Study Task 2

Benjamin, W. (1936) 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction'

• Copies can never be exactly identical – the original is unique in time, space, technique. 
• Many forms of art can be reproduced – paintings, sculpture, drama e.t.c
• Many practices we categorize as art today, such as photography and film-making, was not classified as art in the past.
• The aura is said to be the thing that is lost through mechanical reproduction of art that makes the original unique.
• Because mechanical reproduction is easier today, value is placed over quality and not quantity.

Quotes from the text:

• "In principle a work of art has always been reproducible. Man-made artefacts could always be imitated by men."
• "Earlier much futile thought had been devoted to the question of whether photograpy is an art. The primary question - whether the very invention of photograph had not transformed the entire nature of art - was not raised."
• "War and war only can set a goal for mass movements on the largest scale while respecting the traditional property system."

McLuhan, M. (1964) Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

• How much the audience is included in a form of expression is dependent on the type of medium; hot or cool.
• Hot mediums might take some time to “cool off” or be forgotten before it becomes a cool medium and stops shocking people.
• Sometimes cool mediums can be more effective, due to the eye filling in the missing details and making it more powerful.
• Hot mediums have the power to disrupt cultures living with and used to cool mediums.
• Types of jokes can be hot or cool too, and I (coming from a country with a hot -joke habit) couldn’t get most of the sarcastic, cool jokes in the U.K.

Quotes from the text:

• “In a culture like ours, long accustomed to splitting and dividing all things as a means of control, it is sometimes a bit of a shock to be reminded that, in operational and practical fact, the medium is the message.”
• “The alphabet, when pushed to a high degree of abstract visual intensity, became typography.”
• “The open-mesh silk stocking is far more sensuous than the smooth nylon, just because the eye must act as hand in filling in and completing the image, exactly as in the mosaic of the TV image.”

Study Task 1

Samurai Jack by Genndy Tartakovsky and The 'D' in David by Michele Yi and Yaron Farkash

Both animations have their own unique styles, processes and tagets but they are similar in more ways than meets the eye. For example, they both have a cartoony aesthetic style that works well with their narrative, attention-drawing plots. Their story-telling techniques are also similar; with their dramatic camera shots and angles. The 'D' in David relies more heavily on its audio, which gives its punchline more kick while Samurai Jack's soundtrack is more action-related, with moments of silence to build suspense. Both animations' main purpose is to entertain, but they also try to send out subtler messages.

Preparatory Task

1. In your opinion, what is animation?

• The illusion of life
• Rapidly moving images
• Study of movement
• Capturing the essence of a character/movement better than a still image can
• Expressing yourself

2. What is it used for?

• Entertainment
• Story-telling
• Advertising
• Education
• Expression of ideas

3. Who are your top five animators?

• Felix Colgrave
• Tim Burton
• Josiah Brooks
• Aaron Blaise
• Genndy Tartakovsky

Task 1

• Dimensions of Dialogue
• The 10 Commandments (1-5) (6-10)
• The 'D' in David 

The 'D' in David (2016)

A film by Michele Yi and Yaron Farkash

Produced at Ringling College of Art and Design Department of Computer Animation

Duration: 02:06

Software used: Maya, Renderman, Nuke, Photoshop and Premier

Why I chose it:

1. It had many references of paintings that I was familiar with
2. The comedy was simple and immature
3. The 'punchline' to the joke at the end made the animation memorable
4. The concept of the paintings being alive and animated was intruiging
5. There were a lot of phallic paintings, sculptures and other subtle jokes which one only notices after watching it multiple times

Historical - Chuck Jones

• Wikipedia page
• His cleverly designed website (with a quote from it below)

• The making of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Roadrunner, and more - Extremely relatable! My backstory is so similar to his
• The Evolution of Chuck Jones - The recipe for interesting jokes and characters
• Looney Tunes Wiki - Chuck Jones and all the wacky characters he designed

Contemporary - Brad Bird

• Wikipedia page
• Insight: Brad Bird on Animation (got goosebumps watching this)
• Voice Performance Isn't an Actor's Paid Vacation
• Playful Cinema
• 'The Spirit' 1980 pencil test animation - very grimy, rough and traditional. But the animation itself is still very clean and efficient!

International - Genndy Tartakovsky

• Wikipedia page
• Genndy's Scrapbook - lots of relatable stuff here in terms of moving to a different country and experience different cultures and how that affects animation and art in general
• Reading Action - analysis of how he uses timing
• Opening scene of Samurai Jack narrated by Genndy - almost like a script for all things animated
• Popeye - an animated feature that was never released due to disagreement with the studio... 

Something I noticed at the end, after collecting all this information, is that all the animators I've chosen have one technique/trait in common - their action:anticipation ratio. They value both very much, and are masters in using the right amount.