May 2020 – Eloquent Doodles

Hey everyone! I hope we’re all well and safe in these strange times. These days, I’m looking for animations or art that will help me write my essay in the coming weeks. Therefore, I wanted to find films with a similar theme and I came across this short called ‘For The Birds’ by Pixar. I’ve seen this many times. However, the raw message of it really hit home when I searched for it [1].

(For The Birds, 2000)

My thoughts:

The first time I watched this, I found this so humorous! It’s so cute and funny. It depicts a story of bullying and how the bullies suffer from their own actions in the end.

Themes:

– Being different: The theme of being left out for being different is a key theme here. Visually different. The bird that joins is visually bigger and a different breed altogether.
– Strength in numbers: A natural instinct really. If it were one bird vs one bird, the scenario may play out different, especially as the bullied bird is much bigger and perhaps stronger.

– Belonging: A sense of longing to belong to a group. We see the singled out bird is eager to join in and make friends – as he perches himself right in the centre of the row of smaller birds.

– The last laugh: A lesson here for the bullies out there. You reap what you sow. This is a playful film with a serious message and educational value to youngters.

Title:
– I’ve been trying to figure out how to place my title for my short film this week and this actually helped alot. I considered modelling a fancy title but when I saw how effective a simple text layered over background could be – especially when time is limited in short films – I took inspiration from this!

The scenario here is not complicated – it is simply one scene – but they’ve managed to convey such a strong message while keeping the audience entertained and engaged – using a strong performance, interesting characters and beautiful visuals – there is so much to learn from here!

I hope you guys enjoyed this share 🙂

Until next week!
Stay safe!

Katie

References:
[1] For The Birds. 2000. [film] Directed by R. Eggleston. Pixar Animation Studios.

Hello, all!
Yesterday during the crit, Shaun shared a really unique piece of animation which features work from numerous animators across the globe. The direction and concept are credited to Studio Desk, Kathrin Steinbacher & Emily Downe . It encourages us in our current situation and it is titled Flatten The Curve [1].

I really like this because the message it brings is empowering. It highlights positivity in such uncertain times. Moreover, the fact that it features many animators across the globe – it brings a sense of unity in the animation community. This joint effort to create art is truly effective, especially when we often see divisive behaviour on the news. It makes me proud to be in this field!

Here are a few of my favourite shots in this series.

It was so cool to see so many different styles come together to create something so relevant the current climate.

What I like about Figure 1 and Figure 2 is the way the artist meshed two styles and gave birth to a whole new style altogether. In Figure 1, the coloured blocked person layered over the black and white illustrations really help make the character stand out and keep our eyes at the right place.

Figure 1. Animation & Sound: Iulia Voitova [1].

Figure 2. Animation & Sound: Iulia Voitova [1].

What I like about the following animators’ styles in figures 3, 4 and 5 is the texting of the brush strokes. It creates something really smooth similar to that of an oil pastel. The colour palette paired with the brush strokes creates a scene that is easy on the eyes.

Figure 3. Animation & Sound: Lewis Heriz [1].

Figure 4. Animation & Sound: Jenny Jokela [1].

Figure 5. Animation & Sound: Angela Stempel [1].

The following two shots in Figure 6 and 7 have a style that I’d like to explore. It’s a style that I can only describe as the perfect creative balance between fine detail and rough. The drawings are not filled in to a clean solid colour, giving the drawings a unique texture. I’d love to explore this style sometime soon!

Figure 6. Animation: Elisabetta Bosco / Sound: Francesco Maccario [1].

Figure 7 Animation & Sound: Louisa Kohlhoff [1].

Lastly, I love this shot (figure 8)! It’s what I would describe as minimal but effective. The shapes and sizes of each body part are an aesthetic of its own. The solid colours and line drawings compliment eachother – it’s something that I’d imagine being animated in After Effects.

These are all great inspirations for trying out different styles. Overall, it’s a great insight into what other animators are up to during these strange times. Let me know what you think!

Until next time,
Katie

References:
[1] Studio Desk, 2020. #Flattenthecurve – 1/3. [ Video ] Available at: <https://vimeo.com/414349909> [Accessed 8 May 2020].