Features of Animation (Introduction to Animation) Animation is a dynamic visual art. It encompasses the creation of modeling, sound, photography and computer graphics technology, and integrates the art of audiovisual language. Due to the particularity of the creation method, it determines its artistic characteristics that are completely different from other forms of artistic creation: (ii. (iii. Humor; IV. Minimalism and exaggeration.
One. Comprehensive
Animation is a comprehensive discipline that combines literature, science, technology and art.
Its birth, development and innovation not only involves literary, dramatic, painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance and other artistic elements, but also involves photography, computer graphics technology and other scientific and technological means. It has the connotation of literature, the narrative of drama, the image of plastic arts, the language structure of film, the soul of music... It is precisely the maximum concentration of the characteristics of these different artistic disciplines and the establishment of modern science and technology that constitute the special comprehensive art of animation.
According to the course of studying "Audiovisual Language", we know that in the process of animation creation and production, it is a process of comprehensive cooperation of various arts and sciences. For example, the design of the characters in the picture is the product of plastic arts, the background space is the imitation of the building, the action scheduling of the characters is the extension of the drama, and the application of the image language of scenery, angle and movement is the result of photographic technology, and at the same time, these experiences are from the art of film. Sound intervenes in creation, a combination of nature and science. In the post-editing, the composite creation of the audiovisual language can better reflect the synthesis. The editing of the narrative plot of the image (picture), the synthesis of images and sounds, including the introduction of language, sound, and music.
In short, with the development of science and technology, the exploratory progress of animation creation, its expression methods and art forms will also tend to be more comprehensive and diversified expansion.
Two. Hypothetical
Animations are hypothetical. It is more hypothetical than the reproducibility of film and television shooting reality, and everything presented in the work is a completely hypothetical design. Hypothetical plot, hypothetical characters, hypothetical space-time, hypothetical sound and hypothetical camera movement, etc.
1 Hypothetical plot
Since the animation is performed, it must be hypothetical.
No matter in the choice of subject matter, we have a high degree of hypothetical performance. According to our experience in watching movies, the choice of animation themes is more often established between myths, fairy tales or legends, with a fantasy color function, it is more illusory than the simulation of documentary films. Everything in the plot is hypothetical, whether it is time, place, characters and events. For example, Oshii's "Ghost in the Shell" is in the future 2029, and the location of Wan Laiming's "Big Trouble Heavenly Palace" is Hanago Mountain and Tiangong, John . Rest's Toy Story characters are Toy Woody and Buzz Lightyear, and Andrew Stanton's Finding Nemo is about Marin, the father of a small sea fish, in search of his son Nemo in the Australian ocean.
2 Assumed roles
In animation creation, animated characters have never existed in people's lives, they are only the creation of animators. No matter in what genre or means of expression, the paper single-line flat animation (two-dimensional animation), three-dimensional material animation, or computer graphics technology three-dimensional animation, etc., it is presumptive.
For example, the totoro shape design in the paper animation "Totoro" is derived from the original shape of the cat, while the natural proportions of the cat are exaggerated, and the anthropomorphic totoro is a standing walk. In fact, anthropomorphic hypothetical design is also a feature of animation. In "Super Invincible Dog" and "Chicken Run", we also see this experience, the puppy Gromit and the chicken Ginger Jie are hypothetical and anthropomorphic, they have the same intelligence and bravery as humans, which is the classic character of stereoscopic animation. The shark In the three-dimensional animation of Shark Gangster, The Shark Will Appear Much Shy, but Its Expression Is Equally Hypothetically Anthropomorphic.
The hypothetical design of animated characters, in addition to animals, actually establishes hypothetical characters in plant, non-biological, and abstract objects. For example, seaweed can dance, trees can talk, tears flow from water glasses, and the abstract wild boar in Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke".
