Animation - Media Technology - 23/10/12

A very early example of Live Action Animation by Norman McLaren (1952)

Today, in media technology we began looking at Animation in it's simplest form - stop motion. We investigated all the forms of animation such as Stop Motion Cutout Collage, Live Action Animation, Rotoscoping and 3D CGI. We looked at one of the very first artifacts of animation, Eadweard Muybridge's short loop of a galloping racehorse in 1878, where he set cameras up which would take seperate photographs when triggered by the horse. By doing so, we discovered for the first time that horses hooves leave the ground all at once, uncovering mysteries behind animal movement for artists as well as being a major starting point to what would become very sophisticated animations.

Animation had not developed much in years to come as a similar concept of looping would be used often in Warner Brother animations such as Coyote and Roadrunner. As we can see, in such animations, keyframes and tweens are utilised. The Keyframe of the roadrunner or coyote running is simply a looped animation made up of a few simple drawings. However, the Tween action background is a reel, moved right to left to give the illusion of the Keyframe moving.

However, through the birth of 3D CGI, in around the 1980s, animation became more sophisticated.

Even today, stop frame animation is still in great use to accomplish a quirky atmosphere and can even be used in the learning environment to convey messages across a language border. Our next task in Media Technology is to create a stop-frame animation of our own using inanimate objects.

Sequential Imagery - The Graphic Novel - "A Big Surprise"

Submarine (2012) Dir: Richard Ayoade

Unusual is it that I would be drawn into coming-of-age films, let alone romantic comedies. The sickly sweet generic conventions of both genres tends to leave a bad taste in my mouth and the lack of realism distracts me as I am trying to believe that all loose ends tie up neatly and happily for an under-age pregnant girl with a surprising amount of pop-culture knowledge. Yes, I admit I have swooned for Ryan Reynolds in my time, but solely looking at the films-I am uninterested. However, I found Richard Ayoade's "Submarine" to be quite unalike any indie coming-of-age film I have seen before. Easily it has become one of my favourite films that I would recommend to anyone. I must confess, I was surprised with Richard Ayoade's skill as a director. I had assumed he was yet another actor trying to show the world he's not just a face in front of the camera but an intellectual too. 

Ayoade's cinematography gripped me from the very beginning. You can see every shot is framed and positioned to great detail. Characterwise, He has also obviously shyed away from the conventional tall, dark and handsome protagonist and gone for a believably real, plain, every day "Oliver Tate". For me, this increases my empathy for the protagonist and his situation as I can picture myself as him, or I can picture him as a friend, he is someone I could know, he is everyone and anyone. We are inside his head as he describes the way he would imagine his life if it were a film. We are watching the creations of his mind. We are in his mind. Therefore, we are connected emotionally with him. His non-diegetic monologues show throughout the film he is a melodramatic and eccentric teenager. Nevertheless, this does not take from the realism. In a way his eccentricity adds to this as a form of naivety to the way the world works. Also, a lot of the over-the-top thoughts he comes out with, I can relate to, as I have thought them once before, maybe as a fleeting thought, however, this increases my empathy yet further. He is exceedingly relate-able  For example,

"I find that the only way to get through life, is to picture myself in an entirely disconnected reality. I often imagine how people would react to my death. Mr. Dunthorne's quavering voice as he makes the announcement, the shocked faces of my classmates, a playground bedecked with flowers, the empty stillness of a school corridor, local news analysis, tear stricken tributes, candle lit devotions, and finally, my glorious resurrection." Haven't we all imagined how others would react to our death and maybe overshot our importance just a little? I find this incredibly entertaining as the screen plays out his humorously eccentric scenario. Situations like this reoccur throughout. "Don't ask how, just know that I am now more powerful than ever." he says, as he moves down the corridor towards the distraught young girls, transparent and glowing in a long black gown as he returns to the world that loves and misses him. One of my favourite quotes from the movie.

queue shot of our plain protagonist, back in the real world, vacant eyed but happier to imagine himself in another dimension as his fellow students show disregard for his general existence, juxtaposed with how they worship him in his mind.

  Accompanying the aesthetically stunning mise-en-scene, editing, unique storyline, and many quirky characters is the soundtrack written and performed by Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, an indie icon. Quite fitting to every scene, the mellow tracks add to the atmospheric qualities without being melodramatic.

    Honestly, in respect of the storyline, the real cherry on top of the cake was the ending. Generic of romantic drama, the male protagonist sweeps the female off her feet and they live happily ever after. However, Oliver and Jordana are completely void of convention. They are a countertype. Oliver runs towards her, desperate, she stares back at him blankly. "I was crying earlier, my eyes are probably red" he remarks, probably looking for sympathy "You look fine." she replied sharply, still holding the same blank expression. "Well maybe they don't go red when I cry then." At this point in your typical romantic film, Oliver would have picked Jordana up in an intense embrace and the camera would be whirling around them and craning out into a beautiful longshot fading into the credits. Instead, they continue the abrupt exchange of words, Jordana replying sharply. Jordana is a strong female role, she does not need Oliver to be happy, and this is why I enjoy her character so much. This adds depth to Jordana as she does not appear in the narrative only in respect to the male role. She does not represent what she can do for a man. She is not subject to the male gaze. In fact, she creates her own happiness. This is, indeed, a refreshing and inspiring female role.

They then share an intense stare and then step by step, they walk out into the ocean together. Like a metaphor for washing away their past mistakes and beginning again. The ending is left open, however for me, semiotics would indicate that they start anew. Oliver's turmoil is over and we have reached a new Equilibrium. Yes, this aspect may be generic, but what would a coming-of-age film be without an uplifting ending?

  

Overall, I can barely fault this film as it is one I hold dearly as a true favourite and I had no idea Moss from the IT Crowd had it in him. Five stars.

Contemporary Issues: Creation of the Wikia Page

A couple of weeks ago, we were assigned to read seperate texts. I was part of a group that was assigned Marshall Mcluhan's "The Medium Is The Massage". We were given the task of answering why McLuhan used the word "Massage" in place of "Message" in the quote "The Medium Is The Message"... We will base our Wikia on answering this question and also learn more about the book and the author upon doing so.

FOLLOW LINK TO VIEW WIKIA:
The Medium Is The Massage - Group A, Assignment

Production: In The Editing Suite

People On The Move: On The Set

For the beginnings of our "People On The Move" production project, I have been mainly working behind the camera, practising techniques such as panning, zooming, and trying to achieve aesthetically pleasing framing using techniques previously taught in digital media class.

Creativity & Concept: 3 Documentaries Promoting Liverpool Culture

Concept extraction

3 Short ideas

Creativity & Concept

Splitting Concept And Ideas

Other Images Captured For "Digital Media Tools"

Creativity & Concept Module Task

Coming from Northern Ireland, I have never had the opportunity to visit Liverpool museums and art exhibitions. Our task this week was to visit a Liverpool 2012 Biennial Arts Festival building with this years theme of "Hospitality". We were assigned to visit the Unexpected Guest exhibition. During our exploration of the gallery, we found a vast amount of weird and wonderful artwork. However, I found 2 exhibitions brilliantly memorable. One featured plants picked from the sites of mass bombings. The message was that new life springs from death. The second, a video clip taken in china, screening on a white sheet of a drunken man staggering and falling in the middle of the street, with great danger of being run over. He falls down and lies in the road for nearly 6 minutes before he is assisted. This is a poignant video as it prompts you to question humanity.
Overall, I found the task incredibly interesting. Coming from an Art A-level, I understand that art can be a strange thing when left unexplained, but it can be thought-provoking and brilliant when given the time.