Advances in Animation!

Although the majority of this lecture was focused on the differences between western and eastern animation, and how stories are driven differently, I preferred the brief look at various ideas of animation that make the environment seem much more believable, which until this lecture, I assumed they were common sense, and kind of always used, but apparently not. The first animation we saw was the Pixar short, 'The Adventures of André and Wally B.'.



This was the first 3D animated film to incorporate various concepts of animation. One of these was the way the characters were created. Before this, all characters had been rigid and solid, yet these were able to be squashed and stretched which is one of the key principles of animation. The trees in the background were created using a particle effects system, where one tree was modelled, and the particle system would repeat the geometry a certain number of times randomly within a set area. It was also the first film to use motion blur, which made the character movements seem much more fluid and realistic.

Forms of Animation!

This lecture touched on the various methods of animation that are still popular in the industry today. The main three forms of animation are traditional, stop motion, and 3D computer animation.

Traditional animation is created by hand-drawing each frame of the animation. Pieces of equipment such as lightboxes make this method a lot easier. You are also able to trace over frames of live action footage which is called rotoscoping. Although these methods help, many animators simply use the principles of animation that they know to work without these.



Although I'm studying a 3D Animation based course which involves little traditional animation, I have to admit that I find a lot of traditional animation much more impressive simply by knowing. For instance, one of my favourite Disney films, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, uses some elements of computer animation, but still relies heavily on traditional hand-drawn methods.



The main thing I find amazing in this animation is the effects such as the fire and smoke, which also reminded me of all the effects used in 'Colours of the Wind' from Pocahontas.

Violence in Media!

Violence is a very controversial topic when it comes to media such as films and games, and is often talked about. Games are often criticized for glorifying and condoning violence and apparently teaching children that violence is perfect acceptable.

One example of this that is quite recent comes from 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'. As a player you are guided through a level where you enter an airport and kill many innocent civilians.



When this was released it was constantly criticised on talk shows and in interviews about being unnecessarily violent and teaching children that murder is ok. Yet to purchase this game you are required to be 18, there are warnings on the case of the game just incase a parent purchases it without knowing what it's about, and even then, you are warned about the mission ingame and are able to skip it. Therefore the parents of a child shouldn't even be allowing them to play it, and the blame shouldn't be on the games industry, but on the parents who actually don't pay attention to what their children are playing.


Although the main controversy is focused on violence in video games, one live-action film that I find particularly interesting is the film 'Funny Games'. The film's plot is fairly simple, a pair of serial killers turn up at the holiday home of a regular family and plan to torture them. The plot sounds fairly horrible and unnecessarily violent. But when Michael Haneke directed the film, he basically used the film to comment on how violence is portrayed in media, and how audiences are attracted to violence.

For example, one of the killers, 'Paul', is aware that he is in a movie. He repeatedly breaks the fourth wall and decides that the audience is on the family's side. Near the beginning of the film, he states that the family are betting that they'll be alive at 9am the next day, but the killers are betting they're dead. He then states that they're going to die either way. This pretty much gives the ending away at the start of the film, yet the film carries on.

He also decides to leave half way through the film and give the family a chance to escape simply to build tension, suspense, and so the film reaches feature length. He then proceeds to directly insult the audience for still watching the torture, asking if they want more or if it's enough. My favourite line from the film is most probably when questioned what his motive is and why he's torturing the family, he replies '...why not?' which is a comment on how much unnecessary and OTT violence there is nowadays.

'Why don't you just kill us?'

'You shouldn't forget the importance of entertainment.'

Science Fiction!

This lecture was focused on the genre of science-fiction, and how it links in with other genres and constantly inspires other ideas and films.



The Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of my favourite films and constantly references and pays homage to various B-Movies whether through the general plot, costumes, or like the above, songs.

The above image shows how the Rocky Horror show pays homage to its main inspiration, the many films based on the story of Frankenstein.

New Media!

As a student studying 3D Animation, and games art in particular, it's very important to stay up to date with the different ways that gamers can interact with games and their environments. Recently, companies like Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are all trying involve their players more by using motion sensing technology to interact with the game.

