Blog Post #13: Coraline

Although I have never been a fan of movies that at times make me jump out of my seat in fear, yes, I have a very low fear tolerance if Coraline scared me, but I enjoyed watching Coraline. I think what is so great about this movie is that the story line could have been shot in any sort of way, but the use of stop motion animation added to the overall “scary” feel of the movie.

If the animators of Coraline had used just computer animation techniques the feel of the movie would not have been the same. The somewhat jerky movements just add to the the personality of the characters, automatically being able to tell that Coraline’s environment is one that she needs to be careful about. Although the movie is not shot in full stop motion, using other techniques to make some of the movements smoother, the animators made the movements of the “other parents” more in the feel of typical stop motion to have their evil sides become more apparent.

Another movie that uses stop motion to add to the overall feel of creepiness and scare of the movie is The Nightmare Before Christmas. This movie is more true stop motion than Coraline, but that same feel can seen and felt throughout the movie. The same jerky movements of the characters, with the jerkiness being even more prominent in The Nightmare Before Christmas, allow for the characters to take on this persona of being a “bad guy” and not the first person you would want to hang out with, apparent before the character even opens its mouth to form a personality.

I have commented on Chris DeMarco’s blog and Bonnie Hansen’s blog

Blog Post #12: Toy Story 2

Typically in animation, to have non-human characters to have personality and be able to do what the animators want them to do for the script of the movie, non-human characters are manipulated past what they would normally be able to do for the purposes of the movie. What makes Toy Story 2, and subsequently Toy Story and hopefully Toy Story 3 this summer, great is that the toys do not move in any way that a child playing with that toy would be able to move them. This ability is a speciality of Pixar’s and is seen throughout the entirety of Toy Story 2.

One of my favorite toys that exhibits this great feat of animation is the dinosaur. This animation of this toy, and the straight drawing of the character, shows the typical lines and points of movement for the toy: his head, his legs, his arms, and his tail, and these are the only parts that move during the movie. Not only are they the only parts of his body that moves, but they move, not in a human way, but in the jerky way that the toy is placed together. For instance, when he moves his head, he is only able to move it side to side and only to a certain point, just as if you were playing with the toy yourself.

It is this attention to detail that makes the animation of this movie so great. If the toys moved in any way other than how they are played with, the characters would not look like toys and would only look toy-like.

I commented on Rebecca Townsend’s blog and Brenda Weber’s blog

Blog Post #11: Pocahontas

In class this past week we watched the Disney animation classic, Pocahontas. Although we were having fun cracking jokes about how wrong most of the movie got the story of Pocahontas wrong, what I thought to be great about the movie was the animation and the animation styles that were used. The style of animation that was chosen to be used for the movie reflected the overall feeling and “spirit” of Pocahontas.

Although extremely cheesy, the shots of the wind and the leaves flowing though the air and the hair of Pocahontas were beautiful. The patterns that were made looked completely organic and reflected what is believed to be the spirit of Native Americans. This organic feel can also be found during the “Colors of the Wind” sequence when Pocahontas and John Smith are discovering the land around them together. When they are “running the hidden pine trails of the forest,” the animation is very colorful and the looks of the forest are a little off, giving the impression that they are more like spirits running though the forest than actual people.

Another cool scene that uses this free flowing technique is when they are watching the spirits of the future in the fire in their main tent in the village and they are being issued their warning. The shapes and images that appear of the animals and different scenes in the smoke as it curls around everybody who is standing by the fire are animated very much in the style that you could imagine a spirit to appear in a fire, and it is probably my favorite piece of animation in the movie because of this style.

I commented on Myca Taylor’s blog and Kristina Wade’s blog

Blog Post #10: All Shapes and Sizes

What makes animation so great is that the characters can look like anything the animator wants them to look like, that is probably why some of my favorite, and many popular, characters in animation look pretty wacky. And not only wacky in that animation allows for animals and inanimate objects to become characters, but animation allows for characters of people to come in all shapes and sizes and it is this difference in look that typically gives the character its personality.

An example of the freedom that animators have in drawing up people is with South Park. The big, round heads, no neck, and tiny bodies with no legs, just give the outward appearance that anything these characters do is going to be funny. The characters are meant to be little kids, and with the mature dialogue, their appearance gives them that personality.

Some more recent characters that fit this odd shape mold are the characters in the Disney cartoon Phineas and Ferb. For me personally, the funniest thing about these two characters is that the shape of their head reflects the first letter in their names. For instance, Phineas’ head is shaped like a triangle with one of the points acting as his nose, add in his skinny body, and he gives the appearence of a “P.” For Ferb, his head is a long rectangle, and his head and extra large nose act as the prongs of the “F.” These odd shaped heads, in the spirit of Hey Arnold, add on to the dorkiness of the characters that comes with having an odd shaped head!

ETA: I commented on Joe Gayk’s blog and Brenda Weber’s blog