Matt Jones

Post Six

 “Drawn Conclusions: Race, Gender, and Sexuality Representations in Animations”

Much like live-action cinema, the history of animation is rife with representations of race, gender, and sexuality that typify the prevalent stereotypes of the time.

A)           With the air of political correctness so prevalent in modern society it is shocking to look back on early examples of media and see such blatantly racist, sexist, and homophobic imagery.  Particularly in the United States where the tradition of the minstrel show continued throughout the 1900s.  White actors performing incredibly racist caricatures of African Americans have the sad distinction of being one of the few distinctly American forms of theatre.  This tradition continued throughout cinema, both live-action as well as the animated film.  Stereotypical blackface caricature was used to depict African Americans, or African natives in popular animated films up until the 1950s. 

                Negative issues regarding representation are not limited to race however, gender roles are defined through animated film.  Male representations, for example is shown through two Fleischer brother animated series: Popeye and Superman.  Popeye, the blue collar hero who exemplifies a moral character based in a common ethos.  Popeye’s moral character was often secondary to his physical strength (although aided by spinach) in the face of adversity.  His brute strength was typified by his physical transformation into machinery as he brutalized his foe.  Popeye, the idealized man (provided he has a can of spinach handy) transcends flesh and blood and becomes a creature of steel and strength.  While not created in the animated form, Superman (the man of steel) also exemplifies the American male image: Strong, Moral, and unflinchingly patriotic.  In the example given by Wells, Superman rescues Lois Lane from the nefarious Nazis, who are so lost in savagery that they are reveling in the idea and the practice of human sacrifice.  It is not uncommon to demonize the enemy during war (although, admittedly it is not terribly hard to demonize the Nazis) and the strength of a man of steel is the only way to defend American values.

The sexuality of cartoon characters are shown in two distinct ways.  Male characters are depicted in the way in which they act and the dominance they show, whereas female characters are distinguished by their appearance.  And the common occurance of a animated character dressing in the opposite gender’s clothing for the purposes of either deception or comedy only further muddles the issue of sexuality.

B.)          Given the reading for this week I decided to examine a video that showcases the racist stereotypes prevelant in animation.

This short features Bugs Bunny dancing and extolling upon the audience to support the war effort by purchasing war bonds.  However, the patriotism gives way to a blackface performance of a minstrel song by Bugs Bunny.  The animation is orthodox in its style and sadly, very racist in its presentation.  

C)            I have found a few more articles concerning intertexuality across media so, I hope to integrate them into my current research.   

“Abstract Animation: Symphony of Motion”

Matt Jones

Post Five

 “Abstract Animation: Symphony of Motion”

Abstract animation relies on the relaxation of certain parts of the brain and the openness of viewer to interpretation of the images.

A)           In doing the readings for this week, I felt that two concepts leapt to the forefront.  The first being the need for the relaxation of the logic-centric left hemisphere of the brain to allow the right hemisphere to open up and take in the images presented.  The second is the importance of music in abstract animation. 

                The first concept is based on the theory that the left hemisphere of the brain controls logic and is useful when watching a typical narrative film.  This cause-and-effect, linear method of presentation fits with this area of the brain which controls such logical thought.  However it can be difficult when watching a piece of abstract animation.  The shutting down of the left hemisphere and the opening up is most present when sleeping and dreaming.  Because of this, the right hemisphere-centric abstract animation is able to operate “thematically, rather than literally”. (Furniss, 250)  By offering nothing concrete for the left-hemisphere to rationalize, abstract animation can cause an uninitiated viewer a feeling of anxiety or immense confusion.  However, if the viewer is able to allow themselves to be put in the right (pun slightly intended) frame of mind, they may be able escape into the film where interpretations are free to be made in the mind of the viewer.

                The subject of mandalas also ties into this relaxing of the left hemisphere.  Mandalas are symmetrical, often circular images that “have symbolic meaning...and often are used to assist concentration and meditation”.  (Furniss, 253)  Mandalas are thought to work on two levels: one, allowing those viewing them to ease into a meditative state and two, as they appear as a recognizable symbol of the subconscious that structures the experience of meditation.  Abstract animation works in a very similar manner, particularly Opus No. 1 by Walter Ruttman, which will be covered in greater detail. 

                Music in the abstract animated film is an incredibly important ingredient.  Many films use known pieces of music to aid the viewer in the accessing the right-hemisphere of the brain and the meditative state that it can produce.  The music also acts as a companion to the animation, often in a synchronized manner.  The combination of the visual and the aural senses was studied by Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras.  Although famous for his eponymous mathematical theorem, his efforts were conducted to find a connecting the essence of all matter and life.  This search for connectivity exists in the melding of the abstract animated film and the music or soundtrack that accompanies it. 

B.)          After reading the Moritz essay I became intrigued and sought out Walter Ruttman’s Opus, No. 1: 

                A full description of the video would be pointless and would do a great disservice to the work.  It exists as a hypnotic series of shapes dancing across the screen.  The images exist in a patternless pattern consisting of circular shapes, spectral brushstroke-like images, and blobs of color crawling along the bottom of the screen.  All shapes are accompanied by a string quartet.  The pace becomes more frenetic as the soft, sometimes amorphous shapes are replaced by a sharp-angled, triangular shapes penetrating into the screen.  Later, rectangular shapes swipe through the side of the frame, resembling meat cleavers.  This work is incredible to watch in that it is very hypnotic, yet never grows boring.

