One element of this text that really took my by surprise was the section headed Mis-en-scene. Whilst I was aware that Mis-en-scene was an element of aesthetics, I was unaware that it was more than just the arrangement of scenery and surroundings within an animation. As the text points out, Mis-en-scene is more than just staging and camera angles, but is in fact made up of colour and line as well as background and sound. This altered what I was considering for my dissertation plan and made me think about how colour and line specifically affect animation and how story is perceived. Although I was aware that colour has an affect on animation and how it can alter how a viewer perceives what they are being shown, I wasn't familiar with the specific ways in which colour did this. Nor had I ever thought about how line could also affect meaning for a viewer. For instance, Furniss states that colours can "create space - a sense of openness and serenity or, perhaps, claustrophobia and anxiety" (Furniss, M. 2007: pg 73). This is something that I have never explored before and it has made me think about how important colour is regarding aesthetics and storytelling, which I will begin to look into in future research.
Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Key Text: Animation Aesthetics
Whilst doing research over the last few weeks, I came across a text: Art In Motion: Animation Aesthetics by Maureen Furniss (2007). I felt that this text would be extremely beneficial to my dissertation, as the text focused on aesthetics and went into great detail about each element of aesthetics that were relevant and important to animation, but more importantly, had a large focus on aesthetics within 2D animation.
Tutorial: 07/11
After my previous tutorial regarding my dissertation, I went away and began to narrow down my research to elements of aesthetics that I felt were the most relevant to storytelling within animation as a start. One of the elements that was pointed out to me during my research was character animation and movement, so I decided to start here, as there is a lot of research surrounding character animation. From here, I was able to get the starting of a chapter ready for my tutorial with Mike.
Although I felt that I had made good progress with my research since the last time I spoke with Mike, I was still struggling to move onto another area of research and to progress with anything further. Mike suggested that it may be because I was lacking an essay structure and encouraged me to get one sorted as soon as possible, as this may help to focus my research. Whilst he liked what I had so far, he felt that I was falling behind a little with work and I had to agree. With this in mind we discussed what it was that I actually wanted to focus on and we came up with a very rough plan of what I could potentially look further into, these were:
Realism
Character Beleivability
Backgrounds
Mise-en-Scene
Case studies x2 (or 3)
I was also encouraged to start thinking what key animations I want to look at. I know that I will be focusing on 2D animation, as this is what I hold an interest in, but I need to think about which animations I am going to study for my dissertation and why.
To move forward I need to create a more defined plan for my essay, so I can begin to conduct more focused research and move forward with my work.
Although I felt that I had made good progress with my research since the last time I spoke with Mike, I was still struggling to move onto another area of research and to progress with anything further. Mike suggested that it may be because I was lacking an essay structure and encouraged me to get one sorted as soon as possible, as this may help to focus my research. Whilst he liked what I had so far, he felt that I was falling behind a little with work and I had to agree. With this in mind we discussed what it was that I actually wanted to focus on and we came up with a very rough plan of what I could potentially look further into, these were:
Realism
Character Beleivability
Backgrounds
Mise-en-Scene
Case studies x2 (or 3)
I was also encouraged to start thinking what key animations I want to look at. I know that I will be focusing on 2D animation, as this is what I hold an interest in, but I need to think about which animations I am going to study for my dissertation and why.
To move forward I need to create a more defined plan for my essay, so I can begin to conduct more focused research and move forward with my work.
Saturday, 5 November 2016
Pinning Down My Practical
The practical element of this module is something that I am feeling a lot more confident about, as I had an idea of what I wanted to do from the start. Focusing on 2D animation, I want to use COP as an opportunity to develop my skills as a 2D animator and learn a new piece of software: TV Paint. With this in mind, I needed to create an idea that would allow me to pursue this whilst staying relevant to my research, which is when I came up with idea to create a series of 2D animations that explored the use of different aesthetics.
When I proposed this idea, I had said that I would take an already given treatment to work with, as I wanted to focus purely on the animating element, and I finally decided that I wanted to use a snippet from Saki's Gabriel-Ernest (1909), as it was a short story I enjoyed as a child.
Now that I finally have my treatment, it's time to start thinking about what it is I want to achieve through my practical. Although I know I want to test how aesthetics affect how a scene or action is perceived by an audience, I need to figure out what elements of aesthetics I want to test. In order to do this, I think it would be best to do a few quick tests to explore the different areas of aesthetics I have been looking at, such as colour, line, mise-en-scéne, etc. This will help me to settle on three separate focus points for my final animation tests.
When I proposed this idea, I had said that I would take an already given treatment to work with, as I wanted to focus purely on the animating element, and I finally decided that I wanted to use a snippet from Saki's Gabriel-Ernest (1909), as it was a short story I enjoyed as a child.
From here, I sat and read through the short story and identified all the areas where action took place that I could possibly use as a starting point for my treatment and finally found a snippet that I felt would be nice to use.
 |
| Treatment research |
Now that I finally have my treatment, it's time to start thinking about what it is I want to achieve through my practical. Although I know I want to test how aesthetics affect how a scene or action is perceived by an audience, I need to figure out what elements of aesthetics I want to test. In order to do this, I think it would be best to do a few quick tests to explore the different areas of aesthetics I have been looking at, such as colour, line, mise-en-scéne, etc. This will help me to settle on three separate focus points for my final animation tests.
Practical Development
At the start of this week we had the chance to present our practical progress to the group to receive feedback on our ideas and the development we had made so far. However, I was still waiting for my book to arrive so I could finalise a treatment for me to start working with. So all I had to go with was my ideas and what I intended to do, but this worked surprisingly well, as I had a clear idea of where I wanted to take my practical and I was able to give the group lots of information.
The group appeared to feel that my ideas were an appropriate exploration of my research and would be interesting to carry out and the feedback I received was all positive.
 |
| Presentation Slides |
The group appeared to feel that my ideas were an appropriate exploration of my research and would be interesting to carry out and the feedback I received was all positive.
In terms of what I am testing there were a few points that were brought to my attention that I should consider when creating my practical.
One of these things to consider was breaking down aesthetics in a practical sense to help me decide which elements of aesthetics I wanted to test. Such things as, quality of line, use of colour and character designs were brought up and it would be worth me making a point to identify which areas of aesthetics I will be focusing on and which ones I will be putting aside. For instance, it is well known that shot framing and camera angles affect how a scene or action is perceived, so I could put this aside and focus on areas such as quality of line instead, as there hasn't been much said about how this affects a scene or action. One of my peers also mentioned that I should choose an aesthetic for a purpose and not just because I can, and that I should prudent with my feedback and look outside of the animation circle when I come to show my animations.
In terms of how many animations I will produce, it was suggested that I create 3 strong tests for my final practical, each the same clip, which will last approximately 10 seconds. However, I will have to do some tests beforehand in order to choose which areas of aesthetics I want to look into.
