2. Contextual statement
• The main reason why I have decided to make this project an animation is because I will
hope to be doing an animation course at university so this FMP is a chance for me to
experiment with certain softwares that I am likely to use in the future also I find
animating quite fun. Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions I am unable to do work
within college grounds or in public. This also further backs up my decision to make an
animation because I am able to make an animation at home by myself as I will not need
actors and I will not need to record footage outside but only use myself as a reference as
to how the character will move. I was influenced by a number of films. There will
be human/animal hybrids at the beginning of my production which will take their
influence from eco horror films like Long Weekend (Eggleton, 1978) by Colin Eggleston or
Tremors (Underwood, 1992)by Ron Underwood. I plan for one of my character designs
to be a mixture between a gorilla and a goblin. When I was looking for inspiration for this
creature and I found a untitled painting by Sascha Schneider called To A Soul in which
there is a round ape-like character which will act as a template for my creature. The
beginning of my animation will probably start off in a group of farmyards filled with dead
animals and screaming hybrids this scene will likely look similar to the scene in El Topo
(Jodorowsky, 1970) by Alejandro Jodorowsky where the protagonist finds a massacred
village in that it will contrast extreme close ups with wide shots. I plan to use Adobe
Animate for the movement, Adobe Photoshop for the close ups because as it is drawn on
a pixel level so it will be easier to create small details, and I will use blender for static
interiors and large landscapes instead of anything that moves.
3. Ian Hurbert
• Ian Hurbert is a Visual Effects artist from Seattle, USA. Ian mainly works in Blender and has worked on visual effects for the
short films Tears of Steal, Dynamo Dream, Dynamo, Project London as well as a variety of YouTube content. Ian Hurbert has
also directed and edited a number of short films. He started creating animations in 2004 and is still creating works. There are
no books about him or books written by him but there is an article about him in which he is interviewed on
Rokoko.com https://www.rokoko.com/users/rokoko-user-story-ian-hubert-filmmaker-vfx-artist-master-of-blender3d. The
article discusses his recent co-operation with the Rokoko company and how he is now using their Smartsuit Pro which allows
him to animate characters using his own body movements which are automatically tracked "I now started to be able to think
in a way that I can just assume I can animate characters now or just animate things with humanness to them. I can finally
explore those ideas and achieve realism." I chose to study Ian because he mainly works on city-scapes and science fiction
which may feature in my own product. On Ian Hurbert's YouTube channel there are a lot of short Blender tutorials which I
have used to learn some Blender skills last year. In this project I will find his tutorial "How to make apocalyptic cities in
blender" https://youtu.be/qNba2oEij2c. These are screenshots of his work from 2006 to 2016 to show how he has improved
over time.
Visual effect work in 2006 Visual effect work in 2010 Visual effect work in 2016
4. Ian Hurbert
• The piece of work of his I have chosen to focus on here is his teaser trailer for his film Dynamo because it has a lot of
different elements that I can talk about, is short in length and hence easier to locate the points which I want to talk about.
Here is the source: https://youtu.be/qG31WSioSxk. The lighting looks very realistic and the shadows cast by objects are very
controlled by the light sources with great precision. The piece is pretty well directed in that the beginning of the shot looks
like present day but the futuristic triple decker train suddenly passes by and more technology is revealed as the video goes
on. The tracking is very good as objects never pass through the green screened actor and her position is realistic in relation
to the movement of the virtual camera. The lighting on the actor is the same as the lighting in the scene. However some
objects look as if their textures have been stretched and are sometimes too blurry.
5. Hideo Miyazaki
• Hayao Miyazaki is possibly the most famous anime animator and regarded as one of the best animators in history. He was born in
Bunkyo in 1941 and began his animation work at Toei Animation where he animated in-between frames in the film Doggie March
and Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon. He is co-founder of studio Ghibli and creator of classics such as Howl’s Moving Castle and
Spirited away. His artwork like many Japanese animators is influenced by Japanese Manga which is a “visual style based on codes
and conventions that differ profoundly from those employed by mainstream American cartoons.” (Cavallaro, D; 2006, P15).
Cavallaro talks about Manga placing more emphasis “on line over form. Lipless mouths, exceptionally large eyes, markedly plastic
and heart-shaped faces” (Cavallaro, D; 2006, P15).
• Anime tends to be more adventurous with its use of camera angles and techniques than american animation and Cavallero points
out they “overflow with tracking shots, long-view establishing shots, fancy pans, unusual point-of-view camera angles, and extreme
close ups,... in contrast with most american animation which tends to thrive in an action obsessed middle distance.” (Cavallaro, D;
2006, P16).
• Anime tends to cover a greater amount of genres and sub-genres than american animation. Miyazaki is particularly interested in
science fiction/fantasy. It takes its influences from both “Indigenous lore, (as attested to by My Neighbour Tortoro and Spirited
Away) and western materials (eg Howl's Moving Castle and Kiki's Delivery Service.)
