MA 3D Computer Animation
Category: Design for animation narrative structure and film language
Notes of film language and history of film animation and animation
Thanks to the development of motion capture technology and cheap and fast UE4 rendering technology, 3D animation can be broadcast quickly and cheaply at the rate of one episode per week. In China, more and more online novels are sold by IP and adapted into 3D online animation. Different from traditional 3D animated films, most of the time they do not have a lot of technical content, as long as the modeling is good, the special effects are not bad, the fighting is intense, and the plot of the characters is not changed, they can be easily accepted by the audience. Of course, the novels chosen for adaptation are very well written or popular, so there will be a lot of popularity and traffic even before the animation adaptation begins. This is great for anyone who wants to invest in 3D animation and make a quick buck these days, just buy a popular fiction IP, and the production side only needs to be able to modify the motion capture and render using UE4. At present, many books and papers on animation are constantly studying how to make a film or 3D animation better, but there are few articles on 3D animation, which is very simple but can make money quickly. Nowadays, many such animations have been broadcast in China and have achieved high profits. Therefore, in this article, I will use the most successful network animation “Douluo Continent” as an example to discuss my views.
Adapted from the original fantasy novel of the same name by Chinese writer Tang Jia SAN Shao, the online animated series is co-produced by Penguin Pictures and Xuanji Technology. From January 20, 2018, every Saturday at 10:00, Tencent Video exclusive legal update. Won the honor of National Cartoon of the Year in 2018 Tencent Video Star Festival. In September 2020, “Douluo Continent” was selected as “IP Influence List of Chinese Online Literature” in “2019 Chinese Online Literature Ranking List”. According to data released by the 2020 China Internet Audio-visual Development Research Report, the cartoon douluo Mainland was streamed 149 million times per episode on average and 12.5 billion times in total, making it the first Domestic animation to reach 10 billion views. (CCTV.com, 2020) Douluo Continent is a time-travel fantasy novel created by Tang Jia SAN Shao. It was first published on Qidian Chinese Website from December 14, 2008 to December 13, 2009, and first published in May 2009. “Douro mainland” tells the story of how through to douro mainland Tang Three step by step to practice the soul, by people practice for god, and finally eliminated the evil forces on the douro mainland, avenged the killing of his mother, become the story of the strongest douro mainland. The development of Online literature in China has gone through a process of about 20 years. In the first four or five years, the development of online literature was very slow, and began to develop rapidly in about 2005. At present, Chinese online literature is one of the four cultural phenomena in the world, along with Hollywood, Japanese animation and Korean TV dramas. Online literature in China has 6.8 million online writers and 350 million online readers. (Zhang Wei, 2018)
The network animation Douluo Continent does not have a lot of changes in the plot. Douluo mainland novel is a typical cool prose, xiaobai prose. Shuang Wen is a relatively common type of web novels on various major novel websites. The characteristics of Shuang Wen are that the protagonist progresses smoothly from the beginning of the novel to the end of the story. Xiao Bai wen refers to the simple plot, the lack of the basic structure of the novel, and the repeated filling of meaningless words, making the content of the novel bloated. The plot is extremely routine, lack of thought, the content is plain, common in network novels. This does not mean that a novel is well written, on the contrary, it is often derogatory. But there is no denying, and it is very frustrating, that most people enjoy reading this kind of little white text. According to a survey of 2,030 people conducted by the Social Research Center of China Youth Daily, 67.6 percent of them preferred “easy and convenient reading”, 62.1 percent said “fresh language with a strong sense of The Times”, 60.3 percent said “creative freedom and variety of content”, and 54.6 percent said “grassroots and individual”. 33.6 percent said they can interact with authors and readers. (Hu Ming and Wang Congcong, 2010) The repeated cycle of “trough, climax and trough” makes Xiao Bai Wen the most suitable novel for the Internet to follow. For the reader, follow up… No need to take into account the complex and profound overall meaning, just a daily cool, can meet their busy life in the cultural entertainment needs. And the “practice” and “upgrade” presented by gamification also accords with the basic psychology of contemporary society. (Wang Kaiwen, 2019) Many people watch novels or animations not to appreciate a very good work, but to rest and relax after busy work. Therefore, they do not want to watch some very serious works, and their personality tends to conform to their own preferences, which can make them feel happy. This is also what douro mainland 3D animation does, with beautiful scenes and characters, gorgeous special effects, intense fighting, and mindless plot. Using dynamic complement technology and UE4 rendering, at a low cost to quickly broadcast the weekly episode speed, the story and the original almost no modification. But it is this 3D online animation that has become the first Domestic animation to break ten billion yuan in broadcast volume.
The fact that audiences prefer generic, unthoughtful, shallow content is bad news for those who want to create good, more artistic work. But it’s good news for newcomers or those who want to try out 3D first. You don’t need a lot of technology or a lot of investment, just buy the right IP, you can easily make money and experience.
