2.5 FOLLOW THROUGH AND OVERLAPPING ACTION
Just as the anticipation is the preparation of an action,follow through is the termination of an action. Actions very rarely come to a sudden and complete stop, but are generally carried past their termination point. For example, a hand, after releasing a thrown ball, continues past the actual point of release. In the movement of any object or figure, the actions of the parts are not simultaneous: some part must initiate the move, like the engine of a main. This is called the lead. In walking, the action starts with the hips. As the hip swings forward, it sets a leg in motion. The hip "leads", the leg "follows." As the hip twists, the torso follows, then the shoulder, the arm, the wrist, and finally the fingers. Although most large body actions start in the hips, the wrist will lead the fingers in a hand gestoxe, and the eyes will usually lead the head in an action. [12]
Appendages or loose parts of a character or object will move at a slower speed and "drag" behind the leading part of the figure. Then as the leading part of the figure slows to a stop, these appeftdages will continue to move and will take longer to settle down. As with squash and streteh, the objects mass is shown in the way the object slows down. The degree that the appendages drag behind and the time it takes for them to stop is directly proportional to their weight. The heavier they are the farther behind they drag and the longer they take to settle to a stop. Conversely, if they are lighter, they will drag less and stop more quickly.
In The Adventures of Andre and Watly B., this principle was used extensively on Wally B.'s feet, antennae and stinger. They all dragged behind his head and body, and continued to move well after the body had stopped. To convey that these loose appendages were made of different materials and different masses, the rate of the follow through was different for each type. His antennae were fairly light, so they dragged behind just slightly. His stinger was like stainless steel, so it dragged behind the action more than the antennae. And his feet were heavy and very flexible, as though they were water balloons; therefore, they always followed far behind the main action with a lot of squash and stretch. In the zip off illustrated above (figure 5), the action of Wally B.'s body was so fast and the feet weighed so much that they dragged far behind. They were even left on screen frames after the body had disappeared.