Overall, I am really pleased with the feedback I have received and I feel that I am in a good position to begin my practical element.
Organising My Time
One thing that I struggled with last year was time management, so this year I have decided to create a chart for my own personal use at home, in the hopes that it will help me to plan my time efficiently and effectively and keep me on top of my deadlines without creating too much stress for me.
 |
| General plan for the year |
 |
| Focused plan for first semester |
I've created a plan for the first semester of uni, including PPP and Extended Practice to help me plan my time and managed all of the projects around each other. I'm feeling confident that this will help me to stay focused and keep me on track to meeting milestones and deadlines.
Friday, 4 November 2016
Triangulation of Research
When dealing with aesthetics within animation, it is important to remember that there are a great deal of elements that could be referred to and focused upon, however, not all of those elements are as significant as others. One element that could be considered to have a significant impact on aesthetics, particularity in 2D animation, is character performance. "Many people have considered continual, fluid movement to be of critical importance to animation aesthetics" (Furniss, M. 2007: pg 78) suggesting that character movement and personality play a major role in how entertaining an animation is perceived to be. This could potentially be due to the notion that "animated acting goes beyond realism" (Beiman, N. 2010: pg 104), by using the 12 principles of animation to create actions that are beyond and "transcend the limitations of the human body or the laws of physics" (Beiman, N. 2010: pg 12). Art Babbit maintained the belief that "it is not necessary to rely on reality when it is so easy to suggest it" (Babbit, A in Beiman, N. 2010: pg 10) validating Beiman's argument that animation "is not meant to simulate live-action" (Beiman, N. 2010: pg 8) or reality, but rather create the sense and feel of a character rather than creating just its movements.
One principle of animation in particular, known as squash and stretch, allows for fluid movement of a character and helps to create a strong sense of personality for the viewer by enabling the character to be distorted and metamorphosed. Hand drawn animation lends itself to these techniques quite well as it "easily distorts, squashes and stretches" (Beiman, N. 2010: pg 64) enabling the creation of a sense of movement. Andreas Deja argues that "by distorting the character's face and overall body mass, the illusion of life suddenly became more believable" (Deja, A. 2015: pg 3) when talking about Disney's Pinocchio (1940), validating the idea that squash and stretch allows for a more believable, enjoyable performance within animation. Similarly, Sergei Einstein suggested that our enjoyment of animated imagery could be increased by metamorphosis, as it can "provide a means of connecting to areas of the subconscious" (Furniss, M. 2007: pg 77). Einstein felt that the shape-shifting that occurred within metamorphosis "created 'attractiveness' in a work" (Furniss, M 2007: pg 77). Furthermore, Wells states that metamorphosis enables a "sometimes literal space to become an emotional space or even the realm of fantasy or dream" (Wells, P. 2006: pg 98), affirming Einstein's theory that metamorphosis can be beneficial to the aesthetics of 2D animation, as it helps to create a more pleasurable viewing experience. Through the use of techniques such as squash and stretch and metamorphosis, character performance reaches beyond that of reality, thus creating a performance that generates a sense of personality and life within a character forging a more emotional, relatable relationship between the viewer and the animation.
BibliographyBieman, N. (2010). Animated Performance, AVA Publishing SA, Switzerland.
Deja, A. (2015). The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques and Inspiration from Disney’s Great Animators, Focal Press, USA. Furniss, M. (2007). Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics Revised Edition, John Libbey Publishing, UK. Wells, P. (2006). The Fundamentals of Animation, AVA Publishing SA, Switzerland.
One principle of animation in particular, known as squash and stretch, allows for fluid movement of a character and helps to create a strong sense of personality for the viewer by enabling the character to be distorted and metamorphosed. Hand drawn animation lends itself to these techniques quite well as it "easily distorts, squashes and stretches" (Beiman, N. 2010: pg 64) enabling the creation of a sense of movement. Andreas Deja argues that "by distorting the character's face and overall body mass, the illusion of life suddenly became more believable" (Deja, A. 2015: pg 3) when talking about Disney's Pinocchio (1940), validating the idea that squash and stretch allows for a more believable, enjoyable performance within animation. Similarly, Sergei Einstein suggested that our enjoyment of animated imagery could be increased by metamorphosis, as it can "provide a means of connecting to areas of the subconscious" (Furniss, M. 2007: pg 77). Einstein felt that the shape-shifting that occurred within metamorphosis "created 'attractiveness' in a work" (Furniss, M 2007: pg 77). Furthermore, Wells states that metamorphosis enables a "sometimes literal space to become an emotional space or even the realm of fantasy or dream" (Wells, P. 2006: pg 98), affirming Einstein's theory that metamorphosis can be beneficial to the aesthetics of 2D animation, as it helps to create a more pleasurable viewing experience. Through the use of techniques such as squash and stretch and metamorphosis, character performance reaches beyond that of reality, thus creating a performance that generates a sense of personality and life within a character forging a more emotional, relatable relationship between the viewer and the animation.
BibliographyBieman, N. (2010). Animated Performance, AVA Publishing SA, Switzerland.
Deja, A. (2015). The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques and Inspiration from Disney’s Great Animators, Focal Press, USA. Furniss, M. (2007). Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics Revised Edition, John Libbey Publishing, UK. Wells, P. (2006). The Fundamentals of Animation, AVA Publishing SA, Switzerland.
Wednesday, 2 November 2016
Group Tutorial 17/10
Since the last tutorial, I had been attempting to conduct research into what I had discussed with Mike in the hopes of trying to focus my research further so I wasn't researching too much or going too broad. However, I was struggling with this quite a lot and I had only managed to gather research that felt a little all over the place and I was just as confused as I was the previous week.
So I brought this up to the group, hoping that they would be able to help me get my ideas sorted and help me to find a focus area. However, because I was so uncertain, I couldn't really explain what I was trying to research in a coherent manner, which led to me receiving very little feedback (understandably).
Once the group tutorial was over, I sat down with Annabeth and went through my ideas and broke down what it was that I was actually interested in and how I could use this as a starting point to kick start research that would be of more use to me and settle on an essay question.
From this, I managed to write down a few points that will help me focus. These are:
- Look into aesthetics and how they effect the way a story is perceived - specifically in 2D animation.
- Look into all the key things that make a strong animation from an aesthetic point of view.
- Break it down e.g look into line of action of a character, timing and spacing, Mise-en-scene, frame rate, colour pallet, line work, etc.
- Look at more independent animators rather than mainstream animation.
- Possibly look into cultural reasons for aesthetics.
I feel like these will be good starting points for me, and I am feeling a little more comfortable about moving forward with my essay. However, I do have a lot of research to do before I will be in a position to start writing.
So I brought this up to the group, hoping that they would be able to help me get my ideas sorted and help me to find a focus area. However, because I was so uncertain, I couldn't really explain what I was trying to research in a coherent manner, which led to me receiving very little feedback (understandably).