Douluo mainland [network animation]. 2018. Le-ping shen (director), Tang Hongyu (executive director). China: penguin, film and television and the mystery of science and technology Available from: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/m441e3rjq9kwpsc.html
Zhang Wei, 2009. Douro continent. Available from: https://book.qidian.com/info/1115277/
Peking University Network Articles Research Group, 2021. Research Report on Readers’ Preference of Tomato Novel free model (2021) (I) [Online]
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/wkBpXxFCalYToHM0bqLzUw [access] on January 2, 2022
Peking University Network Articles Research Group, 2021. Tomatoes novel free model reader preferences survey report (2021) (on) [online] [access on January 2, 2022] https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/t3nlLfLbsc1b572cm7ipTg
Hannes, R. (2018) Animation: From Concept to Production. CRC Press. USA
Hu Ming and Wang Congcong. , 2010. Small white-collar workers popular after work “chasing” novels. [online]
http://zqb.cyol.com/content/2010-06/22/content_3287901.htm [on December 17, 2021, visit]
Wang Kaiwen, 2019. Fight through the sky silkworm potatoes. Shao Yanjun, Xue Jing, EDS. In: Collection of 20 years of Chinese Online literature. China: Lijiang Press. pp. 222-237
Sito, T. (2013) Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation. MIT Press.
CCTV network, 2020. “2020 China Network Audio-visual Development Research Report” was released, the user scale exceeded 900 million, short video to promote the market reform. [online] [https://news.cctv.com/2020/10/13/ARTIip4JhuTW6qREtOt5SV2t201013.shtml] on December 17, 2021, visit
Zhang Wei, 2018, the article writers do positive energy, make IP industry who has the world influence [online] [] on November 25, 2021, visit http://www.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0321/c32306-29880699.html
There are many online novels in China that have high IP value. After selling their copyrights, they have been adapted into animated TV series, comic videos, etc. Some of them are well adapted, and some are not well adapted. I would like to conduct research in this area. Of course, the novel chosen as an adaptation is very good or very popular. And because of space issues, I do not intend to discuss failures caused by reasons such as poor acting skills of the actors and no logic in the plot change.
I listed a draft, listing the good works that have changed and the bad works that have been changed, and clearly stated why they are good and why they are not good. According to my investigation, I found that the biggest problem lies in the narrative structure.
The first is the poorly adapted works. Because online novels count money by word count, many authors like to write the novel very long, and like to add some dialogues and characters to extend the word count of the chapter. Especially masculine novels, with more than a million words at every turn. After the video is made, it will appear that nearly half of the content in an episode is a meaningless dialogue between the two characters, but between their dialogues will vaguely reflect the clues of the next plot. , So I can’t jump over to watch it, and there are still videos of the whole season until the protagonist hasn’t come out of Novice Village. And sometimes there are even cases where the protagonist does not appear in many consecutive episodes. These problems are all because of the narrative structure. There is also the fact that the plot itself is very complicated, but the adaptor does not have the ability to control the complex plot, or the key parts of the plot are deleted, so the plot is changed so that the audience cannot understand it. Of course, I ruled out the following reasons: because the heroine actor wants to appear quickly, the special effects are poor, the law does not conform to the laws and regulations, and the plot is completely different from the original.
The well-adapted works are not changed much on the basis of the original novel, especially some of the very exciting and important plots that have not been changed. In fact, for the audience, many times the requirements are not so high. As long as the special effects are good-looking, the modeling scenes are beautiful, the fighting is cool, and the plot is not too insulting to people’s IQ, the audience will easily accept it. I have singled out two examples here, the web animation “Douluo Continent” and “Sorrow in the Fire”. And both of these are 3D animations that match my major.
“Douluo Continent” is a typical Xiaobai essay, and the plot is very long. According to the data released by the “2020 China Internet Audiovisual Development Research Report”, the animation “Douro Land” has an average playback volume of 149 million per episode, and the album has a total playback volume of 12.5 billion, making it the first domestically produced animation with a playback volume of over 10 billion. It is currently the most profitable 3D animation in China. He has hardly any changes in the plot, and even the characters’ movements and expressions are somewhat rigid. It’s just that the special effects are beautiful, the modeling scene is beautiful, and the fighting is cool, which attracts most people to watch. Because of the development of motion capture technology and cheap and fast UE4 rendering technology nowadays, 3D animations can be broadcast quickly and at a low cost at the speed of one episode per week. So even if the original novel is very long, there are already hundreds of animation episodes, and the distribution is not that difficult for the audience to accept.
“Sorrow in the Fire” is a very complicated plot, with each link giving the audience a strong sense of suspense and surprise. Whether it is writing or adaptation, the requirements are very high. The editing technique used extensively in this animation is parallel editing, that is, the cross-editing of two or multiple events. Thereby causing synchronization on the timeline, or strengthening the potential connection between one’s own events. In addition, this animation brings the audience into the perspective of the protagonist Xuan Ji. Because Xuan Ji’s descriptions are quite detailed, both externally and psychologically. And many of Xuanji’s psychological descriptions often elicit and summarize the questions he and the audience have about the unknown world. Even if the audience does not understand it, Xuan Ji will summarize the plot for the audience.
