The relationship animation has regarding memory, trauma, and nostalgia are all aspects that can be looked into in further depth. The subconscious understanding an individual has of the “fakeness” regarding the animated picture and understanding the human craftsman behind each shot breaks the barrier between media and real life. This empathises the essence of human manipulation, especially regarding stop motion, which is reminiscent of that of childhood playtime with toys (Walden, 2019: 82). Particularly accentuating this is the Pixar film “Toy Story” (Lasseter, 1995) as it gives the viewers the perceptual understanding that what they are perceiving is graphically produced in its stylised manner. It brings forward the real-world human association with todays and childhood that build a sense of nostalgia in the viewer. Another film that aids this aesthetically is Coraline (Selick, 2009). The toy-like perceptions and signs assist the overall context of the film, with a lot of the themes revolving around childhood and playtime. Aesthetically it is also worth mentioning that this nostalgic essence of design does not work as effectively with computer-generated hyper-realism due to phenomenons such as Masahiro Moris’ Uncanny Valley’, as this causes viewers feelings of discomfort in a way that affects memory and trauma theorised by Freud to remind a viewer of their own repressed childhood traumatic events (2003).
McLuhan’s understanding media (1987) delves into the idea that media can act as an extension of the human experience, thereby making individual experiences associative with the stories that they consume (McLuhan in Walden, 2019). Walden mentions the work of Alison Landsburg and how her argument states that media serves as a “prosthetic” that coaxes viewers into experiencing an extent of the emotional and bodily reactions and history displayed on the screen that they have never engaged with on a personal level (2019:82). Interestingly, the psychological and emotional impact that media (like animation) seems to partake in society is interesting. It is something I would potentially investigate further as a potential research project. Media proposes a never-ending loop of raising expectations of life while simultaneously providing comfort for those who feel their lives are lacking, highlighting success as a medium of entertainment.
In its relation to the animated documentary, it has been mentioned how animation has the ability to “emphasise subjective reality” and allows exploration of the movement and reactions of historical events not able to be represented through photographic imagery (Walden, 2019:83). The portrayal of historical accounts through animation from the perspective of a group of people can be portrayed in a light that might not be historically possible to provide photographically ( for example, manipulated and controlled imagery from the holocaust) (Walden, 2019). Using animation as a tool to assist documentary film can highlight the formation of memories from the “Organic and the non-organic, the past and the present for the future” (Walden, 2019: 84). Creating and understanding visually to a viewer the specific context of an event in time and reality. This prevalence can help underline the potential significance of the animated documentary as a medium, despite its controversy of not portraying real life. An example Walden provides to illustrate this point further is ‘abductees’ (Vesters, 1994), as animated imagery depicts things that are not possible in live-action, such as people accounts of alien abduction.
Fig 1: Vesters. 1994. Abductees
Paul Vester, interested in untutored and’ technically bad’ art, found a certain beauty in them that is reflective in Abductees styles (Kitson, 2008). The different animators used to differentiate the abductees’ stories are also based on `illustrations done by the abductees themselves, who are all just ‘ordinary’ non artistically trained citizens (Kitson, 2008). As Hodgson (one of the Animators visualising the stories) mentions:
“The idea that a memory is not a solid thing, but something that changes over time could be visualised with subtle multilayering of slightly different versions of the same information” (Hodgson in Kitson, 2008, p. 154)
The intentionality behind the animation insinuates how controlled and stylistic aspects of experience can be presented at times even more accurately than live-action, especially in the instance of claimed alien abductions.
List of Figures-
.VESTER, Paul. 1994 [Film Still]. Abductees. United Kingdom: speedy films.
Bibliography-
.KITSON, C. 2008. “British Animation: The Channel 4 Factor”. Indiana: Indiana University Press. Pp-152-156.
.WALDEN, G, V. 2019. “Animation and Memory” in “The Animated Studies Reader“. Edited by Nichola Dobon, Abbavekke Honess Roe, Amy Ratelle and Caroline Ruddell. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc.
In an attempt to enrich my understanding of body mechanics and the blocking animation process in Maya, I have referred to the work of Alessandro Comporota, who outlines the importance of each step in the blocking process. He accentuates that getting the timing and dynamic posing right is essential to creating good and clean animation.
Using Maya to colour code the keyframes (red) versus the in-betweens and breakdown keys (green), I blocked out the mainframes of the animation using the reference footage. This helps prioritise the primary key poses versus those in support of them.
Blocking Phase
First Spline Pass and Improvement Comments
Doing the first spline pass, I learned a lot about converting stepped tangents into spline tangents and the process of cleaning the different arcs. Utilising this time to learn about the various uses of the tangents, for example, stepped, clamped, flat and linear. Below it is apparent that the curves (in this case, the waist rotation) were very messy and was causing it to have a slightly unnatural look in the viewport.
After using the tangent handles to tidy and create a clean arc of motion, I made use of the flat tangent to stabilise the movement of the following keyframes, which “automatically puts an ease-out and ease-in on a key” but never overshoots the motion (Roy, 2014, P.49). Due to the placement being after the direction change of the curve (after he sits down), the motion needed to remain still, and this tangent proved most effective.
After gaining feedback on my animation from class, I was made aware that the back arches much too extensively appear broken, and the fingers did not portray the weight of his body pressing down.
