Are Special Effects Animation?
I didn't consider special effects to be animation, as I always had them placed in their own unique category. This was before I considered that in some super hero films, entire worlds and characters are created using special effects. Take Gaurdians of the Galaxy for example. The characters of Rocket Raccoon and Groot were created through the use of "CG animation." Both Rocket and Groot's characters were drawn up by the Marvel Visual Development team and then the designs were given over to the special effects department who figured out how these characters would move and look as 3D beings. Superhero films such as Gaurdians falls under Cholodenko's category of Hyperhybrid, and though it strives towards realism, I would still categorize it as animation. Animation is about bringing things to life, and in Guardians of the Galaxy Groot and Rocket are brought to life using special effects.
I think it's a special category of animation. Before CG, characters drawn into frame looked out of place (think Roger Rabbit, although it is a perfect movie that should never ever be tampered with). I think it allowed filmmaking to go to bold places it's never gone before. For example, Avatar was a good chunk CG. But at the time, it was ridiculously immersive. I think it's cool how Marvel will use prop heads as stand-ins during shooting (They did this with Korg in Ragnarok and Hulk). I think it adds to this dimension of acting that was first introduced in- Yep, you guessed it- Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
ReplyDeleteI never considered it to be animation until recently. My best guess would be, like you said, the Hyperhybridity of all of it. When something looks realistic to me, I guess I just didn't question it. I'm totally on board for this special effects as animation, but I am curious to what people outside of film school / classes would believe. Since many people believe animation is for kids, but special effects can be in action / superhero movies not meant solely for kids, would they classify it as animation? Just something to consider when thinking outside of the Park School Bubble.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting that CG is never really considered animation by people. If it looks "realistic" and has the characteristics and look of a live action film, then it is seen as animation. This is something I also didn't think about much until recently but it seems very logical that these films are just animation trying to look like live action.
ReplyDeleteI've really never thought of CG as animation until I took this class. I always thought it was its own separate entity. When you really think about it though, movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers are prime examples of hyperhybrids in animations. It's also crazy how few shots in movies like those have no animation whatsoever. We think of these movies as live action when they would be completely different films without the animation.
ReplyDelete