Hmmmm...

Movies such as A Christmas Carol and Beowulf both use CG to create a sense of realism for the characters. As I look at these animated films, I see a high level of detail and polish. I also see films that try too hard to imitate live action. It's truly amazing what technology can do now, being able to replicate nature on screen without using real people. My question, though, is what is the point? Why try so hard to reproduce Nature when you can go beyond it? Animated movies like Up and Kung Fu Panda are believable, but rather than try to reproduce every detail seen in reality, the filmmakers exaggerated elements. Instead of opting for photorealism, Up and Kung Fu Panda go for a more abstract hyperrealism. Both films seem realistic and are believable, but you can tell that they are deliberately separate from reality. They're meant to be animation rather than real. The biggest weakness of A Christmas Carol and Beowulf is that they almost possess the negative traits of the uncanny valley.

30 days of Night

The comic series 30 Days of Night, which is written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ben Templesmith, became a success after being released. The art style for the comic is interesting because there are no "realistic" renderings of figures or backgrounds. Instead, Templesmith's stylized version of reality builds up the eerie atmosphere that the story calls for. The plot of the story centers around a town in Alaska where a town literally experiences thirty days without sunlight. Once vampires close in on them from the darkness, a group of people must somehow survive the thirty days before a glimpse of daylight.

The movie adaptation of 30 Days of Night came out in 2007 and stars Josh Hartnett and Melissa George. I think the film did the comic enough justice, especially it captured the atmosphere perfectly. Like the comic, the vampires were something to be feared. I think this film helps reinvigorate the vampire genre because it actually makes them something to fear instead of something to love like Twilight.

A Review

The recent post on Cartoon Brew shows an independent animated film, by Paul Fierlinger, called My Dog Tulip, that will be distributed in the US. A brief synopsis of the film is a lonely old man becomes best friends with his dog, who seems an unlikely companion. They share a connection that is unspoken but felt. Although many people may not relate to having just a dog as a friend, most people can relate to the occasional feeling of loneliness.

As I looked at the trailer, which can be found on Cartoon Brew, I was intrigued about the art style used. The color and design of the backgrounds was relatively subdued, making the main characters pop forward with emphasis. The color palette is light, almost with a watercolor finish. As far as the animation goes, the style is not too naturalistic. The movement is inconsistent with reality, but works because it uses animation for the sake of exaggeration rather than using the medium as a means to duplicating Nature. Based on the trailer, the characters are so believable because their emotions seem genuine rather than artificial.

Review of Corpse Bride

I recently re-watched Corpse Bride after many years. After reviewing the film a few times, I have picked up on new things that I didn't consciously think about when it first came out. The film was directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton, the latter of which produced 1993's A Nightmare Before Christmas. Honestly, I expected a lot from Corpse Bride based on the success of its predecessor. Although the film, to me, didn't leave as much of an impact on me as did A Nightmare Before Christmas, I still believe it is a good animated movie.

The animation looks polished but still retains the charm of stop-motion's slight rawness. The art style of the film is spectacular, using juxtaposing elements to emphasize the story. For example, the protagonist Victor lives in Victorian town, where the color scheme is deliberately cold, in order to convey oppression and conformity. On the other hand, once Victor enters the realm of the dead, the color scheme changes to vibrant colors, representing life and liberation.

A Return to Form...

Disney's The Princess and the Frog came out in theaters on December 10, 2009 with much anticipation. Before being released, critics were curious to see how audiences would react. If you already don't know, this film is a return to traditional hand-drawn animation for Disney after many years of CG. There has been this misconception that the artform was dead and that only CG was the future. The common reasoning behind this was that audiences were no longer interested in seeing hand-drawn animation after the success of 3-D.

After the string of successes from Pixar and others whose films happened to be in 3D, some people studying the business model came to the conclusion that only the implementation of 3D would be viable financially and that hand-drawn was a thing of the past. Thankfully, big names like John Lasseter believe that story and character are the most important thing regardless of the medium used to get those points across. Films are successful because audiences care about the characters, not the equipment used to make the movie.

Color

Red represents passion and aggression. It can also mean danger or blood. Blue represents calmness but can also represent depression. Are their truth to these sayings? Are there universal meaning represented by color alone? Some would say that if classroom walls were red, students were more prone to get into fights or be likely to talk. Classroom walls with subdued colors are thought to be conducive to educational productivity.

What contributes to this? I believe that society programs such thoughts into us but there may be some truth to much of this. For example, it is believed by some that we are afraid of the dark because our stone-age ancestors had to be wary of big predators at night.

Album Art...

Album art is something that I've started to pay more attention to after being more conscious of design. There's something intriguing about having to create a work of art around the idea of somebody else's work of art-music. The OK Computer's album cover above was done by Stanley Donwood, who created a synthesis of text and collage elements into the design. The color palette is generally cool, with a small touch of red-orange somewhere off-center. The subjects in the collage seem to be urban environments, with the obvious road making its way throughout the composition.

Listening to Radiohead's music from time to time, I think this album cover art fits perfectly with their message, especially for this album. OK Computer is not necessarily a concept album but has a common theme of alienation and paranoia in modern society. The overall design of the album's cover seems to show a world going so fast in a gloomy atmosphere. The album is not depressing but is rather enlightening about how some people feel about in today's world.