Making use of Mayas Grease Pencil Tool, I highlighted the issues to make it easier to directly correlate in the viewport what needed to be changed. In reference to Roy, the grease pencil is a key tool and can be used with many applications, which help animators create strong gestural arcs reminiscent of 2D wax/ blue pencils that are easily removed (2014). These lines, married with editable motion trails, can help create strong lines of action and arcs. However, Roy makes a clear point that to make the most effective use of the grease pencil tool, a Wacom tablet is essential to create the visual gesture required, and the effect of a mouse will not be majorly beneficial. In this light, due to the lack of equipment I had at the time of animating this, I used a mouse to give myself an indication of the areas I needed to fix (such as the overly curved back and circling the weight suggestion in the hands, so I did not forget when caught up in the animation process. Going forward, I will obtain a drawing tablet that enables me to utilise this tool to the best of my ability for future animations.
Grease Pencil in Viewport Playblast with Grease Pencil Applied
Improved Spline and Clean Up
After taking on these suggestions, there was a visible improvement in the animation quality, and I could not quite get the IK/ FK switch to look as clean as I had intended. I could not separate the arms from duplicating for visual frame placement due to the geo model and rigging. In order to solve this, when unparenting the hand constraints from one another, I also swapped them to IK from FK, instead of when he makes contact with the chair, which has a visible ‘jolt’ effect in the hands; however, it did not look outrageously out of place as the blend parent faded in strength along with side the FK Influence. The fingers also did not have the fluidity and follow through towards the end to take them out of a ‘floaty’ CG stage. They also moved a bit too much initially, which seemed unnatural because the fingers were being held still together in a grasp. There also was not enough bend in the fingers when taking the seat, despite being an improvement from the initial block out.
Final Version
Applying all these self-critiques, I focused on finger movement and added slight details to enhance the level of realism. F r example, adding subtle facial animations such as blinks and eyebrow movements. Since a majority of facial expression is created in the uppermost regions of the face, this felt like the primary area to focus on to pass as ‘realistic’, adding hair ‘bounces’ that follow through with critical movements. Reflectively speaking, the piece of animation has elements that need refining, particularly in weight distribution. For a better future understanding, I will practise more with a range of rigs to understand IK/FK seamless switching.
References
.Roy, K., 2014. H w to cheat in Maya 2014. Abingdon: Focal Press.
During this session, I have gained knowledge in the software 3Dequalizer, learning the interface, uses and tracking devices. For this session, we learned how to track a piece of footage (in this instance a video of Camden lock) and use the 3D points to later convert into 3D space. The process requires stable and key points of the footage to be tracked across the whole timeline of the video; this includes high contrast areas and objects in the scene that do not move around a lot. A key point is to never track water, as it is very unstable and organically interchangeable. The tracking should take place across every corner of the footage in order to create a clean and non-biased tracking point to prevent the successful warping of the footage later on before the lens distortion.
Figure 1: Tracking Process in 3D Equalizer
After the tracking is complete, and there is an even spread of points, the lens points are changed to match the original camera, and the tracking is calculated in the parameter adjustments to ensure the whole track is smooth and does not have any drastic ‘glitches’ in the playback of the video. The Camera and the tracked points can then be exported, and placed in Maya where the process of scene blocking can begin.
Timeline Showcasing Potential Glitches in Track
After this process, once all of the data is calculated and cleaned, the points can be exported to be processed in Maya. The modelling stage of the matchmove can then be built up around these different tracking points.
Importing the 3D Track into Maya Figure 2: Matchmove and Scene Blocking in Maya
During this process, I built rough models using the locators as spatial reference points to map out the real scene into 3D space. In the process of adding additional details such as a railing and windows to give a clearer indication of the objects for potential interaction.
Figure 3: Wireframe Modelling Track
Below is the final modelled product of my track, where a 3d character can potentially be animated interacting with the live-action scene to prepare for the compositing process.
An essential part of the animation process is the collection of reference footage. It can take the animation to a level of realism or stylization that sells the performance to audiences more effectively. Kenny Roy’s How to cheat in Maya 2014 suggests that before starting an animation having a clear plan, such as thumbnails, are ideal before you start your reference footage to get a strong conveyance of performance across (2014). However, due to the simplicity of creating an animation just to work through general body mechanics, I made reference footage based on how I would generally sit down rather than add extravagant performance.
Reflecting on this video, my reference footage could be significantly improved in terms of angles and capturing speed. Going forward, it would be wiser to capture multiple angles (front, side and back) to get a clear picture of what is happening when animating in 3D space. Also, capturing footage at a higher frame rate (e.g. 60 fps) so the frames are easier to break down when importing into Maya. Watching youtube videos from Sir Wade Neistadt, I took on some advice and bought a compactable tripod to make filming from specific angles easier to achieve in future. This is also an easily portable, compactable and adjustable tripod which should greatly benefit my reference footage creation in the future when doing more intricate performances.
When recording reference footage, Kenny Roy also suggests finding many references on youtube alongside your reference footage to gather enough material to successfully get the realism and performances nuances across in your animation (2014).
Due to my physical limitations in performing advanced body mechanics, I have found several sources on youtube for potential animation tasks that could fit this criterion going forward to the next task.
The carefully crafted setting of this shot parallels that of a traditional laboratory found in a school; however, it has an inventive twist of being created for anthropomorphic animals. In the setting, subtle elements with implications of animal characters such as a canine anatomy poster in place of the traditional human version, the breakdown of layers of fur and skin, the posters detailing underground fox burrows all help add a societal reflected humoured and naturalistic world-building narrative to the scene. Creating an environment that humans are familiar with but putting a contextually understandable spin on it makes the characters inherently more relatable.
