AX1000: Contextual Studies in Animation (Semester 1)
Week 4 we have been asked to look at a few short animations outside of university lessons, first I looked at two animation first one is called Slim Pickings and second is The Cowboy both by Phil Mulloy, I don’t like the animation or character designs for either films. The stories are both politically motivated and both try to highlight the social confusion, maliciousness and the greed of man.
The second film I was asked to look at was animation called Little Wolf by An Vrombaut, I feel even though the animation and design style is a vast improvement from the previous animations it’s still not my favourite style, personally I don’t like the outer proportionate body limbs of the characters and the animation I feel is slightly lazy, in contrast I find the story is fun and enjoyable at it consists of a short story about little wolf who gets stuck hanging onto the moon but until the moon sets and he is able to jump down. An Vrombaut is also known for creating the children’s animation cartoon called 64 Zoo Lane, there is a similarity in the design style of the characters on Little wolf to characters from the other show.
Next, I was required to look at an animation by Darren Walsh called Angry Kid, this animation is well known to me as I saw the first series when it was released in the late 90′s, the Claymation is very good, and the episodes are very comical.
The following animation after is by Daniel Greaves and is called Flatworld, the visual design style of the animation appears as if the characters are 2d cut out drawn paper images, there is even reference to the strengthen this when the main character uses an eraser to shave his facial hair away, the animation is very clever plus the story is entertaining and comical.
The final animation i was asked to research is by Frederick Back called The Man Who Planted Trees, this animation is visually beautiful. The art style almost has a chalk on paper appearance to it and the story is interesting and captivating. The story itself is narrated and is about a person who comes across a lone shepherd in a barren valley and the single-handed quest the Shepard has created to re-forest the valley with trees.