Once the group tutorial was over, I sat down with Annabeth and went through my ideas and broke down what it was that I was actually interested in and how I could use this as a starting point to kick start research that would be of more use to me and settle on an essay question.
From this, I managed to write down a few points that will help me focus. These are:
- Look into aesthetics and how they effect the way a story is perceived - specifically in 2D animation.
- Look into all the key things that make a strong animation from an aesthetic point of view.
- Break it down e.g look into line of action of a character, timing and spacing, Mise-en-scene, frame rate, colour pallet, line work, etc.
- Look at more independent animators rather than mainstream animation.
- Possibly look into cultural reasons for aesthetics.
I feel like these will be good starting points for me, and I am feeling a little more comfortable about moving forward with my essay. However, I do have a lot of research to do before I will be in a position to start writing.
Tutorial: 10/10
Before going into my tutorial with Mike, I was having trouble pinning down my ideas for my dissertation and I was feeling lost, as all I knew was that I wanted to focus on 2D animation and aesthetics.
During the tutorial I discussed where I was trying to go in terms of ideas and where I wanted to take my research. At this point, I was considering the question "Why is 2D animation still valued within the industry when 3D animation appears to be favoured?". This led to the discussion with Mike going down the route of exploring both 2D and 3D animation and why animation studios choose one technique over the other.
However, it was brought to my attention that I may be being too presumptuous when I discussed my ideas with Annabeth a few days later. This left me feeling slightly unsettled, as I was already feeling lost to begin with.
Although, having said that, I did manage to solidify my idea for my practical work during this tutorial. As I am focusing on 2D animation and aesthetics, I will be taking a given treatment (from a book or an animation) and creating several versions of this treatment using a range of mediums to test how effective different aesthetics are at effecting the way it is perceived by an audience. I will also be using this as an opportunity to learn TV Paint, as I want to focus on developing my skills as a digital 2D animator.
Overall, I feel that I am a lot more clear and confident on where to take my practical work, however I am still uncertain of where I want to take my research for my dissertation. With this in mind, I will take a step back and start broad in the hopes to find a focus point to bring it back to.
Monday, 3 October 2016
Presentation Feedback
After revising my initial proposal, I decided that I wanted to focus more on 2D animation and possibly explore why 2D animation is still valued, despite 3D animation appearing to be more popular, particularly within the film industry (however, this may be a little presumptuous of me, and I will investigate whether 3D animation is in fact more popular than 2D animation within the film industry before moving on).
With an interest in storytelling, I would like to focus my efforts towards looking at the effects that changing the technique used to create an animation can have on the overall story, appeal, target audience, tone, mood, etc. I feel the best way to do this would be to choose a 2D animated film that has been re-created using 3D techniques, for instance, The Jungle Book, and then find similar scenes in both and compare how they differ in terms of Mise-en-Scene, colour used, performance of the characters, etc.
From here I hope to be able to focus on why 2D animation is chosen over 3D animation (and vice versa) for particular stories. For instance, the majority of adult animation shows tend to be created in 2D animation, and I want to explore the reasons behind this choice; is it to do with budget and time? Does nostalgia play a role in appeal?
Although I didn't have a great deal to go into my presentation with, I did receive some very helpful feedback that has helped me to narrow my focus and find some grounding points to kick start research that I will find more helpful.
I was advised to look into why either 2D or 3D animation is used, is it because it suits the story? Does it have any effect on the story at all? Is it a choice made by the creator simply because it is the medium that makes them happy? Or is it simply used to make money at box office? I could also look into animations that use a certain aesthetic for the sake of using it, rather than because it matches the story and see what effects this has on the overall animation. To contradict this however, I could also look into animations that are both 2D and 3D such as Paperman and the Mikey Mouse short Get a Horse.
However, I am aware that this may be quite difficult to research, as there aren't necessarily going to be many books on this topic. In order to get around this, I intend to get in touch with practitioners and interview them to gain an insight into why 2D animation is still valued within the industry.
In terms of the practical element, I am still a little unsure as to what to do, however I do know that I want to use this as an opportunity to learn how to use TV Paint. Not much was said about the practical element of my dissertation, but it was suggested to me that I could possibly re-create a scene from a 3D animation in 2D and see what effects, if any, this had.
Overall, I'm happy with the feedback and feel that things are a little bit clearer in my head. From here I will seek out advice on how to contact practitioners and how to conduct a fair interview with them in order to get answers to the questions I want to ask, as I feel that this may be where the majority of my research will be obtained from. I will also think more about the practical element of my dissertation and decide whether I could create animations to test my hypothesis and form research from, or whether I create a piece based on what I find from the research I carry out.
With an interest in storytelling, I would like to focus my efforts towards looking at the effects that changing the technique used to create an animation can have on the overall story, appeal, target audience, tone, mood, etc. I feel the best way to do this would be to choose a 2D animated film that has been re-created using 3D techniques, for instance, The Jungle Book, and then find similar scenes in both and compare how they differ in terms of Mise-en-Scene, colour used, performance of the characters, etc.
From here I hope to be able to focus on why 2D animation is chosen over 3D animation (and vice versa) for particular stories. For instance, the majority of adult animation shows tend to be created in 2D animation, and I want to explore the reasons behind this choice; is it to do with budget and time? Does nostalgia play a role in appeal?
Although I didn't have a great deal to go into my presentation with, I did receive some very helpful feedback that has helped me to narrow my focus and find some grounding points to kick start research that I will find more helpful.
I was advised to look into why either 2D or 3D animation is used, is it because it suits the story? Does it have any effect on the story at all? Is it a choice made by the creator simply because it is the medium that makes them happy? Or is it simply used to make money at box office? I could also look into animations that use a certain aesthetic for the sake of using it, rather than because it matches the story and see what effects this has on the overall animation. To contradict this however, I could also look into animations that are both 2D and 3D such as Paperman and the Mikey Mouse short Get a Horse.
However, I am aware that this may be quite difficult to research, as there aren't necessarily going to be many books on this topic. In order to get around this, I intend to get in touch with practitioners and interview them to gain an insight into why 2D animation is still valued within the industry.
In terms of the practical element, I am still a little unsure as to what to do, however I do know that I want to use this as an opportunity to learn how to use TV Paint. Not much was said about the practical element of my dissertation, but it was suggested to me that I could possibly re-create a scene from a 3D animation in 2D and see what effects, if any, this had.
Overall, I'm happy with the feedback and feel that things are a little bit clearer in my head. From here I will seek out advice on how to contact practitioners and how to conduct a fair interview with them in order to get answers to the questions I want to ask, as I feel that this may be where the majority of my research will be obtained from. I will also think more about the practical element of my dissertation and decide whether I could create animations to test my hypothesis and form research from, or whether I create a piece based on what I find from the research I carry out.
Thursday, 28 April 2016
Creative Response: Final Outcome
Overall, I feel that my final outcome wasn't as successful as I had hoped it would be. Whilst I adopted many of the techniques I had researched throughout my investigation, I feel that I have somehow lost some of these throughout the making of my animation.
