The evocation and expression of emotion through documentary animation

How might an animator distil and study emotion? Could animation itself be a means to unlock meaning that previous experiments have not been able to access? Animation has the power to both highlight and conceal emotions as expressed through body movement and gesture. When we view live action (human interview) documentary footage, we are exposed not just to the spoken words, but the subtle nuances of body movements. How much might be lost when documentary footage is transposed into animation, or indeed, what might be gained, translated through the personal and artistic view of the animator? Drawing on my own previous experience as a games animator, now using research through practice methodology, this paper explores the results of the first of a series of animations created to explore the more subtle nuances of gesture. Though the medium of a documentary style interview, opposing topics are used to evoke strong emotions; firstly of happiness, then of sadness, with a view to accessing real rather than acted (simulated) emotions and their associated body movements

The evocation and expression of emotion through documentary animation

How might an animator distil and study emotion? Could animation itself be a means to unlock meaning that previous experiments have not been able to access? Animation has the power to both highlight and conceal emotions as expressed through body movement and gesture. When we view live action (human interview) documentary footage, we are exposed not just to the spoken words, but the subtle nuances of body movements. How much might be lost when documentary footage is transposed into animation, or indeed, what might be gained, translated through the personal and artistic view of the animator? Drawing on my own previous experience as a games animator, now using research through practice methodology, this paper explores the results of the first of a series of animations created to explore the more subtle nuances of gesture. Though the medium of a documentary style interview, opposing topics are used to evoke strong emotions; firstly of happiness, then of sadness, with a view to accessing real rather than acted (simulated) emotions and their associated body movements

A study of an 'African aesthetic' in character designs for animation through an analysis of the work by Kenneth Shofela Coker

Research Report for Master of Arts in Digital AnimationThis research paper attempts to define what constitutes towards an ‘African aesthetic’ and how this can be applied to character designs so as to have an African identity in animation. The African continent has a multitude of diverse cultures that have a distinct visual language. The research investigates how culture and religion influence these motifs and how they are given meaning. The Yoruba people are an ethnic group that resides in West Africa and they have one of the oldest art histories on the continent making them ideal to reference in this paper. There is a very limited amount of archived information on African art in the pre-colonial era especially when it comes to specific visual reference, so the research also explores how mythology and oral tradition can be used by an artist as inspiration. There are difficulties in defining an African aesthetic due to the diverse number of cultures; however, many scholars like Susan Vogel and Rowland Abiodun, have come up with elements that they found common in most in African art. These elements are also investigated as part of this report and analysed to see how they can be implemented in character design. Psychologists believe that people can identify an individual’s personality from their behavioural traits that create a general impression. This is due to human social interaction. Part of this research will look at the theoretical principles of character design and how visual stereotypes are a great tool for an artist to use, to get an idea across. The paper will break down a character’s physical features in terms of shape, colour and proportions and discuss how these can contribute to a character’s visual design. The case study in this research paper will examine the work of Kenneth Shofela Coker, who is an African character designer and animator who is currently based in the United States of America. It will mainly concentrate on the character designs in his two animated short films entitled Oni Ise Owo (2007) and Iwa (2009), and how he implemented some of the principles discussed in this paper. This research provides a platform for African artists to explore the possibility of an African character design style and encourages more scholars to study what constitutes an African aesthetic so as to build a more comprehensive visual archive

Eine Annäherung an den Avantgardismus? Amateur-animation und das Ringen mit der Technik

The chapter examines the status of animation within the emerging British amateur cine movement of the interwar decades, and introduces a case study of the work of the British animator, Alan Cleave

A sweetspot for innovation:developing games with purpose through student-staff collaboration

Within industry as well as academia, developing games that have wider impact on society has been of particular interest in the last decade. The increasing use of terms such as ‘games with purpose’, ‘serious games’ and gamification’ has been mirrored in a flurry of activity in games research. Broader applications of games beyond entertainment are now well-understood and accepted, with universities and companies excelling in creating games to serve particular needs. However, it is not explicitly clear how undergraduates of game design and development courses can be directly involved in serious game creation. With most undergraduates inspired by commercial games development, and the games industry requiring that universities teach specific technical skills in their courses, balancing the research aspirations of academics with the educational requirements of an appropriate undergraduate course can be a difficult balancing act. In this paper, the authors present three case studies of games with purpose developed through collaboration between undergraduate students and academic staff. In all cases, the educational value of the projects for the students is considered in relation to the research value for the academics, who face increasing demands to develop research outcomes despite a necessity to provide a first-rate learning experience and nurture future game developers

Moving beyond the limits of language: autobiographical narrative in animation shorts

The paper examines five animated shorts by different artists which explore autobiographical themes. The main areas under analysis are the themes themselves, narrative structures, visualisation and the motivation for each artist in making their film. A particular concern is whether therapeutic benefit has resulted for the artist both in terms of the animation production process and in the potential of the films to communicate a personal truth