After comprehensive consideration, I plan to use “Burning Fire to Sorrow” as the main cause of my article to study the narrative structure. Because the success of “Douluo Dalu” has nothing to do with the course I studied, but because the success of this animation is very interesting, I wrote another blog to study this phenomenon.
Here are my examples of good and bad adaptations, and why they changed for good and bad.
Sorrow in the Fire
Chekhov’s gun The foreshadowings made in the front will be useful in the back.
Alfred Hitchcock
Let’s suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, “Boom!” There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o’clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: “You shouldn’t be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!”
In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the second we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed. Except when the surprise is a twist, that is, when the unexpected ending is, in itself, the highlight of the story.”
Winter Begonia—— television series
http://www.iqiyi.com/lib/m_220178214.html
The director was very good and changed the script by calling the original author in the past. The costumes and make-up props were very good when filming, because it involved Peking Opera, professional guidance was also invited. The actors also took serious shots.
Douluo Continent——3D Animation
https://v.qq.com/x/cover/m441e3rjq9kwpsc.html
There is almost no change to the plot, and one episode a week is broadcasted at a very fast speed. The main special effects are good-looking, and there is no big logic error in the plot.
Ever Night——television series
https://v.qq.com/x/cover/rpup19lfbuf2skc.html
This drama is well filmed and conforms to the original text. And the adaptation is also very good. First of all, there is a very complicated relationship between characters in the original work, which needs to be clarified. There are also some supporting role gags. In the article, these mainly account for the number of characters, because Chinese web texts are charged by characters, but in the process of interrogating and mixing, they will reveal some necessary information. This must be controlled when making a TV series. time. And this article is very long, so it is very likely that the protagonist will not have much time to play after an episode.
The Longest Day in Chang’an——television series
This compact story must happen within one day and must end within one day. In order to render the sense of tension, the timing of the play is represented by the projection of the sundial scale, and it is advanced according to these 12 hours, and these episodes are finished. It was also exactly 12 hours. And the content is very compact, and the historical background is also very restored.
not good
Can Ci Pin——3D Animation
People who have never read the original will not understand it.
Jade Dynasty——Film
Xianxia drama was made into a martial arts drama. The laughter is vulgar, and the characterization fails.
Character development
Weakness: Character Development Workshop
It is the second kind that often appears. Weaknesses that require the presence of others to become weaknesses.And it is possible to be hurt by this weakness.
Story development
- Then audience wants to work for their meal: 2+2
- Stories aren’t exact or predictable
- All well drawn characters have a dominant unconscious goal.Acknowledge what drives you take the wheel and steer it
- Change must happen in a story
- Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty
- An itch they can’t scratch
- Singular goal
- Truth that deepens understanding of who we are
- Make me care
- Make a promise in the beginning
- Stories have guidelines
- Like your main character
- Theme: “who are you?”
- Invoke a sense of wonder
Character and Story development in animation
Take 2 films you enjoy and break down the character development and story development throughout the film:
Analyze how the main characters evolve
Analyze how the characters drive the story
If there are similarities between your films point this out and why you think they are following a similar structure if so.
The Lion King
Analyse how the main characters evolve: Naive and escaping become brave and strong
Analyze how the characters drive the story:
Simba was very naive at first. Until Scar sets a trap for his brother and nephew, luring Simba into a gorge and having the hyenas drive a large herd of wildebeest into a stampede that will trample him. Mufasa saves Simba but ends up hanging perilously from the gorge’s edge, Scar throws Mufasa back into the stampede and to his death.
Scar then convinces Simba that the tragedy was the latter’s own fault and advises him to leave the kingdom and never return. Simba and his two new friends, Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog , rescue Simba, who has collapsed in a desert grew up in their oasis and lived a carefree life.
A grown-up Simba rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a hungry lioness, who turns out to be Nala. She and Simba reunite and fall in love, and she urges him to return home, telling him that the Pride Lands have become a drought-stricken wasteland under Scar’s reign. Still feeling guilty over Mufasa’s death, Simba refuses and storms off. He encounters Rafiki, who tells him that Mufasa’s spirit lives on in Simba. Simba is visited by the ghost of Mufasa in the night sky, who tells him that he must take his rightful place as king. Realizing that he can no longer run from his past, Simba decides to return to the Pride Lands.
