Look around

The character looks around by changing views: to the side, the other way and back, to the front, its back to you, and to the front again, over and over.

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

What it is for

Look around is for a character who is lost, searching, or checking that nobody is watching. It also shows off the views every Jabbertoon character has: a front, a side and a back drawing of the same character, with the same bones, so any move can play in any view. One round takes about 4.3 seconds, so in a 4.5-second slot you see it all once. The bird has no side view and keeps facing front for the side turns.

The principle it shows: staging

Changing view is one of the strongest staging tools there is: a character turned side-on is looking at something in the scene, a character with its back to you is shutting the audience out. Each turn here is quick (0.24 seconds) and each look is held for a moment, so every view reads clearly. The turn squashes the drawing to nothing and opens it out again in the new view, the cartoon cheat for a turn.

The program, line by line

when it starts
  forever:
    turn to the side in 0.24 s
    wait 0.6 s
    size width -1 in 0.24 s
    wait 0.6 s
    size width 1 in 0.24 s
    wait 0.3 s
    turn to the front in 0.24 s
    wait 0.5 s
    turn to the back in 0.24 s
    wait 0.5 s
    turn to the front in 0.24 s
    wait 0.4 s

• forever: — everything below repeats for as long as the move runs.
• turn to the side in 0.24 s, then wait 0.6 s — side-on, looking toward its front.
• size width -1 in 0.24 s, then wait 0.6 s — the width glides from 1 to −1, which mirrors the side view: now it looks the other way.
• size width 1 in 0.24 s, then wait 0.3 s — mirror back.
• turn to the front in 0.24 s, then wait 0.5 s — face the viewer.
• turn to the back in 0.24 s, then wait 0.5 s — the back view: the character seen from behind.
• turn to the front in 0.24 s, then wait 0.4 s — and face the viewer again before the loop starts over.

A turn block sets the view at the narrowest moment of its squash, so you never see two views at once.

Try this

1. Stare to the side for 1.5 seconds instead of 0.6. The character now seems to have spotted something there and watches it before looking the other way.

   In the program: wait · s 0.6 → 1.5

2. Turn to the side instead of turning its back. The character never shows its back now; it glances side-on a second time, which suits a scene filmed only from the front.

   In the program: turnView · to "back" → "side"

How it differs from Bow and Walk back and forth

Bow turns to the side only to bend forward, then turns back. Walk back and forth uses the same width flip to turn round at the end of each walk. Look around does nothing but turn, which makes it the clearest way to see every view of a character.

Works on

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