animationlogs

[animationlogs]

Beauty Maker (review)

Country: China

Type: short film

BeautyMaker is 5 minutes long short animated movie from China which talks about beauty standards and how people get obsessed with it. The animation style is not very similar to usual animations coming from the country. It is particularly interesting to watch because China is obsessed with the concept of beauty and being “Slim”. In the end everyone learns their lesson and embrace themselves. The film says a lot even without using any dialogues. We all tend to be like this. Wanting more and more and never being satisfied with what we have. The protagonist rightfully learned about the consequences of each of her actions.

Similarly we should also be understanding of our situations and greead and know the ending. And greed does not end well. We should learn to be satisfied with ourselves. Until we accept ourselves, no one else will. Why would anyone love you when you don’t even love yourself. So whoever you are or whatever you are, sure you can always work on improving, but love and accept yourself first.

[animationlogs]

For the Love of Animations

I was in 10th grade when Disney’s frozen came out. And I loved it. So like the good friend that I am, I recommended it to one of my friends. To my dismay the next day she got came to school kinda mad at me for asking her to watch it. Upon asking if it was the movie that she did not enjoy or something else she replied, “My brother made fun of me for the entire day for watching a kids movie. I did not get past the first 20 minutes”. Somehow I got offended at the thought of people taking it as a movie only suitable for kids. Why can’t I, a 16 year old back then, not enjoy a good movie only because of the fact that it’s animated? That day I realised my love for this medium.

A separate category for animations films was introduced in the academy awards only 20 years ago. Animation has started gaining the recognition it deserves. Or so we thought. Many members of the academy believe animation movies to be for kids and see it as beneath them. In 2014 “The Hollywood Reporter” interviewed the members for their opinions on the animated movies and many of them replied that they had not even seen the movies that were nominated.

Here are the Top 6 reasons (among many others) that we should we watching animation.

Visual Pleasure

Animations are BEAUTIFUL. The reds look redder, the water looks bluer, the sun shines brighter and mundane things have never looked prettier. The colours, the details and the liveliness of the animations are hard to be captured in live actions. There is something realistic yet quite unsettling about animations that gets the heart racing.

There is a reason why what we see on the screen is so beautiful. An animator at Pixar on an average is only able to produce 3 seconds of work. And this the speed in the times that we have access to computers. During the hand drawn era, 24 images had to be created to get 1 second of movement. Many Japanese animations are till date drawn by hands. And let’s not forget that everything needs to be created by the hands and moved for claymations. It’s lots of efforts and teamwork.

2. It goes beyond possibilities

Literally nothing is impossible for animation. Any character, and place, however you want it to look; all can be created from nothing. Animation has no restrains with respect to the budget for set or the way you want a certain scene to look. Expressions and scenes can also be exaggerated for emotional stimulation or for comedic purposes. Think about it, such exaggerated scenes would not have the same effect if the scene exists in live action. For the first time perhaps choregraphies could be made perfect. Even lighting can be played. Lighting styles which do not exist or are hard to achieve can now be made to use easily. You can mould it anyway you want. The world is your oyster.

3. For intellectual and emotional development

Stories created through animations always have a moral value attached to it. It not only helps a child to distinguish between right and wrong but also reconfirm the values for adults. A lot of animations are specifically made for the adults. The darkness of BoJack Horseman or the twisted characters of Death Note are definitely not for kids. Even shows like Gravity Falls which are essentially aired on the kids channel have engaging plots and hidden social themes and valuable messages. Shows like We Bare Bear which is for kiddies has more cultural representation that the oscars. We earn knowledge and values from good animations. They are mature and instigate both are intellect and emotions .

5. It was since the start meant for adults

We need to understand is that it is an art form that can be enjoyed by everyone and everywhere.  In fact during WWII, cartoons were used as a medium to sway the people.  During those times, it were primarily adults who were watching these animations. Watching these shows were a formal and important event.That the amount of power this medium of communication holds.  A lot of animations are also specifically made for adults. Anyone can enjoy any form of animations and cartoons they like, irrespective of their age.

6. Watch it Just For Fun