Figure 1: 2009. Anderson. Fantastic Mr Fox
The meticulously planned costumes give substantial implications about the characters using generalised and stereotypical representations from real-life media. In figure 2, you can see the larger beaver character is dressed as a typically portrayed ‘American high school bully’ with the sports jersey on him, contrasting with the smaller and weaker character dressed clean and more ‘maturely’. This also appears in reference to the standardised ‘nerd’ seen in American high school movies. Reflecting on Anderson’s intention could try to accentuate past portrayals of classicly viewed characters and abuse this to further accessorise the characters’ actions, helping the audience gain a better understanding of personality without additional context and screentime. The costumes in figure 3 highlight the age of the characters in a specific clarity and their tonal ranges. The character on the right (Ash) is wearing a pure white cape with a suit which aids the development of his character, wanting to ‘show off ‘and be the centre of attention much like a superhero. The white indicates youth and purity associated with childhood and makes him stand out from the background, illustrating how the character wishes to be seen. This also draws on his neurodivergent qualities in a visually simplistic way. The character on the left wears a classically childish dress, indicating both age and gender is style, giving her an innocent and girlish appearance.
Figure 2: 2009. Anderson. Fantastic Mr Fox
Figure 3: 2009. Anderson. Fantastic Mr Fox
While the lack of general expression in the characters features can be accredited to the limitations of the stop motion puppets, the deadpan and flat expressions of the characters (figure 4) seem to aid the blunt and straightforward humour and dialogue found throughout the scene. This can also be seen in the characters’ very square positioning and underexaggerated movements, which further accentuates this static and formal feel. In the context of the film, the adults behave like children, and the children act like adults. This scene demonstrates this through how the characters interact with calm and emotionless mannerisms typically seen in people with more emotional maturity. It can also be noted further that there is a lack of adult supervision despite the dangerous use of fire and chemicals. In figure 2, while the characters designs are different in height and width, the positioning makes the two appear as equals in conversation, showing respect and civility. This contrasts with the generalised ideals the costumes tell us about how the dynamic should appear. In figure 3, the character dynamic is more strained, subtlety faced away from one another in a way that seems timid and closed off, suggesting a distance in the relationship.
Figure 4: 2009. Anderson. Fantastic Mr Fox
The colour and tonality of Fantastic Mr fox overall seem to reference the original storybook by using bright childlike yellows as the foregrounding colour throughout the film. This could also be a homage to the original publishing date in the 1970s, which, as a period, is generally portrayed in media to have incorporated musky yellow and orange hues. This gives it a vintage effect to help further set the period. The key light on the characters in this shot is a top light, which helps set the scene further as the intended set is underground in tunnels and helps give a sense of where the sun is present. This also explains the very distinct points of light falling in specific spots, leaving most of the set in a dimness associated with the underground. The sun is also represented by the warm yellow tone that dominates all the background’s purposely lit areas. The only other noticeable lights are unnatural lights coming from the various liquids in test tubes, contradicting the top lightly with underlighting (figure 2 and 3) which helps spotlight the characters without affecting the rest of the set behind them and is reminiscent of torches.
Figure 5: 2009. Anderson. Fantastic Mr Fox
The scene shows several reoccurring shots, which help symmetrically break down the set into two different distinct conversations that feel separate yet joined simultaneously by the actions to positions of the characters. In figure 3, the way the surface on the right looks off to her left shows interaction with something/ someone offscreen that opens up the scene to more than just the confines of the table, despite the very square and isolating shot. The positioning of the characters also indicates the relationships in a very subtle way; the character ash is on the furthest point on the outside, looking away from the others, seemingly estranging himself from his classmates. As eventually shown in figure 5, the character on the furthest right of the ‘room’ is very far away from the character on the furthest left of the room, adding exemplification to their distant relationship in the film. The character on the left of the screen is making eye contact with the character on the right in the previous shot ( figure 3), indicating mutual interest between the characters and offscreen building a relationship.
The cinematography of the shot powerfully illustrates the use of ‘Planimetric composition’ and is indicated in the very static and perfectly controlled camera motions (Bordwell and Thompson, 2021). This form of distinctly flat backgrounds and symmetrical shots, paired with the artist impressions on the fur of the stop motion figures, brings forward very intentionally the artist behind the film. Adding a certain unrealistic charm to the film could add to the childlike wonder of bringing toys to life in dollhouses, helping accentuate its target audience. There are only medium close-up shots in this scene that follow a ‘compass point’ editing style, only turning at 90-degree angles each time, keeping the background flat (Bordwell and Thompson, 2021). There is only one very controlled and fast-paced pan across one of the shots, which works well timing-wise to follow the characters gaze. The control and stillness of the shots accentuate the feelings of underground isolation and compliment the ‘square’ and symmetrical aspects of the room in a way that helps set the scene.
List of Figures-
. Figure 1- ANDERSON, W. 2009 [Screenshot]. Fantastic Mr Fox. United States, United Kingdom: 20th Century Fox.
.Figure 2-ANDERSON, W. 2009 [Screenshot]. Fantastic Mr Fox. United States, United Kingdom: 20th Century Fox.
.Figure 3-ANDERSON, W. 2009 [Screenshot]. Fantastic Mr Fox. United States, United Kingdom: 20th Century Fox.
