2017 4th International Conference on New Media Studies

Yogyakarta, Indonesia, November 08-10, 2017

"Panawa" Animation Movement Design:

Rat Character with Human Personality
Eva Aulia Christian Aditya
Universitas Multimedia Nusantara Universitas Multimedia Nusantara
Tangerang, Indonesia Tangerang, Indonesia
eva.aulia96@gmail.com christian@umn.ac.id

Abstract Good animation movie needs to be movement is created well. The addition of a facial expression
communicative and deliver its meaning to the audience. One to the movement can strengthen the emotion that want to be
of the most important aspects is to design an effective conveyed. There are four basic posture in human body
movement for the animation. In movement, the thoughts and language:
characteristics of a character are shown. Expression of a
characters can be seen through their movement and body
gestures. Body gestures show us an expression, emotions, traits, A. Open Body Posture
thoughts, and each different characters. Characters do t The arms and feet of the character are opened, while the
move effectively if the movement does t correspond to its body leads to the intended object. This posture illustrates
characteristics. To understand the characteristics we need to positive reaction of the character to the object.
understand each characters physiology, sociology, and
psychology. In this research, the author explains and
analyze the process of designing a rat movement with a
human personality.
Keywords- animation; movement; body language; expression
I. INTRODUCTION

Animation is not just some moving pictures. In animation,

there are things that need more attention. Some of that is how
emotions can be demonstrated through movements that
convey the information from an object [8]. In the design of
movement, body language needs more attention. It can
represent feelings and reactions from a character. If
designed well the result will look unreal and awkward. In
addition, facial expressions can also be used to reinforce the
emotions which want to be conveyed.
Fig. 1. Open Body Posture
B. Closed Body Posture
The arms bend inwards. When in sitting position, the legs
are intersecting with each other. The direction of the body is far
from the target object and the head of the character is slightly
lower. It shows a negative reaction or rejection to the object.

In the design of motion in the animation

author is interested in designing the movement of a rat with a
human personality. Author had to observe and combine the
characteristics and habits of a rat with the movements and
body languages of a human. Human in the form of rat will
certainly have some rat habits that appear unconsiously.
Fig. 2. Closed Body Posture
This research was conducted so that the movement C. Forwards Body Posture
designed could reflect the concept. Therefore the problem
The character body leans forward, with a fist or finger
formulation in this research was how to design the movement
pointing toward an object. This posture means the character
of a rat with a human personality in the animation "Panawa".
shows an interest and desire to be involved.
II. BODY LANGUAGE

in a particular situation. Any movement a person does can be a

reflection of his feelings at the moment [6]. When we animate
a character, sorting out body languages is the first thing that
we have to do [7]. If we can see the emotions and feelings of
the characters through their body language, then the Fig. 3. Forwards Body Posture

