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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| General plan for the year |
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| 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.
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