IV

There are two predominate schools of thought on animation: it’s either orthodox cel animation, or unorthodox experimental animation. They each have similar characteristics, but they oppose one another in intention, method, and material.

Cel animation is used by large studios like Disney to produce narratives, with character, story and plot. These animations are clean, and usually do not draw attention to the fact they are animations. Studios utilize a large number of animators and other personnel to create the completed film.

In contrast, the experimental animator often works alone. Plot and narrative are not of interest to these animators. They see themselves as artists, creating some abstract meaning from color and shape on a strip of celluloid. They often show the process of which the animation is made in the film itself, a kind of reflexivity. Experimental animation is also not locked into the flat two-dimensional form of cel animation. Many times these films mix 2D and 3D in constructing a new world of meanings.

My thoughts on these two opposing forms are: I enjoy each and I feel each has its appropriate uses. The first is obvious for storytelling and mass appeal. The second is better at searching for new meanings and discovering a new method for animation. I see each as artistic and important in understanding the other.

As far as bringing this understanding of modes of animation into the classroom setting and using each form, I am doing each this semester. In this class, we are mainly using the abstract to create interesting one minute films. In 495/497, I’m continuing my work on a narrative animation about a cat and mouse. Seeing both sides of animation allows me to think more outside the box in each instance. Sometimes one thing I learned in one class helps my animation in the other.