Beauty coming back

So, I have seen that the movie Beauty and the Beast is coming back to theaters this year in an effort to inspire another generation of little girls to dance, wear dresses, and act like the princesses they should....will the princess movies ever end? I think not, while they seem to inspire a false image of womanhood they have also fostered themselves as a valuable money making characterization in animation. The new Frog and the Prince (2009) is no exception to the rule. Like so many other movies before it found a niche audience in parents who can't say no to their kids who want to see the barbie like figure--not that the parents are to blame, if they were to deny the child the movies they wanted to see that would only create a multitude of other problems.
In reality it is a product of more than just the movies, it is a full industry effort to perpetuate the stereotypes of "princess beauty". Barbie has been the classic image of the princess stereotype and I have found our recently that there are even Barbie movies. I know this because I was visiting my girlfriends family, who have two little girls (5 and 7). These little girls were far, far too excited for the new barbie movies that were being advertised in the local Toys 'R' Us advertisement. I could do nothing but sigh at their excitement...I guess it's what they like.
This is why a premium is placed on kids movies like Up (2010) that celebrate diversity and don't rely on a lot of stereotypes to create their characters. The perspectives allow the child to see more diversity in movies and can relate this to their own lives--and children will become more accepting of everyone.

A history in rocks

So, it has been a busy week and I have been collecting up items for my stop motion. I have been painting rocks with all the varying colors of the rainbow...or every ethnicity. I am doing a "History of Rocks" which will conical the control struggle in the United States throughout history.
I don't think animation has given history it's proper due, our history is what gives us such good stories to tell...if fact, history is the best story of all.
My approach is a bit obscure, I will be using rocks and an outline of a city to illustrate the history of the US. I am going to do it in my basement with my Canon Rebel, but have ran into some lighting problems--I cant keep the light the same throughout the whole production...should I just do it at night?
For the audio I will be using a series of ping-pong ball noises on various objects, mixed in to be the back audio. I as also thinking of using other surface noises, like water drops and screeching glass...any other suggestions?

Pixarmation

I saw some documentary on Pixar a couple of summers back--I can't remember it's name--but what it did say was that Pixar was pioneered by some computer geeks. The most notable of said geeks was the distinguished John Lesseter (bio at http://movies.nytimes.com/person/202358/John-Lasseter/biography) who made the award winning short Tin Toy, a precoursor to his later, more popular, Toy Story (1995). That these stories were both about toys is no coincidence, it's the best these computer wizzes could do; they were working with circular, oval type shapes that did not allow very realistic virtual humans.
Speaking of Toy Story, it was so successful that there is another sequal in production--very highly funded and promoted; they even have the entire original cast! I guess there's still mass appeal to the Toy Story franchise.
Since 1995 Pixar's nerdy computer guys were given free reign to create more computerized movies and each one was a bigger success than the one before it. Each movie moved closer and closer to realism and more human like movements and features in the characters. This was due to advancing technology, but also speaks to how they want to look as much like real life as possible. The Incredibles (2004) is the ultimate example of making characters as realistic as animation will allow--the future will only bring even more realistic characters.

South Park=Favorite Show Ever

Last week we watched Wallace and Gromit in the Wrong Trousers (1993, Park). When I was six or seven my Uncle Heath gave me two VHS tapes of Wallace and Gromit; I got the aforementioned Trousers as well as A Grand Day Out (1989). I watched them endlessly, but rarely thought about the animation. Only after so many years and being told to do so did I actually look for fingerprints and individual movements--very cool. Nick Park is a visionary in his field, he was a success on TV. I think it was successful because the characters have depth and feelings which children can relate to, while making it fun with tons of gadgets and clumsy/cheesy jokes (the best type of jokes). My favorite was actually A Grand Day Out--c'mon, the moon is made of cheese...and Wallace is obsessed with getting some...I encourage everybody to watch the rest of the Wallace and Gromit series...http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/...the website is cool yo...
For my paper I am going to write about my favorite show ever...South Park (1997-present, Matt Stone and Trey Parker). According to imdb.com the shows tagline is: "Four boys. One F**ked up town." I started watching this show with my family when I was in third grade; my dad loved it and every week it was a family event to watch these foul mouthed children. Over time, however, South Park has progressed from a show mostly comprised of childish dick and fart jokes to a show which provides large amounts of social commentary--touching on everything from the struggling economy and Facebook use to Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft. Now in their 14th season Matt Stone and Trey Parker's show is one of the most radical and socially critical shows on television. Any episode can be viewed on ComedyCentral.com.

