Major post 1: Genesis of anim.

Posted on by Sammy Liu

Before these history of animation lessons, I barely knew anything about its origin as it never caught my immediate interest. The most I knew would be from watching Tarzan; who had a scene of the Praxinoscope by Reynaud, and seeing glimpses of Disney’s old Mickey Mouse. Therefore, I’m entirely grateful and consciously appreciative of being able to watch animation from the very beginning, even if the early animations are very slow and unappealing – I feel very privileged to learn about its roots and grateful to the people who took the time to innovate techniques and systems, such as the optical theatre, peg system, slash system and the cel-animation technique that enabled us to be where we are today.

In terms of genre, seeing how most of the early animations were generally very quirky yet dark, showed a glimpse of the mindset of that time. I thought it is very amazing how a short clip can carry so many other aspects, such as culture, mannerisms and lifestyle.

It is also very interesting how a lot of the ‘business men’ created shorts with the theme of ‘work’, for example in the “Felix the cat” shorts. They lead the idea of how art and entertainment can come together to make money – which opened even more opportunities for creatives to make a living in the future.

Sammy Liu

Pre-Quarter Assignment

Posted on by Sammy Liu

My most recent favourite animator is Glen Keane, who was introduced by professor last quarter. Keane is one of Disney’s foremost lead character animators, having been a Supervising Animator for many classics such as; The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Tarzan.

The fluidity and swiftness of his mark-making seen in his animated shorts, such as Naphtali and Duet is definitely one of the reasons to why I adore his work. It’s sketchiness upon dynamic gestures gives his characters depth and life.

As well as Keane’s visible work, I absolutely love hearing his values and rooting stories that lead him to everything that he’s done; e.g. how his father was a massive inspiration for him throughout his life, or the first moment he saw his new-born daughter. It is very goose-bump-rising to hear how he put all of these very human experiences onto paper, into the characters, and to his audience to give everyone something very relatable and intimate.