Whilst I have managed to create a simple character and more detailed environments, I feel that the tension I intended to create isn't there. This may be due to the length of my camera cuts and the replacement scene I used instead of the second run cycle. Unfortunately for the replacement scene, I left the character stationary because I felt that I didn't have enough time to animate it, however I feel that this takes away from the overall animation. I also feel that the animation wasn't as successful because there wasn't time to form an attachment to the character. Without a bond to the character, the tension doesn't seem as real, and I personally felt like an observer rather than actually being involved.
This has demonstrated to me that it is not only the suspense created within a scene that makes something engaging, it is in fact the build up to that suspense and the connection that is made to the character beforehand, which is combined that creates an effective, engaging and immersive story. Reflecting upon my work, I have found that, although my animation contains the key elements of what I had learned, it doesn't quite contain the same level of involvement. If I were to do this again, I would spend more time on creating a back story for the character and I would have made the animation longer. This way I could have incorporated the opportunity for the audience to become attached to the character before he was placed in jeopardy. I feel that I spent too much time over my essay and this led me to having little time to complete the animation. For future projects, I will think about the practical aspect whilst researching to give myself a longer time frame to complete it in.
CoP Creative Response: Animating The Run Cycles
For my animation I was required to do a run cycle. This is something I have never actually done before so I was slightly apprehensive to try. I found it a little difficult to begin with but felt that I ended up picking it up quite quickly. I think that the pacing of the animation works well for the intent behind it and I am confident that it will work well within the overall piece.
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
Test 4
I did intend to complete a second run cycle of the character facing away from the camera, however, I struggled a lot with this and I couldn't quite manage to get the grasp of how it worked. If I had more time to complete this, I would research more into how to animate a run cycle from this perspective, however, I don't feel confident that I will be able to do that in my given time frame. Instead I will replace the scene with a different shot that I feel will work.
From here I conducted a look test of my original run cycle to see how it would appear within the environments I had created. As I wanted a few close up shots of the character, I had to use the Detail Preserving Tool within After Effects to prevent the image from pixilating. Overall, I feel that the charter and the environments work really well together and I feel that I have managed to successfully incorporate the ideas of McCloud and Moore to my own work.
Look Test
Lecture Eight: The Gaze in Film and Art
The gaze relates to the specific instance of looking, it is a process of looking (or technology) that constitutes a whole web of relationships including power and violence. The gaze gives structure and stability to illusions and fantasies of self and others, and is a mode of viewing and reflecting a gendered code of desire.
In relation to film theory, 'the gaze' is used in a technical manner to explain how the viewers are looking upon the subjects they are being shown. Jacques Lacan, a French psychoanalyst, explored the significance of Freud's discovery of the unconscious, which led to an interest in the unconscious within a dil context and an interest into evidence of the workings of desire. A lot of emphasis was placed upon the importance of the cinema as an apparatus and the relationship between viewer and the screen. It was found that a spectator identifies with larger than life or ideal characters on screen, which confirms the belief that viewers derive pleasure from films through Scopophilia. This is a term used to describe the natural curiosity the viewers have when gazing upon a naked person or someone who id engaged sexually. The term was derived from Freud's theory that the desire to look is an instinct formed in childhood.
We were told that there are four main key 'gazes' within film. The Intra-diegetic Gaze refers to when a character is looking at another and the gaze is often created by a subjective point of view. The Direct Gaze relates to when the character is looking out of frame (or directly at the viewer). The Look of the Camera is when the viewer is looking through the eyes of the filmmaker. And the Spectator's Gaze is the gaze of a viewer an an image of a person in the film.
Through the use of such techniques within animation, we can create a story that is both intriguing and immersive. A great example of how animation has used some of these techniques is Warner Bros. Duck Amuck. The main character of the animation adopts a direct gaze and this allows for a very involving short that makes the viewer feel involved and included. Other 'gazes' can also be used to help aid the story and guide an audience through the visual keys within the story.
In relation to film theory, 'the gaze' is used in a technical manner to explain how the viewers are looking upon the subjects they are being shown. Jacques Lacan, a French psychoanalyst, explored the significance of Freud's discovery of the unconscious, which led to an interest in the unconscious within a dil context and an interest into evidence of the workings of desire. A lot of emphasis was placed upon the importance of the cinema as an apparatus and the relationship between viewer and the screen. It was found that a spectator identifies with larger than life or ideal characters on screen, which confirms the belief that viewers derive pleasure from films through Scopophilia. This is a term used to describe the natural curiosity the viewers have when gazing upon a naked person or someone who id engaged sexually. The term was derived from Freud's theory that the desire to look is an instinct formed in childhood.
We were told that there are four main key 'gazes' within film. The Intra-diegetic Gaze refers to when a character is looking at another and the gaze is often created by a subjective point of view. The Direct Gaze relates to when the character is looking out of frame (or directly at the viewer). The Look of the Camera is when the viewer is looking through the eyes of the filmmaker. And the Spectator's Gaze is the gaze of a viewer an an image of a person in the film.
Through the use of such techniques within animation, we can create a story that is both intriguing and immersive. A great example of how animation has used some of these techniques is Warner Bros. Duck Amuck. The main character of the animation adopts a direct gaze and this allows for a very involving short that makes the viewer feel involved and included. Other 'gazes' can also be used to help aid the story and guide an audience through the visual keys within the story.
Thursday, 21 April 2016
CoP Creative Response: Environment Design
In an attempt to create environments in keeping with my research, I opted to go for a style similar to Gravity Falls as I felt that this was something I would be able to achieve, but it would also contain the same level of realism I feel would be necessary to illustrate the difference between character and environment.
From here I had to think about how many different camera shots I had and how many of these could be achieved through the same to help me work efficiently (there's no point creating extra work for myself). I managed to get the scenes down to 4 key shots including a pan scene.
This is the scene that will be used for the running shots where the camera tracks the character. I've made it so it is possible to loop the background for when I need it, again mostly to save time and make it easier for myself, as this was the most technical of the shots.
From here I had to think about how many different camera shots I had and how many of these could be achieved through the same to help me work efficiently (there's no point creating extra work for myself). I managed to get the scenes down to 4 key shots including a pan scene.
 |
| Pan Scene |
For the other shots, I have simply created the backgrounds in layers to pac into After Effects and slot in afterwards.
