My 30 Second Animation...

We were given our assignment to create a 30 second animation, my method of animation will be cut out and illustration, which I believe will work well together both visually and conceptually.

Ihave decided my animation will be based around the song 'Bees' by Ty Segall. I would like to use contrast of both bright colours and dark colours, to signify good and evil.

The short story will include a boy following a girl through a dangerous dystopian landscape. I will include some real life figures ideas of the figures to include in this animation so far are Bill Hicks, Claudia Winkleman, Mother Theresa, Christopher Hitchens, Pope John Paul II, David Cameron and Barrack Obama. Eventually the girl and boy grow wings and fly towards the horizon away from the madness that surrounds them. Ideas for scenery include, people, skyscrapers, authority, tanks, guns, fires, sun flowers, birds, cats and trees.


I looked to Terry Gilliam for visual influence, I think in his 1974 short 'The Miracle of Flight' his illustration is bold and I like his use of colour. The plot is based on an inventor who wants to discover how to make humans fly (its set in the 16th century).


Terry Gilliam's 'The Miracle of Flight'.

My second idea would be using the same stop-motion techniques of cut-out and illustration based on the content of The Flaming Lips song 'This Here Giraffe'. The animation will be centred on a Giraffe and a bird watcher who journey through a dystopian nightmare until the sun comes and all the turmoil dissipates leaving The Giraffe laughing as the bird watcher is stunned at what he has witnessed.

My Final Post...

I have decided to use two different types of stop-motion animation both cut out and illustration. I think with merging the two I might be able to make a colourful and surreal animation.

I will apply plenty of pre-production to my project primary and secondary research and monitor how my progress develops, if I don't feel my ideas are suited I will change my idea for a better one or switch to a different application of stop animation.

Pixilation

Pixilation was first used by the godfather of stop-motion animation Georges Melies, this was used in his short piece 'Le Diable Noir' (1905) although his technique of pausing a recording then continuing again was originally an accident whilst filming a passing bus on the street, Melies continuously explored the possibilities of this technique. However no one exployed the possibilities of Pixilation like British/Canadian film maker Malcolm McLaren did in his career during the 1950s the stop-motion technique once again uses the persistence of vision to make it look as though the subjects in the film are defying the laws of physics (i.e. floating/flying/skating/sliding etc.)

This is done by taking a photograph frame by frame moving the subjects (or props) as carefully as possible or as drastic as possible depending on the desired effect the film maker wants to utilize. When using an Apple Macintosh there is a programme called iStopMovie when taking pictures frame by frame an onion skin appears this shows where the subject appeared in the last image moving it as much or as little as you want while seeing exactly where the subject appeared in the last photo. By using the onion skin you can see the composition of your last photo frame, this gives you the availability to create your animation with pain staking accuracy.

Using human subjects (or puppets) instead of using illustration was one of Malcolm McLaren's most valuable gifts to stop-motion animation, creating a world of oppurtunities for film makers such as Jan Švankmajer and short feature animator Adam Pesapane commonly known as PES.

 

The subjects tend to be real life rendered subjects that move only slightly frame by frame using a tripod and video camera with the necessary software the pictures are taken and then played back again in a sequence to make it seem as though subjects are moving in a surreal way.

Model Based

Model based animation is where models are produced using plasticine clay, this form of animation first became popular in the 1920s mainly because of its three-dimensional qualities and versatility. 

 

Art Clokey and Gumby 

Art Clokey was a pioneer of clay animation in 1955 he released his experimental film 'Glumbasia' influenced by his professor.  Clokey went on to produce 'The Gumby Show' which was originally aired in 1955 and continued to air up until 1989.  Gumby had returned in many incarnations through the years a Gumby revival had been successful in the 1980s where the character was even parodied by Eddie Murphy in his early stand up days in the early 1980s. The show was originally produced through clokey productions its continuous distributer is DreamWorks Classics. 

Aardman Animations

Aardman Animations was first established by Peter Lord and David Sproxton in 1972 they united through their mutual interest for working with clay animation. Morph was one of the first animations made famous by Aardman and the much creator of the character morph Tony Hart.

By 1989 Nick Park's involvement fluctuated the company's efforts and the establisment of Park's characters 'Wallace and Gromit' first came to attention in 1989 with 'A Grand Day Out' which was shown in theatres around the UK. The character Wallace is a simple man with a love for tea and particularly wensleydale cheese along with his companion Gromit an intelligent but silent dog. The
feature was nominated or an academy award but lost to another one of Park's animations 'Creature Comforts'.  Wallace and Gromit are seen as positive british figures in international culture, often sporting quentisentially british attitudes and a love for britain itself. These short/feature length animations returned with three short feature sequels 'The Wrong Trousers' 'A Close Shave' 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' and one feature length film 'Curse of The Were-Rabbit'.
The studio have came a long way and have introduced new animation techniques as 3D-animation and CGI animation to their later productions.

Cut-Out Animation

Cut-out animation is a method of animation that was first pioneered by the german stop-motion animator Lotte Reiniger, who produced the first feature length animation in history 'The Adventures of Prince Achmed' in 1926. After escaping the Nazis and emigrating to England she was commissioned by The Post Office to produce advertisements up until her death in 1981.

Terry Gilliam is the animator/director who is possibly best known for his work on 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' used cut-out animation almost exclusively in early stages of his career. He used cut-outs from magazines because it was the "quickest" and "easiest" method of animation he could find. He would get his cut-outs from magazines, newspapers and scrapbooks. He used to voice all of his animations which are usually high pitched, abstract sounds and impersonations.

In other popular culture cut-out animation featured in the American animated sitcom South Park.
This method of animation was used for the early series and as the series progressed the producers used flash animation instead. Other notable animations are Angela Anaconda and Charlie and Lola.

