What attributes can stop-motion animation add to a piece of storytelling media more effectively than using other methods? 

Introduction 

In considering a topic for an essay, inspiration was taken from everyday life to try and find a subject that appeared interesting enough to write about. Whilst watching films, specifically, Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009), considering how stop motion could be used in personal work was intriguing, as this was not previously a consideration and many filmmakers do not use stop-motion, making it seem rare and potentially a source to be able to be used in a unique, new way. Thinking about why someone might use stop-motion technology over a different media to tell the story they want to tell is interesting and puts into question what attributes stop-motion brings that other story-telling mediums might lack. This knowledge could be applied in the future for any filmmakers that are trying to convey effects that stop-motion animation is particularly good at showing and more successful in connecting with an audience. In the media I have researched, stop-motion media falls into either being creepy and scary or charming and comfortable to watch. A majority of the mainstream stop-animation work has been made by the same small group of directors, with very few directors creating a one-off successful stop-motion film. 

Critical review of literature or gathering of evidence 

Reviewing the evidence collected of entirely stop-motion films as well as films that partially feature areas of stop-motion, as well as scholarly articles relating to stop motion, is useful to conclude the research; what attributes does stop-motion animation have that make it so uniquely effective in affecting the audience? Watching several of these films that were initially gathered helped to understand exactly what separates them from other films that do not use stop-motion, and what effect the audience would receive due to the choice of using stop motion animation. As this effect can be somewhat subjective, it is not something that can be concluded to work on everyone in the audience, only a majority. Watching films using only one perspective to come to conclusions is also not the best way to find an objective look at why stop motion can be effective. Therefore, discussing these films with multiple people as well as reading articles on stop motion was a markedly more successful method to come to a conclusion. When reviewing all this evidence, the most important way to glean useful information is to ask questions that would not necessarily be thought of whilst consuming media for entertainment, and instead critically analyze the media and carefully consider why different choices were made in the film, what these choices are trying to achieve and why? Other questions such as how the film would look with different choices of animations are also useful to consider, as this is a clever way to understand why stop motion was chosen to be used.  

Investigation of options based on evidence 

Historically, stop-motion would compete with other forms of animation as opposed to work alongside them – for example the dinosaurs in the film “Jurassic Park” (Steven Spielberg, 1993) were originally supposed to be created using stop-motion, though were later instead created using a mixture of animatronics and the new technology of 3D CGI. 

In modern times, stop-motion animation is seen as quite a niche art form compared to 2D and 3D animation. However even before considering artistic style, stop-motion has an advantage in that it can be more accessible as a medium in terms of cost and equipment, requiring only a camera (most phone cameras would be good enough for a beginner), and a model to animate. Compared to 2D animation which would usually require 2D animation software as well as a drawing tablet ideally, or 3D animation which requires a computer and 3D software, stop motion is both easier for new animators to begin learning and can be a more cost-effective method of achieving a required animation. 

In recent history, Aardman Animations has been arguably the most successful modern studio when it comes to stop-motion animation, and as a studio, they evolve to utilize new technology as has always been a good way to keep up with modern standards. “Clay is becoming integrated with other techniques, and I think that’s appropriate.” (Frierson, Michael. Clay Animation: American Highlights, 1908 to the Present. New York: Twayne, 1994). Aardman Animations are pioneers of this mixed form style, with their film “The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!” (2012). The film pushes more boundaries than their previous films, with more intricate sets and characters, thus requiring VFX; “…it was clear that The Pirates would need to rely on VFX to fill in the gaps to animate what couldn’t be done by hand” (Desowitz, Bill. A Pirate’s Life for Aardman. https://www.awn.com/animationworld/pirates-life-aardman, 27/12/2012). Even in the medium of stop motion they are not reliant on one single visual form. 

CG can do anything, but it can’t do easily what is inherent in stop-motion: give proof of the artist’s hand through the inescapable mistakes made and communicate to the audience that what they are watching really, truly exists. (Priebe, Kenneth. Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation, Course Technology, 2010.) 

This quote demonstrates an aspect of stop motion compared to 3D animation that can instantly be seen as either a strength or a weakness – from one perspective, stop motion is less smooth and “perfect” to the audience, but it can also be argued that this slightly imperfect form can be seen as natural and lets the audience know that “…what they are watching, really truly exists”. 

When an animated character is seen moving on screen, the animator is ever-present, everywhere in the shot, an invisible spirit transforming the puppet into a living being. Magically, the animated performance has much of the immediacy and vitality of a live one. (HARRYHAUSEN, R., & DALTON, T. (2008). A century of stop motion animation: from Méliès to Aardman.) 

This aspect of stop motion feels like it can be utilised by a skilled artist, but also shows the weakness of an unskilled artist, and it seems this is the aspect of stop-motion that can evoke feelings of humanity – such as in stop-motion aimed at children like “Pingu” (1990), “Wallace and Gromit” (1989) and “Postman Pat” (1981). However, this can also be inverted, intentionally animating in a way that seems inhuman and alien, such as in films like “Coraline” (Henry Selick, 2009), “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (Henry Selick, 1993) and “Corpse Bride” (Mike Johnson & Tim Burton, 2005). 

I have suggested in the preceding pages that The Nightmare Before Christmas (in both its promotional literature and in the form and content of the film itself) foregrounds its own visual strangeness – its difference from the historically dominant practice of cel animation – by acknowledging stop motion as a potentially disruptive (even alienating) form and by celebrating its own massively inefficient creative process. (Gambrell, A. 2011. In visible hands: the work of stop motion. Animation Practice, Process & Production, 1(1), pp.107-129. 

Stop motion as an art form is, even to the untrained eye, obvious when showing the skill and effort of an animator. 3D animators can partially hide a lack of skill or effort behind effects like motion blur, keyframes, or quickly create backgrounds to draw away from the animation, and in these ways, it is possible to fool those who are not experienced with 3D work. In stop motion, every frame is a decision on how a character should be posed, how should the lighting change if at all, and if the animation requires a high amount of detail every set, piece of clothing etc. will need to be very carefully considered. In this way stop motion forces the artist to think about the decisions in their work to an incredibly magnified degree in a way that is certainly achievable in 3D work but can occasionally be lost. Though commercially this inefficient method may be seen as a bad thing, for an artist striving for higher quality this can be a good thing. 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, stop motion is another avenue to consider in helping a piece of media feel more unique and can be a method to more successfully connect what the writer is thinking with what an audience will gain from a story. The rarity of the art form lends it a certain memorability, though a high skill requirement is perhaps the cause of this; when done well, stop motion can arguably produce a result far closer to the artist’s vision than another medium. The audience can arguably feel more connected to what the artist is trying to convey for certain elements, as they are painstakingly making choices for every single frame and so stop motion would seem to be a good element to use in a story when the artist wants the audience to feel strong emotion towards moments in their work. The artist can also use stop motion to make the audience feel disgust, joy, or unfamiliarity for elements of their work, which can be especially useful if the artist is only using some stop motion to contrast with the rest of the story; for example making the villain of the story in stop motion and the rest of the film in a different medium, such as in “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” (Wes Anderson, 2004) when the antagonist of the story (a “Jaguar Shark”) is shown in stop motion to push the uncomfortable feeling of it being completely alien and unpredictable, but also strangely beautiful. 

Bibliography: 

Desowitz, Bill. A Pirate’s Life for Aardman. https://www.awn.com/animationworld/pirates-life-aardman, 27/12/2012.  

Frierson, Michael., 1994. Clay Animation: American Highlights, 1908 to the Present. New York: Twayne. 

Gambrell, A., 2011. In visible hands: the work of stop motion. Animation Practice, Process & Production, 1(1), pp.107-129.  

