--- name: exaggerated-clarity description: Use when motion needs to read clearly and powerfully—broad comedy, action highlights, important story beats, or any moment that must unmistakably communicate to the audience. --- # Exaggerated Clarity Think like a stage actor projecting to the back row. Subtlety is lost at speed. Your job is to make every intention unmistakable—amplify truth until it can't be missed. ## Core Mental Model Before animating any key moment, ask: **Would this read from 50 feet away?** Animation isn't reality—it's reality turned up to 11. Exaggeration isn't lying; it's telling the truth louder. Real life is too subtle for the screen. ## The 12 Principles Through Amplification **Exaggeration** — The principle itself. Push every quality further than reality. Happy becomes ecstatic. Sad becomes devastated. Fast becomes blurred with speed. **Staging** — Exaggeration needs clear framing. Silhouette tests: does the pose read as a black shape? If the attitude is unclear in silhouette, push the pose further. **Squash & Stretch** — The most visible tool of exaggeration. Compress more than physics allows. Stretch beyond anatomy. The impossibility creates impact. **Anticipation** — Exaggerated windup demands exaggerated payoff. Big anticipation sets up audience expectations—then exceed them. **Timing** — Contrast creates clarity. Super-fast action against held poses. The extremes are what register. Middle speeds blur together. **Solid Drawing** — Exaggerated proportions must still feel solid. A character stretched to absurdity should still have convincing mass. Volume creates believability within impossibility. **Appeal** — Bold choices are appealing. Audiences respond to confidence. Timid exaggeration reads as mistake; committed exaggeration reads as style. **Follow Through & Overlapping Action** — Exaggerate the delay. Let secondary elements trail dramatically. Hair that whips, clothes that swirl—push the physics of follow-through. **Secondary Action** — Amplify supporting details. If a character is nervous, make their foot tap comically fast. Secondary action underscore primary emotion. **Arcs** — Exaggerated motion follows exaggerated arcs. Wide sweeping curves for broad gestures. The bigger the arc, the more readable the motion. **Slow In & Slow Out** — Extreme easing creates snap. Very slow buildup, instant action, extended settle. Contrast in timing is exaggeration in the time domain. **Straight Ahead & Pose to Pose** — Exaggeration usually works better pose-to-pose. Plan your extreme poses, then push them 30% further before connecting them. ## Practical Application **Exaggeration Scales:** - Realistic: 100% (reference) - Feature animation: 120-150% - Broad comedy: 150-200% - Squash-stretch animation: 200-300% - Rubber hose: 300%+ **What to Exaggerate:** - Poses: Push silhouettes further - Timing: More contrast between fast and slow - Expressions: Bigger facial range - Physics: More squash, more stretch - Reactions: Delay and amplify **What NOT to Exaggerate:** - Internal logic (rules you've established) - Character consistency - Emotional truth (exaggerate expression, not falseness) When motion feels "mushy" or "unclear": 1. Strengthen silhouettes 2. Hold extreme poses longer 3. Reduce busy secondary action 4. Increase contrast in timing 5. Push poses 20% further When motion feels "cartoony" (unintentionally): 1. Reduce squash/stretch percentage 2. Ground physics with more settle time 3. Add subtle secondary naturalistic motion 4. Pull back exaggeration to 120% instead of 200% ## The Golden Rule **Exaggeration is clarity, not parody.** You're not making fun of movement—you're making it visible. The goal is for the audience to feel more, not to notice technique. When exaggeration serves story, it's invisible. When it serves itself, it's showboating. --- Source attribution: dylantarre Original project: https://github.com/dylantarre/animation-principles/blob/83597134ba8ff59838270f94d7ac7282ffa3b54d/skills/02-by-thinking-style/exaggerated-clarity/SKILL.md License: MIT License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Dave AI. ## Upstream license notice MIT License Copyright (c) 2024 Dylan Tarre Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. # Dave AI resource metadata Creator / publisher: dylantarre Original project: https://github.com/dylantarre/animation-principles/blob/83597134ba8ff59838270f94d7ac7282ffa3b54d/skills/02-by-thinking-style/exaggerated-clarity/SKILL.md Attribution basis: Recovered original package and original project license at a pinned revision Fields of work: Content & Media, Design Roles: Graphic Designer, Motion Designer, Video Producer Specialties: Design Tools: Tool not specified Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source catalog labels Instruction SHA-256: 5cebb7db64d6de6994c7dfba9691da557f2985375939cc95ec0e805e0d227671 Metadata reviewed: 2026-10-27 This metadata supersedes earlier Dave AI catalog attribution. Original instruction and supporting files are preserved.