Raine Azure

Raine Azure is an animated graduate thesis film, with a runtime of 6:27. This animation follows the story of March and Autumn, a brother and sister (respectively) tasked to protect a crystal altar that serves as the world\u27s rain dynamo. They set off to save the world from a beast which has stolen the power of the altar and upset the world\u27s balance. Along the way, March discovers that a balance exists between self-reliance and dependence on others. The primary goals during the production of this film were to explore and develop my skills in animation, character design, and music integration. However, due to the production pipeline, story development, rigging structure, and project management became unexpected points of development, until the primary goals returned within the last months of production. The film was produced in Toon Boom Animate Pro 3, via a 2D cutout animation workflow. Music was produced via Cakewalk Sonar X3, utilizing virtual instruments from IK Multimedia, Kong Audio, and Garritan, amongst others. This document covers all aspects of the film creation process from start to finish. Challenges, revelations, failures, and successes are covered here

Japanese media cultures in Japan and abroad: Transnational consumption of manga, anime, and media-mixes

Reprinted Special issue of ARTS (2018

A PROPOSED CHARACTER ANIMATION WORKFLOW FOR DIGITAL PRODUCTION ARTS WITH PREPARATION FOR CLOTH DYNAMICS

In a fast-paced production studio, procedures and standard operating practices have been created to ensure maximum use of resources, while being flexible enough to account for problems that might arise. For the animation section of the pipeline, it is imperative to produce animation in a timely manner so that the other sections of the pipeline that are dependent on animation can begin at an appropriate time. Using \u27Mileena Malign\u27 and \u27SpaceCat\u27 as case studies, a possible workflow for computer animation--specifically as it pertains to preparation for cloth dynamics--is developed, with highlights on the advantages and challenges encountered. This thesis presents a method for efficiently and effectively creating animation within a multi-tiered CG production pipeline

Crowdfunding Japanese Commercial Animation: Collective Financing Experiences in Anime

This paper offers an exploration of the incipient development of crowdfunding anime projects for short and medium-length films. Japanese commercial animation is characterised by the support of a strong production industry that primarily targets local audiences through cross-media projects, developed in synergy with other cultural sectors (such as the publishing industry, record labels or video game developers). The growing acceptance of anime in markets around the world has strengthened it as one of the most well-known forms of Japanese popular culture and has also resulted in changes to some of the dominant dynamics of its production to adapt to technological innovations. One of these changes has been the rise of crowdfunding, an increasingly popular form of financing involving the patronage of fans from all corners of the world who want to participate in these audiovisual projects. This paper analyses the response to some of the more popular initiatives from a historiographical perspective on the production and reception of commercial animation and the main theories related to the relationship between the hyperactive nature of Japanese fandom and collective financing. The conclusions include the confirmation of the increasing receptiveness to anime crowdfunding among potential sponsors—especially among fans based outside Japan on platforms with a global reach, such as Kickstarter—and a consideration of the transformative potential of this phenomenon for a precarious industry and its usefulness as a tool for exploring the viability of the production and distribution of projects by animation studios

Releasing The Power Within: Exploring The Magical Girl Transformation Sequence With Flash Animation

This studio-based thesis explores the universal theme of transformation within the Magical Girl genre of Animation. My research incorporates the viewing and analysis of Japanese animations and discusses the symbolism behind transformation sequences. In addition, this study discusses how this theme can be created using Flash software for animation and discusses its value as a teaching resource in the art classroom

Animating Race : The Production and Ascription of Asian-ness in the Animation of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra

How and by what means is race ascribed to an animated body? My thesis addresses this question by reconstructing the production narratives around the Nickelodeon television series Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-08) and its sequel The Legend of Korra (2012-14). Through original and preexisting interviews, I determine how the ascription of race occurs at every stage of production. To do so, I triangulate theories related to race as a social construct, using a definition composed by sociologists Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer; re-presentations of the body in animation, drawing upon art historian Nicholas Mirzoeff’s concept of the bodyscape; and the cinematic voice as described by film scholars Rick Altman, Mary Ann Doane, Michel Chion, and Gianluca Sergi. Even production processes not directly related to character design, animation, or performance contribute to the ascription of race. Therefore, this thesis also references writings on culture, such as those on cultural appropriation, cultural flow/traffic, and transculturation; fantasy, an impulse to break away from mimesis; and realist animation conventions, which relates to Paul Wells’ concept of hyper-realism. These factors contribute to world-building and the construction of cultural signifiers, which in turn can project identities onto animated bodyscapes. This thesis is structured around stages of production, including art design, writing, storyboarding and directing, martial arts choreography, music and sound design, voice casting and acting, and outsourcing final animation. At each stage, below-the-line personnel make creative decisions that result in the ascription of race. My findings challenge John T. Caldwell’s conceptualization of how production cultures operate, identifying multiple interlinked groups instead of just one. They expand upon the concept of the bodyscape to account for aural components in the construction of a racial identity. Finally, they build upon Maureen Furniss’ definition of animation as a continuum between mimesis and abstraction to incorporate the impulse toward fantasy

Korean Popular Music (K-Pop), Youth Fan Culture, And Art Education Curriculum

The advent of digital technologies has allowed the multi-directional distribution of cultural products and blurred boundaries between national popular cultures. This sociocultural condition opens up a global public sphere for youth so that they can actively participate as part of a transcultural audience of popular culture and communicate with their peers from all over the world. K-Pop (Korean popular music) is an example of popular content that has reached across the globe and attained a worldwide fandom through digital media platforms. The K-Pop industry proactively applied various strategies to utilize this media condition and target global youth. Considering the cultural experience of today\u27s youth, K-Pop can provide valuable educational opportunities in the art classroom. To navigate the current condition of digital media, in Chapter 1, I explore K-Pop music videos as examples of digitally mediated popular culture that introduce a national cultural phenomenon into the global public sphere. I also examine how K-Pop penetrates youth culture worldwide and generates their participation. In Chapter 2, I describe a research project that I conducted in Seoul, South Korea. The process of this project included the following steps: (1) decoding K-Pop media texts, (2) encoding participants\u27 own meanings through media production, and (3) sharing the finished media projects. Chapter 3 provides the primary findings from the research project, including the following: (1) the importance of teaching elements of media texts and digital languages, (2) the characteristics of media production by youth as understood through the framework of (Duncum, 2014), and (3) ambivalent attitudes toward critical issues in popular media texts. Through theoretical research, its application to a curriculum, and the curriculum\u27s implementation in a school setting, this project demonstrates howpopular media texts can be used as effective educational resources for youth in the digital ag