Jump for joy

A proper celebration: crouch, spring, arms up, land with a squish, catch a breath, and do it again.

Use it in a cartoonOpen it in the block editorThe pack file (JSON)

What it is for

This is the move for the big moment: the cake arrives, the test comes back with a gold star, the friend who moved away is at the door. It also puts the character's face into a happy expression, so it works before you have chosen a mood. Because each leap is followed by a short rest, it can sit under a line of dialogue: the leap lands, the line is said, the next leap follows.

The principle it shows: anticipation

Before the leap there is a crouch: the body squashes by 14% in 0.14 seconds. Audiences read that dip as the character gathering itself, and it makes the jump that follows feel strong. Take the crouch out and the leap looks as if the character were lifted on a string. The landing gets a smaller squash of its own, which is the same idea at the other end.

The program, line by line

when it starts
  look happy
  forever:
    squash 0.14 in 0.14 s
    at the same time:
      — 1:
        move up 150 in 0.3 s
      — 2:
        size width 0.9 height 1.12 in 0.12 s
      — 3:
        lift arms to 150° in 0.22 s
    at the same time:
      — 1:
        move down 150 in 0.3 s
      — 2:
        size to 1 in 0.3 s
      — 3:
        lift arms to 15° in 0.3 s
    squash 0.1 in 0.08 s
    size to 1 in 0.12 s
    wait 0.35 s

• when it starts and look happy — the face changes to happy at once.
• forever: — everything indented below it repeats until the move is stopped.
• squash 0.14 in 0.14 s — the crouch: 14% wider and shorter, over 0.14 seconds.
• The first at the same time:, with three branches — move up 150 in 0.3 s lifts the body, size width 0.9 height 1.12 in 0.12 s stretches it tall and thin while it rises, and lift arms to 150° in 0.22 s throws both arms up. The block waits until all three are done.
• The second at the same time: — move down 150 in 0.3 s brings the body back to the ground, size to 1 returns it to its normal shape and lift arms to 15° brings the arms down.
• squash 0.1 in 0.08 s then size to 1 in 0.12 s — the landing squish and the recovery.
• wait 0.35 s — the breath before the next leap. One whole cycle takes 1.29 seconds.

Try this

1. Make the rest between leaps a whole second instead of 0.35 seconds. Each jump now stands on its own, like a character who keeps remembering the good news and jumping again.

   In the program: wait · s 0.35 → 1

2. Lift the arms to 90 degrees instead of 150. They now fly straight out to the sides at the top of the leap, like a star jump, instead of reaching for the sky.

   In the program: setPart · deg 150 → 90

How it differs from Hop and Bounce

Hop and Bounce are each one hop block that never stops: an even rhythm with no pause. Jump for joy is written out step by step, so each part has its own timing, the leap is higher than either (150 pixels against 54 and 95), the arms go all the way up, and the rest between leaps gives it a beat you can act to.

Works on

c4c:beh:jump_for_joy · version 1.0.0 · CC0 (public domain) · by Jabbertoon