ArtsXpose #4
Apr 5th, 2009 by erynp
Title of Event: Animation Screenings
Date & Time: Friday, April 3, 2009 at 5:00-6:30pm
Location: CAVE Lab
Type of Event: Films
1. After receiving an email promoting this event, I decided to attend. However, when I arrived at the CAVE Lab there were only two other visitors who showed up to watch the animations. A member of CAC (Computer Art Club) had organized the event and had brought popcorn and cherry coke for those of us in the audience. He started the evening’s lineup of animations with a piece called Sleeping Betty that was created using India ink. Next he played a series of commercials from a DVD put together by an organization called Stash. The commercials ranged from advertising Coke products and Nike shoes to condoms. After each video clip the audience commented on whether they liked it or not and pointed out the parts they enjoyed the most. The student in charge of playing the videos commented on techniques and programs implemented within each piece. Although I was not familiar with the programs he mentioned, for example Maya and Blender, it was interesting to hear about them. Music videos done in stop motion were also seen, as was an episode of a cartoon series that implemented 2D and 3D elements within the animation.
2. The first animation, Sleeping Betty, was one of my favorite films of the night. As I mentioned previously, this animation was created using India ink. The colors used were grays, blues, yellows, greens, and reds. The type of humor within this piece reminded me of the Monty Python series and the style emulated the Monty Python films’ animation scenes. While this animation and several other animations were humorous, there were a couple of short animations that were extremely strange and dark. For example, the film titled The Veiled Commodity, was about slavery and stressed the fact that slavery still occurs today. This piece was constructed in very dark and ominous colors and was mostly drawn in black and white, while red was used as an accent color. Overall, I was impressed by the variety of animation techniques that were presented which made me more interested in making animation my major. Although the actual films shown were enjoyable, it would have been helpful had the art student who organized the event put more effort into audience involvement in a critique of the work shown. Furthermore, I would have liked the opportunity to ask questions about the films or certain animation programs which were mentioned during the screening.
3. The piece that impressed me the most was a film done almost completely in stop motion photography. The artist had created miniature human puppets that he placed tightly together on a passenger train. The entire scene was shown through a woman passenger’s view and her interactions with the other characters sitting around her. It was interesting that the artist decided not to include any words within the piece but you could understand what was going on through her movements and facial expressions. However, to further express the character’s emotions through body language, the artist had filmed actual eyes and digitally overlaid them onto the character’s face. Personally I felt the message in this film was unclear because a lot of the scenes reminded me of a dream sequence and there was no definite ending. Perhaps I will need to watch this film again to notice all the detail found within this piece.
4. (10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1)
5. I decided to rate this event a 9 because I enjoy watching animations, whether commercials or actual episodes for television stations, and learning about how they are created. Furthermore, the atmosphere of the event was very relaxed, making it easy to speak about the pieces with each other. There could have been more organization to the set-up of the event, but perhaps this aspect will improve as more viewers show up to these soon-to-be monthly screenings. Finally, I would have liked to have seen at least a couple examples of student work as apposed to all professional work. I think this would have given me more inspiration to take some animation courses. I could then see what BGSU’s 3D program was capable of. Overall, I had a great time and will defiantly come back for any future screenings.