PIXAR GLOBAL DOMINATION! (Japan not included)

So Pixar began its existence as a hardware company, who knew. Whilst I was doing my A2 year of Media Studies I'd done some pretty thorough contextual research into the history of animation and also the leading industry figures in contemporary animation such as Pixar; yet I had no clue that the Pixar company was established in such a way.

Their first production as an animation company was Andre and Wally Bee 1984. Although it now appears somewhat outdated in style, at the time it was revolutionary. Creator and forefather of Pixar, John Lasseter established several new techniques for the production of Andre and Wally Bee. These include motion blur and spherical, teardrop bodies which allow for greater fluidity and dynamism of the characters.

Despite their great skill as animators, Pixar have never been able to master the human form. Their attempt in the short film Tin Toy (see clip below) did not produce the most realistic results. The baby appears almost demonic as its eyes are lifeless and its face appears aged, not youthful. Nevertheless, the company did win an Oscar for the production.
Since Tin Toy, Pixar have seemingly adopted a more stylised approach towards the presentation of people within their films. For example, The Incredibles has an entire cast of humans, each of which has a distinct appearance and characterised form. This is exemplified through the character of Jack Jack (see image below), whose appearance contrasts greatly to that of the baby in Tin Toy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkztOI5wdgg 

Jack Jack, the baby from The Incredibles

On the other hand, the company must be praised for their fantastic ability to bring life to even the most inanimate object. This level of anthropomorphism is best exemplified by the lamp which features in the Pixar credits. The character is faceless, yet the animators convey emotion through the positioning of the lamp's shade and the beam from the light bulb. I think that this ability is one which makes Pixar such skilled animators. The attention to detail in their productions is fantastic and the significance of humour in their film narratives make the movies all the more enjoyable.

Towards the end of the lecture we looked briefly at Japanese animation, or anime as its known. Its a style of film which I really find difficult to enjoy. I know it has a cult following, even here in Britain, but I'm just not one of the crowd who find it so fascinating.

I can appreciate the imaginative quality it has and as a character student I can also appreciate the character design of many of the monsters and fantasy beings. However, I feel that the overall anime style is quite repetitive and characters all appear quite similar. We saw a clip from My Neighbour Totoro and I found it relatively enjoyable.

Like Pixar, there is an ongoing humour throughout the narrative, which I like. But my favourite scene from the extract we saw was when the character of Totoro and the young female protagonists use their minds to magically cause seeds to germinate and grow suddenly into a huge tree. Its a really lovely sequence as the characters all mimick the thrusting action of the tree growing skywards.

still from My Neighbour Totoro

After we had seen the clip Bill made an interesting analysis of the above scene by comparing the sprouting tree to the mushroom cloud from the Hiroshima bomb. It was something which hadn't even crossed my mind, and yet it was an extremely strong reference, which one could consider somewhat controversial from a Japanese artist.

Famous image of the mushroom cloud created by the bomb on Hiroshima

Introducing Animation

Bill opened the lecture with the following quote from Norman McClaren and I think its a great opener for this blog post too...

Animation is not the art of drawings that move, but rather the art of movements that are drawn. What happens between each frame is more important than what happens on each frame.

I think that this is a great analysis of animation as it emphasises the significance of the animation process itself. Many people overlook the complexity of animation as an art form; great effort goes into creating even a few seconds of film.

Within the lecture there was reference to Emile Cohl's 1908 animation Fantasmagorie, which is regarded the first ever cartoon. I think that its a really beautifully made animation and the character has great fluidity, despite the fact that you may expect movements to be somewhat rigid.

Emile Cohl's Fantansmagorie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBFAhCxN0T0&feature=related

Bill went onto introduce the work of the Fleischer Brothers - Betty Boop, Popeye, Felix the cat etc. We saw a clip from their version of Snow White, which was actually produced five years prior to the Disney version.

A still from the Fleischer Brothers 1933 production of Snow White

I'd never seen the Fleischer Brothers version, but I really liked it. Its has a totally different mood from the Disney version which I was most familiar with. Although there are dark elements to the Disney adaptation, such as the transformation of the stepmother into an ugly witch, it is generally lighthearted. There is an underlying atmosphere to the Fleischer Brother's production which I felt was slightly brooding. Snow White, represented by Betty Boop, is an extremely naive character and you feel as though she's continually being chased by danger.