.Figure 4-ANDERSON, W. 2009 [Screenshot]. Fantastic Mr Fox. United States, United Kingdom: 20th Century Fox.
.Figure 5- ANDERSON, W. 2009 [Screenshot]. Fantastic Mr Fox. United States, United Kingdom: 20th Century Fox.
Filmography-
.ANDERSON, W. 2009 [Screenshot]. Fantastic, Mr Fox. United States, United Kingdom: 20th Century Fox.
Bibliography-
.Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K., 2021. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL: Wes Anderson takes the 4:3 challenge. [online] Observations on film art. Available at: <http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2014/03/26/the-grand-budapest-hotel-wes-anderson-takes-the-43-challenge/> [Accessed 1 November 2021].
Mise-en-Scene in a frame from Anamalisa (2016)
Figure 1. Kaufman and Johnson. 2015. Anomalisa
The frame exhibits information about the characters’ relationship, with subtleties of their personality shining through the set props. Initially, the hotel room setting indicates a potential romantic relationship between the two characters, especially in the instance of sharing a bed. The slippers and slightly messed up/ used bed reveal a messier and potentially more unkempt nature. This contrasts with the clean, perfectly in order and tidy side of the bed, giving implications of a more put-together character. However, the uneven amount of possessions in the scene insinuate that the room is only being used by the character on the left and usually is alone when going to sleep, hence why the other side of the room is immaculately unused in appearance. The facial expressions emit a feeling of contemplative melancholia; they are earnest and give the impression that the scene’s topic (or complete silence) is quite heavy in subject manner. The way the character on the right is hugging herself and closing in on herself makes her appear shy and insecure. While the man on the left is slightly contradictory in body language and seems more relaxed and open than the woman, the way his arm closes in on his left, seemingly intentionally not touching the woman, indicates a slight strain/ distance in their relationship. The lighting in the scene is dim and slightly hazy, not starkly illuminating anything that exemplifies a monotonous atmosphere. Giving prominence to this is the dull and desaturated colour scheme, which, while inherently shades like brown are warm in tonality, appear cool and flat. A feeling of ‘coldness’ is also evinced in the lack of personal items and ample spacing between furniture. Additional realism is created by this unvaried environment, as it accentuates a dullness reminiscent of an actual dimly lit and old hotel. The high angled shot gives a very symmetrical and flat view of the scene, only adding to its general monotony. The central positioning of the characters draws stark attention to them, and the dullness of the colour scheme and the lack of objects around them only bring them out further.
List of figures-
.KAUFMAN, C and JOHNSON, D. 2015 [Screenshot]. Anomalisa. United States, United Kingdom: Paramount Animation.
Filmography-
.KAUFMAN, C and JOHNSON, D. 2015 [Film]. Anomalisa. United States, United Kingdom: Paramount Animation.
Relationship and Mise-en-scene in Rebecca (1940)
Figure 1. Hitchcock. 1940. Rebecca
The implication of the relationship between the two characters in this scene from Rebecca (1940) that the mise-en-scene presents is distant and unequal in power. Throughout the scene, the characters maintain a set distance from one another, the younger girl seemingly uncomfortable in her presence and moving a safe space away. She always knows where the other is located. The positioning of the characters indicates that of a power dynamic; the lady dressed in black often stalks over the younger girl and glares at her without often breaking contact (figure 2). The symbolic colour value contrast of the white and black costumes pays into the stereotypical Good vs evil, angel vs devil ideals ingrained in media portrayal. This in itself foreshadows potential future conflict between the two. The innocence of the younger girl is also accentuated in the flowers detailed on her dress. The stiff and controlled posture of the older woman shows signs of pretension and arrogance paired with a deadly sort of grace, giving her an air of importance. In addition to this, the camera appears to follow her around the scene, rather than the younger woman, giving further implications of dominance.
The younger woman fiddles and moves around a lot, contrasting with the elegant stillness of the other, highlighting a sense of nervousness and lack of emotional control. She portrays her actions in a very self-conscious manner and seems to constantly look back and forth from the other lady, almost as if seeking approval. This brings into light an unhealthy, practically mother-daughter relationship. The dreary rain outside the window sets in a tone of isolation that encloses the conversation in a way that makes it more private and uneasy, heightening the sense of threat. The lighting is quite strong and casts shadows that distort and elongate the vases of flowers and foliage outside, which presents an eerie and unsettling feeling to the room that is supposed to be comfortable. Overall the scene succeeds in creating a strained and uncomfortable relationship between the two women.
List of figures-
.HITCHCOCK, A. 1940.[Screenshot]. Rebecca. United States: Selznick International Pictures
Filmography
. Rebecca. 1940. [film] Directed by A. Hitchcock. United States: Selznick International Pictures.
Mise-en-scène breakdown from Breadwinner (2017)
Figure 1- Twomey. 2017. The Breadwinner
The shot in its appearance seems to be a medium close up, giving solid details of the characters faces and upper bodies while also giving screen space to the environment they are placed in. The camera’s angle appears to be at eye level, which builds a connection between the main character on the screen and the audience. Positioned in the dead centre of the frame is the main character, making them the very apparent centre of attention. The character is wearing a bright pink girlish headscarf, which helps the audience understand their cultural and geographical setting (for example, an Arabic/ Islamic country). The bright pink draws the viewers’ attention and indicates girlish femininity and brightness to the character, making them appear innocent and childlike; the colour contrast implies they are brighter than their surrounding world. Displaying a deep depth of field helps further to build the surrounding world. Predominately featured in the background are the backs of people’s heads, which the lack of facial expression creates a sense of isolation for our character. The one other face in focus suggests a mild threat which coincides with the central characters nervous and worried posture and facial expressions, especially in the case the direction of her eyes draw you to the right of the screen. The frame’s colour tones are generally warm, which gives implications of a country/ word; this place has hot weather, supported by the natural lighting that is dominant in the scene’s background. There is key lighting on the main character, which illuminates the colour tones of their outfit, increasing the effects on singularity and identification. Contrasting with the characters expression, the overall background combined with tone and lighting feels warm and homely, aiding the context of the character’s environment and perhaps interacts with regularly.