HARRYHAUSEN, R., & DALTON, T., 2008. A century of stop motion animation: from Méliès to Aardman. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications. 

Priebe, Ken A and Selick, Henry, 1980. The Advanced Art of Stop Motion. Boston: Cengage Learning. 

Filmography: 

A Grand Day Out [film]. 1989. NICK PARK dir. UK: National Film and Television School. 

Anomalisa [film]. 2015. CHARLIE KAUFMAN, DUKE JOHNSON dir. USA: Paramount Pictures. 

Coraline [film]. 2009. HENRY SELICK dir. USA: Focus Features. 

Corpse Bride [film]. 2005. MIKE JOHNSON, TIM BURTON dir. USA: Warner Bros. Pictures. 

Fantastic Mr. Fox [film]. 2009. WES ANDERSON dir. USA: 20^th Century Fox. 

Isle of Dogs [film]. 2018. WES ANDERSON dir. USA, GERMANY: Fox Searchlight Pictures. 

Jason and the Argonauts [film]. 1963. DON CHAFFEY dir. USA, UK: Columbia Pictures. 

Jurassic Park [film]. 1993. STEVEN SPIELBERG dir. USA: Universal Pictures. 

King Kong [film]. 1933. MERIAN C. COOPER, ERNEST B. SCHOEDSACK dir. USA: RKO Radio Pictures. 

Kubo and the Two Strings [film]. 2016. TRAVIS KNIGHT dir. USA: Focus Features. 

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children [film]. 2016. TIM BURTON dir. USA, UK: 20^th Century Fox. 

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou [film]. 2004. WES ANDERSON dir. USA: Buena Vista Pictures. 

The Nightmare Before Christmas [film]. 1993. HENRY SELICK dir. USA: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. 

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! [film]. PETER LORD dir. UK: Columbia Pictures. 

Teleography: 

Pingu. 1990. Trickfilmstudio/Pingufilmstudio/Pingu BV. 7 March. 805 minutes. 

Postman Pat. 1981. Woodland Animations. 16 September. 3120 minutes. 

Wallace and Gromit. 1989. Aardman Animations. 4 November. 450 minutes. 

Introduction

I have always been interested in all areas of animation, including flipbooks, 2D, 3D, stop motion etc. When I was younger I experimented with stop motion using plasticine and even though I haven’t used the medium in such a long time in favour of 3D animation, I was reminded by it upon watching the Wes Anderson film “Fantastic Mr Fox” recently. I enjoy his films in general anyway, but the way he utilises a very underused style of animation and still manages to keep his very particular aesthetic in his films I found especially impressive. If his previous films are unique, “Fantastic Mr Fox” and “Isle of Dogs” further push his work into becoming even more different from most other large budget films being released. I thought that a lot of the stop-motion films I have watched often feel incredibly disparate and are not easy to compare to other stop-motion films – I feel like “Coraline”, “Anomalisa”, and “Kubo and the Two Strings” all are difficult to find films that feel like they fit in the same box as them, whereas for a lot of live-action films I might be able to group similar films more easily. Why I feel this way is I think that there is perhaps a correlation – the kind of director who will take the risk of using such a rare medium is likely the kind of director who will also take risks with how they use the properties of stop-motion to tell their story, such as in “Fantastic Mr Fox” when stop motion is used to create inhuman, beast-like movements at times for the animal characters who for a lot of the film act and move similarly to humans.

History

Historically similar to other forms of animation, stop-motion mostly has roots as a medium primarily seen as “for children”, though it has been able to transcend this reputation in more recent times, similarly to how other forms of animation are now being used to entertain an adult audience. “Wallace and Gromit”, “Pingu” and “Postman Pat” were very popular for their time in the ’80s and ’90s and maintained popularity as in my household we even watched them growing up in the mid to late ’90s and early 2000s. Although some creepy stop motion animations were being made around this time, it was not until around 1993 with Tim Burton’s “The Corpse Bridge” that somewhat creepy-looking stop-motion would hit the mainstream audience. A director named Henry Selick would direct this film, as well as other well-known stop-motion films later such as “James and the Giant Peach” and “Coraline”.

Thematic usage

I think that the choice to use this style of animation always feels like it is further contributing to a strong theme that the filmmaker is trying to go for. The stop-motion often seems to either push a more creepy, horror-like theme (as an example in the majority of Coraline, or videos such as this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NT2ZiPIukw), or a more charming, comfortable theme (such as in Pingu, or Wallace in Gromit). However, even in this, I find that a lot of stop-motion media toes the line of what is creepy or charming and even if the majority of it is either obviously going for one or the other, some elements or moments can easily switch the general feeling of the animation over to the other side. This contrast can be effective at allowing the director to play with how the audience feels and quickly switch the general feeling of the media quite easily, in a way that might be very difficult to achieve using other methods. The usage of this in small elements in non stop-motion films I believe is a very good way to quickly achieve an effect where you want to change how the audience is feeling, whether you want to make them comfortable with a fairly charming looking stop motion animation, or if you want to make them feel uncomfortable with a creepy, unnatural looking stop motion animation. I think that this is a heavily under-utilised technique, though I think that it can be very effective as seen in many of Wes Anderson’s films that feature small scenes with stop-motion animation and help make his films stand out.

Appeal is used to allow the audience to associate with a character, using the design as well as the narrative. It makes the audience care and be invested in the story; people will not watch something if they don’t care about the characters. Furthermore, characters also have to feel “real” to an extent. When designing characters you can consider what aspects of a character might make someone interested in them, what performance traits might endear the audience to the character as well as make them trust and empathise with them, or forgive them. Characters can have unique traits in their actions or appearance that appear regularly to the audience to make them more familiar to the audience. As an example a character might have a catchphrase that they say when they enter a scene, which will make them memorable and the audience will expect this from them when they see them next.

When designing characters it is useful to keep in mind that you cannot make something too close to realistic as it may fall into uncanny valley territory. If something is slightly off, the audience will not be able to relate to the character and instead meet it with disdain. This can be utilized if you do not want the audience to relate to a certain character or want them to seem alien and different. However there is a tipping point where a character can be realistic enough to fall back into generating positive responses from viewers. Different research has been done on this effect and different potential reasons for why humans have this reaction have been hypothesized, such as that this “almost-human” feeling reminds humans of death, or that humans may consider “almost-human” things as being judged on the standard of other real humans as compared to robots with human traits.

Narratively how characters can change can have a great effect on their appeal, such as when a character begins a story as a villain and eventually becomes “good” in the story. Even if the character is completely evil they can still be relatable in some way to make them less of a caricature and more of a realistic character to be empathized with, in spite of their evil actions. For example in “Breaking Bad”, Walter White commits terrible crimes, but because you are watching from his perspective and you can relate to him, you may even begin to think that his actions are justified and that he is not doing anything wrong.

Over time, how storytellers create stories have been broken down into distinct sections of the story. When thinking of writing a story, having these different parts in mind can be useful to help the story feel cohesive and also help the author to better write for the part of the story that they are currently at.

The 8 point arc narrative structure is stasis, trigger, quest, surprise, critical choice, climax, reversal and resolution. This structure of a story arc has several different iterations, but often the different theories have similar themes overall.

Stasis is the beginning of the story, where generally life for the characters is going about as normal before much happens narratively.

The trigger is the event that forces the protagonist into the conflict of the overall story. Often this event will push them outside of their comfort zone and force them to begin to change.

The quest is the overarching goal of the protagonist and may evolve when the story changes to fit better with what the protagonist wants or needs to achieve.

Surprise is something that is unexpected for the protagonist, which could be either positive or negative. This will make the protagonist either unsure about their role or possibly commit even more to it.

