Yo Gabba Gabba

          This website was very interactive and the interface design stood out a lot. The type of animation used is very suitable for children. It reminded me of other interactive websites such as PBS and Cartoon Network that used similar animation features on the website. The sounds and playful noises make the website even more interactive. It is also very reminiscent of a child's toy-- where when a child hits a button, a certain noise will play. In other words, the website is a virtual children's toy. Not only is it interactive, it is informational. In addition, there seems to be classic animation styles that are more pixelated as well as newer styles in high definition.

Chapman Brothers : Fucken Hell

          This piece of work has a very different approach from traditional definitions of an animation. The whole piece reminded me of dioramas. Although there were no movements and every scene looked like stills from movies, the use of the music brought the figures to life. I attempted to watch the video without sounds and it definitely did not have the same effect. It seemed like every different scene came straight out of a movie at the end of a battle scene or at the conclusion of gruesome war. I guess that's why this piece was titled "Fucken Hell". The approach to capture these figurines and miniature environments by panning and occasional close-ups of the characters worked very well for me. This just added more of a cinematic feel to this piece.

Lotte Reiniger - Jack and the Beanstalk (1955)

          First, this animation reminded me of what the story was actually about. I had forgotten because it's been a long way from elementary school. This animations definitely gave it a different feel and perspective with the style and music in the animation. Just like Hansel and Gretel, Reiniger's style of animation works very well for me. The silhouettes of the characters are 2D and flat, but with the movements and drawn backgrounds, the animation gives viewers a sense of 3-dimension and realistic movements. Although I may not see the outlines between the arms and shoulders of a character or when a characters faces different direction, the outlines of the silhouettes are very refined and detailed that viewers can subconsciously see it.  The quick and "broken", or non-smooth, movements of the characters makes me think of all the joints of the characters were connected with one of those gold pins used to make paper clocks. I forgot the what those were called...

Evan Tapper - Listening Portrait Booth

          I thought this was a very interesting and clever installment. It reminded me of street vendors in New York City who draw caricatures for money. But the special elements in Tappers installment was the hidden identities of the participants and the conversations he had with them. Those elements, in a sense, seem to make his work more meaningful and unique. This installment definitely worked for me. Even if the drawings didn't come out the way the person actually looked, i feel as though even just conversing with the participants, for someone like Tapper, who's had experience drawing people face to face before, that simple gestures can be assumed through language. And ultimately I think that the valuable part of this installment is the spontaneous and element of surprise that makes this impressive.

Cold Hard Flash - Guy Collins

          I really enjoyed Collins' latest animation titled "Rage". I love the whole concept of how someone's reaction to frustration can lead to someone else's misery, which can then lead to another person's reaction to frustration, and then again lead to someone else's misery. In essence, a big domino effect. The ending was definitely my favorite part. Everything in this animation was drawn and the drawing of President Obama was on point. I like the animator's choice of colors by only providing colors to the object(s) that causes havoc and chaos around the city. This highlighted the main focuses of the animation. On the other hand, the characters were simply black and white which i thought worked out fine. Overall, i thought this was a very clever animation that really relates the world at large, particularly, in my opinion, people in New York City.

Mark Fiore's Animated Cartoon

          Fiore's animation is an alternative way to create political satire for all ages. Particularly with cartoons, I would imagine it would be suitable for children, except there are some R-rated content. Yet, its something everyone can watch and easily understand. The style of animations definitely works for his topics of works. And this form of medium should be used more often in raising awareness on current issues. It would probably be more effective in terms of reaching a larger audience. Fiore's style of animation is common and seen in popular cartoon shows. Most of the actions or animations simply come from the eyes, arms and mouth. All which create the gestures or emotions that the creators are trying to tell. Whether there are big eyeballs to show shock or slanted eyebrows to represent anger, a majority of the expressions derive particularly from the eyes.

I Met the Walrus

           The animations in the video was very neat. It reminded me a lot of what you would see in documentaries when they bring up statistics and mention important facts from different studies. The use of those form of animation supports the message in the video with very clear and simple images. It included many drawn figures, actual footage, and possibly images from photographs. The background color definitely went hand-in-hand with the old recording that's being played in the video. Overall, I enjoyed the images and different styles of animation in the video, but other than that I thought it was very dull, probably only due to the poor quality of the recording and the overall sound.

"Creep" Animation by Low Morale

           This animation video was definitely an eyeopener to the possibilities in Adobe Flash. I enjoyed it. The characters fit very well with the emotion and meaning of the song. The use of an unusual, odd-looking, "creepy"  man helped emphasize the separation and loneliness in the message of the song. The techniques used in the video went well with the overall mood of the song. The gradual changes and creations in the video was a great technique to show the time lapse in the video. It portrayed how the main character in the animation seemed to be bored and misplaced in an environment he later escapes from. This was done very well through the use of the masking technique.

