Notes on Animator Presentations

Notes on Animator Presentations

1. Matt Groening 

Matt Groening is an American cartoonist, most famous for 'The Simpsons' and 'Futurama.' He was born on the 15th of February 1954. He is also a screenwriter, producer, animator, author, musician, comedian and voice actor! He attended the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. This school was a liberal arts school and during his time there, he was the editor of his school's magazine, drawing entertaining cartoons and writing the occasional article. 

His biggest inspirations were Linda Barry and Charles M Schulz. His interest in becoming a cartoonist began when he watched the animation created by Walt Disney Studios. His favourites were Dumbo and 101 Dalmatians.  

The Simpsons & Futurama

'The Simpsons' is probably Matt Groening's most famous piece of work. It was first shown in 1989 and is still shown all over the world today in many different languages. A movie was made from it in 2007, starring all of the show's most well-known characters.

Futurama premiered in 1999, but was in no way as successful as 'The Simpsons,' as it was cancelled after four short years. Fortunately, 'Comedy Central' brought the show back for a while before the fins episode was shown in 2013.

Techniques

The entire process of creating one episode of 'The Simpsons' takes about nine months altogether. Firstly, the script has to be finalised, before it is sent off to the animators who create story boards and rough sketches of how they want the show to appear. The voice track is then added to a series of black and white sketches of these story boards. Once this has been finalised and checked over several times, the drawings are sent off the Korea, where they are coloured in and then shot once again before being linked to the voice track once more. 

Once the music has been added, and the writers and producers have viewed the episode is is ready to be aired on television. 

The Purpose of his Work & his Appeal to Audiences

'The Simpsons,' although a children's show, contains some quite controversial material. Many members of the public decided that Bart Simpson was a bad role model for young boys due to his behaviour in the show and how he treats his peers and parents. Due to this, any merchandise to do with the show was banned in many American state schools.

On the other hand, 'The Simpsons' is one of the most successful cartoons around today, and has aired over 550 episodes to date. 

Due to Groening's success with 'The Simpsons,' he decided to create 'Futurama for a more mature audience. 

Who did Groening inspire?

Matt Groening's work has had a huge influence on many cartoonists and animators. Shows such as 'Family Guy' and 'American Dad' have taken many ideas and influences from Groening's ideas of animation. Groening is known for being one of the main influences in the world of animators.

The Principles of Animation & The Affordances of Animation

'The Simpsons' animation often exaggerates the characters' actions to emphasise their actions. These well loved character show appeal throughout the episodes, with their personalities and humorous natures. The scenes are very busy which gives the viewer a lot to look at instead of focusing on one particular action or character. 

2. Gorillaz

'Gorillaz' are a British band, formed in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.   The two friends created this original idea of having a completely animated band. Hewlett studied at North Brook College. By 1992, he had become a major creator in the comic industry, He is well known for his comic, Tank Girl.

'Gorillaz' started out as a 2D band, however, as technology advanced, they were able to animate their characters into 3D. Their first song they animated was 'Feel Good Inc.'

Techniques

'Gorillaz' use a number of varied techniques to create their animations and characters. Their latest album 'Plastic Beach' is completely 3D. They use a transition between 2D & 3D, which highlights important scenes like disturbing imagery. An example of this is 'Melancholy Hill.' Each video tells a different story for the audience. 

Work

'Gorillaz' have a huge range of work. Their first video is called 'Clint Eastwood' shot in 2001. All of their first videos were in 2D. As time progressed and 3D became a possibility, their animations became a lot more detailed. They have a Guinness World Record for being the most successful virtual band. Their album, 'Demon Days' was real eased in 2005 and went platinum five times in the U.K. Their debut album 'Gorillaz' sold over 7 million copies worldwide. 

 Examples of the 12 Principles of Animation

Secondary action is used repeatedly throughout their videos, where ghosted images remain after the actions of the main body. Slow in and Slow out is also used frequently for effect. Arc is also used, where a character falls back leaving the shape of his fall behind him. There is also pose to pose animation used, where some monkeys follow a human figure. The animators have animated the key poses and then have filled in the gaps with more frames to make the scene flow smoothly. There is also an appeal shot used in several of their videos.

Who have they influenced?

'The Gorillaz' are the first ever band to produce an all animated music video and have influenced many other bands. 'Arctic Monkeys' used clever animation in one of their recent videos, 'I Wanna be Yours' and Coldplay used animation for their hit 2012 track, 'Hurts like Heaven.'