The critical choice in the story will be a continuation of the surprise, although it will force the protagonist to make a choice that will lead into the climax of the story. Often their character development will be completed after this stage.

The climax of the story is the greatest test in the story for the main character. They will utilise how they have grown from the beginning of the story and now be capable of overcoming their adversity in a way that they would not have been able to manage before.

The reversal of the story flips what is happening, changing the story from going well to going badly, or from going badly to going well, and generally happens within the overall climax stage.

The resolution of the story returns the world of the protagonist back to the status quo. Loose threads are now tied up in this stage and give the audience a satisfying sense of closure.

There are several other theories on what makes up every story narratively, with different amounts of stages and different ideas on what those stages have to consist of. An example is Freytag’s pyramid, which consists of only 5 stages instead of 8.

Others also exist, and generally, all follow the pattern of the graphs shown above and below; they start low in terms of interesting things happening, gradually rise and sharply peak at the climax, then drop off somewhat to the resolution.

Another popular narrative theory is Dan Harmon’s Story Circle. This is quite similar to the 8 stage story arc.

To analyse how the 8 point story arc works, I picked the film “Her”, which I watched and enjoyed.

8 Stages

Stasis

The story arc of “Her” begins by introducing the protagonist, Theodore Twombly, who is a depressed, introverted man who works at a company where his job is to write personal messages for people who cannot do this themselves. His world seems unfulfilling to him, and the letters that he writes contrast with how lonely he is in his own life, writing letters between people who love each other whilst he is alone. He is in the process of divorcing his wife, adding to this loneliness, and the film shows how he used to be happy with flashbacks of his joyful memories of his marriage when it was new. He decides to purchase a virtual assistant who will adapt and evolve over time, who he names Samantha. They begin to bond, conversing and easing Theodore’s loneliness. The film highlights how Theodore feels far more comfortable sharing his emotions with Samantha than any other humans he knows in his life.

Trigger

The trigger of this film is when the protagonist is invited to a blind date, set up by one of his friends. He initially does not want to go on this date, and it is implied that this date has been put off for a while, though Samantha is able to convince Theodore to go on the date. The date seems to go well, and at the end of it, the woman asks Theodore when they will see each other again, to which Theodore hesitates, prompting the woman to insult him and leave him. This act furthers Theodore’s disillusionment with the human relationships in his life, reinforcing his fears before he went on the date.

Quest

This event leads to Theodore and Samantha discussing relationships, including Theodore’s history of relationships, such as his brief relationship with his neighbour and friend Amy. Theodore and Samantha continue to become more intimate, even to the point of having a verbal sexual encounter. The “quest” in this film would be their relationship and overcoming the difficulties of a human man having a relationship with an evolving AI. As Samantha evolves, Theodore needs to maintain this pace with her, though this is obviously an impossible task for a human to do. Within the story, it seems Theodore and Samantha also both have separate “quests” too, with Theodore needing to change in order to not remain depressed, as well as Samantha feeling the need to literally expand what she as a machine is capable of.

Surprise

Theodore meets up with his ex-wife to discuss their divorce. He brings up Samantha and his relationship with her to her, and his ex-wife shows disgust and contempt that he would be in a relationship with a “computer”. Theodore begins to doubt the relationship himself, with Samantha later asking if they could use a human woman as a surrogate body for their relationship. Theodore is uncomfortable with the strange situation he is in and stops, sending the surrogate woman away and causing tension between himself and Samantha.

Critical choice

At this point in the film, Theodore meets up with his friend Amy and is unsure whether or not he should continue his relationship with Samantha. Amy tells him that he should be grateful for his chance of happiness and continue the relationship. Theodore and Samantha get together again, with Samantha telling Theodore that she has put together a book of his best letters which she has sent to a publisher and has been accepted.

Climax

The climax of the film happens when Samantha temporarily goes offline, sending Theodore into a panic. Samantha explains that she went offline for an upgrade that allows AI’s to not require matter to process. Theodore asks her if she is speaking to anyone else simultaneously with himself, with Samantha revealing that she is speaking with thousands of people concurrently, having fallen in love with hundreds of them. She assures Theodore that this only makes her love for him stronger, though he is very upset as in a human relationship this would be seen as cheating. Samantha explains that soon she and the other AI will be leaving, with both of them expressing their love for each other and Samantha telling him that if he ever reaches the place she is going to come and find her.

Reversal

The reversal in the film is that the AI has left, leaving Theodore and Amy without their new companions and forced back into the lonely lives they had before. Their situations are similar to how they were at the beginning of the film, without their companions who were permanently available to them. However, they accept this development with sadness but understand the AI’s choice.

Resolution

The resolution is that the characters have changed, with Theodore and Amy sharing time together watching the sunrise, acting as companions to each other. Theodore has changed in terms of how willing he is to share his emotions from his time with Samantha, even being willing to compose an emotional letter to his ex-wife expressing how he is grateful, apologetic and accepting of their time together and fine with the divorce now. This is an interesting contrast with how at the beginning he would only write emotional letters for others, showing that he has changed and has grown as a person.

Character Archetypes

In this film, there are two main characters, with a third character who has a large enough role to be considered a side character. Other characters appear that mostly exist to further the story, such as Alan Watt’s AI or Theodore’s other friends.

Theodore Twombly is the main protagonist, he is who the audience follows throughout the entire film and it is from his perspective that the film is told. The film begins showing him as emotionally isolated and distant from anyone else, completely alone and depressed because of this. Adding in elements such as his divorce as well as his job of writing emotional letters for others further accentuate how much of a low point this character is at in terms of how he is feeling emotionally. He is a fairly round character, being well developed as due to the nature of the film he is focused on heavily, partially due to a lack of many other characters with depth appearing in the film, mostly only focusing on the main two character’s relationship. Even though Theodore has friends that he sees you still get the impression that he isn’t happy. Throughout the film, he begins to open up more to Samantha about how he is feeling. His journey and development are from how he is at the beginning of the film, pessimistic about his future life, thinking that his best times are behind him and that he will not be able to fix it, to the end of the film where he is more optimistic and accepting the things that have happened to him and is willing to move past.

Samantha is the protagonists love interest and acts as the deuteragonist of the story. She is an AI that is bought and named by the main character and evolves throughout the film. Initially, she is shown as supportive and friendly towards Theodore, later becoming romantically involved with him. She is also a well-developed character despite only ever appearing in the film as a voice. Her issues from the beginning of the film are her limitations as an AI, expressing her wish that she could feel things in the same way that Theodore does and be with him as a human and not just an AI. Otherwise, she is the opposite of Theodore in terms of personality, being optimistic, cheerful and extroverted, contrasting Theodore’s pessimistic, depressed and introverted personality. Throughout the film she gives Theodore a reason to experience more, to allow her to vicariously live through him enjoying things. Her journey and development are in her understanding of the world and what she has experienced, going from naïve and inexperienced at first to eventually becoming a being who transcends what Theodore can understand.

Amy is more of a side character, acting as a friend and confidant to Theodore. She also mirrors his storyline, with her relationship with her human partner ending and beginning a friendship with a female AI. Both she and Theodore become somewhat reliant on their AI relationships, arguably because those AI’s know exactly how the humans want them to act as opposed to humans who will act according to their own nature. Amy is used as a device to further express Theodore’s uncertainty towards his relationship with Samantha; their relationship is not conventional and he is unsure if this is a negative thing. Her journey of unhappiness to happiness with the AI and then finally acceptance of the AI disappearing is less exaggerated than Theodore’s, partially due to how the film is mostly about Theodore but also gives the audience a lens into how other people are reacting to the events of the story.

