Week 11 - Abstract Animation

We firstly looked at a few quotes by different animators and discussed what we thought the meaning of them were.

'A Colour Box' by Len Lye

With abstract animation we see more of the artists personality and style. Experimental abstract can have a commercial element.

Paule Wells - came up with the idea between orthodox animation and experimental animation and how they are linked.

Cartoons that time forgot:

Ub Iwerks - worked with Disney and was friends with him in the early days.

Carl Stalling - Musician and worked for Warner Bros. He did music for early cartoons. His origins were from silent films where his would play the music that would accompany them.

Some old Cartoons we looked at:

'Skeleton Dance' - Silly Symphony

Flip the Frog - 'Soup Song'

Flip the Frog - 'The Village Barber'

Week 10 - Types of Cuts and Cutting on Action

Types of cuts/ transitions:

• Straight Cut - When you cut straight down the middle, from one to the next.
• Contrast Cut - When you cut to something that contrasts to the first shot. Like cutting from black and white to colour.
• Match Cut - When you cut to match with how the shot looks, sounds and context of the shot. There is a relationship between the two.
• L and J shaped Cuts - This is where the video and audio are not cut at the same time and one is cut before the other, depending on whether it is a J or an L shot.
•  Parallel Cut - This suggests a relationship between them. Parallel cut - Naked gun
• Jump Cut - When this is done it looks unnatural as it suddenly changes.
• Wipe - It is a transition from one scene to another. Star Wars III Revenge of the wipes
• Fading and Dissolving - With fading you normally fade into black, usually at the end of an edit. With dissolving you fade into another image.
• Morph - When something changes over time. Saving Private Ryan Morph

All of these are very useful to know while editing my own edits.

An example of some unique editing techniques can be found in the director Satoshi Kon. This video discusses his work with editing.

Unique Editing

Cutting on Action (traditional editing)

• Cut to change of angle and on a characters action
• Match cuts using the same speed, direction and momentum
• Don't repeat frames to make movement fluid and continuous 
• This makes a cut almost invisible and prevents us from thinking too much about it as an audience.

Example of where this is used is in Fist of Legend because of the speed of editing the way they edited it prevents the audience from noticing mistakes first hand.

We went on to look at a talk about the Invisible Cut with Tim Squyer and Bobbie O'Stein. This was very useful.

Week 10 - Delicious Piece test

Delicious Piece test

There is a lot i have to change in this test. The use of the music with the end drums and singing doesn't work well together and the edit should finish on a title. I have built up a beat with some of my edits and then they suddenly stop mid climax so i need to work on that so that the beat and rhythm i have created carries on. Also the use of a J shaped edit when the man is talking about piece doesn't fit and the title confuses you slightly and it doesn't look professional.

Week 10 - Library Resources

In today's lesson we had a small lecture on what we can find in the library and how to use it. It was especially helpful to find out how we can find journal although when i took a closer look there wasn't any really relating to my topic of Disney and feminism. But i will keep this in mind for future reference.

Week 10 - Abstract animation and my Synopsis

In today's lesson we looked at animators who are experimental in their work.

These included:

Norman Mclaren - who is best known for his films which he developed new animation techniques for, such as drawing directly onto film stock and pixilation.

John Whitney - Known for creating animations using his mechanical analogue computer.
Catalog  a film by John Whitney

Mary Ellen Bute - Who was significant and seen as one of the first female experimental filmmaker. Her specialty was visual music and in her lifetime she created many short abstract musical films.

Researching these people helped me to have a better understanding  and idea about being experimental, which is what i will try and incorporate into my animation.

Some animations we looked at :

'Canon' by Norman Mclaren

'Spook Sport' by Norman Mclaren and Mary Ellen Bute


Synopsis:

I chose soundtrack 2 - It starts off with a trumpet playing, as it zooms into the trumpet it turns into black and then zooms out revealing a cat playing a guitar. The crowd is clapping and you see another band member. The crowd is happy again until a mouse walks on stage and noisy and honks a horn. The crowd then starts booing and that's how it ends.

Week 9 - Homework - Review

I picked this page to write my review about. https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/writing-essay-hurry.html

This article was very helpful at giving tips for writing an essay in a hurry. It was easy to read as there wasn't just loads of writing, it got to the point and explaining the tips without dragging it on. You got the information you needed quickly.  It also has pictures which helped break up all the writing. When it gave you tips like a social media blocker, it also gave the link to where you could find it, making it quicker and easier for the audience to find, rather than having to find it themselves. The tone of voice used was intelligent and sophisticated but didn't sound formal, it still had a tone that was helping you, without sounding too chatty or to formal that you couldn't understand it. It also gave links to other helpful articles you may want to check out.

Week 9 - Fairly Legal test

Fairly Legal test

Above is the link to my first finished Fairly Legal edit. I had shown the teacher a few different test before this and this is what i thought to be finished. There are a few mistakes though with continuity, when shes picking up the folder and with the audio being loud and quiet with the two characters. I feel as my first go it is a good effort but i still have more to do with tidying it up.

Week 9 - The 5 Theories of Montage, outlined by Gergei Eisenstein

5 Theories:

Metric – When you cut based on the specific length of the shot/ frames. It focuses on bars and beats like music, and it is often used in music videos.

Rhythmic – When you cut based on t6he content of the shot. The movement within a shot dictates the rhythm and tempo of the editing. For instance in a car chase, the movement in the shot is fast based and so will the editing.

Tonal – When you cut based on the aesthetics of the shot (e.g mood and lighting), this is to elicit a reaction from the audience. For example, a sleeping baby would emote calmness and relaxation.

Overtonal/Associational –This is a combination of all three above, to give the most impact to the audience.

Intellectual – It is when one image is juxtaposition with another image, which then creates a whole new meaning. It uses few images to create this but uses strong images that will evoke emotion or a reaction from the audience. 

The History of Cutting

Week 9 - Writing an Essay

Types of Research:

• Primary research: Research that you generate by asking questions. (e.g. questionnaire, or conversation with someone)
• Quantitative Research: Involves data.(e.g. graphs and charts that support the research)
• Qualitative Research: opinions and feelings
• Secondary Research: This research is based on findings from other peoples work.(e.g. journals, magazines, newspapers)

Journals - These are usually written by academics. They are very useful and are more professional and respected.
Magazine articles - Easier to read than journals although they are not as respected academically.
Books -  Like journals, if you use a professional academic book it is respected.

Basic Essay Breakdown:
Introduction - Tell me what you’re going to write
Main Body -  Make a point and back it up with research. Argue for and against
Conclusion - Sum it up