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Anime: from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle

I have also borrowed this book from the Library in hope of helping me with researching metamorphosis in Akira & Howls Moving Castle. 

So far I have only read about Akira.

The author, Susan Napier talks about Tetsuo's Metamorphosis as adolescent changes and as Japans new identity of that time.

Napier talks about Tetsuo and the emotional conflict you experience in adolescence and how his body was used as a "site of metamorphosis that can appear monstrous both to the figure undergoing it and to the outside world". 

Tetsuo is the loner, outcast member of the motorcycle gang. Along with his inferiority issues towards Kaneda and his lack of respect for authority portray him as a "classic alienated teenager whose mutations are also visual expressions of his own adolescent angst."

I also found information that further supports in my essay that Tetsuo is losing control of his power/body/metamorphosis and that sometimes he 'resists the transformation" and sometimes "glories in it."

Napier also tells how Akira was released in a time where the world was threatened by Japans up and coming "superpower status". Tetsuo's transformation can be depicted as "Japans own deep-seated ambivalance at the time" and goes further to say Japan is "Glorifying in its new identity but also fearing it" which is exactly what is shown through Tetsuo once his telekinetic abilities progress.

references:

Napier, S. (2006) Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

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AKIRA - MTV Interview with Katsuhiro Otomo

I couldn't really find anything that directly relates to my contextual studies project in this interview but I was thought it was very interesting that the americans say that Japanese comics feature stronger violence & sexual nature than western comics and that Otomo says that Western media is more violent.

Just going to add some note thats I took.

-Katsuhiro says people like manga comics as they are easily related to daily Japanese life. - Akira was the highest grossing film in Japan and went on to break all records for an animated movie. - Akira isn't just stricly about sci-fi it is about rebellion against the goverment and society. Talking about bigger issues.

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Akira  (Apologies for poor quality images, Apple DVD player won't allow screenshots)

I have watched the full movie of Akira since briefly touching upon it in lesson. I have found plenty examples of metamorphosis in terms of emotion and identity. Akira is about a dystopian world set in Neo- Tokyo and has 2 main characters, Kaneda and Tetsuo.

 Kaneda and Tetsuo were raised together in what appears to be a childrens home and later in life they form a motorcycle gang of which Kaneda is the apparent leader. Although you can see friendship between Tetsuo and Kaneda, Tetsuo has issues of jealousy and inferiority towards Kaneda.

After an incident involving a physic child, Tetsuo appears to be developing his own power.

As Tetsuo's power grows stronger he begins to lose control mentally and physically, which eventually unleashes his true power/identity. In Tetsuo's nightmare at the hospital it literally shows him crumbling to pieces, a visual representation of him falling part.

The metamorphosis also shows his darker side as he begins his power trip when he makes the doctor and guards unnecessarily spontaneously combust.

When Tetsuo is hit by the satellite beam it becomes even more apparent that he is losing control of his power and body when the arm he lost regenerates and turns into a tentacle. The tentacle then begins the horrific transformation into the mass monstrosity that he is and unknowingly couldn't control. Tetsuo's body absorbs everything within reach including Kaneda and Kaori (Tetsuo's girlfriend) and kills her by crushing her to death inside his heinous body.

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Fleischer Studios 

The Fleischer studios are an animation company that were at one point Walt Disney's biggest rivals. They produced some of the earliest animated characters Betty Boop & Koko the Clown which are still just as successful as today.

They are also famous for using a combination of traditional animation methods with live action and inventing the animation technique Rotoscoping. Koko the Clown was Max Fleischers brother, Dave, dressed in a clown suit and dancing about the living room for Max to later draw Koko over the animation cels, producing smooth realistic movement not yet seen in other animated cartoons.

I like the metamorphosis they use with Koko in their animated shorts as it is clearly the inspiration for the film "Manipulation" by Daniel Greaves which we studied previously. It shows metamorphosis by having presence of the animator in shot and also the materials them selves ( blots of ink creating Koko and the red ink and pencil, scrunched up paper to create the character in Manipulation).