Lastly, we were shown some more recent animation in the form of stop motion. The clip we were shown was from Street of Crocodiles (1986) by The Brothers Quay. I absolutely love the work of the Brothers Quay. Its rather dark in mood and probably unsuitable for children, but their attention to detail and the stylised nature of their productions is extremely appealing.

Street of Crocodiles isn't their best piece in my opinion, but its nevertheless a brilliantly made animation.
The absence of dialogue within the film adds to the mysterious undertones. There is a fantastic soundtrack which works beautifully with the action on screen and further heightens the feeling of suspense and discomfort.
Overall their work has a certain darkness which is conveyed through mise-en-scene. The dark setting is created using subtle lighting which either casts strong shadows, or creates a soft glow to the entire scene.
Furthermore, the setting is dusty and dirty which makes you feel as though some old,abandoned artifacts are being revealed to you. This style is something which I feel works superbly as it creates a macabre atmosphere.
I couldn't find the full version of Street of Crocodiles, but the following clip shows the opening 10 minutes of the film, so you can get a feel for their work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gIb0bTWj6w

Screen Violence...the downfall of our youth apparently.

Today's lecture, though interesting, was definitely more structured towards gaming. This annoyed me a wee bit, as I feel there's so many examples of violence in film that could have been shown, yet were overlooked. Nonetheless we did see the following seriously disturbing sequence from Todd Solondz's 1998 movie Happiness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Q6Ls1Eb0g
Its not disturbing in the sense that its gory or graphic, but the inappropriate music and the complete lack of expression on the killer's face creates an unsettling atmosphere.

Bill put a lot of emphasis on the significance of violence within first person shooter games. These games put you in the position of the character through the use of first person perspective. You are placed within the action, seeing it as it occurs, thus there is a heightened sense of realism.
This raises morality issues as games of this nature are often so graphic in content that they are deemed inappropriate for a child audience. Many of these style games, Grand Theft Auto being the prime example, have an 18 certificate due to their content.

GTA has caused great controversy in the past due to its moral disregard - bedding prostitutes, murdering them and then stealing their earnings is obviously not a key feature of the game's main narrative and yet it is an ability that one is granted within game play.

These concerns regarding violence within gaming are made all the more serious with the rising popularity of consoles such as the Wii which make the gamer feel even greater involved in the actions being performed by the characters on screen. Pressing a button which makes a character throw a punch is violent, but swinging a controller forcefully at the screen to literally throw the punch seems a little to far.

To relate gaming and film Bill referenced the 1994 movie Natural Born Killers directed by Oliver Stone. The influence of gaming with regards to cinematography is obvious in the diner scene where there's extensive use of first person perspective as seen in gaming.

In the seminar  we discussed our own limitations where violence is concerned. Some class members were entirely against mindless violence, either because they found it too graphic or they felt no emotional response due to their knowledge of it being pure trickery.
I on the other hand am one of the the sick buggers who loves a bit of gore in movies! Ivan showed a scene from Chien Andalou, a silent, surrealist film by Salvador Dali. In one of the opening scenes you see a woman's eyeball being sliced into with a scalpel. Its an unbelievably graphic image and I was even shocked by it. Especially when you consider how convincingly realistic it appears. You just don't expect such advanced SFX from early cinema.

With regards to my own opinions of violence and graphic imagery, I actually find the less horrific scenes of pain more disturbing because breaking bones or deep flesh wounds are something I can actually relate to. I understand the pain such injuries cause and so I find it harder to watch.

The prime example of this is in George Romero's Land of the Dead were a woman is tackled by a zombie who then rips out her navel ring. In the same movie there is a scene where the zombies are attempting to ambush a vehicle and as they claw at the car doors you see their fingernails bend backwards and break off. These sequences make me far more queasy than some of the more graphic scenes where people are literally torn apart.

Once again to link gaming and movies, as well as the film Land of the Dead there was a video game which followed. Notably this is not a new concept, before the series of Resident Evil films there was the game franchise and then there's the character of Lara Croft who made the transition from game to film.