[Animation Practice] 23/10/12 - Animation or Film

Today we watched a few more shorts, though due to technical difficulties we could only watch a few due to the internet not loading the videos. We mainly talked about whether an animation should be animated or be filmed. We watched the following animated shorts; Alma and Ark.

Alma is an animated short about a little girl who finds a doll shop, enters and then herself gets turned into a doll, below is the animation:

After watching we talked about why the director chose to do the film as an animation instead of a fully recorded film. We also talked about how animators strive to make an animation seem as real as possible and if this statement is true. By which I mean, do you think animators want to have their animations seem realistic as possible, or do you think animators are fine with having it unrealistic and cartoony. We talk about one aspect in this animation that makes the character seem real and alive, which is the eyes. This is a key thing in the animation and shows you what is alive and what isn't, as shown when the main character is transformed into a doll.

The second animation we watched was the animated short Ark, an animation about a man who appears to be on a boat about to commit suicide, when after everything we find out he is actually in a hospital and its just his imagination. Below is the animation:

The animation is really well animation, however still raises the question of whether it should have been animated or filmed, one answer to why it may have been animated is to soften the blow of the animation. By which I mean the ending, you realize the hardship of the animation about a elderly man with cancer imagining himself killing himself. The animation makes this not make you feel as emotional as you would if it was filmed.

Next week we'll be watching a few more shorts, and talking about them.