Observations

Whilst observing the characters lifting and passing objects to one another I found in most cases the characters mirror each others foot movements, shifting weight onto front foot they also mirror their body angles usually at a slight twist. This would be the same if were to draw the characters, if they didn't twist upper bodies whilst lifting they would look robotic.

Sketches 2

in this pose the character's weight is shifting from right to left foot before lifting 

this pose is interesting because the characters are mirroring each others movements particularly their legs and by twisting upper bodies

this pose is similar to the first character that lifted the chair from this position, weight is shifted onto her left foot and her body is slightly twisted as she lifts the chair

Sketches

Just some sketches I did from one of the videos (the ladder carrying one) to illustrate some of the points I made:

This (sort of) illustrates the shift in who was taking more of the weight of the ladder, depending on what they were trying to do with it. The person at the front takes more of the weight when carrying it in a straight line, as they lead the front end, whereas when they want to set it up vertically, the person at the back takes more of the weight to push the bottom of the ladder down, bringing the top up. 

     

 in this example 2 people help each other to carry a heavy shack of chairs to place on a table they interact though the shifting of weight between them and the chairs and when the descover they cant do the task they wanted they react acordingly.

 

in this example of character interaction one form of interaction is shown when the second character has to dodge the ladder, reacting when the first character makes it hard for him to keep walking on his way. another form of interaction is shown when he then trys to help her and togeather they share the weight of the ladder which also steadys the object and makes the movement to the end of the room faster.

Research on Action Analysis

Below are some videos we took to illustrate character interaction involving shared carrying of heavy objects and passing them from one height to another. 

                                      

                                     

The above video features two people carrying a long, heavy object. They have to angle themselves at either end so as to balance the ladder between. This shift in the centre of gravity of the ladder prevents either end from dragging on the floor. The balance of the weight between the two of them also allows them to use only one hand to carry an object that would normally require two.

During the walk into the room, the person at the front seems to be carrying more of the weight, whilst also leading the person at the back, who is just there to keep the balance.

When they reach the wall, however, and open up the ladder, they have to use two hands as they are angling the ladder vertically, which requires more effort as the length of it means it is difficult to manoeuvre. The person at the back takes the lead this time, taking more of the weight of the ladder and placing it firmly on the ground, while the person at the front just acts as a counterbalance for the weight of the top of the ladder. 

When one of them starts to climb the ladder, the other holds on to keep it steady, again like a counterbalance, as the added weight on the top of the ladder shifts its centre of gravity and makes it more prone to toppling over.

In the above video, two people are unstacking chairs. The person unstacking the chairs has to change their hand positions several times, in order to get a good grip on the chairs so they can be lifted high enough to clear the stack. The resistance from being "stuck" to the other chairs also makes them harder to lift when on the stack. Individually, the chairs are easy to carry and can be quite carelessly handed between two people, as can be seen when the first person passes the chairs to the other.
When the first person finds it harder to unstack the chairs, as they are too tightly stacked and start to lose balance when the top is lifted, the other person steps in to hold the rest down, acting as a counterbalance, allowing the top chair to become free without toppling the whole stack. (which would cause pain and/or a loud noise, neither of which tired animation students can handle....)

Again, this shows how individually the chairs can be carried by one person, and easily passed between two people. When the stack of chairs needs lifting, however, the two people have to work together, each lifting from opposite sides. They both have different grips, suggesting that one is carrying more of the load than the other. 

         

exploring how one might put a box on a shelf......