I like how in the short film "Cartoon Factory" Fleischer shows Koko's excitement through metamorphosis when he sees the girl on the wall , his hat comes alive almost, wiggling, similar to a dog wagging its tail in excitement.

In another short film "Bubbles", Koko is upset and wants to play with some bubbles. Fleischer gives him a pipe to blow some bubbles and they are not as friendly as the first seem. The bubbles seem to have their own identity and character. The bubbles are very mischievous, one bubble tricks Koko by morphing in to the face of a woman and at the last minute morphs into a cheeky monkey and steals a kiss from Koko. 

Another bubble turns into a horned monster and chases Koko around the screen followed by another bubble morphing into a man, steals Koko's hat and disappears into another bubble. Leaving Koko confused , metamorphosis shows his confusion by a long line shooting from Koko's head and morphing into a line of question marks. 

The methods of metamorphosis for "Bubbles" is a very effective communicative tool as the film has no verbal dialogue. The metamorphosis used helps the audience understand what the characters are thinking and feeling.

I also like that the Fleischer brothers are responsible for rotoscoping which was used to make the most realistic movement in animation and also use metamorphosis to help make the story & characters more comical and engaging for the audience.

References: Fleischer, R. (2005) Out of the inkwell : Max Fleischer and the animation revolution. Lexington, Ky.; London: University Press of Kentucky; Eurospan [distributor]

http://www.fleischerstudios.com/about-us.html http://www.fleischerstudios.com/bubbles.html http://www.fleischerstudios.com/cartoon-factory.html

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Paul Wells - Understanding Animation

I borrowed this book from the library at university. Paul Wells is director of the animatoin academy and is a screenwriter/scholar and director. Wells books are widely sought after by people wanting to research,practice and study animation.

Metamorphosis plays a big part in animation, Wells say metamorphosis is "unique to the animated form" as you cannot really imitate the results in another medium on a level of what you can achieve by using metamorphosis as as narrative technique in animation.

Wells explains metamorphosis as a narrative strategy, what it is,why it is powerful and how "animation possesses the capacity to create new modes of storytelling".

Wells also talks about an animation we studied for this project (The Street- Caroline Leaf) and says that it is the "very simplicity" of the film that makes Leafs metamorphosis style so effective. The story is about a boys memories of his grandmothers death which is relatively a simple concept that Leaf turns into a mesmerising film with her metamorphosis.

The way that Leaf controls and distorts the ink to "consistently redefine the image" and how she seamlessly melts frame to frame ever so subtly it is a physical representation of the young boy drifting and trailing through memories as he tells them. For example, when the boys are talking at the bottoms of the stairs (image above) the boys head stretches as he exclaims wild theories on death which also visually captures the playfulness and humorous manner of children. From this point the film morphs gently through the events of the day until the boy is in bed.

Paul Wells also speaks about another animation (Betty Boops Snow White - Fleischer Brothers) which more directly relates to my essay.

Wells talk about how Fleischers metamorphosis is used to particularly to show the extremities of the Queens emotions. Wells identifies a part of the film where the mirror has chosen Snow White as the fairest in the land (image above) resulting in the Queen transforming her face into a frying pan with two sizzling eggs for eyes which I think perfectly fits and personifies the term "hot headed" and presents this to the audience in a comical engaging way that can only be achieved with animation.  Wells also provides another example of metamorphosis of the Queen which depicts her bitterness and anger by the Queen cutting her own finger off (image above).

I also found another example in the animation of when Betty and the Queen first meet the glass in the Queens mirror deteriorates as she shoves her head through it as she inhumanely stretches and wobbles her eyes in her shock at Betty Boop's arrival & "attractiveness" 

references :  Wells, P. (1996) Understanding animation. London: Routledge. http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/sota/staff/paul-wells/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1u0YYQgwF0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGWSYrgB6gM

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Potential Essay Question

How is metamorphosis used as a narrative strategy to convey emotion and identity in animation?

From what we have learned in our lectures I have decided I would like my essay to be about metamorphosis. I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture for metamorphosis as it shined a whole new light on what I already thought metamorphosis was. 

I have always known metamorphosis is a physical transformation of some kind but had never really thought about it in terms of its narrative purposes and what it can achieve.

