Animation Aesthetics F18

3D animation has a specific look to it, that cannot be denied. And now studios like Pixar, Disney Animation, Illumination, and DreamWorks are all releasing similar looking pieces of works. Sure, the character design might be unique to the specific world the studio is creating, but it’s still has a 3D animated feel to it. And do not get me wrong, that is not a bad thing 3D animation is only getting better with time as technology advances to add more detail and texture to characters on screen. But is this style of animation in danger? Could audience get tired of seeing the same aesthetic in animation over and over again? Could this open up a gap in the market for 2D looking animation?              I think that it will.  Spider-Man into the Spider Verse  is a great example. It’s a 3D animated film with a new aesthetic look to it. This film stands out a on its animation style alone. In my review of the film I ca...

I find that Illumination has many similar characteristics between all its movies. They are all bright and colorful and crisp, which I like, but I also think that they are missing out on an integral part of storytelling for some movies, and that is selective coloring. Even texture, or type of animation. In The Grinch,  I found that the bright colors and everything was super fun to watch, but also made the story more playful than I wanted it to be or was familiar with. On top of the fact that the actual character of the Grinch was not evil, but instead sensitive and just a bit grouchy, I think that with a darker color scheme and also a different style of animation could have made up for the areas of the film that were just too  playful. It would have made for a very interesting project to see on the big screens as well. I'm wondering if different types of animation will ever make it back to theaters? Stop motion is on the very outskirts of animation, and not even Wes Anderson...

The new Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse just came out this week and I cannot recommend it enough. It's so smart and funny and the animation is different than anything I've ever seen before. Spider-Verse  adopts the classic comic book style but is able to incorporate amazing camera movement and a few different styles of animation. When I saw The Incredibles 2  earlier this year, I realized that the MCU kind of made me forget that superhero movies are the most fun and the most daring when they are animated. Spider-Verse  left me with the same feeling. I hope that this film changes up the superhero genre a bit and we see more complex stories like this in the coming years instead of the same old stuff that's been oversaturated in the last decade. Overall, a fantastic movie and I highly recommend seeing it on the big screen.

Yesterday I saw spiderman with some buddies and we all walked out absolutely giddy! This animation is the best animation to hit the theaters in 2018. Period. I remember watching it and as I was watching it thinking, "thank god I already finished all my reviews because I don't think I can put into words how good this movie is in just a page". The style of this animation is something you have never seen before from Hollywood. It is absolutely stunning. It follows traditions of comic book artists with bright colors, dark lines on the face, and a pop art texture overlayed on top of everything. My breath was taken away during the final fight scene: it was gorgeous , emotional, and the stakes were made clear in every shot. Not only was the animation fantastic, but the story was also so well told. Every character had a meaningful arch or something you didn't expect from them. Every relationship and turning point felt genuine and earned. And you didn't have some v...

Hello, I posed this question in class. I'm curious what girls, or anybody I suppose, think of this. Do you feel that female characters in film and television are often unrelatable and even annoying? I've talked to some of my female friends about this and one told me that yes, female characters are frequently unrelatable and don't really act how girls do in real life, because they are written by men. What do'ya think?

OK I hope if you haven't seen the new Spider-Man already that you're planning on going soon because, for animation lovers in particular, there is so much to love. Without any spoilers, the film takes on a number of different animated styles, including anime, Looney Tunes type stuff, 30s pulp magazine illustrations, graphic design type pop art madness, and of course, comic book stylings. The main style of the film is tough to name: it looks to me like claymation with a digital overlay on top...like I said, tough to give a name to. Please go see it if you haven't already and help me figure out just what the heck we're looking at here.

Song of the Sea was quite possibly my favorite film we have watched in this class, and I found the final screening to be an excellent time to view it.  For starters, watching a beautiful looking 2D movie with a pleasing aesthetic was a great breath of fresh air after the big 3D CGI vs 2D animation discussion of last week.  It's style I also found reminiscent of modern cartoons like Adventure Time, but still having its own unique feel, which I thought was a nice charm.  The vocal performance was pretty good too, seeing as all of the voices seemed to fit their respective characters very well.  What I believe truly makes this a sensational movie is the morals that the film teaches.  There was a bit of discussion about a feminist voice in this film that people brought up in class, which I don't necessarily agree with.  This film covers a much broader range of ideas than that, and I don't think feminism is explicitly singled out here.  This coming of age ta...

