OUAN401:
Animation serves many other purposes than just being there purely for entertainment. One of which is advertising. Animation seems to be a very popular strategy in advertising as it is a "lighter" more fun and audience-friendly way of drawing in attention and creating appeal. I'd much rather be brainwashed and compelled to buy that funky, new, super action food blender if it were welcomed on screen by a sweet, little mascot full of expression and charisma than a middle-aged woman who's expressions show that she's been forcefully made to sing that horribly catchy jingle...
The very first animation in the commercial realm (and to my knowledge, the very first animation in history) was created by Arthur Melbourne-Cooper named "Matches: An Appeal" in 1899. This clever little stop motion animation consists of matchstick characters and items formed on a chalkboard taking part in wacky and vivid activities. Back in the day, that was the height of animation technology and would've caught everyone's attention while subliminally forcing its audience to buy those matches!
Animation in video games such as Animal Crossing: Wild World can actually be more sinister than we think. Although this is aimed at children, it sets a very standard way of living right from the start of the game. The aim of the game is to work as hard as you can to afford the biggest and nicest looking house. It introduces capitalistic values such as mortgages, consumerism, working for a living etc. It is however beneficial as you acquire social skills through talking to the animals, although this could be seen as negative as in some circumstances the animals will not visit you if you do not have a nice house and will criticise you if so.
Saturday, 21 December 2013
OUAN401 - Context of Practice: Auteurship and The Avant Garde
OUAN401:
Auteur Theory:
That the word "auteur" practically means "author". This film theory is associated with a man called Andre Bazin, a French critic. It is also associated with writers for Cahiers du Cinema in the 1950s. Film directors are artists in their own rights, they are on par with novelists and great writers as it is a very similar form of art. Films made by a true auteur follow a thematic consistency throughout their work i.e Tim Burton and so forth.
Auteur Theory in Animation:
Animations echoes large scale film production processes - very true, however a great deal more of effort is put into animation as this incorporates more artistic skill in my opinion. It offers for a filmmaker to work entirely alone, freelance etc. It could be seen as and argued to be one of the most auteuristic of film practices. However, few animators have the recognition of being an auteur as they mostly reside under a corporate identity such as Disney or Pixar.
Although Disney is a key figure or art and animation and started out as a one-man band, the companies do follow a set of stylistic processes and techniques and it is definitely easy to recognise a Disney or Pixar film as they follow a set of conventions throughout their films. It is the epitome of the American Dream (in my opinion, can be too tongue in cheek, cheesy, unrealistic ideas of life). Very politically incorrect.
Caroline Leaf is seen as a more traditional, avant garde artist/filmmaker. She uses the process and technique of scratching into the raw film with paint to create a very textured and abstract appearance.
Auteur Theory:
That the word "auteur" practically means "author". This film theory is associated with a man called Andre Bazin, a French critic. It is also associated with writers for Cahiers du Cinema in the 1950s. Film directors are artists in their own rights, they are on par with novelists and great writers as it is a very similar form of art. Films made by a true auteur follow a thematic consistency throughout their work i.e Tim Burton and so forth.
Auteur Theory in Animation:
Animations echoes large scale film production processes - very true, however a great deal more of effort is put into animation as this incorporates more artistic skill in my opinion. It offers for a filmmaker to work entirely alone, freelance etc. It could be seen as and argued to be one of the most auteuristic of film practices. However, few animators have the recognition of being an auteur as they mostly reside under a corporate identity such as Disney or Pixar.
Although Disney is a key figure or art and animation and started out as a one-man band, the companies do follow a set of stylistic processes and techniques and it is definitely easy to recognise a Disney or Pixar film as they follow a set of conventions throughout their films. It is the epitome of the American Dream (in my opinion, can be too tongue in cheek, cheesy, unrealistic ideas of life). Very politically incorrect.
Caroline Leaf is seen as a more traditional, avant garde artist/filmmaker. She uses the process and technique of scratching into the raw film with paint to create a very textured and abstract appearance.
OUAN401 - Context of Practice: Genre
OUAN401:
What is Genre?
Genre is a means of categorising anything from film and books to periodicals and even music. Genre gives the audience an idea of what the contents of a particular piece of entertainment are. This enables the audience to make quick assumptions on whether or not they might find something appealing to them.
It sometimes becomes contradictory and deficient and can help you think outside the box as to how particular narrative structures work in animations that are compliant with a particular genre. Discrete categories defined by particular features, be it visual, thematic or subject. Cinematic conventions.
Genre in Animation:
There are deemed to be six generic plots that animation (and this could be said for other types of entertainment media). These of which are: Maturation (coming of age), Redemption (protagonist transfers from bad to good), Punitive (good character behaves badly and is punished for wrongdoings), Testing (willpower versus temptation), Education (protagonist moves from negative to positive perception of world), and lastly, Disillusionment (positive to negative perception of world).
Paul Wells' Seven Genres of Animated Film:
1. Formal
2. Deconstructive
3. Political
4. Abstract
5. Re-Narration
6. Paradigmatic
7. Primal
What is Genre?
Genre is a means of categorising anything from film and books to periodicals and even music. Genre gives the audience an idea of what the contents of a particular piece of entertainment are. This enables the audience to make quick assumptions on whether or not they might find something appealing to them.
It sometimes becomes contradictory and deficient and can help you think outside the box as to how particular narrative structures work in animations that are compliant with a particular genre. Discrete categories defined by particular features, be it visual, thematic or subject. Cinematic conventions.
Genre in Animation:
There are deemed to be six generic plots that animation (and this could be said for other types of entertainment media). These of which are: Maturation (coming of age), Redemption (protagonist transfers from bad to good), Punitive (good character behaves badly and is punished for wrongdoings), Testing (willpower versus temptation), Education (protagonist moves from negative to positive perception of world), and lastly, Disillusionment (positive to negative perception of world).
Paul Wells' Seven Genres of Animated Film:
1. Formal
2. Deconstructive
3. Political
4. Abstract
5. Re-Narration
6. Paradigmatic
7. Primal
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