I am curious at to how metamorphosis is used to convey emotion as I found the anime examples we were shown very powerful. 

After a one to one tutorial with my tutor I have decided I am going to possibly research in to examples from western animation and eastern animation, perhaps if there are any examples going back in the history of art and compare them.

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Contextual Studies - Anthropomorphism Dealing with the bigger issues.

Duck, Death and the Tulip - Wolf Erlbruch 

Erlbruch is a children's book illustrator and author.Duck, Death and the Tulip is about Duck slowly coming to terms with Death, almost making a friend as a result and how subtle and gentle death can be. I believe these illustrations from the book Duck, Death and the Tulip are a great example of how anthropomorphises can be used to deal with the bigger issues in life when it comes to children.

I guess to most people, adults and children alike, the idea of death is dark and horrible. This book and its illustrations show in a very gentle way as death is stroking her feathers and lays her into the pond. I feel it creates a nice picture in the mind of how we would all like to be handled with when the time comes and I believe it is a positive thing to be showing children as you do not know what hardships they will face at any point in their lives.

If this illustration consisted of human beings it would not be considered acceptable to show these to children and therefore would not have the desired impact.

It has also made me wonder why it is widely considered acceptable to use animals or anthropomorphic beings to deal with the bigger issues when it comes to children because I was brought up with animals and consider our animals as family, almost as if they are a person and I know I did as a child too.

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Contextual Studies - Anthropomorphism 

In our last contextual studies lecture we were learning about Anthropomorphism. These are the themes of the lecture which we looked in to :

Anthropomorphism and... •A move towards story telling for children. •'Animal'/ 'Human' behaviour. •Dealing with the bigger issues. •Design Gesture & Movement

We were shown illustration examples of Beatrix Potter's Tale Of Peter Rabbit.

Beatrix Potter was immersed in nature from a very young age and frequently studied and drew animals and learned how to draw them realistically. 

In the Tale Of Peter Rabbit, Potter has drawn Peter in a blue coat and he walks exactly like a human being does, there is no animal quality about how he walks & holds himself but he is yet clearly supposed to be a rabbit.

 I also came across some interesting information on a Beatrix Potter website about her illustrations that even though she drew her animals in this way they are all anatomically correct.

Peter rabbit is functioning in a more human way until certain events occur and he inevitably loses his coat, which makes him look more like a rabbit than a young child. Peter not only now looks more like a rabbit but he no longer carries himself like a human either, his posture has changed to that more of a real rabbit and he also walks on four legs rather than two. 

I never noticed how Potter flickers between the two in her books as a child yet it makes such a big difference in the character of Peter Rabbit he ends up becoming the small vulnerable rabbit that he really is instead of a carefree playful child he appears to be at the start.

I also like the idea of switching between being predominately human and then to animal , I think its clever and can be used for great effect in emphasising certain aspects of situations like the kind Peter Rabbit found himself in. 

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Contextual Studies- Metamorphosis 

The Street - Caroline Leaf

This animation created by Caroline Leaf shows metamorphosis by the technique used. I believe this was made using water colours and ink and instead of having a cut between scenes she seamlessly blends them into one another for example when the boys are talking at the bottoms of the stairs it morphs from frame to frame until he is in bed talking to his sister. It's showing you his journey through out the day, talking about his grandmother and it all happens so subtly you don't really notice that you have changed scene.

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Contextual Studies - Metamorphosis

Manipulation - Daniel Greaves

Our topic of discussion for contextual studies was metamorphosis. Metamorphosis in animation is a visual change in character and there are various ways to show this , one example is the animation above.

"Manipulation" by Daniel Greaves shows metamorphisis with the materials and techniques used by the animator and also with the presence of the animator himself.

The animation shows an ongoing struggle between animator and his creation for control and it shows metamorphosis by the the drawing taking changing forms such as a drawing on the paper, then a paper cut out and then a paper model. It also shows metamorphosis with manipulating the character with squashing and stretching the character.

