ANIMATION FUNDAMENTALS

1. SQUASH & STRETCH- Applied to give a sense of weight and/or flexibility to objects or people.

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2. ANTICIPATION- Anticipation is used when you want to prepare your audience for some action. 

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3. STAGING- Considering where the point of interest is in the scene and making sure the framing captures is properly.

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4. FOLLOW-THROUGH & OVERLAPPING ACTION- Creates the impression of a character following the laws of physics. Follow-through concerns the parts of the body that continue to move when a character or object stops. Parts of the body don't move at the same rate as the rest, such as hair moving during a run and moving a second longer after the action is over. 

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5. STRAIGHT AHEAD AND POSE-TO-POSE ACTION- Straight ahead action scenes involves drawing an action frame by frame, creating a smooth flow of movement. This method requires starting with a drawing and then proceeding to draw sequentially, most of the time not knowing the last frame. This very time consuming however. 

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6. SLOW IN & OUT- The motion of characters or objects starting slowly with faster movement in-between, the change in speed making the movement more life-like. To achieve this effect, more frames are added at the beginning and end to create the impression of slow movement. Fewer frames = faster movement.

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7. ARCS- The movement of an object or character in curves rather than a straight line.

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8. SECONDARY ACTION- The secondary action enhances and adds more detail to the primary action. Secondary actions can be used to depict a personality trait or emotion.

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9. TIMING- The speed of the scene, determined by the amount of frames used. If more frames are used, the scene will appear slower. Fewer frames means faster movement. It is important to establish timing properly for each object in the animation with respect to the object's size and weight.  

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10. EXAGGERATION- Used to create a dramatic effect and enhance the storytelling. Can be applied to actions, expressions or even poses to make them more impactful. 

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11. SOLID DRAWING- Giving characters weight and volume by drawing them in a proper shape as they would appear in a 3-dimensional space. To achieve this, animators draw the character in several poses and angles to ensure that proportions stay consistent throughout scenes.

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12. APPEAL- An appealing character is crucial to make them memorable and exciting to the audience. The term not only refers to their physical attractiveness, but also to the character's intriguing charms and traits.