3 Assumed space-time
The creative consciousness of animation time and space comes from the experience of documentary films, which is characterized by assumption and condensation. When studying the editing course, we know that the time and space in the film cannot copy the time and space of the logic of life unchanged, and the space-time relationship of the film is often the compression of the real time and space, and the hypothetical space-time mission is completed with the help of the editing of the third creation.
Let's read "space-time" separately: it is a matter of time and space.
Let's start with the hypothetical nature of time. In Japan's science fiction animation works, the highly hypothetical nature of time consciousness is the most prominent, whether it is the early hero "Astro Boy", or the interstellar adventure "Space Battleship Yamato", or the New Wave "Ghost in the Shell", "Aoyuki NO 6", etc., the time of these works is futuristic. We can also be specific to the logical consciousness of time between scenes, there is a change of scene, there is a cut of editing, and the progress of time must be jumping. For example, in "Crazy Dating Mirador", Suya takes her dog Bruno across the ocean to the beautiful to find her grandson, which is typical of the compression of assumptions.
The presumptive nature of space continues to cite science fiction animation works as examples. The creation of "Astro Boy" is a work in the 60s of the last century, and the birth of the protagonist Astro Boy is in 2003 in the 21st century, so the space of the story must be in the future.
The space space of "Space Battleship Yamato" is the earth of 2199, and the space of the planet Iskandar is born in the film, which is undoubtedly hypothetical. The hypothetical nature of space is consistent with the consciousness of time between scenes and has a jumping nature. The previous scene is on Earth, the next scene can be a planet.
The hypothetical nature of space-time is ever-changing and omnipotent.
4 Assume the sound
The source of the sound in the cartoon is the voice of a natural person outside the picture, and this alone proves the hypothetical nature of the animated sound. Between the particularity and virtuality of animation, the animation sound is slightly unrealistic and exaggerated. The most special in Disney's works, whether it is the voice of the classic Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, or the sound design of Timon and Peng Peng in "The Lion King" in the 90s, the assuming performance is very strong. In addition, the mode of song and dance drama involves animation creation, and in the music application of silent sources, music directly replaces the monologue of the character. In "The Pony King", The music of Split during his journey to be captured again and sent to build a railway expresses Split's mood at this time, which is a very subjective metaphor.
5 Assumed camera
We know that in the design consciousness of the creative picture, the photographic consciousness of the scene, angle, movement and other photographic consciousness established is virtual, and the camera only exists in our hearts.
And is such a hypothetical camera necessary? The answer is decisive and necessary. The birth of the animation film or the introduction of the narrative performance of the plot of the documentary film, since to tell the story, it must also be a subjective creative consciousness, then the elements involved in the scene, angle and movement will inevitably affect the texture of the story. The fluidity and subjectivization of the storytelling process is not without the meaning of the hypothetical camera.
We can imagine, if there is no hypothetical camera, where does the sense of scene, angle and movement come from? Then, the consequences of the image are also unimaginable, and it will be a dull and silent work. For example, in "The Pony King" and "The Prince of Egypt", but without the movement shots, can the rhythm of the film still be established?
Even if it is a hypothetical camera, it must be present in the mind of the creator.
Three. Humor
In the regular viewing experience, cartoons are thrilling to enjoy. The enjoyment of pleasure also comes from its humor. There have been some people who understand animation and can be condensed into a few words: funny, funny, lighthearted, or meaningful. Is that all there is to it? In fact, there are many answers, which can be adult appreciation, can be a serious attitude to dissect social phenomena, and so on.
Yes, more often, it gives us the enjoyment of humor, with the characteristics of humor.
The psychological mechanism produced by humor is the moderation of emotional consumption, and the joy of humor comes from the failure of emotional expectations. As a spectator, there will be changes in private emotions as the plot and the fate of the characters change, and Freud said in the Collected Works of Freud that the listener knows that someone is in a position that guides his expectations, both leading him to the expectation that someone will have some signs of affection, such as that someone will be angry, will complain, will complain, will be frightened or frightened, or even belong to despair; the listener is ready to follow someone's guidance and evoke the same emotional impulses in himself. However, this feeling is disappointed, and the person is indifferent, just a joke, and this emotional consumption that is tempered in the audience becomes the joy of humor.