Aided by his friends, Simba sneaks past the hyenas at Pride Rock and confronts Scar. Scar taunts Simba over his role in Mufasa’s death and backs him to the edge of the rock, where he reveals to him that he murdered Mufasa. Enraged, Simba forces him to tell the truth to the rest of the pride. Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu, and the lionesses fight the hyenas while Scar, attempting t o escape, is cornered by Simba at a ledge near the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs for mercy and attempts to blame his crimes on the hyenas; Simba spares his life but orders him to leave the Pride Lands forever, but throws him off after Scar attacks him again. The hyenas, who have overheard Scar’s intention of betraying them, angrily maul him to death. Simba reclaims leadership and Nala becomes his queen.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Analyze how the main characters evolve: Being smart and rebellious becomes accepting the responsibility of a new life
Analyze how the characters drive the story:
New York City teenager Miles Morales struggles to live up to the expectations of his father, police officer Jefferson Davis, who sees Spider-Man as a menace. Miles adjusts to prep school, and visits his uncle Aaron, who takes him to an abandoned subway station to paint graffiti. Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider and gains spider-like abilities similar to Spider-Man.
Returning to the station, Miles discovers a collider built by Kingpin, who hopes to access parallel universes to bring back his late wife and son, whose deaths he blames on Spider-Man. Miles watches as Spider-Man attempts to disable the collider while fighting Kingpin’s enforcers, Green Goblin and Prowler. Spider-Man saves Miles, but Green Goblin shoves Spider-Man into the collider, causing an explosion that kills him and severely wounds Spider-Man. Spider-Man gives Miles a USB flash drive designed to disable the collider, warning that the machine could destroy the city if reactivated. After watching in horror as Kingpin murders Spider-Man, Miles flees with Prowler in pursuit, eventually getting away.
As the city mourns Spider-Man’s death, Miles tries to honor his legacy and become the new Spider-Man. While trying out his newfound abilities, he inadvertently damages the drive. At Spider-Man’s grave, Miles meets Peter B. Parker, an older and worn-down version of Spider-Man from another dimension. Upon meeting him, Miles discovers his ability to emit a bio-electric “venom” blast. Peter reluctantly agrees to train Miles in exchange for help stealing data to create a new drive. They infiltrate Kingpin’s research facility, and Miles discovers he has the power to turn invisible. They are confronted by scientist Olivia Octavius, who determines that Peter will die from cellular decay if he remains in their dimension.
Chased through the laboratory and surrounding forest by Octavius, Miles and Peter are rescued by Gwen Stacy, a Spider-Woman from another dimension. They then visit Peter’s aunt, May Parker, who is sheltering more Spider-people from other dimensions – Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham – who are also deteriorating. Miles offers to disable the collider so the others can return home, but after questioning and testing him, they tell him that he lacks experience. Distraught, Miles retreats to Aaron’s home, where he discovers Aaron is Prowler. Miles returns to May’s house, where Peni has completed the new drive; he is followed by Kingpin, Prowler, Octavius, Scorpion, and Tombstone. In the ensuing brawl, Miles reveals his identity to Aaron just as Aaron corners him. Unwilling to kill his own nephew, Aaron spares Miles, only to be fatally shot by Kingpin. Miles flees with Aaron, who tells him to keep going before dying. Jefferson arrives on the scene and Miles escapes, leading Jefferson to mistake Miles as Aaron’s murderer.
The heroes regroup at Miles’ dorm room. Peter restrains Miles to ensure his safety and leaves with the others, choosing to sacrifice himself by staying behind and deactivating the collider. Jefferson arrives outside Miles’ door and, assuming Miles does not want to speak to him, apologizes for his mistakes and inspires Miles. Miles masters his powers, escapes his restraints, and creates his own Spider-Man gear. He joins the heroes, defeating Kingpin’s enforcers and using the new drive to send them home. Kingpin fights Miles, attracting the attention of Jefferson, who realizes that Miles is on his side. Jefferson encourages Miles, who subdues Kingpin with his venom blast and throws him at the kill switch, destroying the collider.
Kingpin and his enforcers are arrested and Jefferson recognizes the new Spider-Man as a hero while receiving evidence of Kingpin’s murders of Spider-Man and Aaron. Miles embraces the responsibilities of his new life, while the heroes return to their lives in their own dimensions.
If there are similarities between your films point this out and why you think they are following a similar structure if so.
- The hero in the story must have a special “ability”, or he is going to complete a great mission, or do good deeds and deeds.
- The hero must have an enemy equal to or even stronger than him. This person is not a “vote”, but he thinks he is.
- The hero must be “cursed” — this is the price he paid to become a hero. The hero defeated the curse, or was defeated by the curse.
story arc:
- exposition
- rising action
- climax
- falling action
- resolution
Stories as a circle
- you A character is in a zone of comfort
- need They want something
- go They enter an unfamiliar situation
- search Adapt to it
- find Get what they wanted
- take Pay a heavy price for it.
- return Then return to their familiar situation
- change Having changed
Character types
- Protagonist
- Antagonist
- Dynamic
- Static
- Round
- Flat
Hero types
- Hero
- Mentor
- Threshold Guardian
- herald
- Shapeshifter
- Shadow
- Trickster
- Allies(sidekicks)
story leading、
- The ending can make or break a story.
- This is a crucial part of story development. You want your audience to want to see the story again or tell more people to see it and increase your audience size.
Has anyone ever felt like they were mislead by a story or felt unsatisfied with an ending?
