Push That Pose! Dynamic Posing Blueprint

Dear Animator,
Have you ever felt like your animations lack weight and appeal?
Do you feel like your characters “float underwater” after a day or two, looking at them?
If you’re having this problem, you’re not alone. I’ve also struggled with this, BUT…the solution is easier than you think.
Many animation schools focus on the “motion” part of the animation.

That’s why the classic “bouncing ball assignment” comes first in any animation school.
“Movement” in your 3D software is essential…

However, it’s easy to fall into the trap of fiddling around with your curves,
or even worse… overlooking that you’re animating a real character, and you end up just
Back in my student days, I fell into the same trap of moving things around for motion’s sake…

…until my mentor pointed out my flaw.

He said to focus on your “posing” rather than thinking about the movement itself.

And then added:
“THINK ABOUT EACH POSE AS AN ACTION FIGURE THAT YOU WANT ON YOUR DESK”
Whenever I get stuck in the creative process, I ask myself this question like a mantra:

Would I want this pose on my desk?
If the pose is not worth displaying on my desk, I work on it until it does. If the pose looks good, I move on to the next one until every single frame looks appealing, from all angles.
Many other talented animators grasped the posing concept as well.
Go ahead and pause on any frame of a Pixar or Disney film… You’ll find perfectly crafted poses for the audience. Each one of these poses tells a story about the character.

I like to call these “Pushed Poses”
Let’s take a look at what I call “Pushed Poses”
If I tried to copy this pose directly from the reference, I would end up with a very bland pose like this…