics acting comes from his eyes. Extra interest is added via secondary motion and follow through from is beard and cape.
When we look at the conversation itself, we see more subtle similarities. As Stoic explains he wants Hiccup to start dragon fighting, we notice he rarely looks his son in the eye. He doesn't even turn to face him fully, until he has finished speaking. Notice how he keeps looking down and to his left, in NLP terms, this tells us he is talking to himself internally. Perhaps trying to erasure himself that he is doing the right thing in pushing Hiccup to train with the other Vikings.
Now we jump to Hiccups turn to speak. Compared to Stoics', well, stoic performance, Hiccup is a bundle of nerves. Lots of twitchy, jumpy motions, especially with his hands, Hiccup likes to act with his hands.
Just like his father, Hiccup is wary of looking him in the eye. He keeps tilting his head, back and forth, and he talks through his thought processes. NLP is evident here too, except instead of internal self dialogue like Stoic, Hiccup is looking to his upper right, indicting he is visualising everything he is talking about, making up other possible jobs for himself within the Viking community. By combining his twitchy eye darts with his twitchy performance, the audience is given a very clear show of how uneasy Hiccup is. Despite this, and even with their different ways of projecting, both father and son are just as uneasy and lacking in confidence as each other, when it comes to their relationship.
Now. Let's compare the beginning of the conversation with, the end. A first, we see Hiccup is situated higher up on the flight of stairs, so he looks down on his father. He starts out almost confidently, allowing his father to speak first. However, the discussion doesn't go as he hoped, and as the discussion runs it's course, Hiccup finds himself at the bottom the the staircase, weighed down by his fathers axe, and his fathers expectations. "When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you."
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