Pick a film you personally have watched and enjoyed. Forrest Gump
Breakdown the story arc (what are the 8 stages)
- you In 1954, in Greenbow, Alabama, young Forrest is fitted with leg braces to correct a curved spine, and is unable to walk properly. He lives alone with his mother, who runs a boarding house out of their home that attracts many tenants, including a young Elvis Presley, who plays the guitar for Forrest and incorporates Forrest’s jerky dance movements into his performances. On his first day of school, Forrest meets a girl named Jenny Curran, and the two become best friends.
- need Forrest is often bullied because of his physical disability and low intelligence. While fleeing from several bullies, his leg braces break off, revealing Forrest to be a very fast runner. This talent eventually allows him to receive a football scholarship at the University of Alabama in 1963, where he is coached by Bear Bryant, witnesses Governor George Wallace’s Stand in the Schoolhouse Door (during which he returns a dropped book to Vivian Malone Jones),[7] becomes a top kick returner, is named on the All-American team, and meets President John F. Kennedy at the White House.
- go After graduating college in 1967, Forrest enlists into the U.S. Army. During basic training, he befriends a fellow soldier named Benjamin Buford Blue (nicknamed “Bubba”), who convinces Forrest to go into the shrimping business with him after their service. Later that year, they are sent to Vietnam, serving with the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta region. After months of routine operations, their platoon is ambushed while on patrol, and Bubba is killed in action. Forrest saves several wounded platoonmates – including his lieutenant, Dan Taylor, who loses both his legs – and is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
- search At the anti-war March on the Pentagon rally, Forrest meets Abbie Hoffman and briefly reunites with Jenny, who has been living a hippie lifestyle. He also develops a talent for ping-pong, and becomes a sports celebrity as he competes against Chinese teams in ping-pong diplomacy, earning him an interview alongside John Lennon on The Dick Cavett Show, influencing the song “Imagine”. He spends the 1972 New Year’s Eve in New York City with Lieutenant Dan, who has become an embittered cripple. Forrest soon meets President Richard Nixon and is put up in the Watergate complex, where he unwittingly exposes the Watergate scandal.
- find Discharged from the army, Forrest returns to Greenbow and endorses a company that makes ping-pong paddles. He uses the earnings to buy a shrimping boat in Bayou La Batre, fulfilling his promise to Bubba. Lieutenant Dan joins Forrest in 1974, and they initially have little success. After their boat becomes the only one to survive Hurricane Carmen, they pull in huge amounts of shrimp and create the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, after which Lieutenant Dan finally thanks Forrest for saving his life. Lieutenant Dan invests into what Forrest thinks is “some kind of fruit company” and the two become millionaires, but Forrest also gives half of the earnings to Bubba’s family. Forrest then returns home to his mother as she dies of cancer.
- take In 1976, Jenny – in the midst of recovering from years of drugs and abuse – returns to visit Forrest, and after a while he proposes to her. That night she tells Forrest she loves him and the two make love, but she leaves the next morning. Heartbroken, Forrest goes running, and spends the next three years in a relentless cross-country marathon, becoming famous again before returning to Greenbow.
- return In 1981, Forrest reveals that he is waiting at the bus stop because he received a letter from Jenny, who asked him to visit her. Forrest is finally reunited with Jenny, who introduces him to their son, Forrest Gump Jr. Jenny tells Forrest she is sick with an “unknown virus” and the three move back to Greenbow.
- change Jenny and Forrest finally marry, but she dies a year later. The film ends with Forrest seeing his son off on his first day of school.
Breakdown the characters into their archetypes
Forrest Gump：Protagonist，Dynamic，Round
Create a timeline for the main character starting before the film start
- exposition: Forrest lives alone with his mother, who runs a boarding house out of their home that attracts many tenants. On his first day of school, Forrest meets a girl named Jenny Curran, and the two become best friends.
- rising action: After graduating college in 1967, Forrest enlists into the U.S. Army. During basic training, he befriends a fellow soldier named Benjamin Buford Blue (nicknamed “Bubba”), who convinces Forrest to go into the shrimping business with him after their service.
- climax: After months of routine operations, their platoon is ambushed while on patrol, and Bubba is killed in action. Forrest saves several wounded platoonmates – including his lieutenant, Dan Taylor, who loses both his legs – and is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
- falling action: Forrest soon meets President Richard Nixon and is put up in the Watergate complex, where he unwittingly exposes the Watergate scandal.
- resolution: Forrest is finally reunited with Jenny, who introduces him to their son, Forrest Gump Jr. Jenny tells Forrest she is sick with an “unknown virus” and the three move back to Greenbow.
Visual culture is the aspect of culture expressed in visual images.
The visual metaphor is a pictorial analogy. It illustrates a comparison between what is in the visual, including its connotations and denotations with another thing and its meanings figuratively. For some visual metaphors, the link between the images and what they are being compared to is the physical similarity while for others it is the conceptual similarity. There are similar interpretations of the visual metaphors but each person can comprehend them a bit differently.