List of Figures-
. TWOMEY, N. 2017. [Screenshot]. The Breadwinner. Ireland, Canada, United States, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, France: Aircraft Pictures, Cartoon Saloon, Melusine Productions.
Filmography-
.TWOMEY, N. 2017. [Film]. The Breadwinner. Ireland, Canada, United States, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, France: Aircraft Pictures, Cartoon Saloon, Melusine Productions.
Animation and film media can provide a platform for powerful messages and images entering public consciousness. This is primarily apparent in advertisement and product placement but can be more subtle in political persuasion.
Animation and political statement
Joanne Quinn’s “Britannia” is a prime and clear example of a political opinion being expressed through animation, using clear and striking visual references to illustrate this point. For example in figure 1, you can see how she has drawn the dog’s ‘blanket’ over sections of the UK to mark its ‘territory’ which stipulates an interesting point about old and modern British society.
Figure `1: 1994. Quinn. Britannia
Manipulating the technique called ‘Pixillation’ Mclaren perfects and creates a creative expression of the cause and chaos of warfare in the domesticated setting, making it more relatable to the casual viewer. Pixillation in essence is the application of stop motion animation to live-action actors. This is reminiscent of George mielies approach to filmmaking, in which the camera was used in a ‘stop motion- esc’ way to create illusionary magic (Russet and Starr,1976). The simplistic but effective story of these two neighbours fighting over territory and a single flower is heightened with the use of this technique as it adds a playful and blunt atmosphere to the piece; exemplifying and mocking the pointlessness/ childishness of warfare and selfishness. This can also be seen in the ‘cartoon’ stylisation size of the props around them.
Figure 2: 1952. McLaren. Neighbours
An older and more historic form of political influence through animation is world war two animated propaganda, taking prime example is ‘Tokio Jokio’ which is a looney tunes cartoon from 1943 which mocks and depersonalises Japanese people. The inherent racial biases at the root of this cartoon, indicate how the American media wanted their wartime enemies to be portrayed in a way that would even be suitable for children to laugh and treat with disdain. As seen in figure 3, the stereotypes of Japanese people have been characterised as an almost ‘bugs-bunny-esc’ figure, further insinuating the ‘animalistic’ actions of the characters. Wartime animated propaganda is a broad topic that can be researched further for animation centred around politics.
Figure 3: Tokio Jokio. 1943. McCabe
Animated Documentary
The animated documentary can be argued in the validity of its portrayal of factual information, however, its narrative capabilities can in instances, succeed that of the live-action. In cases such as ‘Waltz with Bashir’ (Folman, 2008) and Tower (Maitland, 2016) this help visually displays traumatic events without the use of realistic and lifelike actors in their recreations, helping illustrate the severity and emotional process behind distressing events.
Figure 4: Folman. 2008. Waltz With Bashir
The animated documentary can also help convey more vague and artistic impressions of real-life events. For example, the animated documentary “Ryan” (Landreth, 2004), expresses in a strikingly visual way the mental and emotional degradation of the animation Ryan Larkin, with interesting techniques of modelling which make the characters appear to have ‘glitches’ (figure 5). The technologically aesthetic issues only help to accentuate the 3D medium they are created in and give a clear visual indicator of a character’s wellbeing and mood in a shot. This is unique to the animated medium, which executes storytelling even in the factual realms.
Figure 5: Landreth. 2004. Ryan
The consumption of media historically to the present day is overwhelming, and the power advertisements, political stances and certain ideologies that can be channelled through animation are authoritative. Generalising the genre and thinking about its stereotypical target audience of children, the conscious and subconscious ‘brainwashing’ that can occur from a young age is taken into serious consideration. Even as present as 2010, Western animation projects racial stereotypes in mocking and seemingly harmless ways that create impressions on children of the presentation of other cultures. In particularly the episode “Summer belongs to you” (Povenmire and Marsh, 2010) of Phineas and Ferb, they travel around the world showcasing stereotypes from all corners of the globe. In particular, the presentation of Asian cultures is quite poor, as the Indians own a rubber band factory and test the stretchiness of the bands by Bollywood dancing. When they visit Japan, they overaccentuate the stereotypes, for example, banging gongs, making all the characters appear the same e.t.c. there are parallels in these representations much like the ones in ‘Tokio Jokio” (MaCabe, 1943). The appearance of cultures is an interesting and important topic in animation that could be researched in further depth for a thesis topic.
Figure 6: Povenmire and Hughes. 2010. Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs to you!
Figure 7: Povenmire and Hughes. 2010. Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs to you!
