Week04: Note

The Language Of Animation

1.Settings & Props:
  • Setup and location play an important role in movies and animations.
  • Scenarios are either built from scratch or spend a lot of time finding scenarios that already exist.
  • Scenarios can manipulate the audience by establishing specific expectations and then act differently
2.Costume, Hair &Make Up

Clothing, hair, and makeup can be instant indicators of our characters’ personality, status, and work.

3.Facial ExpressionsBody Language
  • Facial expressions clearly indicate how someone is feeling
  • Body language can also indicate how one character feels about another, or can reflect their relationship status
4.Lighting and Colour
  • To highlight important characters or objects within the frame 
  • To make characters look mysterious by shading sections of the face & body 
  • To reflect a characters mental state
Light:

Low Key Lighting

High Key Lighting

Natural lighting

Colour and Film

cold color, color contrasts, cooler or warmer

5.Positioning of characters/objects within the frame
  • Positioning within a frame draws our attention to an important character/object
  • Animators can use positioning to represent relationships between people.
Depth-of-field:Deep Focus, Shallow Focus
9 Types of Shot:
  • Extreme Close Up (ECU)
  • Close Up (CU)
  • Medium Close-Up (MCU)
  • Mid-Shot (MS)
  • Long Shot (LS)
  • Extreme long shot
  • A one-shot
  • A two-shot
  • A group shot
  • High angle shot
  • Low angle shot
  • Point of View Shot (POV)
  • Moving Shots

Week04: Analysis of Mise-en-Scène

Research Activity 1

Fantastic Mr. Fox-Chemistry 2009
  • Settings & Props

The first scene is a wooden door with frosted glass, the wall is covered with leaves, and the door says: ELEMENTARY CHEMISTRY GRADE: 6 3/4 MISS MUSKRAT’S CLASS. Indicate that their next activities will be carried out in the laboratory.
The second scene is in the laboratory. The background wall is covered with pictorials, and the cabinets are also equipped with test tubes, desk lamps and other supplies. There is also a fire extinguisher in the corner, I guess it was used to prevent fire in the experiment. Various reagent bottles, notebooks, pencils, etc. are also placed on the left side. The fox also wears goggles on his head.

  • Costume, Hair & Make-Up

A (the first male fox) wore a white cloak sweater. B (mother fox) wears a brown suspender skirt and two cute hairpins on her head. This allows people to distinguish the gender of the character without using the voice. There is also a paste that looks like a name on B’s goggles. C (the second male fox) wears a blue T-shirt. D (Mole) wears an orange knitted half sleeve.

  • Facial Expressions & Body Language

A did the experiment seriously. As A’s partner, B had been watching C next to him, absent-mindedly. Since D exploded the test product, C immediately put out the fire with a fire extinguisher. At this time, C looked at B, and C’s tone was still a bit shy. B praised C’s good work, A rolled his eyes and said that B should be his partner and not someone else’s.

  • Lighting and Colour

I think the light should be a ceiling light from a laboratory, and a light from the flame. The main color is warm light.

  • Positioning of characters/objects within the frame

Equal relationship.

  • What role does the shot choice (Cinematography) play in the scene?

Medium shots, used to narrate the relationship between characters and tell the development of things.

Research Activity 2

Anomalisa Charlie Kaufman 2016
  • Can you describe the mise-en-scene in this picture? How are the characters placed in the frame?

Judging from the white sheets, suitcase and disposable slippers, it should be in a hotel. Judging by the clothes and dressing, the lady should be middle-aged. Men should be old-aged, because their hair is white. Their eyes are dull and solemn, and there is sign on the bed. I guess their journey should be a little unpleasant or tired. The tone is nostalgic, I think they should be recalling some bad things. When the camera chooses overhead shooting, two people can be completely placed in one picture at the same time, which can better present the state and expression of the two people.

Research Activity 3

Hitchcock, A. Rebecca (1940)
  • Can you describe the relationship between the characters?

Master-servant relationship, the lady on the left is the master and the lady on the right is the servant.

  • How do we know what the relationship is? Can you describe how the mise-en-scene works together to tell us what the relationship is?

Judge from clothing. The lady on the left is wearing a gorgeous puff sleeve group and a necklace, and her hair is curled. The woman on the right is wearing black overalls, no accessories and her hair curled up. I guess the pan head is for work convenience. They are in a bright and dark environment, and they also reflect the difference in the inner world of the two people. The lady on the brighter side may be more kind, and the lady on the darker side may have a dark heart.

Research Activity 4

The Breadwinner, 2017
  • Can you describe the mise-en-scène in this picture?

In the middle of the picture is a little girl with a red scarf on her head, walking on the road in a panic expression. In the background are two rows of buildings with intricate wires in between. Pedestrians are almost male.

  • What type of shot is it?

Medium shots

  • What is the camera angle?

Eye-level camera

  • Where is the character location in the frame?