Aesthetics, or esthetic, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values often expressed through judgments of taste.
Colour in the film： An element of art is made up of three properties: hue, value, and intensity.
- Hue: name of color
- Value: hue’s lightness and darkness (a color’s value changes when white or black is added)
- Intensity: quality of brightness and purity (high intensity= color is strong and bright; low intensity= color is faint and dull)
Rhythm： A principle of design that indicates movement, created by the careful placement of repeated elements in a work of art to cause a visual tempo or beat.
ELEMENTS OF ART: The visual components of color, form, line, shape, space, texture, and value.
Line An element of art defined by a point moving in space. Line may be two-or three-dimensional, descriptive, implied, or abstract.
Shape An element of art that is two-dimensional, flat, or limited to height and width.
Form An element of art that is three-dimensional and encloses volume; includes height, width AND depth (as in a cube, a sphere, a pyramid, or a cylinder). Form may also be free flowing.
Value The lightness or darkness of tones or colors. White is the lightest value; black is the darkest. The value halfway between these extremes is called middle gray.
Space An element of art by which positive and negative areas are defined or a sense of depth achieved in a work of art .
Color An element of art made up of three properties: hue, value, and intensity.
- • Hue: name of color
- • Value: hue’s lightness and darkness (a color’s value changes when white or black is added)
- • Intensity: quality of brightness and purity (high intensity= color is strong and bright; low intensity= color is faint and dull)
Texture An element of art that refers to the way things feel, or look as if they might feel if touched.
PRINCIPLES OF ART: Balance, emphasis, movement, proportion, rhythm, unity, and variety; the means an artist uses to organize elements within a work of art.
Rhythm A principle of design that indicates movement, created by the careful placement of repeated elements in a work of art to cause a visual tempo or beat.
Balance A way of combining elements to add a feeling of equilibrium or stability to a work of art. Major types are symmetrical and asymmetrical.
Emphasis (contrast) A way of combining elements to stress the differences between those elements.
Proportion A principle of design that refers to the relationship of certain elements to the whole and to each other.
Gradation A way of combining elements by using a series of gradual changes in those elements. (large shapes to small shapes, dark hue to light hue, etc)
Harmony A way of combining similar elements in an artwork to accent their similarities (achieved through use of repetitions and subtle gradual changes)
Variety A principle of design concerned with diversity or contrast. Variety is achieved by using different shapes, sizes, and/or colors in a work of art.
Movement A principle of design used to create the look and feeling of action and to guide the viewer’s eye throughout the work of art.
What is Mise-en-Scène?
- A French term meaning what is put into a scene or frame
- Visual information in front of the camera
- Communicates essential information to the audience
- made up of various elements
Elements of Mise-en-Scène
- Settings & Props
- Costume, Hair & Make Up
- Facial Expressions & Body Language
- Lighting and Colour
- Positioning of characters/objects within the frame
1. Settings and Props
- Settings & Location plays an important part in film and animation.
- Sets are either built from scratch or a great deal of time is spent to find a setting which already exists
- Settings can manipulate an audience by building certain expectations and then taking a different turn
2. Costume, hair & make-up
Costume, Hair, and Makeup act as an instant indicator to us of a character’s personality, status, and job.
3. Facial Expressions & Body Language
- Facial Expressions provide a clear indicator of how someone is feeling
- Body Language may also indicate how a character feels towards another character or may reflect the state of their relationship
4. Positioning of Characters & Objects within a frame
- Positioning within a frame can draw our attention to an important character/object
- An animator can use positioning to indicate relationships between people
5. Lighting & Colour
Lighting & Colour can be used to achieve a variety of effects:
- – To highlight important characters or objects within the frame
- – To make characters look mysterious by shading sections of the face & body – To reflect a characters mental state/hidden emotions.
Low Key Lighting
- Created by using only the key & back lights
- Produces sharp contrasts of light and dark areas
- Deep, distinct shadows/silhoue ttes are formed
High contrast lighting
- More filler lights are used. Lighting is natural and realistic to our eyes
- Produces brightly lit sets or a sunny day (right)
Natural lighting
Colour and Film:
Depth-of-field
The distance from the near to the farthest that objects are in focus.
Deep Focus
Use of the camera lens and lighting so that both close and distant planes are shown in sharp focus. This technique allows the filmmaker to emphasize a character or object that appears far away.
Shallow Focus
9 Types of Shot
- Extreme close-up
- Close Up（CU）
- Medium Close-Up（MCU）
- Mid-Shot（MS）
- Long Shot
- Extreme long shot
- A one-shot
- A two-shot
- A group shot
- High angle shot
- Low angle shot
- Point of View Shot (POV)
- Moving Shots
- Pan shot: The camera is mounted on a non-moving base and films while pivoting on its axis along the line of the horizon from left to right to right to left.
- Tilt shot: The camera can move up or down while fixed on its axis.
- Traveling shot (dolly shot): The camera can move forward or backward while fixed on its axis
- Crane shot: The camera can move in and out and up and down while mounted on a mechanical crane.
