When I was in my teens and the Nintendo 3DS had just come out, by brother bought one and let me play with it. There was an animation application he had on it that absolutely fascinated me-Flipnote Studio. I spent hours making animations of eggs frying and rain falling and people blinking with that program. I didn't realize it at the time, but what I was creating was very amateur hand-drawn animation.
For my capstone animation, I've really had to think about how I want to produce the artwork. I've never had an actual animation class, but I've had a good amount of experience with art, design, and film. However, not having a class in animation means that I don't know what software is or isn't effective. With art production begining in the coming week, I've had to do some research about animation software (specifically for 2D).
The two professional level software that continuously came up in my research as being reliable and trusted by professional companies and individual animators were Toon Boom Harmony and DigiCel FlipBook. (Another one that came up a lot was Anime Studio Pro, but that program does not let you animate frame-by-frame which is what I am doing with my animation.) Comparing the two programs, for 2D animation they both seem to be able to work effectively and do basically the same things. Both have a free trial as well, and I am considering trying both in the coming week to compare the work flow and see if I could use one for my own animation.
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More about Harmony
More about FlipBook
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Hand-drawn Animation: What's its place?
Many people believe that hand-drawn, or 2D, animation is a dying art form. Hand-drawn animation takes so much more time and resources to make than CG animation does. (1) CG animation is also becoming more expressive and developed, and animators are actively seeking to push the limits to create new things.
However, maybe I'm a bit of an idealist for thinking this way but there is a certain quality to hand-drawn animation that cannot be re-created in CG animation. It has it's own language that speaks to the viewer in a specific way. I feel that CG and hand-done animation are two different ways of viewing something, and even if that thing is the same, the meaning is different for each.
I read an interview with Tomm Moore, creator of "The Secret of Kells" (an animation that has stuck in my head since I viewed it a few years ago) and "Song of the Sea." In the interview, he was talking about how CG animation tries to create something as closely to live-action as possible, whereas hand-drawn animation can be so simplified as to be not specific, allowing the viewers "to project themselves into [the film] in a more visceral way." (2) He also talked about the power that animation can have during childhood and stated that though he watches many movies as an adult, the ones that stay with him are the ones he saw as a child.
Many of the articles I read this week spoke of how hand-drawn animation now has the opportunity to evolve as an art form, to become something more than it is now. With newer technologies, the opportunities are essentially endless, all it takes is time and devotion. While it may not become mainstream or industry standard, I believe that hand-drawn animation still holds an important place in the world, and that it still has so much more to offer.
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(1) The Animation Guild
(2) Cartoon Brew
Many of the articles I read this week spoke of how hand-drawn animation now has the opportunity to evolve as an art form, to become something more than it is now. With newer technologies, the opportunities are essentially endless, all it takes is time and devotion. While it may not become mainstream or industry standard, I believe that hand-drawn animation still holds an important place in the world, and that it still has so much more to offer.
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(1) The Animation Guild
(2) Cartoon Brew
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Nonverbal Cues
The interpretation of nonverbal cues in film and animation is a very important part of understanding the content one is taking in. The skills to interpret these cues develop early in our lives. According to a study done by Robert J. Custini and Robert S. Feldman on children's social compitence, "... the ability to recognize (decode) and produce (encode) nonverbal cues relating to a person's internal affective state are skills that are fairly well established even at an early age." (1, pg 336)
Within animation, those nonverbal cues are often key to understanding what is happening within the story; however, according to Colm Caffery, nonverbal cues within foreign films and animations may be misinterpreted or the subtitle may portray something different from what the actual script says. (2) Most of the time this is done to make the film or animation more culturally relevant, or to make the translation more understandable for the culture that it is being brought into.
When crossing cultures, sometimes the nonverbal cues within a film or animation may be lost or misunderstood. Caffery explains that in foreign animations, "... if the subtitler does not explain [the nonverbal cue] in any way, the viewer will have to use other semiotic channels to create an interpretative frame of their own." (2, pg 167) Within the study Caffery did on viewer perception of a subtitled animation, he also noted that the viewers relied on the subtitles when they were on screen, often completely missing the nonverbal cue within the animation. (2)
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1. Custini, Robert; Feldman, Pobert. "Children's Social Compitence and Nonverbal Encoding and Decoding of Emotions." Journal of Clinical Child Psychology 18.4 (1989): 336-342. Print.
