One Man Band

In One Man Band there is a young girl that isn't very rich. She has one coin and she wants to make a wish and throw it into the fountain. Then this guy who plays all his band instruments that he has all over himself until a one man orchestra comes to interrupt him. It turns into a big old battle over a piece of gold. The girl ends up dropping the gold piece and it falls down the drain. She gets really mad and demands a violin from the one man orchestra. She plays the violin and gets a huge bag of money because she's just that dang good. She pulls out two gold pieces and makes the instrumentalists that she's going to give one of them money. Just kidding! She tosses them both into the fountain like she originally planned to do and takes the bag of money and violin home with her.

What story was told? How?

For any animation, or video for that matter, there needs to be a story. Without a story nobody would be interested. With One Man Band, they told the story through the music and the actions of the characters instead of words. It is hard in the respect that you can't flat out say what you the story is about but it is easier in the sense of animating the mouth and the formation of words.

What did One Man Band do to make it a good animation?

Throughout this piece the principles of animation are prevalent. The principles of animation are 12 key ideas that should be easy to see in an animation. Without these principles an animation doesn't look realistic, out of whack, and strange. Due to these principles One Man Band is a much better animated short. Here are some examples:

arc:

exaggeration: Since there are no words in this short, the actions and facial expression of the characters need to exaggerated to ensure that the viewer gets the story and the message that the creators are trying to send. In One Man Band I really liked the how the used that. I felt like it was exaggerated enough to get the point across. If they exaggerated it more than they did, it would have been cheesy. Thankfully that wasn't the case. But there is a fine line between furthering the story and being cheesy.

timing: Timing is important in animation for a few reasons. 1- It won't look realistic. If a ball ignores gravity, the viewer will know something is wrong. Animators need to have good timing in that respect. 2- With One Man Band especially, the music will be weird. Everyone hates it when the audio of their favorite movie doesn't match with the movement of the speakers mouth. With the music, timing was huge in making the instruments in sync with that music. 3 - Timing can further the story and can hold you in suspense.
In One Man Band I definitely know that instances 2 and 3 helped the story. I'll talk about 3 more in a moment with anticipation.
With One Man Band and instance 1, I think that One Man Band was alright. When the Band Man's set fell down and he rolled on his instruments, it seemed off and like it was over exaggerated. I went, OOOkkay, that was a bit much, but I'll roll with it for now. There were a few instances like that where I found the animation a bit much and over the top for what was needed but it isn't enough to really be mad and hate the short.

anticipation: Anticipation is more of a story telling technique than a technical skill that has some fancy hidden button in a program. But it is extremely important. Without it, viewers get bored and don't care about your animation and all the work that you put into the animation. With One Man Band, the little girl was the one the brought out anticipation. Her choice, the need for her to choose between the orchestra and the band man was the driving point of the short and the creators did a good job building up that choice and making you anticipate it.

squash and stretch: This again is skill that help action look normal. When characters walk there is a certain squash and stretch action in the foot and knee that makes the action look normal. All character in One Man Band have this squash and stretch action.
Not all squash and stretches are totally true to life though. The Band Man's accordion is an example. If you have watched someone play an accordion, you know that the movement of the accordion was greatly exaggerated. This is slightly annoying to those who are animators and are also musicians. The animator in me says that it fits with the overall feel of the short and therefore is ok but the musician in me says no it is not because that is not how an accordion works.

What do I want to apply in own work? Or already applied?

I really want to be able to not have any dialogue in my works this year. I know that I will not be as good as those who have made Pixar Shorts, but I need to start trying sometime. So that is what I want to do. I have already started story boarded and chosen music. I need to finish setting everything up.

General comments and conclusions:

I enjoy Pixar's animated short One Man Band and for those who not already, Please watch One Man Band here.
I hope that I haven't spoiled it for you forever or over played it's greatness. I am very sorry if I have.