 For instance, the Nintendo Wii was released in 2006 and used accelerometers and infra-red technology, and while the console was based around the motion sensitive controller, there were some issues with the sensor not always recognising the controller which would lead to some gameplay issues, but many games for the Wii were quick, multiplayer games that would be great for friends to play together



Following a similar style, Sony have developed a new system for the PlayStation 3 called PlayStation Move. This system uses the PlayStation Eye camera to detect a brightly coloured sphere on top of the controller. This controller uses inertial sensors which can tell the system where it is in comparison to its original position for when the light is obscured by anything in the environment, which is something the Wii lacked.



While I would say that the concept of the Wii was interesting, I don't think that it actually involved players with the gaming environment enough. For instance with the above video about the PlayStation Move, and on various others, you can see that because of the use of the PlayStation Eye camera, you are able to track your whole body, therefore your own movements will be accurately shown on screen but with a completely different character. You are also able to see yourself holding different objects from games because of the augmented reality technology.

Something that I was amazed by on my trip to Japan were the arcades there. There was one arcade game called 'Lord of Vermillion'. It was actually card based, which I found quite odd. There was a vending machine selling starter packs for game. You would then place these cards on the screen in front of you, which acted as a map and allowed you to control the layout and formation of your army. You were able to play through the single player story to win more powerful cards which you could then use to battle other players, either online, or on a nearby machine. I really wanted to test out the game but I didn't understand anything and ended up just watching players trying to get an idea of what was going on. Even though I didn't play it, it seemed a lot better at involving the player compared to the Wii, Kinect, or PlayStation Move.

Binary Opposition!

Everything in the world has an opposite. These extremes can be placed on a scale and most characters would appear in between the extremes, rarely being completely one end of the scale.

Opposites are extremely useful in media for letting the viewer know whose side they're on. For instance they will easily discover who main enemies are as they are the opposite of the protagonist. There are often some examples that cause confusion. For instance in the Warcraft series, the Alliance and the Horde are at war. The humans are in the Alliance and we are therefore siding with them and automatically assume the Horde are evil, yet they are at a similar position in the Good-Evil scale.

One TV show that uses opposites as a large theme throughout is Twin Peaks.

In Twin Peaks there is an idea that your soul enters a place known as the Waiting Room. Your soul is then tested against multiple extremes of emotion. Depending on if you pass these tests, your soul either enters the White Lodge (Good) or the Black Lodge (Evil)

The Waiting Room - Twin Peaks

Other examples of opposites noticed throughout the series are

Laura Palmer's double life - She was loved by everyone, incredibly intelligent and popular in school. She was also a prostitute and addicted to cocaine.

Doppelgangers - Once your soul is trapped in the Black Lodge, an evil doppelganger of you escapes into the real world and replaces your original.

Dale Cooper/Windom Earle - While they were partners in the FBI, Windom becomes jealous of his partner's love for his wife, and attempts to murder them both. He then seeks out the Black Lodge to use its power for evil. Dale, however, remains an FBI agent and has a very good soul and seeks to stop Windom.

Intertextuality!

I really enjoyed this lecture as it basically dealt with how nothing is original anymore, and why references and parodies of other films are so appealing.

There is unconscious intertextuality which means the author has been influenced by another piece of work they have seen in the past and are taking certain aspects of the original without realising it.

Then there is self-conscious which means that the author is aware that he is taking aspects from other works, for instance in parodies and spoofs.

One example that I noticed and have tried to explain to a friend in the past is the similarities between characters from Starcraft and Warhammer 40k

Terran Marine - Starcraft 2                     Ultramarine - Warhammer 40k

 Now one person could easily argue that Starcraft is 'ripping off' Warhammer 40k by making their character so similar. It is essentially a human in a large suit of armour, a breathing apparatus on the back, and an oversized gun. The whole 'Power Armour' system was first made popular in the novel Starship Troopers, later made into a film in 1997. 

The whole look of the armour from Starcraft and Warhammer 40k is extremely similar to Astronauts. Therefore while people will state that these characters are copying others from other works of fiction, they are  just following the similar idea of our current technology progressing, and what would be required to walk on the surface of other unknown planets.