2. Caffrey, Colm. “Viewer perception of visual nonverbal cues in subtitled TV Anime.” European Journal of English Studies 12.2 (2008): 163-178. Print.
Within animation, those nonverbal cues are often key to understanding what is happening within the story; however, according to Colm Caffery, nonverbal cues within foreign films and animations may be misinterpreted or the subtitle may portray something different from what the actual script says. (2) Most of the time this is done to make the film or animation more culturally relevant, or to make the translation more understandable for the culture that it is being brought into.
When crossing cultures, sometimes the nonverbal cues within a film or animation may be lost or misunderstood. Caffery explains that in foreign animations, "... if the subtitler does not explain [the nonverbal cue] in any way, the viewer will have to use other semiotic channels to create an interpretative frame of their own." (2, pg 167) Within the study Caffery did on viewer perception of a subtitled animation, he also noted that the viewers relied on the subtitles when they were on screen, often completely missing the nonverbal cue within the animation. (2)
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1. Custini, Robert; Feldman, Pobert. "Children's Social Compitence and Nonverbal Encoding and Decoding of Emotions." Journal of Clinical Child Psychology 18.4 (1989): 336-342. Print.
2. Caffrey, Colm. “Viewer perception of visual nonverbal cues in subtitled TV Anime.” European Journal of English Studies 12.2 (2008): 163-178. Print.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Capstone Research Topics
What am I researching for my Senior Capstone?
I am researching nonverbal communication for my Senior Capstone.
What does researching nonverbal communication have to do with my project?
My animation has no verbal communication within it, so any communication between my characters, as well as between my characters and the viewer, must be represented non verbally. To be able to communicate clearly, the actions and reactions of my characters must be clear and understandable to the viewer. I must have an understanding of what nonverbal communication best relays the meanings I most want to send.
What are the benefits of researching nonverbal communication in the long term (outside this project)?
All people communicate through nonverbal communication. We often perceive nonverbal communication as more credible than verbal communication. (1) It is in how we hold ourselves, our facial expressions, tapping our feet when we are impatient, tensing our shoulders when we are uncomfortable; anything we do (or don't do) can be interpreted and used as a form of nonverbal communication. As such an important part of how we interact, it is a key concept to be aware of and be able to understand in any situation where one is dealing with other people.
What type of research will I be doing on nonverbal communication?
I will be looking at scholarly articles about nonverbal communication from psychological studies as well as communications studies. I will also be seeking out experimental film and animation and observing how nonverbal communication is portrayed. I will be analyzing how well known animation studios such as Disney and Studio Ghibli represent nonverbal communication in their films, and I also want to look at how nonverbal communication differs between different cultures.
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(1) A Primer on Communication Studies
I am researching nonverbal communication for my Senior Capstone.
What does researching nonverbal communication have to do with my project?
My animation has no verbal communication within it, so any communication between my characters, as well as between my characters and the viewer, must be represented non verbally. To be able to communicate clearly, the actions and reactions of my characters must be clear and understandable to the viewer. I must have an understanding of what nonverbal communication best relays the meanings I most want to send.
What are the benefits of researching nonverbal communication in the long term (outside this project)?
All people communicate through nonverbal communication. We often perceive nonverbal communication as more credible than verbal communication. (1) It is in how we hold ourselves, our facial expressions, tapping our feet when we are impatient, tensing our shoulders when we are uncomfortable; anything we do (or don't do) can be interpreted and used as a form of nonverbal communication. As such an important part of how we interact, it is a key concept to be aware of and be able to understand in any situation where one is dealing with other people.
What type of research will I be doing on nonverbal communication?
I will be looking at scholarly articles about nonverbal communication from psychological studies as well as communications studies. I will also be seeking out experimental film and animation and observing how nonverbal communication is portrayed. I will be analyzing how well known animation studios such as Disney and Studio Ghibli represent nonverbal communication in their films, and I also want to look at how nonverbal communication differs between different cultures.
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(1) A Primer on Communication Studies
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