The Nostalgic IceCream Man Talks

[ThatsNotAllFolks]

This is my first talking cartoon character.

[slowtiger]

Nice one. Would be nice to see his face frontal.

[wizaerd]

Nice one. Would be nice to see his face frontal.

May I ask why? It wouldn't necessarily add anything.

Too many people are caught up with head turns, body turns, fancy-schmancy stuff just for the sake of it. Sometimes it's good to see something basic well done.

[slowtiger]

Because he's be talking to someone, and in absence of another character the audience is the logical address.

I'm with you insofar that smooth head turns and complete rigs with just one button to bind them all are not necessary. However, moving at least the head, better the upper (or whole) body during talking greatly enhances any performance. And you don't need many drawings to do that, because this style asks for snappy, fast movements.

Richard Williams has something similar to say in his book.

[wizaerd]

Yeah... valid points... I stand corrected. I still think there's been too much emphasis on head turns, and still like the basics. So instead of having a frontal face view ThatsNotAllFolks, I'd like to see a target for his dialog... Perhaps a group of children by the cart.

[slowtiger]

Yes, the automatic head turn seems to be the Holy Grail here. Problem is that a head turn alone doesn' solve any problems with lack of expression. Real people tilt their head a lot, and move it up and down, and come closer to you or further apart.

I'm aware that a certain brand of comedy completely relies on not moving the head at all - Family Guy or American Dad. But I'm so fed up with it.

[Rubendg]

Looks nice. I wasn't really bothered by the head not moving around.

[ThatsNotAllFolks]

Nice one. Would be nice to see his face frontal.

Not a bad idea.