Animator nails 100 walks in this reference video

When it comes to communicating a character's personality, animators have plenty of tricks up their sleeves to get the message across. Body language is one of the most effective ways to express what a person is feeling, but studying how people hold themselves is difficult in real life. After all, you wouldn't ask an angry person to hold their pose a little longer while you capture what their rage looks like.

To get around this problem, stop-motion animator Kevin Parry decided to film himself imagining how emotions and characteristics affect the way a person walks. Originally intended as an animation reference, this video has found a broader audience thanks to Parry's hilarious interpretations of timeless moods like 'sassy', 'sore back' and 'secret run'.

Watch the video below and stay tuned for Parry's moon walk. It's worth it.

The quick-fire walks have left us laughing out loud, not just because they segue from the sublime to the ridiculous – 'broadway musical' to 'something in shoe' is our favourite – but because Parry's posture, movement and facial expressions are spot-on. Other animators have found the video useful, too:

And with Parry working on the likes of Kubo and the Two Strings and Boxtrolls, who knows, maybe we'll see some of these distinctive walks in films in the future.

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