“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” — Socrates, Philosopher
In animation, forward motion is everything. Both in pose and action the audience must get a sense of life in our characters because living things are always progressing, always advancing forward. Even the tree that look so still isn’t as its sap transports its nutrients inside while its outer branches twist, turn and grow towards the light. Everything living has an intention and thus keeps on changing and adapting to new conditions. It’s the very definition of survival. Even military experts say that if you’re in dangerous pursuit by hostiles, don’t remain a stationary target; move and keep on moving. As all fighters know, it’s hard to hit a moving target.
The motto of moving forward also prevents us from sliding psychologically into the past — the should’ve, could’ve, would’ve stuff that haunts the obsessively analytical mind. Too often in art, as in life, the temptation is to go back in time, to rewind and undo or redo it all. But time only moves forward and so we must also. Conservative clinging on to the past and longing for the good ol’ days for the sake of nostalgia is hardly pragmatic. Obsessing over past results, both success and failure, is futile and wasteful. The professional artist knows he must always move on from the last piece of work so he can set his sights on the next piece.
As a teacher I don’t allow my students to go back to constantly repair old shots; the new ones they make will be better. I tell them to stop obsessing about the reel. We improve by applying what we’ve learned from previous challenges to new challenges. Quantity of output works together with improved quality of output. We don’t need to worry about quickness because that comes afterwards, as a by product of an improved skillset and greater levels of experience. Rushing gets us no where faster and we don’t want to be caught spinning in circles.
Here are some tips on maintaining a forward motion mindset:
a) Keep your mind on the target. Whether it’s performance (acting), better mechanics (weight), or garnering greater interest (appeal) with your work, keep your focus clear and simple. Once we got lost in details, the eye goes blind and the mind stalls.
b) Work orderly. Approach your list of duties like a checklist. Tackle once section, one layer, one scene at a time. Watch for continuity and back up periodically to see the big picture, but don’t scramble all over the place. Never noodle.
c) Don’t aim for perfection. If you try to be too perfect, you’ll never move on. And you’ll never finish.
d) Know when to stop. When it’s done, it’s done. If you’re done, it’s also done. Sometimes projects just need to end, even if they don’t succeed.
e) Accept the outcome: Too often we dwell on just finished work and end up making last minute additions or changes that don’t improve the work but are just rash emotional reactions. It’s hard to trust oneself when the mind, body and heart are tired and spent. It’s ok to say we’re done and to not know for sure.
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition but certainty is absurd.” — Voltaire, Philosopher