Advertisement and consumerism are also large aspects of media portrayal, and inherently aid the sales and business prospects of companies. A prime example of an advertisement with damaging effects is this flintstone animated advertisement from 1960 (Hanna and Barbera), promoting Winstons cigarettes (figure 8). While contextually people around this age were not aware of the serious health effects caused by cigarettes, it is apparent that the inclusion of loveable, children’s animated characters advertising such a product inherently had harmful effects. The product placement in television shows with a large age range in suitability can only increase its sales, highlighting controversial and immortal business tactics.
Figure 8: Hanna and Barbera. 1960. The Flintstones Smoking Commercial
The topics surrounding ideology, advertisement and political standpoints in media and, more specifically, animation pose an interesting prospect for further research and thesis topics.
List of Figures-
Figure 1- QUINN, J (1993). [Screenshot]. Britannia. United Kingdom: Channel 4 Television Corporation.
Figure 2- MACLAREN, N (1952). [Screenshot]. Neighbours. Canada: National Film Board of Canada.
Figure 3- MCABE, N (1943). [Screenshot]. Tokio Jokio. United States: Leon Schlesinger Studios.
Figure 4- FOLMAN, A (2008). [Screenshot]. Waltz with Bashir. Isreal, France, Germany, United States, Finland, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia: Bridgit Folman Film Gang, Les Films d’lci, Razor Films Produktion GMBH.
Figure 5- LANDRETH, C (2004). [Screenshot]. Ryan. Canada: Copperheart Entertainment, Nation Film Board of Canada, Seneca College.
Figure 6- POVENMIRE, D and HUGHES, R (2010). [Screenshot]. Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs to you!. United States: Disney Television Animation.
Figure 7- POVENMIRE, D and HUGHES, R (2010). [Screenshot]. Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs to you!. United States: Disney Television Animation.
Figure 8- BARBERA, J and HANNA, W (1960). [Screenshot]. The Flinstones Winston Cigarette Commercial 1. United States: Hanna-Barbera prodcutions.
Bibliography
.RUSSET, R and STARR, C. 1976. Experimental Animation: An Illustrated Anthology. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Page 125.
The hegemony that Disney exert over the animation industry has set an overlaying expectation from audience members a generalised standard of animation. This stereotype includes the hyperreal smooth animation, partnered with a very cinematic style of ‘Hollywood’ editing that follows a classically American format. This, in essence, is the “classical narrative system which enables a story to be narrated with the least possible disruption and disorientation to the viewer” (Orpen, 2003,p.16). As the ‘Controlling editor’ (Allan in Wells, 2002, p.19), Disney’s impact has echoed through over 70 years of animated films, an example being ‘the Iron Giant’ (Bird, 1999), which throughout the piece follows a very conventional Hollywood structure in the shot progression. While expressing the movie’s imitated aesthetic and kinesthetic aspects, it also shows a similar methodology to live-action cinematography. In Figure 1, a straightforward, concise story is being told with a purely visual narrative that also conveys elements of the characteristics of the robot. The shot, cut, and reaction are reminiscent of clear, simple, and effective continuity editing seen in Disney movies since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Cotrell, Hand and Jackson, 1937).
Figure 1: Bird. 1999. The Iron Giant
Studios prevalent around the formation of Disney in the 1920s/1930s included the Fleischer brothers studios, who maintained their own strong east coast grittiness and aesthetic to their plots and character designs and had very similar aesthetic qualities to the editing. This may be attributed to the fact that they were both using the same technology and had little basis for what a publically well-received animated picture could be. One of the dominant similarities is the familiar opening title cards that are heavily applied in a majority of all animations and Disney in the late 1920s to 1930s. While historically built upon by Melies early use of title cards, that is reminiscent of handwritten letters. In figure 3, the intense lights imply skylights or spotlights associated with the cinema, where these cartoons would have been initially shown. This influence is shown in figure 2, making a direct reference to the early theatre and playing well on the location of the projection, also highlighting the potential impact from early mickey mouse cartoons.
Figure 2: Fleichser and Waldman. 1934. Betty Boop’s Little Pal
Figure 3:Terry. 1929. The Black Duck
The early Disney short ‘Haunted house” in 1929 incorporated the sound editing present in ‘Steamboat Willie’ (1928) and used visuals to imply sounds (e.g. skeleton ribs being used as a Xylophone). While with the seeming intention to mimic and parody this, Fleischer created Swing you Sinners! (1930 ), which incorporates many elements present in Haunted house. While visually, there is an obvious similarity, the editing styles are also reminiscent of each other. Both follow the main character running towards the right of the screen, away from haunted creatures, and each shot lasts a very similar amount of time, showing the relatively fast-paced progression of action. Influence is also reminiscent of sound editing. Fleichsers seems to use the auditory association with early Disneys’ silly symphony’ Esc sounds found in ‘The Haunted House‘ (Disney, 1929) to create clarity in their own work.
Figure 4: Fleischer and Sears. 1930.Swing you Sinners!
Figure 5:Disney and King. 1929. The Haunted House
Contrary to conventional Hollywood editing methods, ‘Belladonna of Sadness’ (Yamamoto, 1973) illustrated uncustomary juxtaposing shots that give vague impressions of spatial editing and linger on frames for extended periods in various places. While there are parallels in the slow, minimal movement ‘camera’ motions that imitate early Disney establishing environment shots (produced by Eyvind Earle) seen in ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (Geronimi et al., 1959), the entire ending scene of Belladonna of Sadness (Yamamoto, 1973) uses this even in moments of action and violence, shaking the ‘camera’ to simulate emotions of anger in still drawings. In the limited style of editing, It seems to force a viewer to contemplate a single, still frame rather than aid the conventional flow of storytelling evocative of real life. This dissonance ‘disobeys’ and seems to intentionally separate itself from the ‘Disney effect’, especially apparent in its eastern origins.