This week’s course is about Politics and Persuasion in Entertainment.
We can influence or persuade audiences in:
- §Social media
- §Broadcast News and events
- §Film and Animation
- §Television
Media platforms with the potential to influence or persuade audiences:
- broadcast
- print media
- mainstream films and animated
- independent films and animated
- games
- podcasts
- social media/network profiles.
How messages in moving image are used:
- §Subliminal or masked content
- §Overt / Propagandist intentions
- §Persuasive / commercial targets
- §Documentary / Investigative
- §Independent / Personal struggle, observation or experience
Under the topic of politics in film and media the key areas include:
- §Political persuasion
- §Commercial persuasion
- §Race
- §Gender
- §Equality
- §Disability
- §Ethics
How do politics shape what is being made in media?
- Documentary film
- Cinema
- Television
- Games
- Advertising
Taxonomy of Animated Documentary
- 1.has been recorded or created frame by frame
- 2. is about the world rather than a world wholly imagined by its creator
- 3. has been presented as a documentary by its producers and/or received as a documentary by audiences, festivals or critics
Under the theme of film and media politics, key areas include. Political belief, business persuasion contest, gender equality, disability ethics
Anime movies look very interesting, even lighthearted. But in fact, it will contain strange or obscure information. The Batman and Joker movies can be seen as an analogy to the war on terrorism and the Bush administration. The clown is a madman who wants to destroy everything or a terrorist. Batman uses city-wide tracking devices and eavesdropping on other people’s mobile phones in the name of security.
It has positive significance in some policy propaganda, such as the popular science propaganda of depression and Alzheimer’s disease.
We usually think of video games as a medium of entertainment, a medium of leisure, distraction, or release. But there are other ways to understand this medium. Video games can create or express ideas by constructing models of how things work or how they work better or in different ways. This kind of argument is called procedural rhetoric, which is an argument constructed by modeling rules and behavior rather than by words or images.
The most significant element of Disney-Formalist hyperrealism is the lifelike movement – or motor function – of the animation, which reflects both the actual movements of live-action models and the skill of the animator. By employing a more studied variety of squash-and-stretch movement, from one drawing to the next, it quickly ‘became the very essence of animation’ (Thomas and Johnson 1995, 48).
Disney’s surrealistic animation theory is useful in many situations. Many movies or animations are now designed based on Disney’s theory and have achieved good results. But it’s not only to imitate Disney to succeed. The Spider-Man parallel universe I want to talk about is an example. He uses an unprecedented comic style. It is very innovative in many places and does not completely follow Disney’s animation theory.
The CGI animation of the film combines “line drawing points and various manga techniques” to make it look like a handmade creation, which can be called a “living painting”. This is achieved by the artist taking the rendered frames from the CGI animator and processing them in 2D, with the goal of making every frame of the movie “look like a comic panel.”
To make the film feel more like a comic book, it was animated without motion blur, instead of using an older technique called motion smearing. The frame rate varied between 24 images (animating on ones) and 12 images (animating on twos) per second, the latter case using the same image twice. The producers described the effect as making the animation “crunchy.”
In order to create depth of field, another technique is used: deliberately misaligning the colors, as if the colors are a bit misprinted, just like the ink printing in a real comic. Other ways to make movies look more like comics are halftones and Ben-Day points to create colors, tones and gradients, cross lines to create texture and shadows, Kirby Krackle to create energy illusions, motion lines to express movement, and onomatopoeia, images The words above represent sounds and actions.
Instead of using animation principles like squash and stretching, the animator came up with an alternative version, “This feels different in texture and feel, but it still achieves the same goal-either feel the weight, or expect it, or Shock or something like that.”
The whole movie imitates different comic styles for different characters. Spider-Gwen’s animation is based on the design in her comics, the black spider-man uses a black and white color scheme, and the spider ham is designed to be as “cartoon” as possible. Former Disney animator Shiyoon Kim served as the overall character designer, while Craig Kellman designed an exaggerated look for Spider Ham.
The directors all felt that the film would be one of the few that audiences actually “need” to watch in 3D, due to the immersive nature of the animated world created, and the way that the hand-drawn animation elements designed specifically for the film create a unique experience; Persichetti described the experience as a combination of the effects of an old-fashioned hand-drawn multiplane camera and a modern virtual reality environment.
The principle of animation forms the basis of all actions. The 12 principles of animation were first introduced by Disney animation producers Oli Johnston and Frank Thomas in their work “The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation”, which was first released in 1981. In this book, Johnston and Thomas studied the work of leading Disney animators. After the 1930s, their method was reduced to 12 basic principles of animation. These principles form the basis of all animation works and are interrelated with many different fields. The most obvious use is to animate characters, but these rules are also an invaluable guide in other areas. For example, if you want to introduce some animations into your work to make them look more interesting and so on.