Flat, colorful, two dimensional stop action animation appeals as a creative art in it's humor and range. Stop motion appeals most when it's simple, if a stop motion's storyline gets too complecated the voyeur can't feel and appreciate the animation. As a child I made my own stop motion features, just shorts with army men, monsters, and animals. Our stories were somewhat reminicant of the Mr.Bill series on SNL, focused on the visual appeal of a sort of different reality where everything moves in frame, creating fluidity isn't easy, but one can appreciate it once complete. A stop motion story is like a joke because it's easy to laugh at something so absurd and and unreal, although it can become violent it probably won't be contraversial-it's a type of media that, to me is both entertaining and widely accesable when it stays simple.
This is the reason that stop motion is usually directed at children; it is just captivating to a simple mind, even without elaborately drawn characters. Fantastic Mr. Fox was just recently left theatres and was generally a success, it was a fun, simple childrens flick that depends heavily on the animation styles of stop motion. We can only hope more

So, last week in class we watched Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, one of my favorite childhood programs--through reruns of course. However, my favorite part of the show, since it is a variety program, is the Fractured Fairy Tale portion of the show. And we didn't watch it, what a shame.
I am just so entertained by the wonderful narration and quarky stories. One of my favorites is Jack and the Beanstalk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB1EE-FDgMk. There are a lot of them on Youtube...I highly encourage everybody to watch. This is really an outstanding show, it was directed at children, but my parents always watched it with us--and I think they liked it; certainly more than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles anyway.
Anyway, for my final project I was thinking about working on Photoshop/final cut to make my images move frame to frame. I would love any suggestions for how to animate on photoshop; I'm slightly more adept at using Final Cut.
Thanks,

Matt

LEGO Fun...

This week we read about clay animation (I've always loved Gumby) and this seemed fitting seeing how our stop motion animations are due this week. Prior to working on it with my partner I remembered making stop motion clay animation when I was in elementary school. I explained that we spent most of the year studying Lincoln in 4th grade and that we did a clay motion project.
The stories we did were based on "Lincoln Myths"; one of which he had his top hat knocked off of his head and it spilled many important documents (where he allegidly stored papers), which spread through the streets. How much fun it was as a child...and still is.
I had a great time animating a lego stop motion. We had a great time making the scenery and developing the story; the process was a little tedious, but that's okay. In our animation there is a shark that swims up on a man in a boat. The man in the boat notices and tries to shoot the shark with a pitiful handgun. The shark jumps up and bites off the man's shooting hand. The man falls to the ground bloody. The shark continues to circle and the man runs to start the boats motor. The shark leaps from the water and bites the man's head off. The man's body bleeds on the boat while the shark swims out of frame. End.
I hope everyone else had as much fun with this assignment as I did!

Here it is posted to Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whH2vm7acbQ

Enjoy,

Matt

The Simpson's holds a special place in animation history; it was the first of it's kind--a sitcom. We've discussed so much about how animation became "for kids". Saturday morning cartoons wrecked what could have been a viable adult medium--at least for about 40 or 50 years it did.
The Simpson's debuted on the FOX network in a time when FOX was all about making new, exciting programming--that would attract, yes, a younger audience (what better than a cartoon). There was a shocking revilation, adults liked The Simpson's as much as the kids. Adults liked it for it's content and kids liked if for its absurdity and the fact that it was a cartoon. A whole new market was open for media producers.
Countless shows have premiered since, the most popular of which is likely the wildly nonsensical animated sitcom "Family Guy", which I believe makes a mockery of the adult cartoons. Original Simpson's had meaning, morals, and jokes that related to the story line; in short, good writing.
After years, however, even a show as good as "The Simpson's" looses what good material they had and it should be "put on the shelf" so to speak.
"Futurama", however, is another brainchild of the creator of "The Simpson's" which again breaks powerful barriers--an animated sci-fi sitcom. For four seasons it was fresh and witty. There will be many more of these animated adult shows to follow.

Geefwee Boedone's Let's Pollute was the winner of this years animation showcase at the Big Muddy film festival. It was a satirical piece on Americas history of over-consumption and pollution; right from the advent of the machine age to modern corporate mis-cues. The wit is undeniable and the animation is comical--all is hard to not laugh at.
The animation style in Let's Pollute was very simple line drawings. The characters movements flowed well, but I did wonder how the background was done. The characters were seemingly separated from their surroundings. It seemed like it was pictures all from different pieces of paper, which were then put into a sort of collage. It was colorful and fun; a lot of work I'm sure.
Finally, for my project a fellow student and I are re-making a scene from the film The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998). The scene is going to be the one which they fight the Nialists in the bowling ally parking lot. I think we are set to do a stop motion with lego's, but I want to create a really good background. If anybody has any good mini-set suggestions they would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Sand animation...

