Animation used to be seen as a finely honed craft. Good character animators were like gold dust. Now it seems that anyone can make an animated film in their bedroom. Planning, writing, designing, sound, animating, editing, track laying and special effects can all be done from the comfort of your own bed if you so choose. In the current climate, are cable channels and the internet going to look for low budget cheap animation instead of big budget animation? Is this the end of quality animation or the beginning of a revolution?
Exploring digital and traditional methods of animation.
Animation is an ever changing medium. The first evidence of anyone recording the motion of movement can be found in paleolithic cave paintings and was also found on a 5,2000 year old earthen bowl in Iran. It wasn’t until people explored new technologies and created the appropriate equipment that the beginnings of animation really began.
Animation and new technology have always gone hand in hand. George Melies, was one of the first people to use animation to create special effects within his films. He was famous for his technical and narrative developments in film making.
What I find interesting is George Melies explorations into film and special effects didn’t deter the development of more traditional methods of ‘theatre’ and it still doesn’t. It is an amazing visual and aural medium but does the invention of such a fantastically versatile and imaginative story telling device prevent more traditional narratives. Books still exist and so does theatre. So why does the invention of digital technologies mean the end of more traditional methods of animation? Surely they will exist side by side in the same way photography and painting do.
There is already a resurgence of more traditional methods of special effects. Take a recently released film like Moon directed by Duncan Moon, staring Kevin Spacey, it is a tribute to seventies sci fi films and uses models instead of digital animation.
Should Universities embrace new digital technology and preserve more traditional methods or should they just ditch the tradition in favour or the ‘new’? Is there anything to be learnt from the patterns of history or does the invention of digital technologies mean a blanket ban or anything even vaguely traditional?
posted by: suzie hanna - view / reply
Still, film done entirely by hand still has a valuable place. It's a different look and feel, so like anything, it's important to judge the most appropriate tool for what you want to achieve in the end. I like new technology for giving more creative flexibility and options which was not as easy before. Even using digital assist in traditional model animation is a great tool.
The best thing we can do is to teach the fundamentals of film making: story, character, design and originality and then let the rest go from there.
posted by: pizzapie - view / reply
posted by: jonathanhodgson - view / reply
Life Drawing, study of gesture, expression, understanding of motion as dramatic performance- all these are as valid and as vital to a digital 3D animator as they ever were before. To me, Animators work with the expression of motive and emotion.
It's not traditional methods we need to preserve, rather core skills, and it's a matter of applying these across a range of media, depending on effectiveness.
Surely, there is no such thing as traditional animation methods? Coraline? Shot digitally, (alternate frames were assigned to L + R eyes interestingly, since a single camera had to be used to create the stereoscopy; a technique which would be madness to execute on film), heavily composited (the hairline crack of the replacement mouths/eyes were digitally removed from every face), and graded. The subject matter was the only thing that wasn't digital. But the core animation skills made it great. We don't need to preserve these. They should be alive in any great animator whether they use Sand, Plasticine or NURBs. How we teach those core skills through the new tools is where the action is.
posted by: saint - view / reply
posted by: sakennedy - view / reply
posted by: rob rigby - view / reply
Can anyone provide animation files for the "Jinty" steam engine in the MellaniuM Dome re: http://ec3v3.projectchainsaw.com
posted by: rob rigby - view / reply
posted by: Mark Scargill - view / reply
I actually think that there is a boundary where 3D digital aimation can go too far. The skills behind the production and graphics used are impeccible, however, the viewer is left asking why wasn't it just filmed in live action? It would looks almost the same, be less costly and save time. I also don't think you can beat the classic 2D cartoons. No matter how many computer generated animations come onto the screen, there will always be room for the traditionally drawn ones. I like the appeal of the characters looking like cartoon characters, being drawn and brought to life-3D animation can not overshadow nor replace the unique visual appeal of drawn medium.
I think it is essential to keep traditional methods of animation in teaching so it does not become a lost art. The amazing thing about animation is its variety of mediums and styles which can be used to captivate an audience. I think the animation industry will go back in a circle, employing more traditional methods in the future as animation would look too "samey" if everything was done on computer! I don't really think it matters what method is used, as long as the audience is captivated both through content and on a visual level.
posted by: Hayley Dwan - view / reply
posted by: rob rigby - view / reply