That's where humor comes from, and that's what you do in the animation routine. Design baggage in front of the plot, and guide the tension maintained between the audience's expectations, speculations and expectations in the progress of the plot, thus constantly making people laugh.
In fact, humor was shown in "The Humorous Gesture of a Funny Face" at the beginning of the birth of animation, and humor was inextricably linked to animation in the early stages. But humor can be a winner in animation creation, starting with Disney people. The most typical are early TV series such as Tom and Jerry, Mickey, etc. that find their roots in humor.
Four. Minimalism and exaggeration
Symbolic minimalism and characteristic exaggeration are two inseparable features of animation art. Their common purpose is to express the characteristics of things.
Minimalism is the selection of screening and generalization when creating a picture or specific character to omit unnecessary details and highlight the main features. Exaggeration is the highlighting and amplification of the details of the depicted object. In our study, we mainly grasp its purpose. However, the specific performance can be divided into two aspects: Minimalism and exaggeration of shapes and movements; ii. The minimalism and exaggeration of the plot.
One. Minimalism and exaggeration of styling and movements
I like to understand minimalism and exaggeration in this way, and the consequences of them are clear at a glance. Professor Peng Jixiang (Peking University) said in "Film and Television Aesthetics": Visual perception must grasp the overall structural pattern of the object through two organizational methods such as "simplification" and "tension". The shape and action of animation art are minimalist and exaggerated, on the one hand, depending on the characteristics of production factors, on the other hand, the ultimate humor they create is humor, but in the communication and interaction between animation and the audience, humor will surely bring happy needs and expectations to the audience.
Animation is created with a special nature, its high degree of minimalism and exaggeration is easier to achieve and more convenient than any kind of audiovisual art. Such as in Fujiko. F. Fujio's "Robot Cat" ("Doraemon"), Nobita and robot cat's eyes, nose features are extremely simplified and exaggerated, and the shape of the body is also de-traditional, including the treatment of clothing patterns is only a simple summary of a few lines. In the design scheduling of the action, Jane's small middle drawing makes the character movement more minimalist and exaggerated. In "Cherry Pills" by Yukino Shibayama and Yumiko Suda, the style and movement also reflect this style.
Minimalism and exaggeration know no borders in animation, and we can find the answer in works such as Tom and Jerry, Mickey, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on the West Coast. The queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is very exaggerated, with oversized eyes, a long nose, and only one lower front tooth remaining. In Chinese animation, in our nationalist creative exploration, in director Te Wei's "Proud General", the symbols of the characters' identities, personalities, etc. are minimalist in their faces, and in the scheduling of the action, the pace, and the design of etiquette are all Chinese opera introductions, which are very perfect and unique. Such an amplification of regional characteristics is worth learning.
Two. The minimalism and exaggeration of the plot
The essence of audiovisual art is generalization, compactness and condensation, and the animation is more minimalist and exaggerated.
The minimalism and exaggeration of the plot are set according to the theme. The theme of animation is often derived from myths, fairy tales, folk tales, fables or science fiction stories, etc., and such themes are exaggerated in themselves, and the progress of the story must be a minimalist feature.
Between the condensation of time consciousness, the minimalism and exaggeration of the plot are inevitable.
An overview of the plot creation of animation, Encyclopedia of China. Film Scrolls is still brilliantly written, but it cannot be fully agreed: "It can create a more concise film language, which requires as much as possible to abandon all superfluous processes and exert their own expressiveness." It requires clear, specific actions to illustrate the plot, and it is not appropriate to use a lot of dialogue (or narration) to explain the story, so some short films do not use dialogue, only emphasize the artistic power of visual images. For "it is not appropriate to use a lot of dialogue", Japanese animation has such characteristics at some time ____
