Hand-drawn animation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V36LpPkwJ7I

In an effort to understand the mechanics of hand drawn animation, I’ve chosen the linked video for critique.

Stylistically, it pays great attention to detail (such as perspective, value, and shape). Pacing works well in the manner that it’s a fluent story. Voice acting is pretty good, certain characters could have more fitting roles. He ties computer graphics well with his hand-drawn style (such as the bottles, Capri-sun, computer screens). Some of the animation doesn’t transition smoothly, but it doesn’t hinder the concept or the execution. It only really bothers me when there are overseen details that correlate to function, such as stationary tires on a moving car. If you scroll through the animation while it’s paused, you see certain shapes overlapping when they aren’t supposed to. As stated earlier, this isn’t that bothersome since it’s got a hand-drawn feel. Certain mistakes actually serve to add to the aesthetic.

Whilst in movement, this isn’t a concern, so I take it for a grain of salt. Certain design elements, such as repetition/proximity, are employed well when creating concepts such as speed or mundane tones. Value is handled well since it’s done in greyscale.

The animator does a great job attaching emotion to the main charactor, generally done in the facial features. I’m assuming things like pupils, opacity faded clouds and camera-zooms were done in after-effects, or a program similar.