Briefly. The Grinch is a faithful and cheerful rendition of the classic Dr. Seuss story and doesn’t add anything substantial to that story. Rotten Tomatoes calls The Grinch “suitable” and that really describes all this film is. Just watch the original 1966 animation How the Grinch Stole Christmas! this holiday season. I find it very interesting that Illumination decided to produce a film that there was no demand for, in a sub-genre (Christmas Movies) that is falling out of favor with audiences. Historically, there was a feature length live-action attempt of the Grinch story released in 2000 titled How the Grinch Stole Christmas which was a critical failure and a mediocre financial success. Like the 2000 film, Illumination also had to stretch out the 69-page Dr. Seuss source material into a feature length film (which they somehow do while adding nothing to the story!). All-in-all The Grinch seems like a risky endeavor, so why did Illumination devote its resources to making this...

I view art as the second language that all humans can read. Where words and spoken language represent the tangible and logical, art is the abstract and emotional. Both systems rely on a culturally constructed array of symbols and signs, when combined in different combination create new meanings. Academic writing strives to be as precise as possible, conveying the same meaning to each reader, while something like poetry breaks the convention of grammar and challenges the agreed upon meaning of words; poetry creates gaps that are filled with your personal experience. The imperfection leaves room for connection. In a broad sense, words are inherently imperfect: when you read "Tree", the sensations it conjures will always be different from any other reader or the author. I think of the old lonely birch tree in the Adirondacks, you I'm sure think differently. Cinema is a language in itself, just with a more extensive vocabulary and different grammar. Image and sound replace ...

I've been thinking about all the hype revolving around Toy Story 4 (coming out June 21st next year), and I'd have to say, I'm a little disappointed they made another one.  Toy Story 3  could have been the perfect end to the franchise- Andy grows out of his toys and gives them to a sweet little girl. Good. Done. So sweet. BUT just as we are finally getting over the  emotional turmoil of Toy Story 3 , Pixar announces that a 4th one is on its way. I am so nervous that this film is going to be a failure. For example, I love Shrek, but the 3rd and 4th movie just weren't that great in my opinion. It didn't ruin the franchise for me, but I wish they didn't make them since nothing will ever compare with the first 2. I feel like Toy Story 4 is just a huge money grab for the studio. I've never met anyone that disliked Toy Story, so I know there will be a huge turnout at the theater, but I hope the viewers don't leave disappointed. Maybe it's just the pessi...

I have always preferred classic rock to the current music of Drake and Post but I'll occasionally listen to some of that music. Travis Scott is by far my most hated rapper. I can't explain it. He's just terrible. Anyhow, the music video created for his song 90210 is very interesting. While being very similar to Robot Chicken animation, this music video is strange to watch and very eerie. While not really following any storyline, the music video simply animated an apparent dream that Scott had one night. It's honestly the strangest thing ever.

With the fourth Toy Story coming out this summer many people are both excited and nervous about the story's final movie. When the first Toy Story came out I was negative four years old. Currently, at the age of 19, I can say that I have grown up with Toy Story. Even more interesting, People around the age of six when Toy Story 1 came out have officially grown up with the movie's main human character, Andy.  By the time Toy Story 3 came out in 2010, Andy went off to college along with the kids who grew up with Buzz and Woody as their childhood heroes. what I guess I'm trying to say is that Toy Story is a timeless film that, when a sequel is created, still appeals to the older generation. 

I'm thinking about it right now, and the budget to make an animated film doesn't need to be all that high to REALLY make something. Sure, if you want to make a living off of it, or pay other animators, voice actors, and get distribution, you're looking a ta pretty legitimate number, but on the other hand, if you are just trying to break into the industry on your own or making art, all you need is some software and a good idea. For general filmmaking you need equipment and money to rent it, crew and money to pay them, actors and money to pay them, and distribution and money to pay for that. Animation is a far more accessible field for creators to get into because it is a translation of your mind to the screen. That said, it takes a certain level of talent to actually pull off your vision, but through hard work, you can learn that talent. I don't mean to discredit the hard work and money that goes into making the big budget animated films, but at the same time, a great wo...

Here we go again. I'm sure by now most of you have seen the abomination that is the Sonic the Hedgehog live action poster. Do we really need this? Who is going to pay to see that movie? Ok, I will. But, come on, why? WHY? Are we really so out of ideas that we have to make movies out of Sega games? And why is it classified as live action? There's gonna be more animation in that film than all the Jurassic Park films combined. I seriously hope this isn't what the film industry is going to become, because if that's the case, I'm going into agriculture. But, actually, Jim Carrey as Egghead is going to be awesome.