Last week we viewed an animation which was done entirely with ink on layered board, very cool indeed. I also enjoyed the silhouette Prince Achmed from the week before. These things got me thinking of the power of light to project images and create beautiful landscapes. Then I remembered some videos I ran across about a year ago, sand paintings.
They were amazing, and there are a bunch of videos posted on line of them, here is just one example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo. You can find many, many more.
These videos are a ton of fun to watch, it's amazing to see how well some people can manipulate the sand to any picture they want. However, I have never seen a frame to frame stop motion with this medium. Why not? Is the sand too hard to keep in place? That seems to be the best reason I can come up with. I would really like to see a short animated piece using sand art. Does anybody else think one would be doable? A block animation seems like it would be easier, but this just seems more appealing.

Narrative Imagery

There is so much that can be done with Animation. Stories are not limited to what a camera can record, but rather to what a person can imagine. The author talks briefly about the use of metamorphosis in animation; I immediately think of Fantasia (Disney, 1940). My favorite scene was the one with the walking brooms. The meaning portrayed in that scene is unmistakable; and impossible in real life. The best aspect of metamorphosis is the ability of the creator to derive non-verbal meaning from an unreal occurrence. Personification is my favorite means to create non-verbal meaning. After all, inanimate objects take up most of the world we live in.
The author also touches on how transitions and time lapse differ from any other medium. The creator can visually take the consumer into any time frame they see fit; they can pass time in seamless manners. The authors key examples center around disappearing/reappearing characters as well as a story in which time passes by giant leaps (in which you can see everything changing). However, going back to old cartoons, I enjoyed his simple example of a page being turned by an imaginary (or cartoon) hand. I can remember this from my early days of cartoons, and most particularly on Fractured Fairy Tales, a segment of the Bullwinkle Show (1961-1964). Since the stories were old folk tales, altered slightly, they would pass the time in the story by having the "narrator" turn a page.
The author also talks about how metaphores play a powerful role in animated imagery. While this is true, it is hard for any artist to portray exactly what he or she want the viewer to gather. Only with careful planning can will an audience truly understand the aims of the creator. This is because everybody interprets things differently; some may see the comic as a satire on government intervention while others see it as a commentary on social stratification. Messages are very hard to portray in any medium, even in an art as free as animation.

Duck Amuck

Duck Amuck, Warner Brothers, 1951 truly pushes the envelope of animation. It is hardly a story, rather it relies completely upon the animation techniques to entertain the viewer. The blank canvas can be filled by anything, at any time; animation does not have the limitations of live action. In this there is no real story line, and only one character, yet it is entertaining clean fun for near 7 minutes.
Daffy Duck is cute as hell, with his crazy little outfits and elaborate settings. This could have only been done by a great team of animators. This is a dramatization of what it actually takes to make a frame by frame cartoon...all that goes into it. They even have one instance in which we see seperate screen shots on the film strip demonstrating just how sequenced each movement is. It is hard to even fathom the amount of work that went into this.
It is also obvious that the animators, by this point, have a clear grasp of bipedal movements; legs and arms move as if Daffy Duck were human. The complexity of this cannot be understated, for many years the form of animation was much more free flowing and unrealistic (like the films we watched last week).
There was also much more dialogue, I am all the more interested.
On a side note: I would really like to watch some Fractured Fairy Tales if we get a chance!

Animated Shorts

So, it has occurred to me that animated shorts are among the best background visuals in a social setting. Let's face it, nobody likes watching episodes of Family Guy or The Simpson's when your trying to interact socially; rather, music is much more appropriate. Visuals are still an important part of the atmosphere, this is where older (and some newer) animated shorts are really fun to have as "background visuals".
A good example of this is Warner Brothers short children cartoons, Looney Tunes; a program dedicated to visual appeal. Some of the older sketches are particularly amusing for analysis sake--from very blatant racist imagery to depictions of wartime battles. The visuals tell so much of the story, audio becomes secondary. Here is an example of the imagery which can spark such conversation: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v99/tim_archer/loony-toons/sunday6.jpg. This image needs little explanation.
Animated shorts also have the tremendous ability to make us laugh. At a recent friendly gathering we stumbled upon a presentation by a cable network, ABC Family, which showed every short film the Pixar Corporation has ever done. Not only did they make everybody laugh, but it was also a time for waxing nostalgic. We are of the age group which saw the advent of computer animation; this program showed how much the medium has progressed, and how much we loved the animations from our childhood. It was visually stunning to have on at the party and everybody laughed and was merry. My favorite is a short called, "For the Birds", Pixar, 2000. It is very simple and funny, here is the Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i861adrvBZ4. It's everything that is right with animation.