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D. Backwards Body Posture
With the position of the body leaning back and the
character looking at things other than the target object, this
posture indicates that the character indirectly ignore the target.
Fig. 4. Fowards Body Posture
The combinations of the four basic postures above create
four basic modes: Responsive; Reflective; Combative; and
Fugitive.
A. Responsive
The combination of open body posture and forwards body
posture creates movements that portray pleasure, attraction,
attachment, curiosity, love, desire for something, passion, and
likes.
B. Fugitive
When dodging something, character shows an away and
closed stance. It pictures rejection, boredom, sadness or chaos,
denial, unconfidence, lying, wanting to go, or rejecting an idea.
III. FACIAL EXPRESSION
At the simplest level, there are eight basic emotions:
happiness, sadness, astonishment, fear, anger, disgust, interest,
and pain. From the eight basic human emotions that are
mentioned above, we can form a number of combinations of
other expressions [7].
Fig. 5. Low Awareness and High Awareness
Emotions are almost specifically focused on the face and
especially around the eyes [5]. On the eyebrows part there are
two movements that can be seen, upwards/downwards and
shrinking. Furthermore, upper eyelids usually describe the
more vigilant that person is, but when the eyelids get closer to
the iris, the level of consciousness is getting lost. However, in
ordinary circumstances the upper eyelids always hang around
the iris of the eye.
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IV. ABOUT RATS
Fig. 6.
Rat has a long, flexible, cylindrical body that allows it to
pass through narrow chambers [3]. Rat s tail has several
functions, two of them are as a regulator of body temperature
and balancing the body. Rat adjust its body and gravity to
keep its balance all [2]. Rats also have a
very sensitive nose. Rats usually bring his nose closer to the
ground to smell clearly [4].
V. GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Krempeng, a witch-shaman who liked to eat rats. He lived in a
secluded hut with his stupid and fat subordinate named Bakso
Buntel. Day by day, the rats in their hut were getting more
agile and hard to catch. Mbah Krempeng who could
withstand his hunger anymore made a potion and turned his
subordinate into a mouse to lure the other rats out.
Fig. 7.
In this film, the author played a role in animating the
movements of Bakso while being a rat in general, but the
research was conducted specifically for the 16th shot to the 20th
shot. The research was began by doing literature studies
related to the theories that was required, and looking for visual
references from animated characters, real rats videos and rats
movements in animation to be observed. The study was
followed by making a reference video according to the
storyboard, which then became a final reference design for the
animation process. After that, the authors analyze the
movements that have been designed with theories and
observation results.
 VI. CHARACTER REFERENCE
Fig. 8. Thunk
To design the rat Bakso movement, observation on other
animated character were made for a movement reference
based on characteristic. Thunk is a boy from an ancient family
in the animated film The Croods (2013). This character has
some traits that are the same as of Bakso Buntel, which is
obedient, ignorant and innocent. He is also very cowardly but
still obey the orders that are given to him, just like Bakso who
always obeys
VII. SCARED WALKING
Some other references were collected to guide author in
designing rat Bakso movement when he walked in fear.
Fig. 9.
By observing
realized that a tail moves according to the movement of
its feet. Its butt moves following the movement of the feet and
the tail swings accordingly.
Fig. 10. Frightened Expression
Author also observed Remy from Ratatouille s is illustrated by a slow walking movement, an erratic glance of
hiding in a hat. Fear makes him uneasy, unconsciously clench
his hands and rubbing them against each other. Although his
eyes see the objects that scares him, his body remains closed
and bends back because of rejection. The ears and corners of
his mouth descend downward to reveal anxiety. His eyelids go
up so it looks like he is expecting something.
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Bakso that has a cowardly trait exploring a strange and
dark place to look for some rat in hiding. This causes the
feeling of fear in him. Fear is a negative reaction (rejection) to
something so that the basic motion of human body language
that appears is closed body posture.
Fig. 11. Human Body Language
In this movement, the body bent forward, the shoulder is
lowered with hands clasped in front of the chest. The head of
rat Bakso raised to show how it was conscious of its
surrounding environment. Frightened facial expressions were
made by wrinkling the eyebrows, nose and forehead upwards,
putting cheek muscles up, and pouting the mouth down.
Fig. 12. Bakso Frightened Walk
From that pose, the process were continued to design the
walking movement based on the walk cycle scheme of
Cartoon Animation book by Blair (1994) [1]. The walk cycle
scheme combined with the fear pose produced a scared
walking movement. The speed of the scared walking were
made slower than usual walks, reinforcing the expression.
Head and the glance of the eyes were made to look to the left
and right to illustrates the expression of alertness and
insecurity of the characters against the strange places it passes
while searching for the rat in hiding.
The expression of rat Bakso were made based on the
reference video that had been made and also the expression of
Remy on Ratatouille film. It could be seen how the ears part
designed downward to emphasize the expression of fear of rat
Bakso. The upper eyelids were made up away from the iris to
indicates an increased alertness [5]. The author interpret that
fear feeling in a strange place will cause an uneasy feeling. It
the eye in different directions and a wary movement around it.
Fear could be seen from the posture of the body that closes
with the hands in front of the chest and the clenched hands.