Figure 6: Geronimi. 1959. Sleeping Beauty
Figure 7: Yamamoto. 1973. The Belladonna of Sadness
Figure 8: Yamamoto. 1973. Belladonna of Sadness
Animation as a film medium is not bound to the rules and artistic limitations of live-action. Paul Wells states that Disney’s pursuit for “hyper-realism seems to fundamentally refute the intrinsic vocabulary of the form, that is, the ability to challenge the parameters of live-action illusion-ism” (2002, p.9). These rule-defying animation elements can be considered’ disruptive’ from forms of standardized classical narrative progression. Films such as “Duck Amuck” (Jones, 1953) encapsulate the creative freedom animation can procure, doing so by constantly and rapidly changing the environment and situations of the character ‘Daffy Duck’. This film, in particular, highlights the Animator’s presence and, in essence, breaks the ‘wall’ between the medium and the creator. Cinematically ‘Disruptive’ transitions unique to animation, such as metamorphosis, are shown in the animated documentary I Like Life a Lot (Macskassy, 1977). The striking aesthetic differences between shots also enhance the disrupt-ability of animation, reminding viewers of childlike drawings rather than fluid and realistic animation. This grounds the piece into the real world, further adds sympathy to the issues addressed, and creates a visual representation of the children’s voices, further amplifying their innocence.
Un Point, C’est Tout (1986) by Claude Rocher provides an exciting corroboration of the creativity animation can manifest in ‘disruptive’ methodologies. Its “mock-philosophic account of the visual orthodoxies” present in classical western films integrate illusionary graphics that play with the perspective of the shots (Wells, 2002, p.7). Elements such as the sun flipping to reveal its 2D nature as the character looks away to showcase the world bending rules animation can easily achieve within its aesthetic narrative compared to its live-action counterpart.
List of figures-
Figure 1- BIRD, B. 1999 [Film Still]. The Iron Giant. United States: Warner Brothers Animation.
Figure 2- Fleischer, M and WALDMAN, M. 1934 [Film Still]. Betty Boop’s Little Pal. United States: Fleischer Studios.
Figure 3- TERRY, P. 1929 [Film Still]. The Black Duck. United States: Aesop’s Fables Studio.
Figure 4- FLEISCHER, D and SEARS, T. 1930 [Film Still]. Swing You Sinners!. United States: Fleischer Studios.
Figure 5- DISNEY, W and KING, J. 1929 [Film Still]. The Haunted House. United States: Walt Disney Productions.
Figure 6- GERONIMI, C. 1959 [Film Still]. Sleeping Beauty. United States: Walt Disney Animation Studio. Walt Disney Productions.
Figure 7- YAMAMOTO, E. 1973 [Film Still]. Belladonna of Sadness. Japan: SpectreVision, Mushi, Nippon Herald Films.
Figure 8- YAMAMOTO, E. 1973 [Film Still]. Belladonna of Sadness. Japan: SpectreVision, Mushi, Nippon Herald Films.
Bibliography-
WELLS, P. 2002. Animation Genre and Authorship. Hampstead, London: Wallflower Press.
ORPEN, V. 2003. Film Editing: The Art of the Expressive. London: Wallflower Press.
Initially taking into account the diversity and potential of the Walk Cycle, it is a vital part of animation to learn to do effectively at first without excessive amounts of character and embellishment. Taking reference from Richard Williams, the key poses of the basic walk cycle are as follows –
Fig. 1: Walk Cycle Demonstration by Richard Williams
Looking at this, the basic walk cycle has 5 key poses to achieve a realistic movement. When beginning my animation, I referred to the ‘Animators Survival Kit’ (Williams, 2009) to get the key poses.
Blocking Stage
During this stage, the blocking emanated key poses referencing Richard Williams’ method and trying to think about details such as ‘flops’ in the feet that add a kind of ‘silly’ charm to them when slightly overaccentuated. Bearing in mind the real-life centre of gravity that takes affects the ‘swaying’ and side to side motion of human walking that conveys weight at this stage.
Fig. 2:Walk Cycle Blocking
Cleanup
When going through the process of cleaning curves, turning on pre and post infinity cycles will continuously loop the animation and help see more clearly, errors in the graph editor. This is the stage where I cleaned and polished issues and unnecessary keys, creating cleaner arcs by manipulating different handles and tangents.
Fig. 4: pre and post infinity curves
Fig. 5: Cleaning Curves
After cleaning, and the addition of squash and stretch, I animated the walk cycle to begin to walk forward in 3D space. Using locators to mark the position of the feet, I moved the body forward and lined the feet up with the locators every time the foot left/joined the ground. Using a clamped tangent too help keep the foot grounded and prevent as much slipping as possible to keep this clean.
Fig.6: Using Locators to Mark Foot Placement
Preventing knee clipping as much as I could on the piece of animation, I used the body and rotation on the foot to minimise drastic movements in the knees and tried to keep it as steady as possible. In the case of a more complex motion and rig, this solution may not prove as effective, however, and may need to be changed by editing aspects of the rig (e.g. making an individual knee controller).
Fig. 7: Preventing Knee ‘Popping’
Finished Result
Adding more characteristic details such as the movement of the moustache and changing the character’s colours gave them more appeal in the finished result. As a final product, the walk seems to emanate a happier, more bouncy emotion behind it, which in future I could expand on by honing down on the character in a more complex rig.
