For our first class in the ‘World of Animation’ unit of semester two, we were first given a rundown of all the unit would entail.
Over the course of the next twelve weeks, we will analyse animated shorts and films, reproach historical and contemporary movements and practice communicating concepts and ideas well in a variety of forms. We will have two coursework hand-ins, one a ten minute group presentation and the next a group poster. Presentations are not my strong suit, so I will have to work in this area in order to get a strong mark.
After this, we learned about the four pillars of filmmaking.
- Cinematography (shot composition, blocking, etc)
- Mise-En-Scene (props, costumes, etc)
- Sound (diegetic and non-diegetic)
- Editing (montages, etc)
Though this opinion will likely change in the coming years as I learn more about the animation industry, the section I feel now myself most gravitating towards is the cinematography – I am fascinated by composition and I love storyboarding. I have much to improve, and I will enjoy learning more about it in this unit.
We were shown three clips from two films and a short – Whiplash, Isle of Dogs and The Sandman – which we discussed and analysed.
Whiplash’s first scene sets up, with very little dialogue, the protagonists goal (become a professional drummer), his personality (determined and single-minded, working late into the night when everyone else had gone home) and his struggle (the expert, highly regarded teacher who dismisses him immediately) within a few minutes.
Isle of Dogs presents itself as odd and quirky, and its’ humour is in its’ sudden changes of tone – from serious to a tension-breaking joke and then right back again.
The Sandman contains foreshadowing in the form of a grim reaper cuckoo clock that sends the doomed child to bed, and its’ use of choppy editing during the final scene builds tension as we are whipped back and forth from the Sandman, who has just attacked the child, to the child who is still in bed. We don’t know what the damage is until finally, the Sandman opens his hand to reveal a pair of eyeballs. The camera quickly cuts to the child – eyeless. The animation uses every second of its’ short time frame to effectively increase the tenseness of the story.