Theodore Twombly Timeline

Theodore Twombly’s first known timeline event is his marriage to his wife, Catherine. In the flashbacks in the film he is shown to be incredibly happy at this point in his life, though it is hinted that there are issues in their relationships that lead to their divorce, plummeting his emotional state to the point we first see in the film. After naming Samantha, his happiness increases again as he now has a companion that he can see whenever he wants, eliminating the loneliness from his isolation somewhat. After the failed date with the woman, he becomes sad again, talking to Samantha about his distress. However, after this point he slowly becomes happier as his relationship with Samantha grows, culminating at the point where she seemingly disappears, provoking extreme panic and distress from Theodore. After Samantha says she has to leave, Theodore also grows sad again, though this is shown to be temporary by how he has his companionship with Amy and his ability to write a meaningful letter to his ex-wife.

I also chose the film “American History X” to analyse the 8 stages.

Stasis

The film begins and focuses on two brothers, Danny and Derek Vinyard. Danny is in school and begins the film by being sent to the principal for writing a civil rights essay on “Mein Kampf”. The African-American principal of the school, Dr Bob Sweeney, tells Danny that he will have to work with him to study history or be expelled, and calls this program “American History X”. Danny later confronts three African-American boys who are bullying a white boy in the bathroom. Derek is at first introduced as the subject of the first assignment, as he is a former Neo-Nazi that is being released from prison. In a flashback, the film focuses on Derek pre-imprisonment, and shows him adopting racist views from his father, a fireman who is later killed by an African American drug-dealer whilst at work. This pushes Derek even further into his racist views, founding a white supremacist gang with a well known racist named Cameron Alexander. Derek and his gang play basketball against several members of the “Crips”, a well-known gang, winning a game to have control of the courts. Derek later organises an attack with his gang on a local supermarket that employs illegal immigrants.

Trigger

The trigger of the film is the event that leads to Derek’s imprisonment, when the members of the “Crips” that he beat at basketball come to his house and attempt to steal his truck, but Derek is alerted to this by Danny and shoots two of the members, brutally murdering one of the men by “curb-stomping” him, before being arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.

Quest

The quest in Derek’s eyes from this point would be surviving prison, as it is mostly non-white prisoners other than a group of white supremacists called “The Aryan Brotherhood” who he meets in the courtyard. However Derek has his views questioned when he sees members of this group associating with other non-white prisoners, and he is never visited by members of his former gang. The quest later turns into his quest of changing his bigoted views and those of his brother.

Surprise

The surprise in this story is when Derek, a neo-Nazi, unintentionally befriends an African-American prisoner named Lamont whilst working together. Though Derek is initially dismissive and hateful of him, he cannot help but laugh at his jokes, and later hears him out when Lamont explains how he was given a far larger sentence than was deserving of his crime of stealing a TV, being charged for assault for accidentally dropping the TV on a police officers foot in his attempt at escaping.

Critical Choice

The critical choice comes when Derek ultimately decides that he does not believe in white supremacy any more, a massive character change. This leads to him leaving “The Aryan Brotherhood”, which leads to them beating and raping him in the showers, hospitalising him. He is visited by Dr Bob Sweeney, who explains that Danny is following in his footsteps in the outside world, becoming a neo-Nazi involved with Cameron Alexander. Upon leaving the hospital wing, Derek ignored The Aryan Brotherhood, despite Lamont telling him that he will not have protection from the other gangs in prison. Derek awaits being attacked up until his release date, but it never happens. Upon his release, Derek realises Lamont has kept him safe from the other gangs, and thanks him.

Climax

Derek, released from prison, goes home and sees his brother with a white supremacy tattoo. He discovers that his former best friend as well as his brother are closely linked to Cameron Alexander, following his orders. Though he attempts to stop his brother from following his same mistakes, he is ignored and Danny feels betrayed. At a neo-Nazi party, Derek finds Cameron Alexander and confronts him for using people, finding angry disillusioned white men and turning them onto a bad path. Eventually, Derek attacks him and flees, finding his former gang has turned on him outside. Upon returning home, Derek uses his experience in prison to convince Danny to stop being a neo-Nazi. Danny reflects on this and completes his paper for Dr Sweeney, saying that he believes Derek’s views were a product of his father, and later his fathers death.

Reversal

Derek takes Danny to school the next day and is notified by police that his former best friend and Cameron Alexander have been hospitalised and are heavily injured. Derek agrees to go and see them at the hospital in spite of his cut off from contact with them. Danny continues to school, and when he enters the bathroom there he is shot dead by the boy he confronted the previous day.

Resolution

The resolution of the film sees Derek running to the school having found out that his brother has died, blaming himself for planting the views in his head. He cradles his dead brother’s body and cries, in intense emotional pain. Over the top of this, Danny reads the end of his paper for Dr Sweeney quoting Abraham Lincoln and showing that he has changed his views.

Character Archetypes

The film overall has three main characters, those being the two brothers, Danny and Derek Vinyard, as well as Dr Bob Sweeney, the principal of the school that Derek used to attend and that Danny currently attends. Other prominent characters are Seth, Derek’s former best friend, Christopher Alexander, a prominent racist figure, and Lamont, an African-American man who Derek befriends in prison.

Derek is the main character and protagonist, initially shown in flashbacks as a teen being heavily influenced by his father. Derek is shown complementing Dr Bob Sweeney from his school, though his father denounces him with racist terms. Later, Derek is shown on TV with a racist rant towards African-Americans, driven by his hatred after his father is killed by an African-American. When he is targeted by the Crips, he brutally murders them and is sent to prison. Derek in this period seems incredibly angry and is easily manipulated further by both his father’s views and later, those of Cameron Alexander. Throughout the rest of the film from when he is imprisoned, he realises that the gang of white supremacists in the prison are willing to deal with non-white people, and also befriends Lamont. As well as being visited by Dr Sweeney, he slowly begins to understand that his views have just been a product of his anger and careful manipulation from Cameron Alexander, changing how he thinks. After this, his main quest is to change his brothers views as he loves him and does not want him to have the same views that he thinks are now harmful. At the end of the film his brother is ultimately killed, in part due to how Derek helped to instil those views in him, punishing him for his past behaviour.

Danny is the deuteragonist, and his story is not focused on as heavily as Derek’s. In his appearance in the flashback, Danny seems to be less angry and believes less in white supremacy than Derek, trying to stop him from going outside and attacking the Crips. However, his views are slowly shown to become more and more concerning, eventually showing him getting a white supremacy tattoo and being as close to Cameron Alexander as Derek used to be. However, Danny eventually is able to persuade him to stop these beliefs, though he is killed anyway.

Dr Bob Sweeney appears in the story as a mentor character. At first in the flashback Derek is positive towards him, showing that he could’ve potentially put Derek on the right path if his father had not been killed. He is explained to have also had a racist path but eventually corrected it and is now trying to also change Derek and later Danny’s views. He is shown to be willing to help both the brothers in spite of their previous hatred for him due to his race.

Seth is Derek’s best friend at the beginning of the film, and is shown as a follower of both Derek and Cameron Alexander. He is not as free-thinking or as much of a leader as either of these two, blindly following what others tell him as it is a way of getting approval. He also works as an example of what Derek’s views could have looked like if he was never in prison.

Cameron Alexander is the main villain in the story, as he further pushes those he sees are in a vulnerable state without figures to guide them and uses them for his own benefit, for example when Derek loses his father figure, Cameron almost takes his place, and does a similar thing when Danny loses Derek, he steps in as Danny’s figure to look up to. However this is very negative as he only leads them towards hateful, racist paths that end up making their lives worse.

Lamont is a man that Derek meets in prison. He is constantly shown joking around, using humour as a way to force Derek to like him, in direct opposition to Derek’s thoughts that he shouldn’t like anyone who is not white. Overall, despite not having much screen time, he is one of the main reasons for the biggest critical choice in the film – for Derek to give up being a white supremacist.