In terms of colour choice, I wanted the environment to look believable whilst creating a sense of the place being alien and different. Because I'd already chosen to have the event take place in a forest, I felt that I had a lot more freedom to make the colours different and express the oddness of the place through colours. This led me to to look at deep purples and lighter blues to create some of the trees. Not only are these colours different, but they also relate to threatening nature of the event, reflecting a sense of eeriness throughout, even if it isn't noticeable at first. I also opted for a pink sky as I felt that, again it would illustrate the oddness of the setting, but also relate to the threat again in a very subtle tone, as the pink becomes quite dark towards the top. However, red might have been a better option, but I felt that this would't fit with the overall aesthetic and would be too obvious.
 |
| Extreme Long Shot |
 |
| Look Back |
 |
| Alternative Perspective |
In terms of colour choice, I wanted the environment to look believable whilst creating a sense of the place being alien and different. Because I'd already chosen to have the event take place in a forest, I felt that I had a lot more freedom to make the colours different and express the oddness of the place through colours. This led me to to look at deep purples and lighter blues to create some of the trees. Not only are these colours different, but they also relate to threatening nature of the event, reflecting a sense of eeriness throughout, even if it isn't noticeable at first. I also opted for a pink sky as I felt that, again it would illustrate the oddness of the setting, but also relate to the threat again in a very subtle tone, as the pink becomes quite dark towards the top. However, red might have been a better option, but I felt that this would't fit with the overall aesthetic and would be too obvious.
Overall, I am really pleased with my outcomes and I feel that they will work really well within my animation to achieve what I have set out to.
Sunday, 17 April 2016
CoP Creative Response: Character Design
Now that I have my story down, it was time to design my character. As I've pointed out before, it is important that I keep the character as simple as possible, as this will make it easier for an audience to merge with and project onto the character.
I started with a few sketches based on the simpler characters I had pointed out in my mood board, however I found that the characters looked too much like some of the characters on the board and I didn't want my work to be too heavily influenced by an already existing character.
So I focused on the aspects that I liked of each character I had placed within my mood board and began to sketch based on those elements. I felt that characters from animations such as Grave of the Fireflies and Spirited Away were too complex for what I wanted to achieve but I really liked the simple eye shape and small features, so I applied them to my own sketch. In terms of body shape, I am a huge fan of the simple shape-based bodies that are used in Song of the Sea and Secret of Kells as they are very simple yet really effective, so I created a body based on simple shapes.
I started with a few sketches based on the simpler characters I had pointed out in my mood board, however I found that the characters looked too much like some of the characters on the board and I didn't want my work to be too heavily influenced by an already existing character.
 |
| Initial Sketches |
So I focused on the aspects that I liked of each character I had placed within my mood board and began to sketch based on those elements. I felt that characters from animations such as Grave of the Fireflies and Spirited Away were too complex for what I wanted to achieve but I really liked the simple eye shape and small features, so I applied them to my own sketch. In terms of body shape, I am a huge fan of the simple shape-based bodies that are used in Song of the Sea and Secret of Kells as they are very simple yet really effective, so I created a body based on simple shapes.
 |
| Final Sketch |
I feel that this character will work really well within my story, as it is simple, yet appealing. From here I went on to conduct a few colour tests, as I was unsure what colour scheme I should go with. I needed the character to stand out against the background, and since this would predominantly be forest, I tried my best to steer away from dull colours and went with more vibrant colours to reduce the risk of him blending in.
However, with so much choice to choose from, I really struggled with which character to use, so I posted the sheet onto Instagram and asked for other people's opinions. the majority of people preferred the 3rd and 6th characters along, which I agreed with. Using this, I combined the two characters together, as I preferred the red jumper and blue jeans, but the skin tone and hair colour of the other character.
 |
| Colour Tests |
 |
| Final Character |
Overall, I'm really happy with my character and I feel that he will work really well within my animation. Character design ins't one of my strong points within animation and I am really pleased that I have managed to do so and quickly. I feel that I have learnt about how to keep my characters simple, which I am confident I will be able to take forward into future projects.
CoP Creative Response: Storyboarding
In order to create the most tension within my animation, I spent quite a bit of time planning out the different camera angles and I paid attention to how the action progressed throughout, as I had learnt from reading Aristotle that drama works best when the events are logical and can be easily followed by an audience.
 |
| Storyboards |
With this in mind, I had decided to reveal the situation in a progression of close ups before revealing the entire picture. By doing this, I hope to create a sense of urgency and capture the audiences attention, as it will make them curious and want to know what is going on, thus becoming engaged with the story.
I feel that the story makes sense and that it is easy to follow, however after reflecting upon it, I think I will change the 3rd panel from last to more rustling bushes, as this will create more tension, as the threat isn't being revealed. I also feel that there are range of camera angles and shots that I can work with, however, after doing some research, I am considering adding a dutch tilt to the second to last shot, as this is a technique used in filming to portray tension and inform the audience that something is going to happen.
Friday, 15 April 2016
CoP Creative Response: Research into Characters and Environments
Referring back to my research, I collected a variety of simple characters and complex environments from a number of animations to use as influence and reference for my own characters and backgrounds. I started with the animations I had focused on within my essay and then I expanded my search to other similar animations that I felt would influence my work in a beneficial way.
I started with Grave of the Fireflies as it has been the most influential animation throughout my essay and I felt that it would be a good starting point for my character design. The whole time I have been thinking of my creative response, I have pictured a boy as my main character, so this is what I predominantly focused on when I was looking at character designs. Seita, is a very simple character with quite generic facial features and a simple face shape. However, his body shape is much more complex than that of Ben's from Song of the Sea, or Brendan's from The Secret of Kells. I feel that the latter characters would be easier for me to animate and still work as well as they are still very simple character designs. With this in mind, I will take elements from each and attempt to create a simple character to animate.
In terms of environments, I want these to be a lot more realistic than the characters, as I will use the environments to tell the story alongside the character. The environments will also help to portray emotion, atmosphere and mood with the intention of evoking emotion and imagination within the audience. Although I really love the environments within Grave of the Fireflies, I don't feel that I will be able to create something as complex as that without taking months to complete it. Instead, I wanted to create something similar to the Gravity Falls environments but use the opportunity to illustrate how animation is an art form that isn't tied down by the restrictions of live-action, similarly to how Song of the Sea has done. By doing so, I hope that it will put Roe's (2003) and Wells' (1998) theories into practice.
 |
| Character Mood board |
I started with Grave of the Fireflies as it has been the most influential animation throughout my essay and I felt that it would be a good starting point for my character design. The whole time I have been thinking of my creative response, I have pictured a boy as my main character, so this is what I predominantly focused on when I was looking at character designs. Seita, is a very simple character with quite generic facial features and a simple face shape. However, his body shape is much more complex than that of Ben's from Song of the Sea, or Brendan's from The Secret of Kells. I feel that the latter characters would be easier for me to animate and still work as well as they are still very simple character designs. With this in mind, I will take elements from each and attempt to create a simple character to animate.
 |
| Environment Mood board |
In terms of environments, I want these to be a lot more realistic than the characters, as I will use the environments to tell the story alongside the character. The environments will also help to portray emotion, atmosphere and mood with the intention of evoking emotion and imagination within the audience. Although I really love the environments within Grave of the Fireflies, I don't feel that I will be able to create something as complex as that without taking months to complete it. Instead, I wanted to create something similar to the Gravity Falls environments but use the opportunity to illustrate how animation is an art form that isn't tied down by the restrictions of live-action, similarly to how Song of the Sea has done. By doing so, I hope that it will put Roe's (2003) and Wells' (1998) theories into practice.