 VIII. SURPRISED
Fig. 13. Shocked Rat
From the video, it was known that when a rat was shocked,
there will be a sudden pounding. It made the rat's hands
pushed down and the viewing direction was straight to the
source of the surprise. Its body unconsciously became tense
and stiff. The mouth of the rat wide opened. Its ears tensed up,
making it look more alert. There was a gesture of rejection that
was visible from the body of the rat which was a little closed.
Fig. 14. Jumping Rat
The video showed a shocked rat when it was hit by low-
voltage electricity. The feel of shock made the rat closed his
body and retreat back. The direction of its head and eyes were
on the source of the surprising object. Shocked feeling make
the rat jumped from the back of the leg so that the rat moved
away from the source and its tail rose upward. That feeling
also makes the tension on his body so that the rat becomes
stiff and pause.
Fig. 15. Shocked Remy
The following is a look of Remy the rat who was shocked
when his food turned into Gusteau's head. There is a change of
expression when shocked. Remy widened, he glared at
the sight of the object that surprised him. Surprised made him
wary of the object so that his eyes remained enlarged and
looked straight at the object. The body immediately backed
away from the object and his ears rose upward.
Remy who was shocked did a rejecting gesture and closed
himself. He jolted up while pushing his hands down and his
body jumped back while shouting in shock. It happened
because he avoided the object that surprised him. Closing
himself was shown in the position of the arm, his hands
forward to alert and his ears rises upward.
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Fig. 16. Shocked Bakso
When walking through a strange place, Bakso suddenly
heard a sound from behind him. Spontaneously he turned,
jumped back and fell. The reaction experienced by Bakso is a
fugitive reaction that is a combination of two basic motions of
human body language between backwards and closed body
posture [7]. His hand moved as if he was pushing something
away, and his body was pushed back with a stiff neck and
head.
Fig. 17. Bakso Falling Down
re
made to float in the air. The left foot that had become a
pedestal was made rise upward due to the loss of balance and
the right foot went
pulled up and the tail down to balance the body. When
touching the ground, position of the hand automatically
quickly backward to hold the fallen body so that the head
does hit the ground and immediately balance the body back.
The tail tensed up again, showing the shocked expression that
he was still experiencing.
Fig. 18. Bakso Shocked Expression
Surprised seen clearly with wide-eyed eyes and eyebrows
going up. Eyes widen and pupils shrinking are to reveal a high
level of alertness [5]. The direction of the eyes are looking for
a source of shock. The eyebrows that rise up cause wrinkles on
the forehead that looks doubled. Reflect from shock will make
us take a deep breath suddenly, so that the mouth becomes
wide open.
 IX. SNIFFING FOR FOOD
In the midst of a search for the rats in hiding, Bakso Buntel
sniffs and smells the food.
Fig. 19. Sniffing Pose
The sniffing rat has movement on its nose. His nose is
moved many times up and down very quickly. The rat ducked
down because he was looking for information from the smell
on the floor. Another thing that moves is his ears. The rat's
ears move from the movement of the nose and the head.
Occasionally rats will sniff up to get more information.
Fig. 20. Bakso Smelling
After getting shocked, Bakso who was regulating his breath
suddenly smell some food. He was immediately shown to be
searching for the source of the smell by the movement of his
head and nose that rose up. Bakso, who was tense at first,
closed his eyes so that he could focus on the smell to find out
what smells he smelled. While searching, he sniffed several
times. The movements were made by wrinkling the nose and
moving the tip, lowering the eyebrows so that it looked more
focused and relax, the ears was lowered and the mouth was
closed.
Fig. 21. Happy Expression
After knowing that the smell was a delicious food, his facial
expression instantly turned into a happy expression, it was
shown from the big smile on his face and his eyebrows rose
upward. The cheek muscles would rise up so that the eyes
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looked a little smaller because the lower eyelid also rise up.
Eyebrows were curved and did not shrink, creating a happy
look, and the folds on the forehead were also lifted [7].
Fig. 22. Responsive Reaction
sniffing and started to
look for the source of the smell. The happy reaction is also
shown from the gestures of the body that starting to lean
forward so that it looks enthusiastic. The reaction experienced
by Bakso is called a responsive reaction. [7] When the
character is happy, the body will lean forward and the head
looks up. The legs and hands will be wide open.
Rat has an incredibly sensitive sense of smell. The sense of
smell and hearing of rats are way more sensitive than humans
[4]. To know the exact direction of the food, Bakso sniffed out
the smell and start walking towards the smell of food. The
body of character leaned toward the source of the smell and
the hand begins to crawl. In order to find out what he smelled,
he concentrated, it was reflected from his face. His eyes closed
to move the focus of his sense solely to his nose and his
eyebrows shriveled.
Fig. 23. Bakso Searching for Food
His mouth began to move upward which marked the start of
the search for the scent. The more the character focused on
searching, the more the eyebrows looked shrinking down. He
moved his head up and down as he took a deep breath
frequently to know the position of the source more clearly.
X. FINDING FOOD
In this scene, the author demonstrated how Bakso found out
that the food he was looking for was anchovies. The author
use reference videos that author had made before. The
designing process in this shot began by arranging sniffing
poses on Bakso. This sniffing position was obtained from
observations of real rat videos and animated film "Larva".