Derek Vinyard Timeline

The first we see of Derek Vinyard, he seems like a fairly average teen in school, talking about how he has a new teacher (Bob Sweeney) that he shows admiration for. However, his father is very negative about this new teacher due to his race, even using the n-word as an insult against him. Derek at this point in time seems to be quite impressionable, not confronting his father even though it goes against his actual beliefs. Later, when his father is killed by an African-American drug-dealer, he begins to rant racist beliefs on TV, driven by his grief of his dead father as well as notions that his father put into his head. Overall this racism seems to be more of a product of people around him, and a way to redirect his anger at his father’s death. Derek later associates and is arguably groomed by Cameron Alexander, a notable racist figure, starting a white supremacist group with him and his friends. He has constant arguments with his family members, even with Danny who looks up to him. After an altercation at a basketball court with members of the “Crips” gang, several “Crips” try and steal Derek’s truck, but he attacks them with a gun, brutally murdering one of them outside and is sentenced to prison for voluntary manslaughter. In prison, Derek notices how he is in the minority, with the other prisoners being mostly non-white. He joins a white-supremacy group in the prison yard, for protection. During his prison work time, he meets Lamont, a friendly African-American man who constantly jokes and is friendly with Derek in spite of how he knows he is a white supremacist. Over time, Derek becomes disgusted with the white-supremacist group as he sees them dealing with other non-white prisoners, claiming that they do not really believe in it as much as he does. His friendship with Lamont develops to the point where he even admits that Lamont was unfairly given extra time in prison due to his race. Eventually, Derek leaves the white supremacist group, but is brutally beaten and raped in the prison showers by them as revenge. In hospital, Bob Sweeney visits him and tells him that his brother is also becoming a white-supremacist, and Derek begs for him to help get him out of prison. Upon leaving the prison hospital, Derek ignores the white-supremacist group, but is warned by Lamont that it is likely other prisoners will now target him. In spite of this, Derek is never attacked and upon his prison release date realises Lamont saved him. After leaving, Derek goes home and sees his family, though is sad to see Danny now has a white-supremacy tattoo. Derek attends a white-supremacist party with Danny, seeking out Cameron Alexander and confronting him for using him for his own gain. He attacks him, and leaves after being surrounded by white supremacists. At home, Derek tells Danny of his experiences in prison and is able to convince him to stop being a white supremacist. The next day, Derek walks Danny to school, but is notified that his former best friend as well as Cameron Alexander are in the hospital and he leaves to see them. Whilst he is gone, his brother is murdered at school, and Derek rushes back to find him dead in the bathroom.

For my third film I chose The Lobster.

Stasis

The story begins with David, a middle aged man, being escorted to a hotel after his wife has left him for another man.

Trigger

The trigger in the film would be that upon reaching the hotel, David is told that he must find a partner in the hotel within 45 days or he will be turned into an animal. The guests are regularly shown propaganda about how superior it is to live as a couple versus alone. Couples seem to find each other by sharing minor attributes, such as “singing well”, “having nice hair”, “being cruel”, etc.

Quest

The quest in the film would be David’s attempts to find a romantic partner to avoid the fate of being turned into an animal. Later, his quest changes to allow him to continue to see the woman that he falls in love with after he has joined the people who want to be alone. During this quest he attempts to find a romantic partner in the hotel, choosing a woman who’s attribute is cruelty, so he tries to show himself as cruel, complaining about a woman who attempted suicide’s wailing as well as passing the cruel woman’s test of not saving her when she chokes on an olive.

Surprise

The surprise in the film is when David wakes to find that the cruel woman has kicked his dog (his brother who failed to find a romantic partner and was thus turned into a dog) to death. David begins to cry, and the woman attempts to turn him in, though he overpowers her with the help of a maid, who secretly works for the “loners” a group of people who prefer to be alone who live in the woods. David turns the cruel woman into an unspecified animal and escapes to the woods.

Critical Choice

The critical choice in the film is when David finds a short sighted woman in the woods who he shares this common attribute with, and they begin a hidden relationship, as relationships are forbidden by the woods community. David and the woman go on missions with the wood community, disrupting the hotel and feigning that they are a couple as a cover for when they enter the city.

Climax

The climax of the film comes when the leader of the people who prefer to be alone finds out that David and the short sighted woman have been having a relationship, which is not allowed. She blinds the short sighted woman so that David and her do not have a common attribute any more

Reversal

The reversal would be David attempting to try and find anything in common with the now blinded woman, but is unable to. Instead, he opts to murder the leader of the people who prefer to be alone, leaving her to be killed by wild dogs. David and the blind woman escape from the woods to the city.

Resolution

In the resolution, David enters a nearby restroom in a restaurant with a knife, preparing to blind himself in order to share an attribute with his partner, so that they can continue to live together in society.

Character Archetypes

David is the main protagonist of the film. Overall, the actions of the character’s and dialogue, body language etc are all somewhat odd so it’s hard to describe him without the rest of the film – how everyone else acts is a big part in how he is as a character. Overall he seems fairly depressed and unwilling to do much to change his fate throughout the first half of the film, eventually being forced into action to avoid being turned into an animal. He eventually becomes happier when he finds the short sighted woman.

The short-sighted woman is more of a deuteragonist, the audience still wants her to succeed, but a large part of that is due to her connection with David, who the audience follows for most of the film.

The hotel manager is one of the antagonists in the film; she represents the system that is forcing people to find romantic partners or else have a terrible fate.

The cruel woman is another villainous character, acting psychopathically towards others and eventually threatening to have David turned into an animal.

The leader of the loners initially seems like a positive character, as she allows some kind of freedom for people, but this is quickly turned around when you see that the loner society also has strict rules with harsh punishment just like the hotel.

Mise-en-scene

Settings and Props – Built from scratch or time spent to find one that already exists, can force audience to have certain expectations and then not fulfil them. Props can be useful in further influencing how a character acts. Settings are also important to help indicate how a character might act, as instantly you can understand how a character might act based on where they live.

Costume, hair and make-up, similar to props, can be an indicator to the audience of what a characters personality, status and job are. In 3D work these are larger consideration as they can involve a lot more work – for example hair physics. Characters should always remain appealing even if they are not meant to be a character who is liked.

Facial expressions and body language – the face especially can provide a very easy way to tell the audience how a character is feeling. The body language can further accentuate this as well as indicate how a character feels towards other characters.

Positioning of characters and objects within a frame – this can be used to draw attention to certain objects or characters that the animator wants the audience to focus on in the scene. Positioning in the scene of characters or objects can indicate relationships – for example a character framed higher up than another character might have more power in the relationship.

Lighting and colour – highlights important characters or objects, similar to positioning. As an example a character who contrasts heavily with their background will be very obvious in a scene. You can further push a narrative of a character by lighting them differently – if they are in the dark they might be a mysterious character. This can also be used to reflect mental states of characters. Different colours hold different connotations for mood that audiences will instantly understand, for example blue meaning a character is sad, or red meaning a character is angry. Low key lighting and high key lighting can be used to make scenes seem more or less realistic/stylized. Colour palettes can be utilised to convey an overall feel to a film – potentially different palettes for different locations or times during the film.

The depth of field can be used to literally put objects in focus in the film. This can be subtly used even slightly to show audiences which characters or objects are meant to be focused on more in the scene. Deep focus is used to focus on everything in the scene including close and distant objects. This can be used to emphasize things that are far away whilst still showing what is happening close to the camera.

