"In drawing and painting, images are not taken simply from what is observed in nature but originate on the flat surface of paper, canvas or walls. The surface imposes constraints that derive from its own perceptual properties: it favors certain procedures and discourages others. When the idiosyncrasies of the medium are ignored and their effect is attributed to what can be observed in nature, misinterpretations result. A few examples, selected at random, will lead to the principle exhibit of the present paper."
New essays on the psychology of art, Rudolf Arnheim
I have pondered why I may have chosen a format so conducive to 2 dimensional animation when I have previously had the most success with stop-motion. I have produced a number of short animations that are similar in technique to that which I intend to use here, so I suppose that it's not entirely new to me.
The beginnings of my relationship with the light-box
One of the first animations that I produced during my HND at City College was produced using paint on a light-box. Unfortunately I lost this animation somewhere in the transition from PC to Mac. I worked with a fellow student and we took it in turns to use a paintbrush to move the paint. The animation was inspired by a section of John Milton's Paradise Lost and contained mostly red and black images. I enjoyed the technique but wanted to try it on my own so I incorporated it into the next animation module that we did. Although it was a digital animation module I still managed to find a way to use this traditional technique by embedding it in a digital animation:
It's a bit of an odd animation, which might have more to do with my struggle with Macromedia Director, which was the software we were required to use for the assignment, than any trouble with the traditional technique. This was my first solo effort to animate in this way and I found it quite a natural way to work. I used the film Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922, Germany) as reference when animating and basically copied what I saw on screen. This is much easier than trying to translate 3 dimensional images into a 2 dimensional medium, when working from 'real life' there can be difficulties especially when something requires rotation or foreshortening.
When I eventually went back to the Art School I opted to use paint for one of the first assignments that we were set, which was to animate a change of expression. I tried using paint on a light-box at first, just to see if it was the right medium:
I didn't feel that it was very effective but I still wanted to work in a similar way so I started to look for other materials that I could use on a light-box. I happened upon some pine needles and wanted to see how they would act when animated. This was the end result:
I noticed when animating that as the pine-needles were long and thin they had their own way of moving. There was a certain lack of control that you wouldn't get when using sand or paint as the parts that you are moving are smooth/regular. As the pine needles are a somewhat awkward shape they have a tendency to move in a less predictable way. For me, there was something attractive about this. Not only to animate directly in front of the camera but also to use a medium that refuses to conform. I just felt that for me this worked.
Inspiration
Caroline leaf was one of the first animators that I researched when looking at using sand to animate with. I believe that I initially came across her work when studying at City College but revisited her work when at the Art School. She says of her own technique:
"I tell stories with my animation, and I have always worked directly under the camera, drawing, shooting it, changing the drawing, etc. To me it seems to be more alive than conventional cel animation, both to make it and to see it, for it is all made in one stage and the finished film shows my hesitations and miscalculations and flickers with fingerprints and quick strokes."
- Caroline Leaf
Russett, Robert, and Cecile Starr. "A Rising Generation of Independent Animators." In Experimental Animation: An Illustrated Anthology
Each frame that I create using this type of method is photographed then changed/destroyed, there is nothing remaining other than a sequence of photographs. Sometimes the individual frames don't even resemble the object that is in motion. For example, in order to animate the cat leaping in the 'Cat & Rat' animation (below) some frames were just a blur of movement:
The following are 2 of the frames that occur during the cats leap:
As you can see these individual frames barely resemble a cat but the frames, when shown in sequence as a movie suggest the movement of a cat, therefore the viewer recognises this series of shapes as a cat in motion.
Theory
This concept is something that has come naturally to me, to see that each individual image does not necessarily have to resemble the moving object, it just has to function as a frame in a sequence of frames. This relates to some interesting theory which looks at the perception of movement (Gestalt Theory). I know from my own experience of teaching animation that this can be a hard concept for students to grasp. Each image does not have to look perfect, as it's appearance is so fleeting that the brain barely registers it. This reflects the Gestalt theory that the whole differs from the sum of its parts (Sensation and Perception, By E. Bruce Goldstein) (See Below), this seems to relate to my own tendency towards the 'big picture' rather than the smaller elements that contribute towards it. It's a philosophy that I tend to apply to life in general, not just animation. We string images and events together in a way that forms some kind of conclusion or 'whole', this can sometimes lead to misinterpretation and is an excellent way to 'trick' the viewer into seeing something that is not there. In a sense the animator is deceiving the viewer by persuading him that the image is moving when it is not.
Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization
Source
What does the technique or medium say about the artist?