Thursday, 14 April 2016
CoP Creative Response: Refining My Ideas
Now that I've researched animations that have been created using the elements I had discovered throughout my essay, I have been able to refine my initial idea and come up with a final solution.
Based on my research I will create a 30 second animation of a character within a situation with the aim to create tension and suspense amongst my audience, as Miller (2004) that these two elements are some of the most effective at engaging an audience. To do this, I will have the character running away from an unseen threat through a forest to only end up on the edge of a high cliff with no way of escape. Although this won't be a full narrative from start to finish, it will depict a section of action that I hope will illustrate the techniques that I have learnt throughout this project.
In terms of character design I will keep it very simple to keep in with the ideas both Moore (2015) and McCloud (1993) shared on the effectiveness of simple character design. Rather than placing huge amounts of detail into the characters, I will focus on making more detailed environments, similarly to Song of the Sea and Grave of the Fireflies, as Roe (2013) and Wells (1998) state that this is an effective way to evoke emotion and association within an audience. I will also use these detailed environments to hold frames in an attempt to portray the atmosphere and create the right mood amongst my audience, which is also in relation to Roe (2013).
On top of this, I will look at using a range of different camera angles that will aide the creation of tension and suspense throughout the clip. By doing so, I hope to apply Caputo's theory of a storyteller and achieve an immersive and engaging clip of a story that transports an audience into a new reality.
Based on my research I will create a 30 second animation of a character within a situation with the aim to create tension and suspense amongst my audience, as Miller (2004) that these two elements are some of the most effective at engaging an audience. To do this, I will have the character running away from an unseen threat through a forest to only end up on the edge of a high cliff with no way of escape. Although this won't be a full narrative from start to finish, it will depict a section of action that I hope will illustrate the techniques that I have learnt throughout this project.
In terms of character design I will keep it very simple to keep in with the ideas both Moore (2015) and McCloud (1993) shared on the effectiveness of simple character design. Rather than placing huge amounts of detail into the characters, I will focus on making more detailed environments, similarly to Song of the Sea and Grave of the Fireflies, as Roe (2013) and Wells (1998) state that this is an effective way to evoke emotion and association within an audience. I will also use these detailed environments to hold frames in an attempt to portray the atmosphere and create the right mood amongst my audience, which is also in relation to Roe (2013).
On top of this, I will look at using a range of different camera angles that will aide the creation of tension and suspense throughout the clip. By doing so, I hope to apply Caputo's theory of a storyteller and achieve an immersive and engaging clip of a story that transports an audience into a new reality.
Sunday, 10 April 2016
CoP Creative Response: Visual Research
I thought it would benefit me more if I carried out further research into how storytelling works in animation by looking at a few animations that I felt were more successful at storytelling than other mediums. I wanted to look for animations that used one or more of the techniques that I had researched to see how they worked when put into practice, rather than just theory. This way I would gain a better understanding of how to shape my own animated story in a successful way.
The first set of animations I looked at were all created by Studio Ghibli, as I have found that these films often follow a number of the key elements of visual storytelling I came across during my research.
All of these animation's protagonists are extremely simple in terms of character design and even character animation. Although there is a certain amount of exaggeration to their body language (which is common within animation) the behaviour is somewhat subtle and natural compared to other character based animations such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. However, it is the simple face shapes and generic facial features that really stand out for me and will be a huge source of inspiration for my own character design.
Another element all three of these animations follow is Joseph Campbell's monomyth. Throughout each animation, the narrative contains the 12 stages of the hero's journey, which is particularly easy to follow in Spirited Away. All of the protagonists within these narratives are also flawed in one way or another, making them more relate-able and easier to associate with.
Another animation that came to mind when I was thinking of how these elements have been visualised is Tomm Moore's Song of the Sea.
The first set of animations I looked at were all created by Studio Ghibli, as I have found that these films often follow a number of the key elements of visual storytelling I came across during my research.
Spirited Away - Studio Ghibli
Grave of the Fireflies - Studio Ghibli
Ponyo - Studio Ghibli
All of these animation's protagonists are extremely simple in terms of character design and even character animation. Although there is a certain amount of exaggeration to their body language (which is common within animation) the behaviour is somewhat subtle and natural compared to other character based animations such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. However, it is the simple face shapes and generic facial features that really stand out for me and will be a huge source of inspiration for my own character design.
Another element all three of these animations follow is Joseph Campbell's monomyth. Throughout each animation, the narrative contains the 12 stages of the hero's journey, which is particularly easy to follow in Spirited Away. All of the protagonists within these narratives are also flawed in one way or another, making them more relate-able and easier to associate with.
Another animation that came to mind when I was thinking of how these elements have been visualised is Tomm Moore's Song of the Sea.
Song of the Sea - Cartoon Saloon
Again, Song of the Sea contains very simple character design and character animation and also follows Campbell's monomyth. However, I feel that this animation relates to the others because of its use of realistic backgrounds. All of the animations I have looked at contain very realistic backgrounds compared to the character designs. This puts into the practice the theory that the backgrounds of the animation can be used to express atmosphere and mood and help an audience to process certain events that occur throughout the narrative.
Each animation also demonstrates how the aesthetic of animation can effect the atmosphere of the narrative and portray abstract ideas, for instance in Song of the Sea, emotions are portrayed as swirling clouds of different colours, which would be impossible to create in live-action to the same quality and effect.
On a final note, all of these animations touch upon some kind of emotion or create a sense of tension or suspense. This is a factor that I have found to be quite common among most animations I have watched that are narrative driven. The theory that emotion helps to create a more engaging and immersive story experience appears to be true and it is definitely something that I will bring to the forefront of my considerations for my own narrative driven animation.
I feel that I have a good range of how to put theory into practice and I am confident that I can create an animation that explores all of the techniques I have discovered throughout my research. Whilst I begin to visualise my story I will also conduct research into the effect of camera angles to help me create the most effective shots for suspense and tension. However, this is something that will be easier to do when I have a solid idea in mind and begin to storyboard.
CoP Creative Response: Theoretical Research
Although I've already done quite a bit of reading and research into the subject of animation as a storytelling tool, I thought it would be a good idea to read further into the specific techniques associated with visual storytelling to help me pin point the key elements that make visual storytelling a success so I can develop my own successful narrative to animate.
Whilst I was researching for my essay I came across Digital Storytelling: A Creator's Guide to Interactive Entertainment by Carolyn Handler Miller. Despite me not using any direct quotes within my essay, I do feel that it contains a lot of useful information that would benefit my exploration into creating an effective animation.