C)            As discussed in my second assignment, due to a lack of research on the material, I have switched my final project slightly.  Now I am writing about the intertextuality found in The Simpsons.  There is a wealth of information on this topic and I believe I may have found a new angle to the idea of intertextuality as it relates to The Simpsons.   

Early Animation: Influences and Innovators

Matt Jones

Post Three

 “Early Animation: Influences and Innovators”

In order to understand the history of animation, one must consider all the innovations that came at the outset, as well as those who innovated and were largely forgotten.

A)           In the second chapter of his book Before Mickey: The Animated Film 1898-1928, Donald Crafton examines some of the precursors to the animated film and the influences they may have had on the evolution of the animated film.  He gives an example of how the western film was influenced by several forms of media which predate the invention of the film (“Dime Novels” and “Gaslight Melodrama” for instance).  Crafton is quick to point out that while the assumption may be that early films borrowed their narrative structure from comic strips, he declares this assumption to be a false one.  Instead he posits that early films borrowed their narrative structure from vaudevillian theatre in their approach to storytelling.  The stationary camera prevented excessive movement from the frame, and the application of cross-cutting in editing had yet to be implemented, therefore early films primarily consisted of staged actors or subjects and a camera capturing their movements on a small stage-like frame.  In much the same way as a vaudeville show would perform their act from a single stage, the film had little room for depth and movement.  However, early cinema did borrow small gags and jokes that had previously been seen in comic book strips.  For example Arrodeur et Arose (Tables Turned on the Gardener) (Lumiere, 1895) featured a gag wherein a gardener is watering his garden with a hose when a precocious boy steps on the hose and stops the flow of water, the gardener examines the nozzle of the hose and is met with a spray of water from the now unblocked hose.  This joke had been previously seen in several newspaper comic strips.

                

          One of the pioneers in the world of trick-photography and animation was James Stuart Blackton.  Crafton brings to light his first dalliance with the motion picture industry as he was called upon to sketch the “Black Maria”, the revolving studio built by Thomas Edison to film his kinetoscope pictures.  Although Blackton is seen as a pioneer and early contributor to animation he later grew to abhor the art form he had such a great hand in revolutionizing. 

                

          Crafton also mentions a form of theatre which would soon be incorporated into motion pictures both in appearance as well as underlying theory.  The lightning sketches, a show wherein the artist would stand beside an easel and begin to narrate a story.  As the narration progressed he would draw a picture which would be added upon and become a picture of another subject.  This would continue until the image and the story had reached their conclusion.  Soon after, several films appeared some featuring Blackton himself, that featured these shows unfold before the eye of the camera.  These shows were incredibly important to the development of animation in that it showed the artist as a magician, as a controlling entity who brought these drawing to life.  This underlying theory can be found in many animated shorts such as Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones, 1953).

                The history of the animated film is filled with those who pioneered and paved a way for modern animation.  Unfortunately, while some such as Walt Disney or Chuck Jones are forever remembered for their contributions others are forgotten and relegated to the back pages of dense books.  One such luminary was Lotte Reiniger, who is the focus of William Moritz’s essay “Some Critical Perspectives on Lotte Reiniger”. 

                Reiniger was born in Berlin at the end of the Eighteenth century.  She developed a hobby of cutting silhouettes out of paper.  After deciding to become an actress she was able to help fund her tuition to Max Reinhardt’s Drama School by cutting out silhouettes of the stars of the day.  This led her to become employed by Paul Wegener to animate the titles for his films Rubezahls Hochzeit (Rumpelstilskin’s Wedding) (Paul Wegener, 1916) and Der Rattenfanger von Hammeln (Pied Piper of Hammeln) (Paul Wegener, 1918).  From this work she was given the opportunity to create several short animated films, all of which were met with critical and commercial success.  It was the success of these shorter works that convinced financeer Louis Hagan to invest in a feature length animated film Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (The Adventures of Prince Ahmed) (Lotte Reiniger, 1926) which predated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (William Cottrell & David Hand, 1937) by eleven years.    Reiniger continued to make films inspired by fairy tales and folk lore to great success. 

                Sadly, however, Reiniger has not enjoyed the mass acclaim that was afforded Walt Disney.  Moritz offers an explanation for this oversight. Unlike the films of Walt Disney, few quality copies remain of Reiniger’s films, which is unfortunate given her extensive filmography. 

B.)          After reading the Moritz essay I became intrigued and sought out some of Reiniger’s animation.  I found what appeared to be the title sequence to The Adventures of Prince Ahmed. 

 I was simply amazed.  For something so early the movement was so incredibly fluid and crisp, the silhouettes adding to the mystique of the tale.  I believe this would be considered an early example of Orthodox animation.  The short clip shows the reliance on configuration as well as a logic in the movements of the characters.  

C)            My final paper still has yet to complete itself, however I have discovered some research done regarding Clerks: The Animated Series and its subversion of the medium of television.  I have not found a wealth of information but several articles which have provided a nice start to the research.