This post will by my summary and reflection of my second and final component of the world of animation module. I decided to do British animation mostly because not many students chose to do it and I felt it would be an interesting differentiation to the other entries. For the project, I was put into Group 9, along with Abbi Dalzell, Ellen Harbinson and Kaitlin Woods respectively.

For the research, we all decided to do our research on the evolution of stop-motion British animation as we all collectively agreed that stop-motion was synonymous with the British animation industry as a whole and so, we felt it would be perfect to detail the origins, progression, peak and decline for stop-motion animation in Britain.

When it came to gathering information for the poster, we decided to gather our own research on the entire progression of stop motion animation in Britain and then compile the parts of each of our research together as each of us found different points among our research that would be useful entries into the timeline element of our poster. For my research I found an Immense amount of information from “Antoons'” YouTube video titled “The History of British Animation” (2022). This video gave me some insight into some of the major significant events in the history of animation within Britain. Thanks to this video, it gave me a better sense of direction of what information I was looking for and thus, with the basic points received from the Antoons’ video, I was able to find the information for each of the significant events in British animation history along with animations that would’ve been released at the time of these events.

I used multiple websites to find more information that elaborated on significant events and other key details from Antoon’s video like release dates of the films that were referenced in the poster, Finding information on some of the earlier animations was rather difficult as there was not a lot of information documented about the films when it came to exact release dates, production locations and locations were the animations were presented at. Luckily, later examples where easier to get references for as they were developed in a time where the film-making and animation industries kept better documentation of dates and figures due to film-making regulations so later films were much easier to reference and find the details for said references.

When it comes to what I thought went well, I honestly have to say it was how the poster was laid out and how our group collectively worked together to put a large body of information together for the finalized poster. At the start of the research process, My group decided to collectively research the progression of stop-motion in Britain individually, each of us did find different points during our research that other team members may have been unable to find, this as a whole was really useful for increasing the amount of unique points we could add to the final poster to fill in the time gaps of all significant events in the history of animation and make a much more fleshed out final product. The second aspect that I thought went well was my Group’s communication and cooperation to create the poster, Although most of us prioritized the poster’s information, Ellen came up with the poster design along with some entries for the poster. during the process of development, My group constantly communicated our progress through a private discord group chat and if there was any issues with the poster as it was being developed, my team members were quick to respond and the necessary changes were made as quickly and efficiently as possible, while I took responsibility for making sure the poster was printed on time and preparing it for printing.

The key thing that I could’ve improved upon in retrospect, was not allowing much of a balance for gathering research and creating potential poster designs, this was due to me getting so caught up with researching for the poster, that I didn’t leave myself with enough time to develop a poster design idea which my group could’ve used to determine a poster design we collectively wanted to use for the poster. Another aspect I felt could be done better was rehearsing some of the facts and figures of my poster entries so I didn’t have to constantly refer back to said entries to find the vital information I needed for presenting the poster to my lecturers’ which I personally felt, I could have presented my points much more professionally if I had taken taken the time to rehears some of the key features of my entries such as; important names of filmmakers, studio establishments and also the years of when certain works were developed.

 

Overall, I found this coursework to be quite a large insight into researching the history and development of the animation industry and animation style of a certain region and allowed me to take a closer look at how animation styles can develop and grow in different regions depending on the societies they are created for and the messages that said animations are trying to communicate to their audiences depending on the current conditions of the said societies at the time of said animations development.

It also allowed me to work with more students who I had never worked with before and also somewhat prepared me for the types of sudden group-ups for projects that are sure to happen while out working in the animation industry. It allowed me to get better with communicating problems and ideas with other team members and working with them to create a piece that the entire group can be proud of. As a whole Im satisfied with the work my team and myself were able to produce and present and that we made an effective poster to present our findings and research of the history and progression of stop motion animation in Britain.

 

 

 

    

This post will act as an evaluation Following my group presentation regarding the analysis of the short animated film “Scaredy Cat” by Zombie Studio and Temptation productions.