• Miyazaki believes that animation should not be rushed and that they should be serious works of art with a lot of thought put into
them and believes they should be philosophical and deal with ethics and he also puts a lot of emphasis on them being original and
not dictated by the anime industry itself. Cavallero makes this point when he points out that Myiazaki believes “many people in the
animation industry today seem to have no qualms in placing fashionable tastes above all aesthetic and ethical
considerations” (Cavallaro, D; 2006, P32).
• I think that Miyazaki's animations are very good at making unusual environments feel organic such as making wind blowing glass
seem realistic. He is also good at showing characters emotion through their hair often separating strands of hair and making
them stand on edge when a character is shocked.
6. Chuck Jones
• Chuck Jones is one of the most famous and iconic of animators. He worked for the Warner Brothers Studios between 1938
and 1962 "he directed more than 200 cartoons for Warner Brothers, 10 films a year 6 minutes per film" (Zhou, T; 2015) and
worked with characters that had already been mad such as Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, but also created his own Road
Runner, Wile E Coyote and Pepe Le Pew. In 1962 he worked for Metro Goldwyn-Mayor and produced a series of Tom And
Jerry cartoons. He won three academy awards and was nominated 9 times.
• He is known for creating characters with, as Tony Zhou points out, "clearly defined wants" (Zhou, T; 2015). Zhou goes on to
say that “once you find out what the character wants you can figure out the next question – how does this particular
individual move?’ (Zhou, T; 2015) and as Chuck Jones himself says in interview, ‘the story should sell itself by the way it
moves.’ (Zouh, T; 2015). He is more concerned in fact by how characters move than by how they act, “What makes a cartoon
character significant is not how it looks, it's how it moves.” (Ward, A 1979) He is generally regarded as a comic master of the
facial expression in cartoons and it is noted that his use of facial expressions gets more subtle and minimalist in his later
work (Zhou, T 2015.)
• In his Biography Chuck Amuck The Life And Times Of Animated Cartoonist Jones talks about understanding the simplicity of
his character’s desires and how he uses this to create comedy, ‘Comedy is nearly always the stuff of the ordinary concerning
itself with simple matters and simple ambitions. With ordinary pursuits and ordinary ambitions. Charlie Chaplin often, and
the coyote always, is simply trying to get something to eat.’ (Jones, C; 1999; p28)
• "One of the techniques Chuck Jones uses to create comic action is by contrasting assumption and reality." (Zhou, T 2015).
For instance when a character goes to hit a rock with a hammer we assume the rock will crack but instead the hammer
cracks. He often repeats this type of joke throughout a cartoon like roadrunner.
7. Animation – Practical Theory
• I found George Maestri’s book Digital Character Animation 3 (Maestri 2006) useful for laying out some basic principles of
movement in characters and having a good idea of what helps the audience recognise movement and what makes it realistic.
He talks about the important relationship between motion and timing, “Good animation timing means knowing exactly when
your character should react, blink, or pull that mallet out from behind his back” (Maestri, G: 2006; P 105,). He talks about the
relationship between timing and the audience recognising the effect the animator is trying to achieve, “A character stubs his
toe, recoils, and then reacts, if the reaction is too quick the audience will not have time to “read it”; the recoil acts as a bridge
between the two main actions.” (Maestri, G: 2006; P 1117,)
• He goes on to talk about the meaning of motion, “A character moves his body for a reason and these motions are very
important because they convey a character’s mood and personality.”(Maestri, G: 2006; P 105,). He talks about how one of the
things that makes a character more realistic is considering that when a character is moving they “accelerate into their motions
and decelerate out of them” (Maestri, G: 2006; P 106,). This will be useful to bear in mind when I am thinking about frame
rate in movement. Maestri also talks about “squash and stretch” and how we make the audience aware of the texture of
something on impact by changing its shape or not when it makes contact when it is in motion. He talks about “giving a ball
bouncing on the ground a rubbery feel by squashing it as it hits the ground and stretching it as it takes off.” (Maestri, G: 2006;
P 123)
• Maestri also talks about “anticipation” meaning the “body’s way of gaining momentum before an action begins”(Maestri, G:
2006; P 126,). He gives an example of how we “move our arms backwards before we jump. He talks about how anticipation
helps the audience see what is happening, “Moving the object in the opposite direction of its eventual motion draws attention
to the object before it makes the important move. When it does move the audience is watching so the motion can be much
faster without confusing viewers.”(Maestri, G: 2006; P 127) Maestri talks about the relationship between primary action and
secondary action. He gives an example of “a baby wiggling her toes while she eats” (Maestri, G: 2006; P 129) as an example of
secondary action and talks about how jewellery, belly fat, or clothes moving as secondary actions alongside a primary action
can “bring a character to life” (Maestri, G: 2006; P 129). He gives sound advice about being careful not to let secondary
actions take over though, “If they become too wild or noticeable they will become primary actions and detract from the shot”
(Maestri, G: 2006; P 129)
8. Animation Theory Continued - Realism
• In his book Understanding Animation (1998) Paul Wells offers us a traditional definition of animation as 'The
artificial creation of the illusion of movement,'(Wells 1998, P37) though he rightly points out that it applies
more to traditional cel animation than computer generated technologies.
• I still find this very broad definition useful though as animation still often involves working out the physics of
actual movement and trying to replicate that if that is what you are trying achieve.