3. Hanna Barbera

About

Hanna Barbera Productions was formed in 1957 by William 'Bill' Hanna and Joseph Barbera. It is an American animation studio that has dominated American television for over four decades. It is most famous for cartoons such as 'The Flintstones,' 'Yogi Bear,' 'Scooby Doo' and 'The Smurfs.' 

Hanna was born in New Mexico and Barbera was born in New York. The two first paired whilst working at the Metro Golwyn Mayer cartoon centre in 1939. Their first project was called 'Puss gets the Boot' in 1940.

Successes

Their first major success was the Huckleberry Hound Show in 1958. It was sponsored by Kelloggs Cereal. The shows contained three segments, one featuring Huckleberry Hound and another one starring Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo. 

'Scooby Doo - Where are you?!' was the first show on the Hanna Barbera Saturday morning show. It was created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. It was the result of CBS and Hanna Barberas' plans to create a non-violent Saturday morning programme. It is still one of their most famous cartoons with one of the most iconic characters - Scooby Doo.

'The Flintstones' is about a working class stone age man's life with his family and his next door neighbour/best friend. It was one of the most financially successful cartoons for three decades until 'The Simpsons' came along. It is often ranked as one of the best cartoons of all time.

Techniques

The company used many limited animation techniques such as the ring around the collar trick. This allowed them to produce cartoons on a low budget, quickly enough to meet the television schedule. Ring around the collar is a low-budget animation technique which shows the character wearing a simple item of clothing around their neck such as a scarf or a tie. 

Influences

They were influenced by older animations such as those by Walt Disney. Pinocchio, Dumbo and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Hanna Barbera cartoons appeal to audiences because they are simple but effective in making people laugh. Hanna Barbera's simple drawing and colour schemes have influced many cartoons over the years such as 'Family Guy' and 'The Simpsons.'

4. Walt Disney

Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5th 1901. He was an American cartoonist, filmmaker, voice actor and many more. He is a cultural icon, as he contributed to entertaining during the 20th century. He began at McKinley high school and took night courses at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He left school at the age of 16 to be in the army, but was rejected as he was underage. Instead, he drove ambulances in France. He moved to Kansas City to begin his artist career in 1919.

He was influenced by the artists Louis Grell and Ubbe Iwerks.

Catalogue of Work

All of Walt Disney's animations have similar styles. The drawings and sketches are similar to each other. For example, the facial expressions have a lot of detail and the body structure of all the characters is realistic. The characters were different from other animators which appealed to audiences. 

Techniques

There were lots of processes that Disney used had to go through to create animations. Disney created their much loved characters by using 'Imagineering' - a process that Disney made up himself. This term was a combination of imagination and engineering, involving a dreamer, a realist and a critic. 

The purpose of Disney's animations was to entertain children. The majority of his animations contain valuable lessons and distinctive characters that are famous world wide today. Most of his animations are used for positive purposes, with morals and lessons to teach the children watching. The reason why these animations were made was to appeal to audiences and trigger emotions such as sadness and happiness. 

How did Disney influence other animators?

Disney's animations influenced many other animators. Matt Groening - maker of 'The Simpsons' became interested in animating after he watched Disney's '101 Dalmatians.'

5. Yellow Submarine

'The Yellow Submarine' was a film created by 'The Beatles' as an attempt to finish a contract with United Artists. It was directed by Bob Balser and Jack Stokes. 

Stokes was an English animator, born in 1920. He trained at the Southend College of Art. By the early sixties he had created his own studio called Stokes Cartoons. 'The Yellow Submarine' is probably Stokes' most famous piece of work. He did a lot of work for the Beatles during his career including the title sequence for 'The Magical Myster Tour' and their mini television series called 'The Beatles.'

12 Principles of Animation & Affordances of Animation

* STRETCH AND SQUASH: When Ringo jumps across the screen his body squishes with each step to show that he is running fast. Also, when Ringo helps the Nowhere Man to get up their arms and the Nowhere Man’s body stretch to show movement and that force is being applied.

* STAGING: Ringo is staged separate from the rest of the group to show a difference in opinion.

* ANTICIPATION: Before the Nowhere Man spins on the spot, his body slightly squishes to show movement is about to happen.

* Artist Character, very unrealistic proportions and movement style.

* Nowhere Man is being liften by a headless peacock, completely impossible.

* When they are opening the doors the scenes inside are impossible: A giant gorilla breaking into a woman’s room, a train coming from the inside of a living room through the door.

* Colours and staging used within the repeated scenes of the song could not be recreated in real life without using CGI, a form of animation.