Has Feminism failed the British Animation Industry?

The paper was written to present at a conference which was run by the PCA/ACA, a group of scholars and enthusiasts, who study the popular culture--writing, sharing, and publishing in the field. Every year the PCA/ACA offers a venue to come together and share ideas and interests about the field or about a particular subject within the field. This year it takes place in St Louis, USA. The four-day schedule includes special topics presentations, area-specific invited speakers, social receptions, tours, film presentations, and area get-togethers. The presentation of the paper takes twenty minutes and is offered to the press and publishers that are present for publishing. My paper will analyse past, and present roles women have within the British animation industry and elucidate significant differences between these past and present roles. I have worked as a women in the animation industry for over twenty years in a variety of positions including writer, animation director, executive producer, voice artist, script advisor and judge for the British Animation Awards. I have also won various awards including Best Newcomer, Best Animation and the Golden Gate Award in San Francisco so the fact that there has been a recent demise of women in these jobs is significant. In the early to mid eighties, women mainly worked as trace and painters or production assistants rather than producers. Occasionally they worked as animation assistants. During the late eighties and nineties commissioning of animation changed in the UK and became dominated by two main sources, the BBC and Channel 4. Both were keen to commission new talent and many women were commissioned during this time including myself. Suddenly there was a glut of new women animation directors and creators, many of them making autobiographical or observational work that explored socialization and identity developing new discourses and models for women. The commissions were low budget and these directors were given a lot of creative freedom enabling them to explore and comment on social and sexual hegemony. During this time the UK was generally seen as a leader in the world of animation and many of the films including Silence, Death and The Mother, Bob’s Birthday, Crapston Villas, Pond Life, and Black Dog went on to win a variety of awards including Oscars, Baftas, various British Animation and international awards. After the millennium, changes to the heads of broadcasters at both Channel 4 and BBC, as well as the loss of financial support from ITV for Channel 4 meant the decline of the animation department. Channel 4’s original remit had been to commission innovation and with the aid of ITV’s funding they could take more risks than most broadcasters. This all changed and the animation departments at both channels have now degenerated to nothing. At the same time animated films which explore the voices of women have diminished, as well as women working in the key roles of producer or director in the commercial industry. This paper investigates the roles of women in the UK animation industry in the past and looks at the expectations women have when entering the industry in today. My practical research usually takes the form of scripts and films but an examination of the roles of women today is something I feel is relevant to not just my own practice but my teaching

Indigenous Intellectual Property Rights: Ethical Insights for Marketers

Present copyright laws do not protect Indigenous intellectual property (IIP) sufficiently. Indigenous cultural artefacts, myths, designs and songs (among other aspects) are often free to be exploited by marketers for business\u27 gain. Use of IIP by marketers is legal as intellectual property protection is based on the lifetime of the person who has put the IP in tangible form. However, Indigenous groups often view ownership in a very different light, seeing aspects of their culture as being owned by the group in perpetuity. Misuse of their cultural heritage by marketers in products often denies the Indigenous group a monetary benefit from their use and is frequently disrespectful. This article discusses ethical insights that might shed moral weight on this issue

The Papal Encyclical \u3cem\u3eLaudato Si’\u3c/em\u3e: A Focus on Sustainability Attentive to the Poor

This article seeks to reflect upon Laudato Si’, the papal encyclical on ecology and sustainable development, and uncover its apparent philosophical and practical approach to the environment. It begins with a discussion of paradigms of thought that outline the new ecological paradigm (NEP) suggested in the ecological literature, thereby helping to situate the ecosophy of Laudato Si’ within current thought. As we will show, Laudato Si’ differs from the NEP by linking the poor to our approach to sustainability and in its consideration of integral ecology. Specific principles for sustainability in business are then identified and strategic approaches are recommended, as are guidelines for an eco-justice approach to business and business education

Learning with naturalistic odor representations in a dynamic model of the Drosophila olfactory system

Many odor receptors in the insect olfactory system are broadly tuned, yet insects can form associative memories that are odor-specific. The key site of associative olfactory learning in insects, the mushroom body, contains a population of Kenyon Cells (KCs) that form sparse representations of odor identity and enable associative learning of odors by mushroom body output neurons (MBONs). This architecture is well suited to odor-specific associative learning if KC responses to odors are uncorrelated with each other, however it is unclear whether this hold for actual KC representations of natural odors. We introduce a dynamic model of the Drosophila olfactory system that predicts the responses of KCs to a panel of 110 natural and monomolecular odors, and examine the generalization properties of associative learning in model MBONs. While model KC representations of odors are often quite correlated, we identify mechanisms by which odor-specific associative learning is still possible

Does the Current British Higher Education system really prepare graduate animation students for a developing and changing industry?

There is a current trend in UK and Europe for animation students to work on group projects during their studies. ‘Creativity is not purely an individual performance. It arises out of our interaction with ideas and achievements of other people. It is a cultural process.’ (Pg 12. Robinson). Gobelins in Paris, was one of the first animation schools to start this trend and the final films were slick and professional with an incredibly long list of credits. Many of the graduates went straight into industry working as technical operators, animation assistants or riggers and many UK animation schools soon followed suit supported by institutions like Skillset (a UK government body set up to link industry with education). The idea has been championed by industry and a trend has started for animation courses to apply for Skillset or other similar accreditation bodies to give their courses a stamp of approval. These accreditation bodies have a say in how the course curriculum is taught and if the courses don’t follow their advice, there is a danger that this stamp of approval will be removed. The question is, does this turn out interesting creatives or factory style technicians specialising in one skill to fit into a large team of people. Robinson also goes on to say, ‘Creativity requires an atmosphere where risk taking and experimentation are encouraged rather than stifled’ (Pg 12. Robinson) . Is this ‘group work training’ a short sighted solution for today’s industry creatives and directors to solve an immediate skills shortage or will this stratégy keep the British animation industry at the cutting edge of creativity and innovation on the worldside stage

Is the Straight role in Comedy essential and why is it usually played by a women in animation?

The straight ‘man’ in stand up comedy or sitcom gives the eccentric character a presence to play against. It has long been accepted as an essential part of the process. “Well the straight guy is never given enough credit ….(Bud) Abbot gets no credit for framing a gag, for the architecture, for the support, for the drive. He does everything except the punchline; he’s amazing.” Mel Brooks. It is thought that if all or both characters were larger than life, they compete rather than compliment. Would scripted comedy work without this element or is it an essential part of the process? For many comedy writers, this element is an essential part, and animation is no exception, but a woman usually plays this role particularly in adult animation. Think Marge Simpson in the Simpsons, or Lois in Family Guy, or even Mummy Pig in Peppa Pig. Why do we find it funny to watch a woman being the voice of reason against an illogical and over emotional man? Or is it in fact the opposite? Is it funny because it is a given that men are organized and in control and women are hysterical so to see this reversed is ridiculous and funny. Is this a reflection of society today or is it in fact a reflection of the hierarchical sexist structure of the animation industry today? Why is it that most animation is still scripted and directed by men and how does this cater for the female experience? Women make up half of the population so where is the female voice in relation to the adult animation industry today? Live action TV comedy and stand up seems to have many larger than life funny female characters. Think Rosanne, French and Saunders, or Debra Digiovanni. Where is the equivalent of these female voices in the animation industry today? This paper looks at the function and importance of the straight character in comedy using examples from a taster for a comedy series staring British Actress Alison Steadman. It analyses why this role is over looked and often unappreciated and then looks at why the straight character in specifically adult animation is predominantly a woman

The romanticism of Edgar Allan Poe

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1942. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive