Hammer Swings and Rising from the Grave

HeyGafilimore

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Hey all, just updating some animations of mine, I'll have one more scene and an ending to the hammer swing by the end of October but critiques/comments are totally welcome!

slipsius

You've got some great stuff in here! but a few notes for you..

So first things first, ditch the solid black background. Go for a dark grey. Solid black tends to take away from your work, as it blends with your shadows.

In the first shot, before the guy comes out of the ground fully, and is half in still. I think your shoulder/back shapes a bit off. You have the shoulder blades way up, giving the back a bit of a U shape. But really, you`d wanna really stretch out the middle of the back to should you're trying to pull yourself out. reaching into the air with your neck, almost.

The walk is really nice. Screen left knee needs to be brought inward more as its pulling the foot forward. And you have a small hiccup when the screen right hand is close to fully forward. Im guessing that's where your loop is.

the hammer attack shot. i feel it needs a bit more of a slow out into that second attack. he pulls it off the ground after the first hit, settles, then when he starts to move again to attack, it's super quick.

The arrow shot. Definitely your weakest shot. And Im not sure the acting is the best. Right now, I personally dont think it feels like he is trying to block the arrows. It feels more like he jumps, then is trying to balance on a ledge or something. It doesnt feel like he's really trying to block them, or meaning to block them. They just happen to hit his shield as he stands there.

But its definitely a great start to a reel. Love all the stretch you've got going on.

HeyGafilimore

Hey thanks a bunch! I've had some trouble with the shoulders on the guy rising and I definitely see where you're coming from, same goes for the second swing. For those I wanted to really get that exaggeration of the hammer coming down, and I think for the second one I was too eager to get the second swing in that I didn't give proper wind up time.

For the shield/arrow animation, I was going for more of a fear of getting hit with the arrows and he just so happens to have a shield equipped, thereby blocking the arrows. So the blocking isn't really intentional, he throws his hands in front of him out of fear and manages to walk away from it (briefly lol). It is 100% possible the body language isn't really showing that though. I'm thinking of having him really get into a one-legged fetal position (possibly even toss the sword away in the process). The more I watch it, the more I can see where my intentions are getting lost.

Thanks for the input!