 

For the presentation, I decided to focus on the sound design of the film as that is the main aspect I noticed in the film and how it accompanies the narrative perfectly. On top of this, I believe that sound design is just as, if not more important than visuals when it comes to horror films. My reasoning for this is that, although sight is one of our key senses, I believe that hearing is a form of peripheral vision that is often overlooked. Because it cannot only sense what is remotely visible but also what is invisible. This tendency draws back to our primal instincts and even to this day, certain frequencies can stimulate our fight or flight response as a way of protecting ourselves from threats without having to necessarily see the opposing threat, we have often used our hearing to anticipate what may be in the areas we can’t see and whether there is a threat or not present. Because of this, I believe that sound design plays a massive part in creating atmosphere, especially in Horror more so as it can allow us to potentially foresight any threats as well as put us in a state of shock or stimulate our fight or flight response.

 

This film was immensely successful at using its sound design in both its use of Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sound within the film. when it comes to the use of Diegetic sound the entire film is full of sounds that are typical staples with horror cinema. You have the likes of: Thunder, Rainfall, White Noises etc.

 

But it’s how the film uses all these sound simultaneously which makes the Diegetic sound design so effective. throughout the entire film, each of these sounds begin to pile up with the progression of the narrative. For example, the film starts with the only noticeable sound being the rainfall outside. But as the film’s narrative progresses, more sound is added, adding more information for the viewers to process, which may cause the viewers more stress trying to process everything that is occurring, causing more fear and discomfort in the process without the initial realization from the viewers.

 

The use of Diegetic sound design works hand-in-hand with the use of non-Diegetic sound design and this is especially the case with horror films. In this film, two major sound design techniques have been used to increase the emotive power of the film and induce feelings of anxiety and dread within the viewers and stimulate their fight or flight response.

 

The first noticeable technique used in this film is a sound design technique referred to as “the Drone of Dread” which was first made a staple of horror cinema in Rouben Mamoulian’s 1931 horror film “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” published by Paramount pictures. This technique refers to an unidentifiable constant frequency that grows in intensity progressively with the narrative and culminates with an outcome in the narrative. The frequency itself is usually unpleasant and creates a sense of anxiety and dread that constantly builds up as the narrative proceeds.

 

This ties in perfectly to the next technique used that is usually present at the end of the drone of dread. This method is referred to as a “Musical Stinger”, a technique famously used in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 Horror movie “Psycho” published by paramount pictures. This technique refers to using a sudden short and high note suddenly to cause a sudden jolt of adrenaline and shock following a build-up to an outcome. This is where the drone of dread would build up to an outcome and the outcome would be suddenly revealed with a musical stinger for a massive emotional impact with the scene.

 

Both techniques work extremely well together within this film and one aspect I noticed during the analysis is the fact that it is also used to separate the film into its three respective acts. Each of the acts start with the drone of dread which will cause the viewer’s anxiety to continuously increase and their sense of dread to intensify before being suddenly greeted with a musical stinger which then gives the viewers a sudden bout of shock. It is then that each act reveals that the build-up was leading to a false climax that wasn’t a threat like it had been interpreted and thus was completely irrational, excluding the third act of course.

 

Only then, the cycle repeats with the same outcome twice before revealing the true climax following the end of act tree.  It’s this use of sound design techniques simultaneously to misdirect the viewers’ attention and lead them to a false climax while building on their anxiety before revealing the true climax, that delivers a much more emotional impact through the sound design being used to enhance the narrative.

 

Overall, I found this analysis to be quite interesting and has helped me be more analytical when watching films and media and has taught me, what I should look out for while analyzing films, for the purposes of gathering skills in developing animated films of my own and how multiple aspects that may seem subtle, play a massive part in telling an interesting and compelling story.

 

This coursework has also allowed me to investigate the use of sound design and how it is extremely important to enhancing a story and immersing the viewers within the narrative, as well as look more in-depth into some major sound design techniques used and how they functioned in the narrative and why they worked to enhance the experience of the viewer. If I were to do anything differently, I would have tried to find more examples of other media that use the methodology which is applied in this film and compare their similarities, while also pointing out their differences and how they use these techniques to achieve the same impact.