References
Williams, R., 2009. The Animators Survival Kit. Faber.
Incorporating a tail to the animated ball bounce requires thought out follow through and well-planned timing.
In-Class Exercise
In class, we had to use motion trails to create a smooth arc and with added squash and stretch and follow through on the tail, considering its three key sections and their different timings. Looking at the realistic movement of a tail, I used the reference of a squirrel to see how the tail would effectively follow a small jumping body and exaggerate it.
Below is the finished task, which I feel has successfully created a clean follow through with the tail, however, the bouncing itself is quite violent and the timing could be worked on to create a more effective and natural-looking piece of animation.
Fig 2. Finished in Class exercise
Stepping Stones (Extended)
Expanding on from the initial in-class exercise I wanted to create a more creative and challenging version of a ‘staircase’ animation, adding a more playful essence that allowed me to think more about the tails reaction to the involuntary movement (such as the platform hovering like a lift). Looking into different ways, I could approach a more appropriate follow-through method. I used the dope sheet to offset the different movement timings, which was visually easier to manipulate than the graph editor in this instance.
Fig 3. Dope sheet Use
Reflecting on the final product I think that once again I achieved a realistic follow through on the tail, which seems to correspond to the environment in the most practical way I could achieve. However, the last bounce of this sequence lacks the weight of realism, and in an attempt to add character and charm to the fox, I seem to have missed an element of realism. Going forward, I will focus in more detail on the weight and balance of the character.
Fig. 4. Finished extended version of Stepping Stone Bounce
Final Version (with Rendering)
Using newly learned rendering techniques, I used an Arnold global light source with added directional lights to make prominent reflective surfaces that make the ‘fox’ stand out against the background to make the movements clearer rather than blending into the plain background. For future rendering areas, I could incorporate ‘360’ environments that can be used with the Arnold globe. In accordance with The VES Handbook of Visual Effects (Okun et al, 2021), HDRI and chrome balls can be used to capture light sources that help match CGI objects with real live-action footage, generally with a grey matte side which helps capture light sources on non-reflective objects simultaneously. These images can then be imported into Maya, and prove interesting to perhaps keep in mind for potential CGI live-action projects in future.
Example of Chrome Ball
Final reflection
Making reference to Richard Willaims discussing the portrayal of weight, in animation, after discussing with Milt Kahl that to effectively convey the illusion of weight, you have to understand where the weight is at any point in the animation (2009,p.256). Taking the grease pencil tool that I made use of in the process of later energy, I went back and made an indication of where the weight would be present in the ball at every frame, and where it would be transferring, to help me assess retrospectively where I faltered at specific points to make better progression in future. For example, towards the end of the animation, I give the conveyance of weight impact before the ‘ball’ even makes contact with a surface, which takes away from the realistic effects of the performance. The grease pencil tool, and software such as Sync Sketch, will become essential parts of my workflow going forward into next term.
References
Okun, J., Zwerman, S., McKittrick, C. and Sepp-Wilson, L., n.d. The VES handbook of visual effects. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge.
WILLIAMS, R., 2009. The animator’s survival kit. London: Faber and Faber, p.214- P.282.
Taking the previous week’s ball bounce a step further and creating an obstacle course for the ball to navigate proved a challenge that helped push my understanding of 3D space to a better level. Initially setting up the intended path in 3D space and creating a layout that would test me but not prove intensely difficult, I decided to add a ‘diving board’. The ball would add the principle of appeal and show character. Bouncing off the board falling downwards to help further my understanding of the effect on gravity. My intention was to create the feel of an ‘Olympic acrobat’ navigating these different objects fluently and confidently.
Drawing a plan for these, I used 2D drawing software to get the rough keyframes down and get an idea of the general performance across when going forward to animate, so I had a clear picture of where to begin. Retrospectively looking at my plan, I feel that while it blocks out the key concepts, the drawings themselves do not accurately reflect the intended motion, especially in retaining volume and timing and spacing. Going forward, I plan to improve my 2D drawing abilities alongside my 3D planning in order to create compelling planning thumbnails for characters and apply the elements of 2D animation (perhaps in TV Paint) to practise good time efficient workflows and get a good understanding of the industry workflows.
Looking at the finished version, while I think some areas were successful for a first attempt, such as aspects of the timing, spacing, squash and stretch, there are certain elements to reflect upon. At the start, I feel more weight could have been conveyed in the amount of pressure applied to the diving board initially, especially as it did not match the amount of squash and stretch applied to the ball. Also, considering Kenny Roys techniques and applying techniques from class, I improved the arc at the end to appear less dramatic and drop, as it seems to slightly change the course of direction like it is being pulled down by a magnet. The motion trail directly affects the curves in the graph editor and is editable directly in the viewport, indicating issues around any access keyframes and unordinary shapes of movement (Roy, 2014).
Researching rendering techniques, I looked into using the Arnold renderer, which required changing the materials of the obstacle course objects from lamberts to Ai standard surfaces, so they could show reflective surfaces and indicate the shade of the directional light. I add two directional lights, making one a shade of purple to match the objects’ colour scheme. After this, I added additional motion blur to heighten the feel of realism to the ball’s movements, but not so extensively. It took away from the prominent effect of the bounces.
References
Roy, K., 2014. How to cheat in Maya 2014. Abingdon: Focal Press, pp.104-105