Below is a video from the 70s where Gilliam explains how he comes to produce his cut-out animations:

Here's one of his animations that originally featurtes on 'Monty Python's Flying Circus'.

I began by sourcing magazines and then looking for images that stood out to me.

I cut out an image of a leaf-headed women so I decided that my stop-motion animation will be based on nature.

I then found a body of a female model wearing similar colours.

MUSIC / IN \ MOTION

Below is the music video for Radiohead's 2003 single release 'There, There' from their come back guitar record 'Hail To The Theif' (a reference to George W Bush's winning election). The video features pixelation techniques and Radiohead's Thom Yorke exploring a very strange, and very british fairy tale landscape. Which ends with poor Thom morphing into a tree (which he probably secretly enjoyed, being an eco warrior n' all!)


 

Below is an early 2010 music video for the new psychedelic gods Tame Impala. The music video for 'Half Full Glass of Wine' features lots of colourful uses of stop motion animation, cut out models and images of the band performing. 

 

 

A chief figurehead for the american underground alt-rock scene of the 1990's, Stephen Malkmus and his band The Jerks, released an incredible video in 2005 with the use of stop motion animation.  The video is surreal and I also enjoy the way Malkmus steals Lou Reed's pronunciation of "door" in this song tactfully.

 

 

 

Animation from the 1980s - Present Day

Animation 1980's - Present Day

Animation has changed considerably over the last thirty years due to advances in technology and software that's been produced and is now made readily available for animators all over the world.  This makes it easier for aspiring animators to experiment with their animations, it is also alot more affordable and accessible for people to create and release their own animations.  Another aspect of the change in animation is attitude, cartoons share some common traits but ever since the success of the US television show The Simpsons, cartoons seem to involve adult themes for example Larry in one episode alludes to be a transvestite. There is overtones of adult humour in cartoons everywhere today and its not seen necessarily as a bad thing.

The Simpsons

The Simpsons are created through cell based animation but not in the classical sense cell based animation rendered through computers and software.  According to The Simpsons' homepage the show is 'the longest-running scripted show in television history' The Simpsons was created by Matt Groening who first started out illustrating comic strips, perhaps his most famous being 'Life in Hell' these strips first featured in the Los Angeles Reader.  James L Brooks a well known american producer was working on the semi-successful 'Tracey Ullman Show'. He decided he wanted short animations to feature before and after the commercial breaks on this particular show. Brooks asked Groening if he would pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts, originally Groening was going to use his Life In Hell series and expand that into moving animation but Groening knew he would require the publication rights to his Life in Hell series from the LA Reader. While Groening sat in Brooks' lobby, he formulated an idea for these animations to be centered around a dysfunctional family, this family would become The Simpsons. The Simpsons is known for its tongue in cheek humor parodying american society, films, music, politics, media, internet and religion.  It was also voted the number one cartoon of all time by UK viewers in Channel 4's '100 greatest cartoons ever' poll. Since the shows launch in December of 1989 The Simpsons has broadcast a total of 510 episodes. The show has garnered controversy from broadcasting associations in other countries due to the stereotyping and at times "crude" humour that feature in the show. As a result other countries not as familiar with westernisation have sanctioned the show from being aired.

Ren and Stimpy

Ren and Stimpy paved the way for satirical shows like Beavis and Butthead and South Park and the chief writer/animators Allan Neuwirth and John Kricfalusi brought in the grotesque close up technique using different colours and hues this set a trend for later animations a direct example would be Spongebob Squarepants, which use that same technique occasionally to emphasize the grotesqueness of a situation. During the production stages the creator of the show John Kricfalusi emphasised that they worked extensively in the layout side of the production, especially the story boards which is said to have helped in the post-production stages helping them incorporate ideas previously discussed during focus groups their production team held. The 'Ren and Stimpy Show' was first produced by Kricfalusi's own animation studio production company  Spümcø. For the first two seasons aired from 1991-1993 on Nickelodeon alongside late night re-runs of 'Doug' and 'Rugrats'.

Kricfalusi had made an agreement with the board of directors that in exchange for some heartwarming episodes he could "make a few crazy ones". One Kricfalusi was dropped by Nickelodeon due to irreconsilable differences the instiution moved the show from Spümcø to Nickelodeon's newly found subsidiary Games Animation. The show ran for another three years but soonafter critics found the original flare that set the tone for the Ren and Stimpy Show had declined. The show's planned programming came to an end around christmas 1995. 

 

Beavis and Butthead

Beavis and Butthead are two hand drawn slacker adolescent animated characters created by the chief animator/writer of the show Mike Judge (creator of 'King of The Hill' the longest running animated primetime programme third to 'South Park' and 'The Simpsons). Mike Judge is known for using his animations as a vehicle for his satirical criticism of society. The characters originated from a short movie Judge created in 1992 'Frog Baseball'. After producers from MTV seen the short they contacted Judge and asked if he'd be interested in creating a series for the institution. The characters live in the town of Highland Beavis and Butthead are two heavy metal loving juvenile idiots who are often bullied or embarressed by their counter-parts. Their cynical and immature lookout on life and looser lifestyles lead them to be bullied, disregarded and victims of their own stupidity. The show features music videos which both Beavis and Butthead criticize and often allude to the sexual, violent or lyrical content of the music videos they are seen to be watching. The show still maintains a cult following and is often used as an example of 'Generation X' comedy from the 1990s (Generation X the post WWII baby boom) it seems as though animation comedy for children and young adults has become more juvenile and almost annoying but one can see how the show would amuse people, the character flaws, the social commentary and the musical presence one can see how it would be amusing, the show largely appeals to a more alternative audience. The show was realeased in 1993 and continued to air till the late 1990s, Judge later produced a film around that time 'Beavis and Butthead do America'.