If I’ve heard this question asked once of an animator, I’ve heard it asked a thousand times. Not “When…?”, “Where…?”, or “Why…?”, but “How…?”. Animation often seems to revolve around technology and technique (a consideration of the distinction and relationship…
technological developments in animation (pre digital)
Ray Harryhausen – A Tribute
by Jim Walker • May 13, 2013 • 1 Comment
Ray Harryhausen’s name evokes so much emotion and visual memories that it is hard to effectively reflect on his achievements. While we could focus on his contributions to film history, special effects, animation and many other areas. It is perhaps…
technological developments in animation (pre digital)
The Fleischer Studio’s ‘Setback’ Camera vs. Disney realism
by Luke Jaeger • May 7, 2013 • 14 Comments
Ask an American “who invented animation” and the most likely response will be “Walt Disney.” Students of animation history know better, of course — but while Disney contributed significantly to the development of the form, his most permanent legacy may…
Documentary
Blogging the Animated Documentary
by Alys Scott-Hawkins • April 29, 2013 • 3 Comments
As a film-maker who has become further and further drawn into the world of animated documentary, what has enthralled and inspired me is the overt subjectivity of exploring the world through animation; free from the ‘baggage’ of objectivity implied in…
Documentary
“To document differently”: random thoughts on a taxonomy of animated documentary
by Paul Ward • April 22, 2013 • 2 Comments
My local fish and chip shop has a sign in its window that says, in a large font: “CAT FISH – 75p” Just below, in a smaller font, it says “Fish for your cat” This sign always makes…
Documentary
Who said that? The dispensability of original sound in animated documentary
by Samantha Moore • April 15, 2013 • 7 Comments
There came a point in The Beloved Ones, the film I made in 2007 for the UK Film Council, when it became clear that the indexical sound recorded in the field, in Uganda, was not going to be able to…
Documentary
The Camera and “Structuring Reality”
by Sheila Sofian • April 8, 2013 • 14 Comments
Last night I attended a panel discussion on “Infotainment” in which New York Times Hollywood correspondent Michael Cieply discussed documentary filmmaking as compared to traditional journalism. He made the following statement: “The camera is a tool to structure reality, not…
Documentary
Animated Memories
by Bella Honess Roe • April 1, 2013 • 4 Comments
Theorists of film and photography, from Barthes to Benjamin, have often drawn our attention to photographic media as a way of accessing history. However, animated documentaries such as Places Other People Have Lived (Yilmaz, 2011), Learned by Heart (Rimminen and…
animationstudies 2.0
Animation Studies / Animation Stories If Complementary, Animation Studies are not Consensual: Good for Them!
by Pierre Floquet • March 25, 2013 • 4 Comments
Stories, histories, History: never will I pretend not to need them, rely on them, nor require them. Who would dare deny and ignore the vital value of History, or the sense of History? So obviously, this never will be the…
animationstudies 2.0
Documenting History
by Maureen Furniss • March 18, 2013 • 9 Comments
One of the challenges of teaching an introductory animation history is finding an adequate book. There are plenty of examples of well-researched histories, but most of them have some sort of limitation—for example, being too narrow in scope (maybe focusing…