galaxy-mosaic

[galaxy-mosaic]

The Secret of NIMH (composition and story)

This is part of a series of film analysis which look to inform design and story insights. The Secret of NIMH is a feature length animation directed by Don Bluth who broke off from Disney to create his own studio. This film is special to me because the story was based on one of my favorite books during high school, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

* This post does not go into deep story analysis but there might be brief spoilers so please watch the film first.

VISUAL COMPOSITION

* There is a really nice use of the outdoors environment to use organic elements like gnarled tree limbs and curving plants as framing devices.

* A lot of the frame compositions place visual focus in the center of the frame. In a storyboarding course I’m auditing (Sergio Paez link at the bottom), this is a no-no. When there are two characters in the frame, the “rule of thirds” is used successfully. So I’m curious if the designer had a particular emotional motivation to place individual characters in the center of the frame or they just didn’t think about it.

* Note: I actually rewatched the film with a pad of paper and went through one of Will Weston’s composition exercises where you draw a thumbnail sketch of the current frame (really quickly blocking out with marker). I would like to include either sketches or actual film stills but am unclear about copyright restrictions to do this and so do not include visuals at this time.

STORY

* There is a successful pacing to the story. It feels fairly fast-paced with a series of events that build up tension and provide relief.

* Some of the scenes feel a little too scary for children (like the scene with the Great Owl and the chase scene with Brutus and Mrs. Brisby).

* I really liked how the story was adapted a little to incorporate a sense of magic in the characters of the Great Owl and Nicodemus. I honestly do not remember the role of the medallion in the original book but it felt right to the film. I felt the visual representations of magic and fantasy drew from that Disney knack for creating a space of wonder.

Credits (instructors who influenced me):

Will Weston - Animation Institute course Composition for Animation and Film (https://animationguild.org/about-the-guild/education/)

Leo Matsuda - Skillshare instructor in Storyboarding and Character Design (https://www.skillshare.com/classes/Learn-to-Storyboard-The-First-Steps-of-Visual-Storytelling/1076577766)

Sergio Paez - Storyboardart instructor in Storyboarding (https://storyboardart.org/free-video-storyboard-basics/)

Secret of NIMH on imdb (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084649/)

[galaxy-mosaic]

Thoughts on Animation Audience (Moana)

I watched the feature, Moana, in 2 ways.

On DVD (watching alone), I felt the animation was a lot of fun (particularly the storytelling through Maui’s tatoos had a really creative graphic style). I was touched by Maui’s personal story of trying to please man and always feeling to fall short somehow.

At the library (watching with a group of children and parents), I observed that the children really responded to the bird (whose humor I felt a bit slapstick to my personal tastes) and the children were mostly talking over the part of Maui’s personal story.

Conclusion: whoever(s) is writing the comedy for Disney really knows their core audience (which I find ironic b/c the writers must be adults). Although Moana is not one of my favorite animations, I can recognize that its style of humor and content hit the nail for Disney animation’s target audience.

[galaxy-mosaic]

Thoughts on Animation (The Prophet, Extraordinary Tales)

Michal Socha’s animation to the poem, On Freedom (part of the feature, The Prophet) stands out for me because of its simplicity, how the animation (story concept) marries with the poem content and yet manages to surprise the viewer, how visually poetic the animation style is (through a level of abstraction and its graphic style/transitions).

When previously watching some of the extras from the Prophet, I was a little surprised by how one of the producers stressed that the film was geared towards families with children. When actually, it appeared that the indie animators chosen to contribute to the project come across to me (in their work overall) as creators who are exploring how animation stories can be more than entertainment for children.

On re-watching the feature, Extraordinary Tales, I’m watching the extra about the making of the film. I was struck by the comments of Stephan Roelants and his interest (along with Raul Garcia) in exploring more “adult” stories (sometimes based on literature) which can expand the audiences of animation beyond children.

Also I found it interesting that the heads of the animation process for Extraordinary Tales looked to artists, illustrators/cartoonists for their inspiration for the visual design of each animation (ex Egon Shiele, Alberto Breccia).

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Schiele

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Breccia

[galaxy-mosaic]

vote 11.08.16

[galaxy-mosaic]

Bear 410 at Katmai NP. now is the time of salmon binging at Brooks Falls

[galaxy-mosaic]

The Hair (animatic)

(my notes are that it is a bit rough and some spots might need more details for transitions but wanted to get something out before drowning in a pool of perfectionism)

Music is by Фиорд (Игорь Фасхеев) https://soundcloud.com/southerncitylab/d9zlp21zjo5s

Music and Video Licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/#

[galaxy-mosaic]

testing out caricatures. Juan Garcia Esquivel. done on iPad using SketchClub app. recently discovered that the free styluses (stylii?) work better than the one I paid for b/c they have less screen friction. still figuring out his eyes.

[galaxy-mosaic]

#squid

[galaxy-mosaic]

Clan

Here’s the book cover and link to pdf picture book.

(Image Making course project)