In the middle

Week03: Note

Politics and Persuasion in Entertainment

People can influence or persuade audiences in the following areas:

  1. Social media
  2. Broadcast News and events
  3. Film and Animation
  4. Television

Media platforms that have the potential to influence or persuade an audience:

  1. Broadcasts
  2. Print Media
  3. Mainstream Film and Animation
  4. Independent film and animation
  5. Games
  6. Podcasts
  7. Social media / internet profile

Some messages used in moving images:

  1. Subliminal or masked content
  2. Overt or Propagandist intentions
  3. Persuasive or commercial targets
  4. Documentary or Investigative
  5. Independent or Personal struggle, observation or experience

Some major political topics in film and media:

  1. Political persuasion
  2. Commercial persuasion
  3. Race
  4. Gender
  5. Equality
  6. Disability
  7. Ethics

Week03: Politics in Media

The movie titled “Green Book” is a real black travel guide in history. In 1962, the white supremacy movement set off another climax in the United States. The black postman Victor Hugo Green wrote a pamphlet that pointed out which hotels and restaurants allowed black people to stay and eat. The name Green in the booklet “Green Book” is taken from Green, and it seems to adopt the meaning of green symbolizing unobstructedness. The two male protagonists of the film drove this green paper to tour around the United States. A male protagonist is the famous black musician Tang, and the other is a white Tony who is in a nightclub. He is called to be Tang’s driver. The contrast between skin color and cultural accomplishment naturally produces some wonderful reactions during the journey. In addition, the film also shows many levels of entanglement: racial discrimination, inequality of the same race, master and servant, the social status of musicians, family relations and so on.

This movie is my favorite among many movies about race. It can also be seen that talking about political issues in the media is very inflammatory. Let the people in it empathize with each other, thereby triggering people’s empathy and trying to change deep-rooted political issues. However, the political stance in some film and television works only represents the author, for example, some works contain obscure racial discrimination. This requires the audience to have independent cognitive abilities, and more importantly, the author should have a good political outlook. Because there are children in the audience, this subtle influence will make people form deep-rooted political ideas. So I think it is advisable to add political elements to the media, but it must be correct.

Week02: Answer to Question 1

About Disney Hyperreal animation aesthetic

Question 1

Paul Wells suggests that ‘Animation as a form has predominantly been understood as a ‘cartoon’ medium, and largely defined by the presence, and performance of Disney Animation from 1928 to the present day. lt may be argued, therefore, that all other forms of animation may be addressed through the ways they relate to or differ from the Disney model. Many animation studios across the world have sought to imitate Disney aesthetically, industrially, technologically, and commercially, while others have resisted this approach, viewing it as something which may misrepresent their own engagement with the medium’ (2002,2).

Can you think of any animation studios/forms of animation/animators who have imitated or been influenced by Disney’s hyperreal animation aesthetic in their editing? How do they do this? Include animation in its myriad forms in your consideration of your answer.

Can you think of any animation studios/forms of animation/animators who resist this aesthetic? How do they do this? Include animation in its myriad forms in your consideration of your answer.

Pirated on the left, genuine on the right

Such a clever combination of the two like this “The Autobots” has to admit that it is also a different kind of wisdom, not to mention that there are people who use a tire to block the herringbone on the poster to pretend to be “Cars”. Thought, the English name of the film was chosen as the Autobots disguised as Transformers. This all-round plagiarism without dead ends really impressed me. Although Disney has a strong influence in the industry, the opening of a good work often needs to learn from good things. But I think we need to have our own style and content more, and if we all copy other people’s, that’s thieves.

Week 02: Good&Bad Animations

My favorite animation is “Spirited Away”, in my mind it is the best 2D animation. I like Miyazaki’s painting style and color matching very much. Among Miyazaki’s works, I like “Spirited Away” the most. From the character to the scene design, it is a highlight that is worth learning.

The scene of a cartoon determines the lifeblood of the cartoon. “Spirited Away” in 2002 won the Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear Award for its unparalleled scenes, and also won the Oscar Award. Since then, the Japanese animation king Miyazaki has become famous in the global animation industry. Disney sincerely admired Hayao Miyazaki, calling him “Aki Kurosawa in the animation industry.” In contrast to the success of this cartoon, I have analyzed the reasons from many aspects. I believe that the cartoon’s performance in the characterization and character of the cartoon is very good. In addition, the visual design effect of the animation On the previous page, the cartoon did not ignore the form while paying attention to the content, but integrated the aesthetics of form and the content of expression. This animated film gave the audience a visual enjoyment, and the story cross moved people’s hearts and pushed this cartoon to Climax. Among the twelve principles of animation, I think this animation does a very good job in terms of appeal and Staging.

I usually watch some Chinese animations. “Wind from Luoyang: The God of Machine” (风起洛阳之神机少年) is a popular animation in China. I can’t tolerate the rough character modeling in the film, such as unnatural hair swinging, and inadequate mouth shape when speaking, etc. Some details are not paid attention to. Although these aspects are not satisfactory enough, there are still some merits in plot development and character shaping. I think Chinese animation is very poor, but the prospects are very broad.