Animation Discourse – Article Presentation/research

 

Chosen Article: Vanishing Point: Spatial Composition and the Virtual Camera

 

Choosing the Article: I suggested choosing something that was relevant to our course, specifically our ‘creative industries’ module, as our classmates  likely be more interested if they found the content relevant to their work. To reinforce this, I also suggested using our own uni works as examples, as that would be a unique element that would make it interesting and relatable.

 

 

 

We intended to split the article’s sections between everyone so we’d have a compilation of notes. I took 2 sections, introduction and the mediated and unmediated camera, as there were 6 sections; I created in-depth notes for 3 sections and made a short summary for myself for the remaining one (Athens did the notes on the other 2) as the note-taking was incredibly time-consuming.

 

 

 

 

Analysis and notes:

 

 

 

Additional research

 

To gauge if the article we chose was reliable, I looked into other articles.

 

Virtual 3D Camera Composition from Frame Constraints.

The article’s stated:

• the virtual camera still has the same limitations as the physical camera
• every shot has a ‘message.’
• Other constraints of the virtual camera, such as constraints of software or constraints set by storyboard artists and models.

 

It felt as though Jones was underestimating the necessity of the established visual language. Jones’ also never took into account the rest of the animation pipeline. Despite the strong arguments and extensive research of this article, it was published almost a decade ago and given how much technology has progressed using this article as sole proof of the virtual cameras limitations would be bias and likely completely inaccurate.

 

 

Three Varieties of Realism in Computer Graphics:

• Overall  quite unhelpful as it covered virtual scenes not the virtual camera
• the content of the virtual scene limits the camera- While not the same as the limitations of the virtual camera, one cannot exist without the other, and so I do believe this is still relevant to some extent
• outdated

 

Directing for Cinematic Virtual Reality: how the traditional film director’s craft applies to immersive environments and notions of presence:

 

• mentioned exactly what Jones stated in his article but with virtual reality
• users will gravitate towards a medium that allows them to choose their own view and perspective

 

My Slides:

 

I found a presentation template so the visuals of the presentation were all uniform. I then made guides and outlines based on my notes and research on the module handbook and presentation the lecturer gave us in class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I originally was only meant to do the conclusion slide; however, as someone did not show up, I also covered the reflection slides, using my own notes, research, and script. I made the template for these slides, and on the day of the presentation, I edited it to ensure it covered all points.

 

 

Having read the entire article in-depth and doing additional research I felt confident about doing these slides. In the presentation I outlined Jones’s point, why I disagreed with it, and what I believed was more accurate.

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection

 

Although the article used very complicated language, some of which was so overly specific to this article that I couldn’t find definitions online, I found it very interesting once I understood the core concepts. We had some issues with time management and two members did no work. However, Tegan and Athens did a great job on their slides, we managed to deliver a coherent and informative presentation. I made a guide, outline to the article/marking rubric and template for the presentation which I think was essential to our success as it kept everyone focused on specific points and made sure everything said fed into other parts of the presentation.

 

The point I found most interesting about this article was its description of cinematography as a language and the camera acting almost as an interpreter between director/animator and audience. The visual language has been built throughout the years of cinema using a physical camera, which now still affects modern filmmakers, and the virtual camera as features of the physical camera caused by its physical limitations and mechanics has become a staple in the visual language and is remade and applied to the virtual camera, which is free of those physical constraints.

 

I think the research and article I did will be really helpful to me in my animations not just as it has broadened my knowledge on the history of animation/film but because it changed my perspective on what the camera is for. I admittedly had a very ignorant opinion that the camera was purely an apparatus designed to capture an image and scene, so I never respected it much; however, the author completely changed my mind on this as I realised the camera is the way we communicate with the audience, and by not using the camera as an element, I was completely degrading my own work and making it harder to understand.

 

I mostly agree with Jones. The camera isn’t an apparatus however I don’t believe the virtual camera actually is infinitely flexible. The article established there’s a preexisting cinematic language that the camera uses to communicate the narrative with its audience, in my opinion we need to accept the camera not as a tool like history defines or even an element as this article does but rather as a combination of the two, there are certain cinematic rules that the camera demands as breaking these would mean speaking to your audience in a visual language they don’t speak. Meaning the ‘infinite flexibility’ is merely an illusion, as there are still rules we must follow to be able to communicate with our audience. However, I agree that the virtual camera is incredibly flexible, and if these rules are broken with intention, that itself can be a form of communication, like silence in a movie. When the camera stops speaking the viewer’s language, it opens a scene to greater interpretation and new depth, but that can only be achieved by respecting the established visual language.