Webb Response

I’m pretty excited about this animation thing. Pretty nervous as well. I’m not one for patience; hopefully this exercise will make me appreciate it more. The Wells article had some very interesting points. I never thought of the spectrum of animation that is, and will always be available.

These days, I don’t want to speak for everyone, but I believe we expect progression in animation; primarily through technology. Even though the article might have popped the proverbial bubble on cell style animation, it in itself is becoming a rare commodity. CGI seems to be the route that all big animation names have been taking, for at least the past 10 years (it seems somewhat force fed these days). I can’t remember the last non-CGI Disney movie that was released.

This trend has even infected my child hood love, Ninja Turtles. I can respect Well’s point, but I have to say, even cell animation seems to have a certain vintage to it now.

That, however, is not his point. I really saw a lot of sense in the ‘theory of animation’ table. It separates art from commercial product. Its important, to me, to be reminded that film isn’t all about reaping the benefits of landing that Hollywood career; that it is also a community of artists. There’s nothing wrong with making that dolla dolla bill, but at the same time, film has a fragile existence as an art (amongst its more ancient predecessors) and I think its important to preserve, if not improve that state.

Which brings me to what I though was the most interesting point: the idea of an absent artist. It never really occurred to me that I can’t name a Disney animator, but I guess that’s Well’s point. It’s not so much that Disney and Warner Bros. cartoons are generic, but more that they are veiled by an established tradition and little tolerance to venture beyond.

I like the fact that by doing these animations we are in essence creative interpreters. Like the Pes example we saw in class. He didn’t simply draw an explosion (though its probably not that simple to draw an explosion); he used common household items to stand in for them. These items lent irony and an underlying message to the work KaBoom. Now, that name will stick with me because of unique stylistic choices and artistic signature.