The Midnight Diaries of Catty Wampus

Friends, I had such a big rant built up for this post. It was going to go something like this:

One of my biggest frustrations when posing a character is the lack of clothes to interact with. In particular, pockets. Any time I try to do some video reference for a scene, I usually end up putting at least one hand in a pocket, or hooking my thumbs into my pocket, or something like that. Then I review what I’ve recorded and I think “Dammit, I can’t do that! We don’t have the simple CG technology to put hands in pockets! This is a fundamental flaw in the characters we animate, especially given how often I put my hands in my pockets! It’s as if I’m being asked to animate a character with no clothes on!”

To demonstrate my angry point, I planned to post a ton of pictures showing examples of actors with their hands on their hips, or in their pockets; the types of things that we are unable to do as CG animators. Something like this:

But I was in for a surprise. You see, despite having a bunch of really great video clips from movies on my hard drive, those two pictures were just about the only poses I could find to prove my point.

Most of the pictures I grabbed demonstrated that there are many many natural poses that don’t require your hands to be interacting with anything at all. Have a look:

This is a very strong and defiant pose from All About Eve. Arms stiff and proud at the side, hands balled into fists, one of them clasping a purse.

This, of course, is from an episode of Seinfeld. The most obvious hand in this shot is George bipping Elaine’s nose. But notices George’s other hand, resting casually at his side. Not in his pocket, on his hip, or folded across his chest–it’s just hanging there.

The Dude, from The Big Lebowski, checks to make sure the path is clear before snooping around Jackie Treehorn’s house. Once again, hands pretty much relaxed at the sides, closely following the line of action of the rest of the body. In this case, I think that they add a sense of comedy to the pose.

Two poses to look at in this shot from Beverly Hills Cop. The white-shirted manager has his hands dangling limply at his side (with apparently a pretty severe case of bowler’s arm), while the security guard’s arms hang in front of him in a way that almost feels unnatural–if nothing else, the add to his lummox quality.

 
All of these examples show arms that hand at an actor’s sides, demonstrating that you can very well treat your character as if they were naked–you don’t need to slip your hand into a pocket in order to stand at rest.

Of course, they don’t need to just hang at your sides, either.

I recently finished reading Steve Martin’s new memoir, Born Standing Up. It was a pleasant read, especially if you are interested in a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make it as a stand-up comedian (and there are parallels you could draw to the career path of a professional animator). And I only mention it in this post because the hardcover book is bound in front and in back with a two-page spread of contact sheets from a Steve Martin arena performance in the 1970’s. It’s a great reminder of how varied and exaggerated you can go with your poses, and still not rely on having your character’s hands on their hips on in their pockets.

I hear that there’s a common refrain among beginning actors when they first get onto a stage or in front of a camera. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with my hands!” They agonize over it, and I can definitely understand. For some reason, when you start thinking about performing you become hyper-aware of your hands. They feel heavy and gangly and in the way. You don’t want to over-gesture everything, but you also don’t want to lumber around with your hands shoved into your pockets all of the time.

Perhaps it just takes time before you start feeling more natural with your hands being out there in the open. I would love to hear from anyone who has gotten past the “I don’t know what to do with my hands” stage of things, and how you overcame it.

In the meantime, I’m going to try to be more observant about the different ways people use their hands when they’re not interacting with their clothing. I’m certain that it’s a major element in getting your characters to feel more natural and open.