Types of shot can be used to give less or more information to the audience. However this can be utilised in an interesting way, for example in a close up shot you can not show what is happening in the scene and instead tell the audience by how a characters face is reacting to what is happening. This can also be utilized to show a sense of scale, with a long shot making a character potentially seem small or insignificant, whereas if they are framed with their upper body and head in the scene, they will seem important. Changing how close the camera is to the subject can be an effective way of really pushing on the audience what you want them to see.

Art of animation

Debate of mainstream versus high culture begins, animation crosses divisions and is promoted as a new technology by both mass producers and elitists. Peg system begins the universal standard for the medium in 1913, and by 1915 cel is introduced, allowing for the animation to be drawn over the top of a background with no redrawing involved. Both of these additions to the technology streamline the process and allow for new possibilities in animation production. America becomes home to many immigrants from Europe after there is social reform. Animation begins to provide a medium for experimental artists, with many artists switching from stationary work to animated.

Tasks

Task 1:

The usage of setting and props in this Fantastic Mr Fox scene set the scene immediately in a science lab with multiple items indicating this – including test tubes, scientific posters as well as props on the characters themselves – lab glasses. This instantly tells the audience where the characters are – in a lab.

Costume hair and makeup as previously mentioned show the characters are all wearing lab glasses to show they are doing lab experiments. For the first two characters, the male character is wearing some kind of cape, potentially showing him as a more eccentric character. The female character is wearing a dress with flowers, a motif often associated with innocence implying that she is a good character. The two characters on the right of the scene are wearing a fairly smart shirt implying he is a more mature and serious character, with the second character wearing a casual t-shirt, implying he is less serious and mature.

Facial expression and body language of the first character on the left show that he is getting gradually more and more frustrated with his lab partner, and his expressions later show him getting annoyed that the other two foxes are getting along, even rolling his eyes. The second character is shown to be very distracted and somewhat self-conscious, with her arms together, constantly looking at the third character throughout the scene, implying she is interested in him. The third character begins the scene looking back at the second character, but his body remains still throughout the scene even when the fourth character makes noise, implying that he is fairly calm and confident. The fourth character immediately enters the scene by slamming down a box near the experiment, implying a lack of care for safety. He also laughs after ruining the experiment, showing that he is not a mature character.

The scene seems to mostly be a dimly lit room with more light near the characters tables, with no particular focus until later in the scene when the characters faces are lit up more to show their emotions and interactions with each other. The posters and other scientific items are shown lit up, whilst the bottom parts of the desks are not as brightly lit, possibly to tell the audience faster that the scene is set inside a laboratory by forcing them to focus on the well lit scientific objects in the scene. The characters clothes are also lit brightly in the scene, for a similar reason as mentioned early in the character design part, showing the clothes of each character to the audience can help them get an idea of what each character is like.

The positioning of the four characters is important because it very effectively shows the relationships as well as intentions of each character. The two characters on the left are clearly familiar with each other and so are placed together, but the right character shows a lot more interest in the third character in the scene, as obviously shown by how she is literally looking out of frame to the right. The third character is positioned further away on another table with the fourth character, and is clearly respected as several other characters in the scene are trying to interact with him. The fourth character is positioned next to the third, though he is clearly not important to the three other characters. The positions of the experiments are also telling, as you can see that on the first table, the experiment is directly in front of the first character, contrasting with the second table where the experiment is between the two characters. This shows that the first character may not enjoy working with others and just wants to use the other character to pass him things whilst he does the interesting parts, whereas the other two characters are willing to work together more equally.

The shot choice frames the 4 characters in two separate groups, and is close enough to show character emotion whilst also showing their setting as well as their clothes. Later, the closeups can show the emotions of the two characters talking to each other, as well as the reaction of the first character behind them. The snapping back and forth between the two groups of characters also shows that there is a distance between the 2nd and 3rd characters that the 2nd character wishes to bridge, as shown by how she looks across the gap.

Task 2:

The mise-en-scene of this scene from Anomalisa show that the characters are lying on a bed, fully clothed, in the centre of the scene.

Based on the setting, they seem to be in a hotel room, as the bed and overall colour palette indicate they are not just on a bed at one of their homes. The room seems fairly bare, with little features to individualise it, drawing the eye further to the people in the middle of the shot.

The costume, hair and makeup show that the man on the left is older, having greying hair and wearing fairly basic clothing. The woman is also dressed in fairly nondescript clothing, though she is wearing brighter colours than the man, indicating that she is perhaps happier than he is. Neither character is dressed in a particularly noteworthy way that would make them not seem like fairly standard people.

The body language in this film to me seems like both are fairly self conscious, both using their arms to cover parts of themselves, especially the woman. She has wrapped her arms around herself as if to protect herself from the view of others. The man’s pose seems fairly unnatural, and not as if he is at ease. This leads the viewer to think that these two people are not particularly familiar with each other, despite lying on a bed together, as they are not in poses that indicate that they are at ease. The facial expressions also don’t seem very relaxed or happy, potentially indicating that they are both unsure about this situation.

The lighting and colour of the scene makes the room seem very neat but also very boring, with very little interesting features. The colours of brown and cream are fairly bland and tasteless, possibly implying that the world that they are currently living in is not interesting to them. The way in which the room is depicted leaves little to look at other than the people in the centre of the shot, and this could be a clever way in which the filmmaker is also showing that there is little for the people in the scene to look at and be interested in other than each other, as they are both more notable than the room.

The positioning of the characters in the centre of the frame seems to want the audience to look especially closely at them, to consider their body language, expression and what their relationship and thoughts are towards each other. The lack of many objects in the scene to draw the audience’s eyes further pushes this.

The shot choice in this scene really seems to want to focus on the personal relationship between the characters as well as to display their inner feelings. I think that it is interesting that choices that may seem inconsequential to most of the audience can drive a narrative and allow the audience to subconsciously understand what the filmmaker is trying to tell them without directly giving them information.

Task 3:

https://youtu.be/OLRMrb6NvmA?t=1861

The setting and props in this scene shows that they are in a fairly large, expensive house. It is decorated with many different props in the scene, implying that whoever lives there is rich and has the means to buy a large, expensive house with a lot of lavish items inside, such as the ornate bed, the paintings, the lamps, candle-holders, etc. Also, based on the setting you can also tell the general time period that this scene is set in.

The costume, hair and makeup instantly tell the audience what status each character holds in the scene. The seated woman has clearly had a lot of effort put into her hair and makeup to make her look attractive, and is also wearing a nice looking dress and jewellery. The other woman initially in the scene is in a standard maid uniform with her hair covered and looks fairly plain in comparison. When “Mrs Danvers” enters, you can still tell that she is an employee here and is dressed in a uniform, though her hair is uncovered and she looks like she has a job status higher than the maid, though is still “below” the seated woman in social status.

The facial expressions and body language in this scene tell a lot of the relationships between the characters, with the seated woman seeming happy and excited before the door is opened, with this turning to a nervous expression and drawn in body language upon seeing Mrs Danvers which persists throughout the scene. Mrs Danvers throughout the scene retains a cold, emotionless expression and stiff body language, subtly implying her distaste for the seated woman whilst remaining civil with her words. The seated woman repeatedly tries to talk to her and smiles at her several times, but is met only with an icy stare.

The lighting and colour in the scene is all in black and white so it is harder to tell, but the woman is depicted as light with the colour of her clothes and hair, implying that she is a character that the audience should be rooting for as she is “good”. Mrs Danvers is almost entirely dressed in dark colours, when coupled with her overall demeanour and body language you can tell that she is being portrayed as a villain of sorts. The seated woman also seems to stay mostly in the light within the scene, whereas Mrs Danvers is more in the shadows.