Narratives


Activity 2.4 

          Some perfect examples of an ad that shows a strong narrative are the Apple vs. PC commercials. As mentioned in the reading, Propp suggests that ads also “build a sense of character as like real people”. There are only two distinct characters in the commercial, one being an older man, as “PC” and the other, a younger man, as “Mac”. All the commercials begin and sort of just stops. In the beginning, the commercial automatically construct the characters by distinguishing who is “PC” and who is “Mac”. The story and plot is built up in relation to the actual products being sold, a Microsoft Windows PC computer versus an Apple Mac computer. The narrative and script in the advertisement is very straightforward. The characters imply who is, what Propp calls, the “hero” who carries the plot. The older individual, who plays “PC”, implies that PC computers are outdated and functions with many problems. Where as the younger individual, who plays “Mac”, suggests the Mac computers are new, simple and intelligent. Since this is a commercial developed by Apple, the hero is Mac. In addition, the ads always consist of an issue that PC is dealing with. On the other hand, Mac is always portrayed as a character with no issues. There is never a solution in this ad that solves any problem. It stops on a note that exploits the lacking abilities of a PC computer, yet still suggests to audience that the solution, in fact, lies in the Apple Mac computer product itself.


Activity 2.6


          I do believe that the style of the animation influences the content. First, the animation in The Simpsons are 3-Dimentional. The movements are more realistic and there is more volume and depth in the animations. On the other hand, South Park is closer to a 2-Dimentional animation style. The characters look flat and the movements are fast and sharp. With The Simpsons' style of animation there are more possibilities for different kinds stories and plots. The characters are able to do certain movements in a more expressive way like actual humans can do, such as putting arms around someone or wrapping fingers around a hammer. Where as South Park animations show very stiff movements and very limited capacity for exaggerations. The Simpsons and South Park tell stories that are humorous but share a different sense of humor. The Simpsons cover stories about everyday life, such as family, jobs and school. South Park, on the other hand, has narratives tease or mocks certain situations in the news, whether it relates to politics or celebrities. Now in terms of big, marketed, animated movies such as The Incredibles, it has a large capacity to cover any kind of story and plot. The narratives in movies with this quality animation has greater possibilities to tell a wider range of stories due to its life-like portrayals and voices of Hollywood actors.

Norman McLaren - Neighbours (1952)

My initial feeling towards the video was like, "oh, what a nice, cute little stop motion video about two neighbors". And then as the video progressed it became, "um, why is this so creepy and violent". The use of stop-motion animation definitely fit well with the theme of the video. Although it was about two neighbors who did not get along and things became physical, the animation style gave it a little bit of humor, which I enjoyed. In addition to that, the soundtrack in the video also gave it a sense of funniness. The music reminded me of particular scenarios in the Super Mario Bros. game. Lastly, I thought the ending was a little over the top when they both apparently killed one another. However, the separation of the flower was clever and nice touch to end the video.

Out of the Inkwell - Modeling (1921)

To start off, the concept of the video was great. It's always cool to see your drawings come to life, literally speaking based on this video. I enjoyed the humor in this video. I liked how the artist drew a clown only to have to that clown draw an exaggerated cartoon profile of the artist. Back in 1921, I assume this style of animation, rotoscoping, was one of the best. Its amazing how the movements were so smooth and everything seems to flow very well. Even with no dialogue, the idea definitely came across through the facials expressions, body movements and along with the playful music, which reminds me of the kind of music played on a carousel. And lastly, at the end, to see the clown sort of blend or hide himself back with the ink that formed it was very clever. A very suitable way to end the video.

Robert Hodgin - Weird Fishes

I was completely mesmerized throughout the entire video. The variety of glowing colors and flashing lights were very vibrant. This piece was very effective in that it immediately grabbed my attention. I definitely enjoyed how the music and the movements, along with the different colored flashes of light, were very synchronized. The mood and tone of the music related well with the notion of a lonely object moving and spinning, gradually making its way around what seems to be an ocean of water. As the video goes on, I liked how the object became more visible. My initial thought was that the object was just a ball with colors twirling around inside. As it got closer, I actually noticed that it looked like  hundreds of tiny fish traveling together in a form of a sphere.

Lotte Reiniger - Hansel and Gretel

             The story told in this form of animation was definitely effective. The obvious noticeable trait was the use of black and white, whether they had color back then or not. The mood and general theme of the story worked very well with no color. In addition, the fact that the emotions of the characters were not visible, the short and sharp movements in the animation allowed me to understand what was going on, aside from the narative. Furthermore, the narative was also very effective, in that it guided me through the animation. However, what was particularly more effective was the fact that only the old evil lady spoke. Her voice was cruel and nasty. The voices of Hansen and Gretel were not presented in the animation at all. Although I don't hear what Hansen and Gretel says or sounds like, it wasn't really necessary because their body movements throughout the whole story clearly portrayed what kind of people they were - young, gullable, innocent and scared.