ANIMATION PRINCIPLES - SCENE ANALYSIS #7

For this scene analysis, I'm going to look at a clip from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, directed by Peter Ramsey and released in 2018.

(Peter Parker and Miles Morales making an escape from Oscorp - credit: Sony Pictures Animation)

STAGING
Spider-Verse has really effective staging and camera angles across the entire film; an example that stands out to me in this particular clip is right at the beginning. There's nothing fancy or flashy going on, it's just the two Spider-Men surrounded by unknowing Oscorp scientists. The camera pans out, revealing just how many there are. The employees of Oscorp have been antagonised up until this point, so they are, essentially, the "bad guys". Revealing just how many there are, compared to how small the Spider-Men feel in comparison, tells the audience that they're about to see the two either successfully evade every single scientist... or preparing them for a grand fight scene.

TIMING
When Miles and Peter are both running away from the scientists, they're animated in a fairly unconventional way. They're both animated on twos, as are most characters in the film when there's no giant action set-piece. But the interesting thing is that they're both animated with an offset to each other. Every frame has a new position, but only for one of them. Miles will change one frame, but not the next; but when Miles doesn't change poses, Peter does. 

SECONDARY ACTION + ANTICIPATION
One action Miles performs in the same shot is throwing the bagel at a scientist. This can be seen as a secondary action; his primary action is his running, which is a constant during this shot. However, the bagel throw is something he does on top of the throwing. We can also see anticipation in this action, as he winds up the throw, bringing his arm in, only to swing it back out with a twist of the body.

ANIMATION PRINCIPLES - SCENE ANALYSIS #6

For this analysis, I'm going to look at a scene from the Spider-Man (1994) episode Make A Wish.

 

(I'm looking at the fight scene between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus & his drone - credit: Marvel Television)

EASE IN / EASE OUT
We can see an example of easing in and out when Spider-Man swings onto a building to save Taina, and needs to swing back around to fight Doctor Octopus after dropping her off. As he reaches the furthest his web will allow him to go, he starts slowing down. He takes the opportunity to start turning around to face the way he'll be heading back in, and confront Doctor Octopus.

SECONDARY ACTION
Doctor Octopus gets a lot of secondary actions, mostly due to his mechanical limbs also needing to move and do their own thing alongside his actual arms and legs. However, I chose a shot that represented a time where it was the opposite way around; the mechanical legs were doing the primary actions, grabbing the ledge of the building's roof and climbing up. At the same time, Ock is monologuing to Spider-Man, making gestures with his hands and slightly tilting his head about as he does.

ANTICIPATION
Spider-Man best shows off anticipation when he's performing some flips and gymnastic moves for Taina. One such trick involves him going from a run into a handstand, and then from there into a flip onto a roof. As his jump approaches the ground, his body is stretched out and slightly curved; only when his hands come into contact with the roof itself does his body start to recoil. His arms bend further and further, building up enough energy to bounce back up from his hands.