- Squeeze and stretch
The principle of squeeze and stretch is considered to be the most important of the 12 animation principles. It will let your animated characters and objects provide visual effects of gravity, weight, mass, and flexibility. Think about the reaction of a bouncing rubber ball when it is thrown into the air: the ball stretches when it moves up and down, and it shakes when it hits the ground.
When using extrusion and stretching, it is very important to keep the volume of the object consistent. Therefore, when you stretch an animated character, it needs to become thinner and thinner, and when you squash something, it needs to become wider.
- Preparation
Preparatory actions help prepare the audience for what will happen. When used, it has the effect of making the movement of the object more realistic. Imagine our usual actions. At the beginning of a run, our body will first lean back, and then accelerate to run. This is the preparatory action. Think about it in our daily life. If you jump into the air without bending your knees or throw a ball without pulling your arm back first, it seems unnatural. In the same way, the anticipation of an animation movement without action will also make your actions look awkward, old, and lifeless.
- Primary and secondary
The priority in the animation is very similar to the composition in the artwork. What we mean is that you should use actions to guide the viewer’s eyes and draw attention to the important things in the scene. Focus on the important things in the scene and omit or weaken all other unimportant actions.
- Straight forward animation and key frame animation
There are two ways to make animation effects: straightforward and keyframes. Each method has its own advantages, and the two methods are often combined. The straightforward action involves making frame by frame from start to finish. If you want to do smooth, realistic movements, then straightforward movements are the best choice.
Using pose to pose (that is, keyframe animation) technology, you can draw the start frame, end frame, and several keyframes in between. Then you finish the rest of the transition animation work. This technology allows you to better control the animation time and animation form in the scene and can increase the dramatic effect of motion in the animation.
- Follow and overlap movement
When an object stops after moving, some positions of the object will stop at a different rate. Likewise, everything on the object moves at different rates when in motion. This constitutes the fifth quintessence of Disney’s animation principles. This is very important, which is what we often call inertial motion.
Just imagine, if you sit on a bus, your body will lean back due to inertia at the moment the car moves forward, and then come back. When you break suddenly, your body will lean forward and then back due to inertial motion. This is the follow and overlapping motion.
This is a very important criterion for animation. Without these actions, the animation will be very stiff and boring.
- Slow in and slow out animation
The best way to understand slow in and slow out is to think about how the car starts and stops. Before gaining power and acceleration, it will move slowly and then faster and faster. The opposite happens when the car brakes. In animation, this effect is achieved by adding more frames at the beginning and end of the action sequence. Applying this principle can give your animation more vitality.
- Arc movement
Rather than saying that this is an animation law, it is more appropriate to call him the laws of physics. Animation comes from life, and the laws of physics must be respected, such as gravity. So when making an animation, most objects follow an arc or path when they move, and your animation should reflect the arc-shaped motion line. For example, when you throw a ball into the air, it will follow a natural arc because the gravity of the earth will affect it. For another example, the bending and swinging movements of the arms and legs when walking must also conform to the arc movement.
- Secondary action
Auxiliary actions are used to support or emphasize the main actions that occur in the scene. Adding auxiliary actions helps to add more details and emotions to characters and objects. For example, the subtle movement of the character’s hair while walking, or it may be a facial expression or the reaction of a secondary object to the first one. Regardless of the situation, this secondary action should not distract the primary action.
- Time and rhythm
For this animation principle, we need to study the laws of physics again and apply what we see in nature to our animation. This law of physics is time.
If you move objects faster or slower than objects that move naturally in the real world, the animation effects will lose credibility. Using the right time can control the emotions and reactions of characters and objects. But this does not mean that it must be followed. For example, in some animations, you can speed up or slow down the time appropriately for fun or to enhance the atmosphere. But the basic rules of time still have to be observed. For example, touching a person’s face for two seconds will feel like touching or comforting. If you touch a person’s face for one-third of a second, you will feel like fighting. So a very important direction for us to study animation is the control of time.
- Exaggeration
If too many animation effects are close to reality, it will destroy the atmosphere and interest of the animation, making it appear static and boring. Instead, add some exaggeration to your characters and objects to make them more dynamic. This requires you to find an exaggerated rhythm and method in animation production so that your animation can have a soul and be more easily accepted by the public, and the imagination of animation can be infinite.
- Basic painting skills
You need to understand the basics of drawing. This includes understanding how to draw and understand shapes and anatomy, weight and volume, and light and shadow in three-dimensional space. Although you can also push the limits of animation style, it is very important to maintain consistency. For example, if you have an eclectic character image and world style in your cartoon, then you must maintain the unity of the style. Of course, this style must be based on a painting. Otherwise, your animation effects will not be too popular.
- Cater to the masses, attractive
Your characters, objects, and the world they live in need to appeal to the audience. This includes easy-to-read design, solid drawing, and personality. There is no formula to do this. It requires you to work hard and study the needs of the public. Of course, we advocate innovation and development, but these need to be built on the premise of solid basic skills.
What you have to do is not only provide people’s needs, but more importantly, you have to create demand, which is innovation.