• This above idea works though with the assumption that animation or any form of motion picture is
attempting to mimic real life. But Paul Wells argues that from the outset animation was always less
inclined towards mimicking real life than film just because of techniques it used, 'Animation is a completely
fake medium that does not use the camera to record reality but artificially creates and records its own.’
(Wells,1998, P25)
• However, Wells goes on to argue that there are traditions in animation that come closer to trying to mimic
the live action movie such as the works of Disney which he calls hyperrealism (Wells, 1998, p25) His
definition of hyper-realism is
• “The characters objects and environment within the hyper-realist animation are subject to the conventional
physical laws of the real world.’ (Wells, 1998 P25,)
9. Animation theory Orthodox v Experimental
• There are many theories of animation covering many different genres of animation and it is
difficult to find a theory that can encompass all the different ways animation is made and
capture how animation has evolved alongside technological advances such as CGI. However,
I do find the debate between orthodox animation and Experimental animation in Paul Wells
Book useful. I have taken screenshot of a table below that highlights what he thinks are the
main points of difference between orthodox and experimental animation
10. Animation Theory - Table Orthodox Animation v Experimental
Animation (Wells 1998 P36)
11. Animation Theory – Realism –
• Realism – Narrative - Experimental - Interpretative
• I do not have time to explore each of Wells' definitions and some are more useful than other. I do though
want to highlight the contrast he makes between narrative for and interpretive form. He describes narrative
form being constructed in the following way 'the idea of story was essentially held in place by specific
continuity, of establishing a situation, problematizing it,…..finding a resolution mainly through the actions of
the main character.’ ( Wells, P 1998 P38). This, of course, could be said of most narrative structures whether
it in the medium of a film, a book, or an animation.
• In contrast to this Wells talks about interpretive form which he appears to be hinting is more about tone and
ambience rather than more obvious meanings that are driven by plot and character. He says. 'Experimental
animation resists telling stories and moves more towards the vocabulary of the painter.’ (Wells, 1998, P39)
• I feel this is food for thought for my own animation as even though at this stage I do have a narrative and
plot planned I do feel that much of my animation will be as driven by thematics, ambience and tone.
12. Animation Theory – Dynamics Of Dialogue – Dynamics of Musicality
• Another contrast Wells makes between orthodox and experimental animation is whether the
emphasis in the animation is upon dialogue (orthodox) or musicality (experimental) –
meaning both sound effects and music. In my FMP, Red Mist, that I did last year music carried the
production far more than dialogue. I agree with Paul Wells that "sound is important in any film,
but has particular importance in experimental animation as it is often resisting dialogue, the
cliched sound effects of the cartoon, and the easy emotiveness of certain kinds of music.' (Wells,
1998, P46). Obviously music and dialogue in films are not mutually exclusive and you can have
experimental films with plenty of dialogue but it is a helpful contrast in terms of where the
emphasis lies and what I wish to place the emphasis in my own production. Excerpts from the film
can be seen in the following link https://www.karenwatsonfilmandanimation.com/daddys-little-
bit-of-dresden-china
13. Animation Theory – Unity of Style v Multiple styles
• Another nice contrast Paul Wells makes between orthodox and experimental animation is that
experimental animation tends to use multiple styles, 'First, to facilitate the multiplicity of personal
visions an artist may wish to incorporate in a film and second to challenge and rework orthodox
codes and conventions and create new effects' In an animation I made last year I worked in
mainly claymation but did end the piece with some 2D animation that I created in adobe animate
and I did intersperse the claymation footage with special effects and footage created in adobe
animate. Whether to go for a unity of style or mix styles is something I will be considering again in
this product and I intend to look at other mixed style products in existing products.
14. Bibliography
• Anon (2020) Ian Hubert - Filmmaker, VFX artist, master of Blender3D (https://www.rokoko.com/users/rokoko-user-story-
ian-hubert-filmmaker-vfx-artist-master-of-blender3d) (accessed 12/01/21)
• Cavallero, D (2006) The Anime Art Of Hideo Miyazaki Jefferson North Carolina and London: Mcfarland and
Company.
• Eggleston, C (1978) Long Weekend
• Hurbert, Ian (2019) How to make Apocalyptic Cities in Blender - Lazy
Tutorials (https://youtu.be/qNba2oEij2c) (accessed 12/01/21)
• Jodorowsky, A (1970) El Topo
• Jones, C. (1999). Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist. United States: Farrar, Straus
and Giroux.
• Maestri, G (2006) Digital Character Animation 3 Berkeley, California: New Riders
• Ramos, T; Zhou, T; Every Frame A Painting (2015) Chuck Jones The Evolution Of An
Artist (https://youtu.be/kHpXle4NqWI) (Accessed 13/01/21)
• Schneider, S (1904) Um eine Seele/To A Soul (he has made a another painting of the same name so
I will include the link) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sascha_Schneider_-_To_A_Soul.jpg
• Ward, A (1979) Master Animator Chuck Jones: The Movement's The Thing United States: The Times
• Wells, P ; Understanding Animation; 1998; Routledge; London.
• Underwood, R, (1992) Tremors