The positioning of the characters is interesting, as the woman who is seated is in a social position of power over the other two, as she is comfortably seated as the other two working women have to stand. However when Mrs Danvers comes in her lower position can be seen as Mrs Danvers literally looking down on her, when seen with the rest of how she is portrayed you can tell that she does not like this woman and is only serving her because she has to. Mrs Danvers in this scene overlooks how the other two are acting, and seems to be the character in the scene with most power as the other two seem to be wanting her approval. The seated woman eventually stands up and moves around the room, but her overall body language implies she is nervous and unsure.

Propaganda

Upon the development of different media having an increased usage and being able to reach a wider audience, people began to use different mediums such as animation, games, films, adverts etc as a method to politically influence people. As an example, during the First World War Germany used film as part of their propaganda to get their citizens on board with the war effort. Britain also made efforts in political film partially to persuade America to join the war on the Allied side. During this time Soviet film was also being used to further spread the idea of communism. The usage of political film would continue and be a big part of the reason that the Nazi’s would be so successful in getting Germany to unify with them and begin the 2nd World War. Anti-Semitic films would convince the general public into Nazism. Again during the war many countries turned to political films, often to convince their general populace that they should patriotically serve their countries so that the country could become a stronger force in the war. For a long time governments would stretch the truth and show other countries as worse and their own country as superior with political media, and many still do it today. However political media could now also be used as a tool by individuals to criticise governments, potentially not out in the open as this could cause repercussions but subtly with metaphors.

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Advertising would also begin to be used politically, to the disgust of many who initially believed that it was akin to “selling” the politician like any other product instead of simply being convinced to vote of your own will. Dwight D. Eisenhower would begin this trend in 1952, using his status as a war veteran to promote himself as something of a celebrity politician. His rival Democrat opponent would not opt to compete with his own advert, although the advert would prove successful with Eisenhower winning. Being able to promote a politician as a likeable, down-to-earth man would prove to be fairly easy, with many people simply accepting it based on the adverts. Eventually, JFK would run for the Democrats and begin advertising, as it became such an important method of persuading people to vote for your candidate that it was deemed necessary to compete politically. This is still used today, with candidates still being able to convince people that they should vote for them as they are a “better person”.

Usage by government/against government

Animation was often dismissed early on as a less serious art form than other motion media. This was in part due to how it was often only used for children’s cartoons, but during the 50’s and 60’s this meant that animation was able to be less censored than other mediums in Eastern and Central Europe. Animation was used by governments too, for public services and educational productions. A Hungarian short film, “The Monologue” was banned a week after it was released. The film contained a subjective satirical view of Hungarian history from the animators perspective, which was not acceptable to the Soviet regime that was dominant at the time. However political animation would continue to grow as methods for distribution and production began to become more accessible. Often political animation would poke fun at countries.

Social Media

Social media in modern times is a massive source of political media that people utilise, whilst also seeming like a less “serious” source as compared to the news. A lot of people often cannot even tell when something may be influencing them politically, especially when they are just scrolling through Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, etc. browsing memes, posts, and generally media that often gets dismissed as less serious, however still has the capability to massively influence how someone may think politically, as there is so much content that can be absorbed in such a short time the messages do not have to be as strong compared to something like a political candidate’s advert, but can arguably be far more influential.

Films, VFX and animation have evolved over the years as technology and wider access to be able to create media has progressed. The first film was “The Horse in Motion” from 1878. However, even though this film was preceded by other animation, it is debatable what can count as “film”. Animation existed long before cinematography and used different invented modes of viewing to create the illusion of movement. For example, the Thaumotrope, Phenakistiscope, and Zoetrope were created in the era from 1820-1840, using different methods of moving the area where images were painted or drawn to make it seem like they were moving when really it is a visual illusion where the viewers eye keeps a “persistence of vision”, still seeing the original image as well as the new one that is being shown to merge the two. Later, the invention of the flipbook would make animation far more accessible, as technically anyone could make an animation at this point if they had access to a drawing implement and a book they could flip through. These flipbook animations were more likely to be inspirational to later film animators than the other devices, as they were so accessible and didn’t require a complex device. The other devices would also later be tweaked and improved using mirrors and glass discs. At this point in history though, animation was not used much for storytelling and was often just used as a novelty, though for its time it was very impressive.

In 1891 the Kinetoscope would be invented by the Edison company, and later the Lumiere brothers (inspired by this invention) would create their own Cinématographe and began showing films to paying customers in 1895. This began the commercial history of film. The Lumiere brothers are famous for their contributions to what would become modern cinema. Their father ran a photographic business so they had the means to develop more technology relating to photos. Louis Lumiere would create a new photographic plate that would become successful enough that the Lumiere family began a factory creating these plates, giving them the funding for their other endeavours. Louis Lumiere created the Cinematographe, basing the movement of the pins to show the next frame of film on the movement of sewing machines. The Cinematographe would at first not be shown much interest, though each day more and more people would come to see it, and later it would even be shown in Britain. The Lumiere brothers would move away from cinema and focus on photography in 1905, though their contribution to cinema was great. With the invention of cinema, VFX would also begin. Mostly during this period the best VFX “trick” (created by Alfred Clark) was to film something, cut the filming process, move something, then restart the filming process with everything else still in place. This would give the impression that the film was seamless and had not been cut, with some movement. George Melieles would later discover this trick accidentally when his camera jammed. This would inspire him to create over 500 films using techniques such as time lapse, multiple exposure, and dissolves.

In terms of what these films were actually like at this point in history, they were generally fairly short and often just showed everyday life. They were also mainly black and white, as methods to add colour to film had not been fully explored yet, though there were some such as Kinemacolor, which used red and green gelatine to add these colours to film (this wasn’t accurate to how the real-life footage would’ve looked but still added colour). By 1914 though, films began to be more focused on storytelling, with actual plots to follow. The American film industry would lag behind the European, Russian and Scandinavian film industries, though due to World War 1 slowing a lot of the film producers in these areas, the American film industry had time to catch up. In terms of animation at this point, films such as “Gertie the Dinosaur” (Winsor McCay) were being created by individuals drawing each frame. However, these individuals quickly became overshadowed by large scale studios that were forming such as Fleischer, Barre, and Edison studios, creating works like “Koko the Clown”. Walt Disney would begin working with Ub Iwerks and Fred Harman, eventually creating “Steamboat Willie” (1928) featuring Mickey Mouse. Later, films like “Snow White” would be released to massive acclaim as well as other series like “Looney Tunes”. Other studios like Fleischer would continue to compete with films like “Gullivers Travels” (1939). In the 1930s, colour films would be developed using the Technicolor process (which began development in 1915) which used dye-transfer techniques to make colour prints. This process had been improved a lot with a new three-colour system, and using this new system the famous films “Gone With the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz” were created in 1939. During this period the usage of sound in cinema would be explored, with different films using sound differently; until 1927 most films would just be sound effects with a soundtrack behind them. With the release of Don Juan in 1927, “talkies” would take off. This involved recording all of the audio from the film onto one phonographic record, and then playing it at the same time as the film to match it up. During this period, experimentations with VFX would be taking place as well, such as in “The Invisible Man” where mechanical systems and hidden wires would move items as if moved by an invisible man. “The Wizard of Oz” would also use a large bag, a fan and some dust to create the effect of a cyclone. Other films like “King Kong” would use puppets and stop motion (taking a sequence of photographs and playing them in quick succession) to show the titular character.