Fig. 24. Crawling Pose
When sniffing, the position of the body was close to the
ground. By bending the body closer to the ground a rat can
detect the source of the smell better, capturing the information
more clearly [4].
Fig. 25. Bakso Sniffing
Bakso crawled with a smile toward the source of the scent
and his head was attached to the ground. His head moved left
and right to know the position of the object. His nose was
raised higher than normal because he was sniffing. His eyes
were closed as a sign of concentrating
expression was portrayed through a smile on his face; his lips
rose upward and his eyebrows curved. Focus expression was
made by bringing his eyebrows closer to each other.
The happy reaction is a responsive reaction, when a
character is happy, the body will lean forward and his head
looks up. Bakso body came forward and opened, the head
faced the object, his face delighted, his eyebrows raised and he
smiled widely [7].
Fig. 26. Finding Food Video Reference
Bakso closed his eyes to increase his smelling sense. That's
because Bakso was a human who was more accustomed to
using the sense of sight. Therefore, when the sense of vision
was covered, the sense of smell became sharper.
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Fig. 27. Bakso Finding Food
When he is close to the object, the body bends downward
then stands upright in tandem with the eyes open. As the body
stands upright, the nose was raised more before it finally
returned to its normal position after he was done. The reaction
when opening the eyes is happy because the results he gets is
in accordance with his expectations.
XI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
In designing the movement of rat, it takes deepening of the
characters. The depth of characters requires an understanding
of the background, the physical condition, the nature and
habits, the situation experienced, and the psycology and
sociology of the rat character. A deep knowledge of the rat
characteristics also give a more deeply impression of a rat.
From that, theory and reference that is needed can be
determined so the animator can know how the character is
moving. The depth of the character is useful in making
reference video in accordance with the storyboard.
To design the movement of rat characters that have human
characteristics, the rat characteristics and body language of
humans should be combined. It is need to be combined
because body language could show the impression and
personality of humans as well as rat characteristics are used to
strengthen the movements made, it also give a limitation in
designing the movement of the characters.
REFERENCES
[1] P. Blair, Cartoon Animation. California : Walter Foster Publishing, Inc.,
1994.
[2] A. Hanson, Rat Behavior and Biology, Oct. 27, 2003.
[Online]. Available : http://www.ratbehavior.org/RatTails.htm.
[Accesed : Nov. 19, 2016].
[3] A. Hanson, Do Rats Have a Collapsible Skeleton? Rat Behavior and
Biology, May 11, 2007. [Online]. Available :
http://www.ratbehavior.org/CollapsibleSkeleton.htm.
[Accesed : Nov. 19, 2016].
[4] A. Hanson, Rat Behavior and Biology,
Sept. 30, 2003. [Online]. Available :
http://www.ratbehavior.org/perception.htm. [Accesed : Nov. 20, 2016].
[5] J. Osipa, Stop Staring : Facial Modeling and Animation Done Right.
Indianapolis : Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2010.
[6] A. Pease, & B. Pease, The Definitive Book of Body Language. Australia:
Pease International, 2004.
[7] S. Roberts, Character Animation Fundamentals : Developing Skills for
2D and 3D Character Animation. Oxford : Focal Press, 2011.
[8] H. Whitaker, J. Halas, & T. Sito, Timing for Animation. Oxford : Focal
Press, 2009.