Going back to the question "What does the technique or medium say about the artist?", it could be assumed that I have chosen a 2 dimensional technique due to the origins of the triptych format. I may have been unduly influenced by my research, especially by looking at Bacon's Triptychs. (See 'Masters proposal' http://juliegarrod.blogspot.com/2010/03/v-behaviorurldefaultvml-o.html)
It may also be that as I am looking towards the unconscious for inspiration I needed a medium that would allow for improvisation. Stop-motion requires a certain amount of pre-planning as sets and models are sometimes required, things like lighting can be difficult and it can take a while to set up. In order for stop-motion to work well it seems to need some kind of concept and although it does allow for spontaneity I'm not sure that it can be as effective as the technique that I have chosen. In a sense I sometimes perform spontaneous movements with Elizabeth, as I make her perform movements that feel right at the time rather than storyboarding every part of the animation. However, this is still a far cry from the level of improvisation that I would like to occur in my Masters project.
I have found myself being drawn towards certain textures, photographing things that attract me like residue in a bathtub, grime on the side of a fridge or other similar looking areas that I come across.
The images of dirt are similar in a way to one of the first animated experiments that I produced in relation to the Masters project:
Fluidity
The following four images have a more fluid feel to them. I had used some gold paint which had been watered down to spray a pair of home-made angel wings for my nephews school nativity, and didn't get time to clean the bath after. The paint had dripped and pooled in the bath and it left some interesting textures.
These images influenced the paint and linseed oil animation.
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Unconscious influence
I didn't take the photographs with animation in mind. I simply saw something I liked the look of and took a photo. The fact that I am very messy gives me a lot of material to work with. The most recent animation to emerge from my trials is very fluid. I used a thinner oil (vegetable oil) so it is a compromise between the water that I used in the 'Rabbit Food' animation and the thicker linseed oil that I used with the paint.
The fluidity of the animation is very important to me. When I discovered that I enjoyed using pine needles as a medium and that it was because of their unpredictable behaviour, I realised that I would probably like to use other materials that had this kind of quality. Using fluids during an animation can be quite challenging but the results look very organic. Mixed with the flaked salt (which has irregular shapes and sizes) and pigment, the oil moves the other mediums in a subtle way. The salt has to soak up the oil before it can be moved fluidly and once it is saturated the oil clings to its sides and pools around it.
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What I have to ask myself is why am I attracted to these materials and are there other materials that might be even more apt? At the moment I like the oil and pigment, they work well together. When detergent is applied it repels the oil and this is also a very unusual effect. The flooding and repelling action can give quite a tidal look. Making indentations in the salt and filling them with oil and pigment until they burst is quite an emotional effect. It's not unlike an outburst of emotion. My thoughts are that this reflects my personality quite well. I tend to mostly be bursting with happiness/anger/frustration/excitement/indignation at any given time, there is rarely an in between especially when I am working. I believe I wrote in one of the core module essays that I felt that my creativity is like a tap which you can't turn off once its began.
When I am feeling low I tend to shower a lot. Generally being in or near water makes me feel better. Swimming cures my anger and frustration. When I shower I sit in the bottom of the shower and stay in there for at least 30 minutes. I like that the noise from the shower drowns out other noise, it adds a background hum that helps to block everything else out. Maybe I should consider this when thinking about the sound design? I had been thinking about trying to express the differing emotional qualities for each of the parts of the psyche (Persona, Ego and Shadow) visually but it could be interesting to see if sound would emphasise the feeling more effectively.
"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves."
Jung
ThinkExist.com Quotations Online
Of course I only have my own interpretations to go on and although I can put my actions in context I cannot view myself objectively in the same way that others could. I believe that I know what kind of objects (or materials) I love to play with but a big part of this project is to investigate why these materials are so attractive to me. Which aspect of my 'Self' is prominent when I work?
Bibliography (needs work):
Reflections in Psychology - Part I - by Saberi Roy (2009) Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Saberi_Roy (Accessed on 11/04/10)
Sensation and Perception, By E. Bruce Goldstein, pg 104, Cengage Learning 2009 Canada (Eighth edition)
Russett, Robert, and Cecile Starr. "A Rising Generation of Independent Animators." In Experimental Animation: An Illustrated Anthology, edited by Robert Russett and Cecile Starr. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1976. (p. 14)
Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922, Germany)
Paradise Lost, John Milton
New essays on the psychology of art, Rudolf Arnheim (pg 162) 1986, University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.
Gestalt Psychology, George Boeree, 2000 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/gestalt.html (Accessed on 12/04/10)
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/carl_gustav_jung/ (Accessed on 11/02/10)
http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/ss/gestaltlaws.htm (Accessed on 12/04/10)
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