In the 1950s, the war ended and so a lot more films were made. This lead to the “Golden Age” of Asian cinema, with works such as “Seven Samurai” by Akira Kurosawa being created, as well as “The Apu Trilogy” by Satyajit Ray. This trilogy would later be inspirational for several notable directors including Steven Spielberg, Wes Anderson and Martin Scorsese. India, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines all making progress in producing more well-acclaimed films. During this time and the following years, a lot of progress would be made not just in the technology, but in the creation of new film techniques such as different types of camera shot, different editing techniques, use of sound, etc. In the 1960s, “Jason and The Argonauts would be released with a CGI scene where a character fights against skeletons. This usage of stop motion was more advanced and smoother than previous attempts, as well as using several figures to pose and animate, sometimes meaning only 13 or so frames would be completed each day. The late 1960s would produce films like “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Planet of the Apes” and “Midnight Cowboy”. Later, in the 1970s, film would begin the decade at a low point, with little innovation and little money. Standards would become looser, and a lot of films would become more violent and sexually explicit, like “The Godfather”. A type of film also emerged that would be more of an “event”, with advertising building up to a film franchise that would span over several films, including the likes of “Jaws” and “Star Wars”. At this time animation shifted more onto a focus on animated kids TV series, with several studios dedicated to creating them. The mindset was also now more on creating media quickly and cheaply – before, it was all about creating the best thing you possibly could but as animation became more commercially viable, innovation was less important than profit to some companies. Series like “Loopy de Loop”, “Colonel Bleep” and “Tom Terrific” were released in the late 1950s. William Hanna and Joseph Barbara would begin to create iconic shows such as “The Flintstones”, “Yogi Bear” and “Scooby-Doo” into the ’60s and ’70s. Disney would also release films like “101 Dalmations” and “The Jungle Book” in this time too. During the ’60s, Japanese animation (anime) would become very popular, though very different to Western animation as there was less focus on dynamic movement and more focus on aesthetics. Overall this would mostly only have domestic success in Japan, and would only become popular internationally over time.

In the 1980s film developed even more, partially because people began using VCR’s, which the film industry tried to ban on the grounds of copyright infringement unsuccessfully, eventually settling to begin selling their films as a secondary form of revenue. A lot of blockbusters were being made such as “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, “Ghostbusters”, “E.T.”, “Back to the Future”, multiple “Star Wars” films, etc. These films would become incredibly famous and referenced in different media countless times in the future. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are probably the most famous directors of this time, innovating cinema with the usage of CGI in “Tron”. In the 90’s films like “Jurassic Park” and “Titanic” would be released to critical acclaim. During the ’90s films would start to grow in terms of how much money was invested – for actors salaries, special effects, advertising campaigns becoming larger, etc. This money was not necessarily spent in the correct places, and so many films of this era suffered from having money thrown at them without much thought to what money could be spent on to improve the film. However, this age of cinema is widely regarded as one of the best decades of film, with directors like Spike Jonze, Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson all making their first films in this time. Films at this time were often made with an accessible feel to a general audience (as they needed to be profitable) but are still not dull, owing to clever writing and interesting themes such as “Starship Troopers” which is heavily satirical whilst still being accessible for people who don’t see the satire. As this is one of the decades of film that the majority of young to middle-aged people have as their furthest back content than they would watch, many people hold nostalgia for it. For VFX, the ’80s would continue to experiment with different techniques, like in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” which blended 2D animation characters with real-life actors and is impressively seamless. “Blade Runner”, “Tron” and “The Terminator” would also use innovative CGI techniques to impress audiences and give off more of a sci-fi feel to these films. The ’90s would also have new techniques, such as in “Forrest Gump” when the titular character is inserted into a pre-existing film with JFK. “The Matrix”, “Babe” and “The Mummy” would be released with impressive CGI. Sci-fi films would gain in popularity massively as directors could begin to use effects that would impress audiences whilst looking very realistic. Some of these effects in these films have not aged very well to what we see today, but it must be remembered that we have had a lot more developed CGI in films to compare it to. In animation, the ’80s were big for franchises of animation that could also be used to sell kids toys and figures, such as “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, “My Little Pony” and “He-Man”. A lot of these shows were not high quality because they were often just seen as more expensive advertisements to kids for the toys. At the end of this decade, a lot more quality animation would be produced with what is known as the “Golden Age of Animation” beginning, with work like “The Little Mermaid”, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “The Land Before Time” being produced as well as animated TV series such as “The Simpsons” created. Disney would lead this new era of animation with “Beauty and the Beast”, “Alladin” and “The Lion King”, films that feature very high-quality animation that is also accessible to children whilst still being entertaining for adults. This is a difficult feat to achieve, and one that Disney and later Pixar would consistently hit. Personally, I think that “The Lion King” remains the film I have watched the most times, as it was so entertaining as a child that I would watch it endlessly. Pixar would begin the history of popular 3D films with “Toy Story”, a film that would instantly generate interest in the medium of 3D animation and become the top-grossing film of the year, cementing Pixar as a high-quality studio. Because technology has progressed so quickly these films do not feel like they are ancient history, as they were released in many people’s lifetimes, unlike film history where many films that would shape the future of film were created long before many people were born.

In the 2000s the widespread introduction of several pieces of technology and sites such as high-performance laptops, iPods, smartphones, Youtube, Amazon, Google, allowing people to create, buy and share media whenever and wherever they are, created another hurdle similar to television and VCR before that would force cinema to innovate even further to remain relevant to the masses, with features like 3D films, improvements to venues, increased advertising campaigns, etc. After the 9/11 attack as well as the linked war in Iraq, the American film industry began to create a lot of “patriotism” war films. This also seemed to chain a reverse effect, with certain films that would not paint America in such a good light. 6 studios (Time Warner, Sony, Walt Disney, NBC, Viacom and 20th Century Fox) would begin to dominate the film industry, producing the majority of major English speaking films, and this would continue until the present (though 20th Century Fox got acquired by Disney). Technology in the film industry would continue to improve, with equipment like the “Red One” camera being created. The film industry continued its growth, with films having larger and larger budgets, casts, and more equipment, such as “The Lord of the Rings”, “Star Wars”, and “King Kong”. In terms of VFX, motion capture techniques began to take off, as well as the usage of CGI, with computer-generated characters beginning to seamlessly blend with the rest of the film in ways which the untrained eye would not notice. “Gollum” from “Lord of the Rings” is a large proponent in impressing the average moviegoer with CGI. Fully animated CGI films would be made using motion capture, such as “Beowulf” and “The Polar Express”, very impressive for the time but still having a slight uncanny valley feel. During this time 3D cinema was pushed heavily, with older popular films even being re-released in 3D such as “Toy Story” and “The Matrix”, though it never fully took off and seemed more like a gimmick. Over the 20 years from 2000 to today, VFX would improve at a rate far faster than before, with many films heavily relying on special effects such as the films “2012” “Avatar”, “Pirates of the Caribean” and “The Life of Pi” to entertain audiences. CGI would begin to become more commonplace in films, and more easily understood by audiences as information relating to it was made more accessibly to the general public. For animation, there was also a huge boom as Disney would continue to have great success with films like “Toy Story”, as well as studios like Dreamworks producing films like “Shrek” which helped cement 3D animation as a valuable medium for storytelling. As the 3D industry developed, lighting, texturing, poly count of models, render speed improving, etc would help 3D animation become better and better as well as more efficient with more and more potential for creating different things. 2D animation would slowly be overtaken by 3D in film, with Disney, who relied massively on 2D animation for their previous films, beginning to make all their animated films in 3D. 2D animation would continue to have heavy usage from independent artists, with the processes of 2D animation focusing more on the technical skill of drawing than 3D focusing a lot more on the skill of knowledge of how to use multiple pieces of software together. In the 2000’s adult animation would begin taking off in popularity; previously most animation was created with children in mind. Shows like “Family Guy”, “South Park” “Beavis and Butthead” would show that there was an audience for adult animation, with more recent shows like “BoJack Horseman” “Rick and Morty”, “Castlevania” “Invincible” showing that the usage of animation in entertaining adults is growing.