Final Project: Research: Dermot O'Connor

My final project is creating an animation, and there are a few very important matters to focus on when developing a project like that. The ones I think, are worth mentioning, are: characters, the storyline (storytelling) and the motion. Today I am going to concentrate on characters and their development, by looking at the work of Dermot O'Connor.

 For my final project I decided to research Dermot O'Connor, who is a well known animator and who is a great inspiration for me in terms of drawing characters, I believe that this research will help me develop stronger characters for my animation. This animator has been hired by Disney in the past and I definitely want to find more information about his works with Disney Interactive. 

I think this is a great moment to research this artist, because I am focusing on developing characters for my animation right now. 

Dermot O'Connor at Don Bluth's Studio (1992)

I found Dermot's Linkedin account, because I wanted to find out more about places he has been working at, and on that page, there is an information, that his resume is not filled with different jobs, because most of the time, Dermot O'Connor works on his personal projects, rather than a career work in a studio. (O'Connor, 2020) I think that is a very interesting fact, because usually people focus on their career more than on their personal development. 

I looked through this artist's Linkedin and found out that Dermot O'Connor was the lead director for the animation on the mobile game created by Disney Interactive "Where's my water?" (1&2). This is an information I have found only on the artist's Linkedin. He claims that, he has created the entire character animation for the game (O'Connor, 2020). I think, what is really interesting, is that when just looking up the app itself, it is not easy to find information on who was actually creating it. The only thing that appears is the developer and the studio that has created it, in this case, no longer existing - "Disney Interactive Studios". 

To focus on this artist's work, I decided to watch his 2018 reel on youtube, that I think is a great source showcasing O'Connor's work. 

What I noticed in this reel, that made me very intrigued and can help me out a lot when creating my animation, is what is showcased at 1:42 in the video. It is a basic walk cycle, but from the front. The fact that this artist knows exactly how the hips and the chest moves when a person is walking, shows the artist knows human's anatomy extremely well, and as I mentioned in my recent post about drawing characters (click here to access the post), knowing the anatomy of a creature that is being created, is critical. In this case, the artist remembered that when a person is walking, the chest and the hips are doing the opposite movement and that can be tricky for someone who is just starting, because it seems natural to give both hips and chest, the same movement. 

This artist has created a lot of lessons on Linkedin Learning, Lynda and his YouTube channel. I think those classes are a great resource for anyone that wants to get into animation. I have completed one of the courses, based on drawing cartoon characters. 

Another interesting thing created by this artist is a course "21 foundations of animation", he has also created a 10 minute video explaining them all. 

This video is a great help for all the starting animators, who may struggle at first. "The 21 foundations of animation" are based on "The 12 principles of animation" mentioned in the Disney book "The Illusion of Life" written in 1981. As Dermot says "I’ve felt it might help students if a few more principles were included in a more chronological order. I’ve therefore edited and expanded the list, and hope that you will find it useful." (O'Connor, 2018). I think this video and good understanding of the foundations created by this artist, will definitely help me develop, not only talking about this particular project, but as an animator in general. 

What I mostly would like to concentrate on is the first two foundations mentioned by this artist, which are appeal and strong design. When focusing on creating characters it is important to give them appeal and make the design really strong. The appeal does not necessarily mean the characters need to be cute, appeal in this case should me understood more as 'charisma' or 'interest' (O'Connor, 2018). In my opinion, it is very important to understand, that not all characters need to be 'cute', but making them interesting is more important. 

For example in this work by Dermot O'Connor, the character is not adorable, but it is an interesting character, therefore the appeal rule is applied.

Steampunk Viking (n.d.)

 This character is definitely an interesting one. I believe that anytime someone sees it, they wonder who that is, and that is what a good character looks like. 

Another foundation, I think it is important to look at, when developing a character, is a strong design. The idea behind this rule, explained by O'Connor, is that the characters are built just by using basic forms, such as cubes, cylinders, spheres or other polygons. (O'Connor, 2018). This sounds fairly simple and is not difficult in practice either. In my opinion, this principle is just something to constantly keep in mind when drawing a new character. Making the built of it too complex can mess with the character's proportions. Also to avoid confusing proportions, It could be a good idea to use a model sheet, and Dermot O'Connor also mentions using it as a good thing to do, to make sure in all designs, everything is staying the same length. I think this is a very important thing, I am still yet to do. I completely forgot yo create a model sheet, therefore I am glad I did this reading to remind myself of this basic thing to remember. 

Model sheet created for Lynda / Linkedin courses (n.d.)

The reference point in the model sheet is the head. It is good to know the basic human dimensions and baby dimensions as well. Of course knowing that a person is usually around 8 heads tall, does not mean every character needs to have those proportions, it is good to keep the basic proportions in mind, but a creator has the freedom to make their own proportions. It is just important to stick to ones that a person decides on, at the beginning of the project. 

In an interview with Shelley Jacobson, O'Connor was asked what are the most common mistakes young animators make, and his answer included the enthusiasm young creators have. He said that, they often visualize an unreachable goal for themselves, and do not realize how much work it is to achieve it. (Toon Boom Animation, 2020). Personally, I think that it is a great thing to remember, to always set achievable goals. 

I think today's research is definitely going to help me continue developing my characters and create a eye-pleasing animation as my final project. I believe that revising fundamental information is always a good idea, because it would be a shame to make errors at the very beginning. Overall, I really like the simplicity of Dermot's work and I think his characters and all animations are very thought through and that makes it even more appealing to look at. 

Reference list

O'Connor, D. (2020) Information [Linkedin] Available from: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dermotmoconnor [Accessed 10/11/20]

O'Connor, D. (2018) 21 foundations of animation Available at: https://www.angryanimator.com/word/2018/04/23/21-foundations-of-animation/ [Accessed 10/11/20]

Toon Boom Animation, (2020) Animation Tips on How to Become a Better Animator with Dermot O'Connor, Available at: https://www.toonboom.com/community/success-stories/dermot-o-connor-1 [Accessed 10/11/20]