305-The illusion of life-Frank Thomas-Tool-1981
305-The illusion of life-Frank Thomas-Tool-1981
Barack
2021/01/17
《The illusion of life》，于1981年首版于美国。它主要介绍了Disney动画的历史，并将动画师的设计哲学浓缩在12条基本动画原则中。
Frank Thomas，于1912年出生于Santa Monica, California, U.S.，于2004年去世。曾就读于Stanford University。他是一名动画师和钢琴家，他是Disney的顶级动画师团队的成员之一，该团队成员被誉为“九老”。代表作：《The illusion of life》等。
Table of Contents
1. The early days 1923-1933
2. The principles of animation
3. Discovery 1934-1936
4. Cartoon comes of age
5. Appeal and dynamics
6. Hyperion : the explosion
7. Burbank and the nine old men
8. Our procedures
9. How to get it on the screen
10. The Disney sounds
“We hope that some readers will be stimulated to carry on these traditions and elevate this art form to an ever-higher level.”
有时候我在思考，对于那些功成名就的人来说，他们写书的目的是什么？仅仅只是为了名望和财富吗？这种动机或许是有的，但我相信，他们无私地分享自己私人的经验，目的之一，也是希望未来的读者中，有人能因此受到他们的激励，得到他们的传承，将他们的梦想、理念延续下去。
“Many will look to this book to teach them the secrets of Disney animation so that they can become instant successes. Unfortunately, this craft cannot be learned by just reading a book, and not overnight under any circumstances.”
不光是制作动画是这样子，其他方面也是如此。这个世界上不缺乏运气导致的成功，但绝大部分的成功都必须要经过漫长的准备。我们要学习前人的知识和经验，但这并不代表读书本身就能够解决问题，从理论家变为实干家，还是要通过大量的实践，最后才能够从入门到精通。
“An artist could represent the actual figure, if he chose, meticulously capturing its movements and actions. Or he could caricature it, satirize it, ridicule it. And he was not limited to mere actions; he could show emotions, feelings, even innermost fears. He could give reality to the dreams of the visionary. He could create a character on the screen that not only appeared to be living but thinking and making decisions all by himself. Most of all, to everyone's surprise, this new art of animation had the power to make the audience actually feel the emotions of a cartoon figure.”
所有的艺术表现形式，其核心都是在展现人们的物质和精神世界。因此，它们要么表现客观事物，要么展现作者的主观意识。不管是这两种的哪一种，动画都能比大部分其他的艺术表现形式做得更加充分。这是极具表现力的一种展示手段。
““The problem is not a single track one. Animation IS Not just timing, or just a well-drawn character, it is the sum of all the factors named. No matter what the devil one talks about—whether force or form, or welldrawn characters, timing, or spacing—animation is all these things—not any one.”
动画不是一个方面，它是许多方面的结合。接触的动画师，必然不能仅仅擅自一个方面，而要在好几个不同的领域都要有储备和知识。
“It was not just what you heard, it was what the sounds made you believe and feel. It was not the actor's emotions you were sensing anymore. They were your emotions. Fortunately, animation works in the same way, Itis capable of getting inside the heads of its audiences, into their imaginations.”
电影也好，动画也罢，如果想要给观众留下深刻的印象，那么就要在细节上多下功夫。要在细节上下水磨工夫，这样才能使观众产生身临其境的感受。
“It is easy to see how the development of an individual personality in a story situation can make even the dullest action become entertaining. In addition to the personality, however, there should be a change in the initial action that will enable an animator to show more than one side of this personality. The most interesting character in the world is not very exciting when sitting and listening to a symphony concert. Our true personalities are best revealed by our reactions to a change we did not expect.”
只有当人们处在超出自己预期的环境下时，人们的反应才是最接近它本源的。而这种最接近本源的反应，其实是每个人不同的点。如果对将要发生的事情，人们已经相当的熟悉，那么他们就能提前做好准备。这也就使得他们的反映未必最接近他们真实的想法。
这就是为什么文学作品非常强调矛盾和冲突。矛盾越尖锐，戏剧性也就越强。展现什么样的矛盾，以何种方式展现，这就是艺术家要反复琢磨的问题。
“As Charlie Chaplin said of his own beginnings in the movie business, mL ttle as I knew about movies, I knew that nothing t anscended personality.’"* In addition to gags and effects, there must be a point of entry through which audiences can identify with the story situation, and the best way is through a character who is like someone they have known. He can be more heroic, or bigger than life, or ‘meaner than sin,”* but basically he has to be human enough for the audience to understand him and identify with the problems he faces in the SUry.”
要让观众与动画中的人物产生共鸣，那么一定要有共鸣的触点。要能让观众似乎找到现实生活中某个人的影子，动画人物所表现出来的情感，也要令观众觉得是真实可信的。
“This was the situation when Walt Disney entered the field, and he was not an immediate success. In fact, it is even surprising that he was able to get a toehold in this tough business of limited contracts and tight money. But Walt was a fighter and had great determination; he was no aesthetic artist living in a dream world. As he said, “‘I have been up against tough competition all my life. | wouldn't know how to get along without it."” Any man with Walt’s talents but without his spirit and tenacity would never have made it.”
