Animation Research

Animation is a series of still drawings that, when viewed at a fast paced, gives the impression of movement. The word animation originates from the Latin word ‘animare’ which means, ‘to bring life into’. Nowadays, most animation is done on computers and on certain software, such as, ‘Adobe Flash’. Some can be very complex , for example, AVATAR, and some can be very simple, for example, this animation on a stick man which can be found on youtube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f1eCOuwAkQ)

Types of animation

Stop-motion animation is the process of photographing a person, moving it a little bit, and then photographing it again. You then put all the photographs together and all the small movements look like action. It is very easy to do but takes a lot of time. Such films like, the Corpse Bride by Tim Burton. Each character in this film has several versions of the body and heads, in order to make it look like they are moving and making facial expressions. The set is also made like this, creating a dark, beautiful world.

Source:(http://whisty.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/the-corpse-bride.jpg)

Cut-out and collage animation is a combination of cut-out and collage techniques. Collage animations are pieces cut out from photos, magazines, books or clipart. Collage animation is pieces of that have been cut from drawing paper, craft paper, or possibly drawn or painted on. The pieces are arranged loosely or connected by fasteners and then arranged. Each move is captured, repositioned and then captured again. South Park is known well to do this. All the characters are cut-out but sometimes they bring in characters such as Bin Laden or Sadam Hussain, where they use the collage technique.

Source:(http://images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20090410/425.ad.SouthPark.Saddam.Satan.041009.jpg)

Rotoscoping is used to capture realistic human movement by drawing over real footage and actors. Rotoscoping is used in such Actors are photographed doing the scenes, and then the photos are digitally processed with a graphic filter. When the photos are strung together, the story is told with limited animation and this means that there is little movement. Here is an example which i found on youtube- (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlA51bIuvi4)

A cel is a sheet of transparent cellulose acetate used as a medium for painting animation frames. It is transparent so that it can be laid over other cels and/or a painted background, then photographed. (Source: The Complete Animation Course by Chris Patmore.) When you think of cartoons, the first image that pops into your head is cel animation, for example, ‘The Simpsons’.

Source:( http://rossdouthat.theatlantic.com/simpsons.jpg)

CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) is also used for 2D and stop-motion animation. But nowadays, 3D CGI is becoming more poplular. It does not only have to be used for an entire film but could be used for special effects. When filmmakers used models or stop-motion in the past, they now can use 3D CGI animation, such as in the first three Star Wars films and Spider-man movies.

Source:(http://www.vectormagazine.co.uk/cgi-bin/upload/spiderman_3.jpg)

Coming Up With A Story

We changed our minds a lot of the times as all of us have very different opinions. In the end, we came up with two options; a comedy and a horror. The comedy story was about a man who goes out on several dates at one time, for example, he is on date with a woman in a restaurant. He excuses himself to the toilet and goes to the restaurant next door and continues his date with another woman, and so on. He then goes home and you see he has a wife. She wants to have quality time with the husband but he says that he is too tired. The other story is about a man who comes home and sees his wife on the floor, beaten up and bleeding. He doesn’t understand why she is scared of him and doesn’t let him touch her. He then hears something and turns around and gets hit in the head by himself. This sounds confusing, but the reason it seems as though he is hitting himself, it that he is schizophrenic. He did this to his wife but thinks that someone else did it and he is completely innocent.

Analysing a short film

Replay (Animated Short film)-ANIBOOM
(8:45min)

It starts off with a low level angle of someone running and you can just see their shoes. This creates a sense of urgency and danger. The audience instantly know that there is something wrong and that he or she could be running from something. You first think that this is a man because of the clothing looks stereotypically what a man would wear. When she runs in and then shuts the door there is a red and green light. This is a semiotic symbol because most people recognise the green light as good and the red light as bad, so when the red changes to green, the audience knows it is now safe. It then zooms in at the bag and you know that the bag or something in the bag is significant to the main story.
She then comes into a room. A low lighting is used to show that this is not a happy place and they could possibly be somewhere where it is dark such as underground. They are not rich as the walls are made of metal and it does not look like they own many things. This is confirmed when she says that she has to sell the things that she found. It then shows a close up of his face and looking at the voice recorder and there is red lighting. This implies that he wants the voice recorder and is possibly thinking of taking it.
After he runs away, there is an establishing shot. This shows the outside of where they live and it looks like they are in a desert. This then shows why they live the way they do. As the boy is walking through the streets, you then realise that they are not living in the desert but in a place (town) that has been deserted. The gas mask implies that the reason for this is because of some gas or something that is in the air. Soft, classical music is played. This non-diegetic sound is used because it is trying to show that he is happy and amazed about what he is seeing. It also shows that he is in his world and not taking into reality about the state of the town because this is the first time he has ever seen it.
While this is going on, there are other sounds that are used such as breathing. The breathing is a significant part in the film as the whole reason why they have to live underground is because the air is toxicated. A match cut is used when the boy hears the sound off the church bells ringing. He first hears the sound on the tape recorder and then he sees the church at the same time.
The children that he sees are of a lighter colour than the surrounding area. This shows that they may not be real and are possibly a creation from his imagination. There is a fade out to white and fade in after he goes to play with the children he is imagining. This shows the audience that it is no longer his imagination but reality. That is why you know that when you see him on the floor, he did not really play with the children but could have possibly died or was unconscious after he took the mask off. Before he took the mask off, his face was in the dark (shade) and when he took the mask off; his face was in the light. This could be trying to represent the fact that he now feels free.
They show a close up of the voice recorder, the object that started this problem. At first it was still playing the children talking but then it broke and stopped playing. You then knew that the animation/story had ended.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-cFHeoXAw8 ) -LINK