According to Miller (2004) a good story is made up of goals that are; specific; simple to understand; highly desirable; difficult to achieve. Miller (2004) believes that the "clearer the goal, and the more daunting the obstacles that stand in the way of achieving it, the greater the drama" (Miller, C, H 2004), which will ultimately lead to a more engrossing story, as the protagonist will have to give it their all in order to achieve their desires. With this in mind, I will have to consider what obstacles my character will ultimately face and how I will present these obstacles as difficult to overcome.
Not only this, but Miller (2004) states that character development and story construction are "fundamental building blocks of any type of narrative" (Miller, C, H 2004), thus implying that no matter what I decide to portray through my animation the character must show development and the narrative must build upon itself if I am to make the story engaging and interesting for my audience. In relation to this it is important that I remember that although stories don't necessarily follow set rules, they are "guided by internal conventions" (Miller, C. H 2004), so it is important that the narrative remains logical and consistent. This is a point that Greek philosopher Aristotle agrees with, as he believed that plot developments should be logical and grow naturally out of the action, that is to say only actions that would occur naturally out of the event happening should do so, as any other action would seem illogical and out of place making it difficult for an audience to follow.
Aristotle believed that there were two types of human motivation, the first being passion and based on emotion, and the other based on reason or conscious will. I mention this because Aristotle also believed that character motivation is the fuel that leads to action, and action is one of the most important elements of drama, thus, it is important that I consider how and why my character is motivated to do what they will do within my animation. It is also important that I keep in mind which motivation will be most logical to the situation to keep my story line clear and easy to follow.
According to Miller (2004), master storytellers (myth makers) built their stories upon "themes with deep emotional and psychological underpinnings" (Miller, C. H 2004). From this it is safe to assume that such stories were so successful because of the power that emotions have over an audience and how emotions could make certain events more memorable. This is supported by a study conducted by Jacquelyn Ford Morie who set up the Darkcon project, in which participant's emotions are recorded and monitored when presented with stimuli. The findings concluded that "you remember emotionally charged events better than neutral ones" (Morie, J. F in Miller, C. H 2004). Aristotle also believed that this was case and stated that the most effective dramas often left an audience feeling a sense of catharsis, or emotional purge and relief, which is similar to what Campbell (1949) stated occurs in a powerful myth.
With this in mind, I thought it would be useful to figure out which emotions were the most effective at engaging an audience and which emotions made the most entertaining stories. I found that tension appears to be the most effective at creating the most engaging and interesting stories, as according to Miller (2004) suspense keeps an audience drawn in, as we, as humans, have a burning desire to know how something will turn out. Placing a character in jeopardy appears to create the highest emotional response within an audience, thus making the narrative more memorable.
Taking all of my research into account I have managed to create a list of key factors I need to consider when I create my animation and narrative. These are;
Critical Story Path
- There needs to be an orderly system of logic to events happening.
- There are scenes that need to be experienced in order to achieve full story experience to reach a meaningful ending point that isn't haphazard.
Flawed Protagonist
- Creates a more relate-able character (makes it easier for an audience to connect with them).
Simple Character Design
- Helps the character to become an idea rather than an event.
- Makes it possible for an audience to merge with a character and project their own associations onto the character.
Emotion
- Can be extremely significant
- Helps to make the animation appear more real and adds richness and depth/ dimension to the narrative.
- Makes the overall experience more immersive and compelling, intensifying the connection between he audience and the material.
- Emotionally potent work is more memorable.
Backgrounds
- More realistic than characters
- Used to express atmosphere and mood.
Animation
- Can express abstract ideas
- Can be anything!
From here I feel that I will be able to create an idea for a narrative that is both engaging and immersive whilst demonstrating the ways in which animation is more effective at storytelling than other mediums.
Campbell, J (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford.
Miller, C. H (2004). Digital Storytelling: A Creator's Guide to Interactive Entertainment, Focal Press, Oxford.
Whilst I was researching for my essay I came across Digital Storytelling: A Creator's Guide to Interactive Entertainment by Carolyn Handler Miller. Despite me not using any direct quotes within my essay, I do feel that it contains a lot of useful information that would benefit my exploration into creating an effective animation.
According to Miller (2004) a good story is made up of goals that are; specific; simple to understand; highly desirable; difficult to achieve. Miller (2004) believes that the "clearer the goal, and the more daunting the obstacles that stand in the way of achieving it, the greater the drama" (Miller, C, H 2004), which will ultimately lead to a more engrossing story, as the protagonist will have to give it their all in order to achieve their desires. With this in mind, I will have to consider what obstacles my character will ultimately face and how I will present these obstacles as difficult to overcome.
Not only this, but Miller (2004) states that character development and story construction are "fundamental building blocks of any type of narrative" (Miller, C, H 2004), thus implying that no matter what I decide to portray through my animation the character must show development and the narrative must build upon itself if I am to make the story engaging and interesting for my audience. In relation to this it is important that I remember that although stories don't necessarily follow set rules, they are "guided by internal conventions" (Miller, C. H 2004), so it is important that the narrative remains logical and consistent. This is a point that Greek philosopher Aristotle agrees with, as he believed that plot developments should be logical and grow naturally out of the action, that is to say only actions that would occur naturally out of the event happening should do so, as any other action would seem illogical and out of place making it difficult for an audience to follow.
Aristotle believed that there were two types of human motivation, the first being passion and based on emotion, and the other based on reason or conscious will. I mention this because Aristotle also believed that character motivation is the fuel that leads to action, and action is one of the most important elements of drama, thus, it is important that I consider how and why my character is motivated to do what they will do within my animation. It is also important that I keep in mind which motivation will be most logical to the situation to keep my story line clear and easy to follow.
According to Miller (2004), master storytellers (myth makers) built their stories upon "themes with deep emotional and psychological underpinnings" (Miller, C. H 2004). From this it is safe to assume that such stories were so successful because of the power that emotions have over an audience and how emotions could make certain events more memorable. This is supported by a study conducted by Jacquelyn Ford Morie who set up the Darkcon project, in which participant's emotions are recorded and monitored when presented with stimuli. The findings concluded that "you remember emotionally charged events better than neutral ones" (Morie, J. F in Miller, C. H 2004). Aristotle also believed that this was case and stated that the most effective dramas often left an audience feeling a sense of catharsis, or emotional purge and relief, which is similar to what Campbell (1949) stated occurs in a powerful myth.
With this in mind, I thought it would be useful to figure out which emotions were the most effective at engaging an audience and which emotions made the most entertaining stories. I found that tension appears to be the most effective at creating the most engaging and interesting stories, as according to Miller (2004) suspense keeps an audience drawn in, as we, as humans, have a burning desire to know how something will turn out. Placing a character in jeopardy appears to create the highest emotional response within an audience, thus making the narrative more memorable.
Taking all of my research into account I have managed to create a list of key factors I need to consider when I create my animation and narrative. These are;
Critical Story Path
- There needs to be an orderly system of logic to events happening.