再杰出的人物，同样会遭遇许多失败。在成功之路上，天分，持续的努力，运气，三者缺一不可，但是天分和运气两个要素都不以人力为转移，我们只能去关注我们能控制的部分，那也就是自身的持续努力。我想如果付出了持续的努力，就算没有天分和运气，至少对得起自己。
“Qur goal in these studies is to make the audience feel the emotions of the characters, rather than appreciate them intellectually. We want our viewers not merely to enjoy the situation with a murmured, ‘‘Isn’t he cu-ute?"’ but really to feel something of what the character is feeling, If we succeed in this, the audience will now care about the character and about what happens to him, and that ts audience involvement. Without it, a cartoon feature will never hold the attention of its viewers.”
重要的是让读者感同身受，产生与动画人物类似的感受，这就意味着，动画人物必须要像个真实人物一样，有自己的灵魂和内心世界。真正吸引到观众的，正是这个人物的灵魂、想法。
“Often a whole new character would appear from nowhere and take over the story. When we started Snow White, there was no Dopey in the cast, Pinocchio had no Jiminy Cricket, and Bambi had no Thumper. All of these characters evolved as the pictures developed. As Walt said, ‘*The best things in many of our pictures have come after we thought _ the story was thoroughly prepared. Sometimes we don’t really get close to our personalities until the story is in animation.””
我们不可能在一开始的时候，就把所有的事情都想清楚，会有哪些角色出现，故事情节是什么样。实际上，很多时候，事情会有些不一样。所以，起步阶段，只管去做，只管去想。在想在做的过程中，作品会自我进化。我想，这也是艺术的生命力所在。
就像巴尔扎克曾经说，并不是他创作了那些人物，而是他笔下那些人物，借他的笔自然的流淌出来，此时，他自己反而成了一个表达的工具而已。
“Walt was also a gambler when it mattered most. If he believed in an idea, he would risk absolutely everything to get it before the public. But he was also practical enough to work with what he had, rather than wait for what he wished he had. He would say, *‘l don't know if it’s art, but I know I like it,’’ and he felt intuitively that if he liked it the rest of the world would like it, too—if only he could find the right way to present it.”
我看许多成功人士回忆他的一生时，他们历经重要选择时，似乎都有某种直觉的东西。这种决策，有时候并不完全是理性分析的结果，甚至有时候是与理性相悖的。他知道的，仅仅只是自己想要这件东西，想要做这件事情，然后朝这个方向去走，但其实他也并不一定知道为什么是要这样子。
事实证明他对了。不知道这是否只是一种幸存者偏差？也有很多人按照他们自己的想法去做事情，可是最后失败了。这样的例子肯定也很大，但是大概是没有机会被别人知晓的吧。
“It was never too late to make a change; nothing was ever set as long as the possibility existed that it could _ be made to relate better to the overall picture or communicate more strongly with the audience. We struggled to build interesting, appealing characters, but most of all we worked to find ways to make the audience feel the emotions of the animated figures— emotions the audience could “‘relate to, identify with, and become involved in.””
一个角色从构想之初，到最终定型搬到大屏幕上的过程，就大概有点像一个人从出生到最后盖棺定论的过程。他一定是在不断的成长的。如果创作者扮演着类似上帝的角色，他对这个角色的大致命运和性格有一个基本的构思，甚至可能对其创造物的最终结局都有了大概的考虑。
可是，创作者一定不可能清楚的知道这个角色的整个生命历程中每一件事情。这大概就像人生一样，上帝也不是知道每个细节。我相信命运之类的东西是存在的，但它只是一个大体的方向。这种方向，大概就是未知的宇宙意志所赋予每个人的使命和道路。可是这并不意味着每件事情都是命中注定的，每一个个体也就像每一个动画故事里的角色一样，有自己发展、改变的余地。
“At first the cartoon medium was just a novelty, but it never really began to hit until we had more than tricks . .. until we developed personalities. We had to get beyond getting a laugh. They may roll in the aisles, but that doesn't mean you have a great picture. You have to have pathos in the thing.”’
从文字到图画，再到电影、动画，所有这种种的表现形式，都只是人类去讲故事一种方式。技术是在不断改变的，但是其内核却并没有变化太多，如果我们仅仅沉迷于技术，而不能够讲好一个故事，展现好一种性格，一个人物，那么就算我们有再强大的工具，也只是有形无神，做不出真正伟大的动画作品。
“With electronic aids being perfected and new tools and materials being used, who can possibly foresee what lies ahead? [t probably will not be another Walt Disney who will lead the way, but someone or some group of artists will surely discover new dimensions to delight and entertain the world. Hopefully, this book will be their springboard.”
没有人知道未来会是什么样的。但是我们能够肯定的是，这个世界上没有任何一个公司能够长盛不衰。Disney在近百年的生命历程中，已经达到过几次巅峰，或许在未来日子里他仍然将达到更多的巅峰，但不可否认是总有一天他会衰落，直至消亡。
可是可以肯定的一点是，在未来几十甚至几百年中，Disney都会是无数的动画师们心中的一座仰望的丰碑。它是人类在探索动画艺术道路上的一个伟大里程碑。