Annotated Biography: 1
Prince, Stephen. 1996. “True Lies: Perceptual Realism, Digital Images and Film Theory.” Film Quarterly 49 (2): 27–37.
Stephen Prince explains a digital basis for realism in cinema in terms of what he calls 'perceptual realism'. Prince's presents how tools of image manipulation have changed over time for filmmakers, but also how these tools are used, and why they are used. However, digital visual effects are not just used for display in film, but are more often used narrowly as additions to already existing images. Prince's use of “perceptual realism” is important to understanding the purpose of digital visual effects, he describes perceptual realism as: “the replication via digital means of contextual cues designating a three-dimensional world”, meaning digital visual effects that are used in movies are usually meant to replicate reality through making objects or environments appear as they would if they were to exist in real life.
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Stephen Prince (True Lies). Article Image
Annotated Biography: 2
McClean, S. (2008) Digital storytelling: the narrative power of visual effects in film. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
In the third chapter of the book, McClean writes about the technology of digital visual effects and how it recognises motion capture technologies, but also how it is used in recent films. The author presents numerous perspectives of film critics and provides rhetorical questions and views on its offering to storytelling. Furthermore, in relation to narrative, Mclean expresses the point that digital visual effects have opened more possibilities of storytelling and how they have acknowledged other opportunities to express narrative in a more creative way. Moreover, the author’s views on performance capture technologies shows how she addresses the way motion capture can pick up on the subtle nuances of the human performer, the small expressions and subtle movements that bridge the audience to the character, whose performance is mapped onto a digital form.
Motion capture technology
Annotated Biography: 3
Gunning, T. (2006) 'The Cinema of Attractions: Early Film, Its Spectator and the Avant-Garde', in Strauven, W. (1.) The Cinema of Attractions Reloaded. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 381-388.
Tom Gunning explains 'the cinema of attractions' by talking about how the audience don't tend to focus on the narrative of a film, but instead when the audience watch a film they are more aware on the animations and thrill of the images, in other words the images itself play a more important role than the narrative. Moreover, cinema of attraction focuses to gain a communication with the audience by creating a clear visual impact, a quote from Gunning that got my attention was "It Is the direct address of the audience, in which an attraction is offered to the spectator by a cinema showman, that defines this approach to film making" (pp.384). As of today, this generation has more people watching films at home by the usage of broadbands services and also using the internet which intervenes the purpose of the movie theatre.
Cinema Of Attractions Film Theory
Manovich, L. (2001) 'Digital Cinema' ,The Language of New Media. Cambridge MA: MIT press.
Lev Manovich presents 'Digital Cinema' by explaining that it is a 'particular case of animation', Manovich goes on by saying that instead of using a camera and 'filming physical reality' we can now 'generate film-like scenes' with the help of '3-D computer animation'. The writer revealed various uses of computer imagery in usual filmmaking, Manovich included the use of digital compositing, digital scenery and digital actors but also digital motion capture performances. Furthermore, the writer highlights the arts of editing and special effects, he explains that both are merged into the technology of digital editing programs, and how in digital filmmaking the shot footage is not the last step/resource in creating a film anymore, but how 3-D computer animation has taken its place, as he quotes "production becomes just the first stage of postproduction" (pp.6/16).
Example
Annotated Biography: 4
'Shapes' (2011) The Code, Series 1, Episode 3, Box of Broadcasts, at: https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/01E00B35?bcast=68266791 (Accessed 14 October 2020).
In the code documentary episode "Shapes" Marcus Du Sautoy presents how fractal geometry can describe natural objects and also using the real world as an example to create life-like surfaces in computer animations. Du Sautoy interested me by explaining that there are only five perfect symmetrical solid shapes that exist in the world, and how they are the shapes that built the natural world. The presenter goes on to describe that by recreating Jackson Pollocks' techniques and using a machine which they named 'the Pollockizer', it is still able to copy a particular aspect of the artist's work, and that is that it appears the same no matter how closely you look at the paintings. At the end of the documentary Loren Carpenter demonstrated on how he created a mountain landscape on his computer using mathematics, he explained how he used over one hundred big triangles, and kept decreasing the size until he weren't able to see triangles anymore, what Carpenter discovered was by using the maths of fractals he could turn just a handful of triangles into realist virtual worlds.
Annotated Biography: 5
The Uncanny Valley By Masahiro Mori (Translated by Karl F . MacDorman and Norri Kageki)
In the article 'The Uncanny Valley', the writer explains the uncanny valley effect that was originated by a Japanese robotic professor, who goes by the name Masahiro Mori. Mori, based his observations about people's reactions to robots that looked and acted similar to a human. Moreover, the writer goes on to explain the effect in more detail on how we are likely to have a positive emotional response to a representation as it becomes lifelike, but until we figure out something is not quite right (uncanny) comes to our attention, we start to experience an eerie sensation which instantly we become negatively disposed to or we lose our sense of affinity, to the object. An example the writer gave in the article was to do with the prosthetic hand, "as this myoelectric hand makes movements, it could make healthy people feel uneasy" (2012,p99).
The Polar Express Example
What are the Twelve Principles of Animation?
Squash And Stretch
This action gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character as it moves. It gives a feeling of fleshiness, flexibility, and life to the animation
Anticipation
This makes the audience prepare for a major action the character is about to perform; the character is in the process of gathering some energy.
Staging
It's the presentation of an idea so that it is clear. For example, in a scene with plenty of action, the audience's eye will be drawn to an object at rest. Conversely, in a still shot, the eye will be drawn to the item in motion.
Straight Ahead & Pose To Pose
Pose to pose is charted with key drawings done in intervals throughout the scene and straight ahead action is the drawing out of a scene frame by frame from start to finish.
Follow Through And Overlapping
When the main body of the character stops, all other parts continue to catch up to the main mass, nothing stops all at once.
Slow In and Slow Out
As the action starts, there are more drawings near the starting pose, one or two in the middle and more in the next pose. The fewer drawings will make the action faster and the more drawings will make the action slower.
Arcs
All actions, with few exceptions, follow an arc or slightly circular path. Arcs give animation a more natural action and better flow.
Secondary Action
It's an additional action in the scene used as a supplement of the main one in order to reinforce it and add more dimension.
Timing
More drawings between poses, slow and smooth the action. Fewer drawings make the action faster and crisper. Timing maintains the appearance of an object abiding by the laws of physics.
Exaggeration
The animation remains true to reality it just presents it in a wilder more extreme form. This principle is used to push the movement further and add more appeal to an action, pose or expression.
Solid Drawing
It is taking into account forms in three dimensional space, giving them volume and weight.
Appeal
It is a quality of charm, able to please the viewer's eyes. It's the charisma of the action.
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