- There are scenes that need to be experienced in order to achieve full story experience to reach a meaningful ending point that isn't haphazard.
Flawed Protagonist
- Creates a more relate-able character (makes it easier for an audience to connect with them).
Simple Character Design
- Helps the character to become an idea rather than an event.
- Makes it possible for an audience to merge with a character and project their own associations onto the character.
Emotion
- Can be extremely significant
- Helps to make the animation appear more real and adds richness and depth/ dimension to the narrative.
- Makes the overall experience more immersive and compelling, intensifying the connection between he audience and the material.
- Emotionally potent work is more memorable.
Backgrounds
- More realistic than characters
- Used to express atmosphere and mood.
Animation
- Can express abstract ideas
- Can be anything!
From here I feel that I will be able to create an idea for a narrative that is both engaging and immersive whilst demonstrating the ways in which animation is more effective at storytelling than other mediums.
Campbell, J (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford.
Miller, C. H (2004). Digital Storytelling: A Creator's Guide to Interactive Entertainment, Focal Press, Oxford.
Friday, 19 February 2016
CoP Creative Resonse: Practical Proposal Form
In relation to our essay, we are required to create a practical element that explores and relates to our chosen essay title and the research we have undertaken. At first I had no idea how I was going to tackle this element of the module and I was really struggling with how to explore my theory. All I knew was that I had to somehow explore and experiment with the notion that animation is capable of telling stories better than other mediums.
With this in mind I sat down with Mike and we went through the questionnaire a question at a time and began to pick away at what it was I actually wanted to achieve through my exploration into my chosen question. To make it easier, I started with what I was proposing to undertake and found that the rest of the questionnaire filled itself out.
In order to begin work on my practical element I will need to conduct further research into storytelling techniques within animation and animations that tell stories effectively. I will also need to research into why certain animations effect us in a certain ways, why certain animations are completely immersive and how they achieve this effect. Leading on from this I started to think about how this works even when the animation we are looking at is extremely stylised and decided to explore how they are still believable despite obviously being an animation. I also feel that it would be beneficial to look at a range of animations that are effective at storytelling and which aren't and explore why these animations aren't as effective.
With this in mind I sat down with Mike and we went through the questionnaire a question at a time and began to pick away at what it was I actually wanted to achieve through my exploration into my chosen question. To make it easier, I started with what I was proposing to undertake and found that the rest of the questionnaire filled itself out.
 |
| Practical Proposal Form |
In order to begin work on my practical element I will need to conduct further research into storytelling techniques within animation and animations that tell stories effectively. I will also need to research into why certain animations effect us in a certain ways, why certain animations are completely immersive and how they achieve this effect. Leading on from this I started to think about how this works even when the animation we are looking at is extremely stylised and decided to explore how they are still believable despite obviously being an animation. I also feel that it would be beneficial to look at a range of animations that are effective at storytelling and which aren't and explore why these animations aren't as effective.
Based on my essay research I also feel that it would benefit my work if I were to conduct research into how colour and lighting effects how we perceive certain events and how they can alter the mood and atmosphere of a story. I also want to explore how shot framing and camera angles help to tell a story and how they can help to guide an audience through the story.
All of this research will help me to create an animation of a character in a situation that requires me to use all of the techniques and methods of storytelling I have learned over the last few months. I want to attempt to create a situation that engages the audience, fully immersing them into the story, whilst still remaining believable. I also want to focus on creating something that can't be achieved in another medium, or that wouldn't work as well.
Overall, I feel that I have a good starting ground and I am confident that I will be able to come up with a few alternative ideas to work with.
All of this research will help me to create an animation of a character in a situation that requires me to use all of the techniques and methods of storytelling I have learned over the last few months. I want to attempt to create a situation that engages the audience, fully immersing them into the story, whilst still remaining believable. I also want to focus on creating something that can't be achieved in another medium, or that wouldn't work as well.
Overall, I feel that I have a good starting ground and I am confident that I will be able to come up with a few alternative ideas to work with.
Monday, 18 January 2016
Lecture Four: Panopticism - Institutions and Institutional Power
This lecture focused on understanding the Panopticon and how Panopticism works in today's society. To gain a clear understanding of Panopticism we started at the beginning with a brief explanation of The Great Confinement which occurred in the 17th century. Confinement was a place for the unemployed, prisoners, the poor and the insane where they were made to work and would be punished if they didn't. This led to the birth of the asylum and institutions that were specific to certain deviance.
It was French philosopher Micheal Foucault (1926-1984) who explored the concept of a disciplinary society and legitimsed the practices of hospitals and doctors to show how they could affect a person's mind and ultimately cause them to self regulate. In 1971, philosopher Jeremy Bentham created a design for a building known as the Panopticon, although none were built in his time the idea was that each individual would sit in their own cubicle that was situated on the outer wall. They wouldn't be able to see or communicate with any other individuals, but would only be able to see the 'face of the institution' that was in the centre of building. This design took what the asylum was doing and reversed it, taking deviance and putting it on display to permanently scrutinize it by allowing the individual's behaviour to be constantly monitored by the observation tower in the centre of the building. This was meant to ultimately lead to the individuals changing their behaviour to what they believed the authority figure wanted of them, as they were on display so any deviance would be spotted and punished.This created the 'docile body', which Foucault used to describe the automatic functioning of power, the individual would begin to internalise his behaviour and discipline himself. This also seemed to be the case when the individual's weren't sure whether the observation tower was occupied or not, the fear of possibly being caught was enough to make the individual alter their own behaviour.
 |
| Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon |
Foucault believed that this was a metaphor for society and reflected that we are always being watched by those with power and authority, stating that the Panopticon is a model for how modern society organises its knowledge, its power and its training of bodies, resulting in a new form of power known as Panopticism. Although Foucault was referring to a society that existed around 70 years ago, Panopticism still plays a large role in today's society. I found it really interesting to learn that Panopticism is all around us, in the classroom, the office, the high street, the open plan bar, but we don't really take notice and don't necessarily know it is occurring. However, it is everywhere. Open plan offices are becoming more common, as they strip away the privacy of cubicles and have all the workers on display for the boss to observe from his/ her office that is placed so that they can survey the whole room at all times. This makes workers more productive. It is also a similar environment in the classroom, with the students at desk that are all in front of the teacher who can observe each child individually and as a group.
Not only are we monitored at work, but we are also monitored in public all the time with the use of CCTV, which reinforces Foucault's point that we don't need to be able to see an authoritative figure to be afraid of punishment, it is simply enough to make us believe that we are being monitored to make us self monitoring, self correcting, obedient, 'docile' bodies.
With everything that I learned from this lecture, I have realised that Panopticism occurs in my practice and studies as a student. The layout of the lecture hall reflects that of a classroom with the lecturer standing at the front, whilst we sit and listen contently even if we find the subject boring and irrelevant, we listen because we are conforming to a sense of power that we convince ourselves exists.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)