Reflection
Group: 9
Film: “sticking seafarer”
Reflection:
I was nervous to begin the analysis, as it seemed like just a lighthearted comedy. To start, I looked at videos on film analysis, taking notes and looking back at them throughout my research. Overall, I found my experience working in a group mixed. I found a lot of feedback helpful, but our group’s time management wasn’t great, which made some work feel rushed and a bit stressful. I wish I had more time to get a deeper analysis and explore the significance of the film. I believe the crab acted as a symbol in the film, likely one representing discomfort / a difficult situation, showing that avoiding said situations only applifies the discomfort you’re in and worsens everything. The message is being content rather than complaining about every discomfort. Unfortunately, I didn’t get enough time to explore this idea fully. However, I am still happy that I was able to explore the connection between the film and kids.
The work:
I took a notebook and went through the film multiple times, taking notes on each individual scene and the techniques I recognised from the lectures and videos I watched. To further develop and support the analysis I made, I consulted published books. These notes were later used as the basis for the shared analysis document for our group, and I think it was one of the biggest aids in making progress. I also noted some random techniques and tips I found in some videos; the videos overall helped me structure my analysis.
At this stage, I was able to recognise some common techniques used; these include close-ups, camera movement (tracking shots and pans specifically), and shallow depth of field. I also took note of the usage of colour, sound, and composition; however, I very quickly realized I enjoyed cinematography over those and so agreed with my team that I would take the slides on cinematography.
Breakdown & Context:
I found Ross’ portfolio and a short history about his time in the industry and college, including the time when he made this film. Here I found my other topic I would speak about: the background and context. Surprisingly, I enjoyed learning about the creator and how that had an effect, big or small, intentional or not, on the animation. I also made the shared document at this point and gave everyone a colour to keep the work done organised, I went over my notes again and added timestamps to help my group keep track of everything and to also help them add to it.
Research:
The best advice I found was “asking why.” By assuming every technique used and decision in the process was deliberate and with reason, I pushed myself to find said reasons and connect the techniques to the effect they have and reasons from the context I found. For example, I found out about techniques that create a subjective perspective; close-ups and tracking shots tend to have that effect. By using these techniques, Ross was able to make the protagonist more sympathetic to a young audience, making the whole animation more enjoyable and immersive.
To summarize my findings from my reading and research, I learned a lot about the history of animation and Charlie Chaplin’s influence on it as a whole, which influenced how film techniques developed and were used. This animation is rich in film techniques and can be dissected to show the influence of silent film, including the non-diegetic sounds, emphasis on character expressions and exaggerated movements, and a focus on physical comedy.
Additionally, the shot breakdowns I found helped me visualize and understand each individual choice made in every process in the animation pipeline.
Analysis:
After completing my research, I realized I found cinematography most interesting, specifically the usage of tracking shots, pans, etc., and the background of the creator and how that had an effect on the decisions made in this film.
Although not confirmed in the video description, from my research and the style of the film, I believe this film was made to appeal to kids. It achieves this by:
- Camera movement: even in the ‘slow’ scenes, the camera is still quite lively.
- Sound: the use of non-digetic sound to make the scenes more fun and mystical.
- Camera angles: a combination of low and high angles—are used to emphasize the small size of the barnacle, which I believe is a way to connect with young kids who would find this more relatable than adults.
- Wide shots followed by close-ups: the contrast created by these shots effectively conveyed the size of the barnacle and its environment.
I believe an underutilized shot was extreme close-ups. Extreme wide shots were often used and were very effective in displaying the environment and the distressing situation. Curiously, extreme close-ups weren’t often used. I believe their use could’ve pushed the audience’s connection with the protagonist further and emphasized the humor from the chaotic situation, similar to Chuck Jones, as seen in the animation ‘Feed the Kitty’
Furthermore, another animation by Jones, ‘Notes to You’ (1941), follows a similar premise to Sticking Seafarer and has a very similar ending. I think Notes to You’s ending was more effective as the cats take up more space in the composition and the shot doesn’t use shallow depth of field. By using shallow depth of field in this shot, I feel it limits the impact the multitude of crabs creates and overall dulls the humor in it.
Final analysis:
I condensed down all my research into two pages of writing to present in class. I had to cut it down a little to make it fit within the time limit. To choose what was added to the presentation, I looked for the most effective techniques used; in my opinion, these were primarily tracking shots, which is why my cinematography slides focused on that technique most.
Conclusion:
I learned a lot about finding credible resources and film techniques. I’m disappointed I didn’t get to explore the meaning and techniques in this film more, as the more I researched and analyzed, the more I realized there was to it. I learned that and each shot has an impact on the viewers and how they experience the film. My favorite effect I found from my research was the distinction between subjective and objective perspectives and how cinematography is utilized to achieve the desired perspective. Overall I found film analysis difficult but fulfulling and learning about the history of animation was very interesting.
Resources:
Videos:
(www.youtube.com. (n.d.). How To Analyze Movies – Film Studies 101. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/ahHIifcFyqk?si=T64Fj1OcQ5ce51UZ [Accessed 16 Feb. 2024].)
(www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Film Techniques and Examples. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/ATDnFr25JG8?si=0i8eV96brBG4wcbi [Accessed 26 Feb. 2024].)
(www.youtube.com. (n.d.). How to read cinematography | Shot analysis explained. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/dhWIDCnktwc?si=k8Kq1cqm-b6-6unC [Accessed 3 Mar. 2024].)
(www.youtube.com. (n.d.). How to analyse a film: the complete beginners guide. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/Hrp2azKjGUI?si=fSLcaUcwu_y8plJw [Accessed 3 Mar. 2024].)
(www.youtube.com. (n.d.). What makes a hero? – Matthew Winkler. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/Hhk4N9A0oCA?si=mIFetMXJiuKyKSUG [Accessed 11 Feb. 2024].)
Notes to you: www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Notes to You (1941). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp0vDWwAFSw [Accessed 9 Mar. 2024].
Feed the kitty: www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Feed the Kitty (Chuck Jones, 1952). [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/X0zTpPqaNeg?si=qOG5rfHP1ezxgPvu [Accessed 9 Mar. 2024].
Books:
(Furniss, M. (2017). Animation : a global history. London: Thames & Hudson.)
(Brown, B. (2016). Cinematography : theory and practice : imagemaking for cinematographers and directors. New York: Routledge.)
(Bordwell, D., Thompson, K. and Smith, J.C. (2019). Film Art: an introduction. 12th ed. New York, Ny: Mcgraw-Hill Education.)
Additional:
Jeremy Ross resume/portfolio: https://jeremyross.artstation.com/resume