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Film Analysis- The Snowman Dianne Jackson

Using Kurt Vonnegut's shape of a story method and a story arc I have decided the points in this story are as follows:

Exposition: shows the boys everyday normal life playing in the snow on his own and decides to make a snowman. The boy is fascinated by the snowman and is always peering out the window at him.

Trigger: The Snowman comes alive at midnight.

Rising Action: The boy and the Snowman play in all rooms of the house , trying not to wake his parents. Snowman seems to be curious of all the objects and human ways of life. Snowman see's something outside and they both go outside to see it and the boy shows Snowman that it is a motorbike and they both take the motorbike for a ride.

Climax: I am definitely sure the Climax starts at this point. Snowman takes the boys hand and shows the boy that he can fly. They fly far away from home, over sea, and towards what looks like the northern lights? They walk through the woods and arrive at a snowman party. Santa is there and takes the boy to meet his reindeer and gives him a present. I'm going to settle on the climax taking up a big part of the story and is more than one particular event. But if I had to pick one it would be just snowman flying.

Falling Action: I'm not really sure if there is a falling action. I'm torn between choosing wether the falling action is the flight back home or when they meet Santa Clause but for the fact there is whole lot more emphasis in this film on the fact that Snowman can fly I'm not sure if that is solely the climax or the flying combined with meeting santa.

For the sake of this I am going to say the falling action is when they have to fly home.

Resolution: The boy and Snowman return home safely and Snowman waves goodbye. The boy runs back out to Snowman and gives him a big cuddle before heading back inside to sleep. The boy wakes in the morning and rushes straight downstairs and outside. Sadly, Snowman has melted away and the boy is left sad. The boy reaches into his gown and finds the scarf that Santa had given him.

The majority of the story is definitely on the good fortune side of the chart because nothing generally bad happens until Snowman dies, even then its not exactly bad its just little sad because the Boy believes it was his friend. I've added to shapes on this chart to show my confliction between where the climax finishes and the falling action starts.

In this film the trigger points seem to be at similar to Wat's Pig but the climax in this film seems to happen a bit later than Wat's Pig and takes up the majority of the duration of the film.

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Film Analysis : Wat’s Pig – Peter Lord (Aardman) 1996 

Using the story arc and Kurt Vonnegut's Shape of a Story I have analysed the animated short above. I have decided the points are as follows:

Exposition: Twins are stolen and separated at birth. One twin raised at home as royalty and the other raised by a pig on a farm. Many years later it shows the deep contrast between their lifestyles with one twin working a farm and eating a measly bowl of soup and the other living a life of luxury.

Trigger: Villain approaches the Royal Twin and threatens to take over his kingdom.

Rising Action:  - Royal twin appoints uncle sam " I want you" memo & Poor Twin has to join his brothers army. - Battle commences & Royal Twin hides in his castle whilst Poor Twin is in the battle. Poor Twin is the only survivor. -Poor Twin returns to the kingdom to be rejected and discovers that Pig is being held against his will. - Poor Twin searches for a key in Royal Twins Quarters. Royal Twin doesn't recognise him and they begin to fight.

Climax: Mother walks in & recognises her lost son. Happy reunion between them both except Royal Twin appears to be hatching a plan involving his new found identical twin.

Falling Action: Royal Twin dresses Poor Twin like himself and uses Poor Twin to fool the people of his kingdom into thinking that Royal Twin is going to fight in the battle. 

War begins and Royal Twin sneaks away and hides , unknowingly, in Poor Twins house.

Climax: Royal Twin awakes to being surrounded by his family and pig asleep. Confused , Royal Twin steps outside to find his kingdom destroyed. Poor Twin comes outside and hands Royal twin a farming tool and Royal twin is shocked that it is for him to do work. Story has gone full circle and the family is reunited and they are really all each other have.

I believe the exposition part is from when the twins are separated to when it shows them when they have grown up. This is the exposition part because it is only the introduction. It gives the audience the background information and shows the twins normal lives.

The beginning of the story also starts off in the ill fortune area because they are stolen and then I believe it makes it way to up to the middle of the chart and stays steady. I feel it starts off really bad and then it improves a lot when they are older despite the lifestyle differences.

The trigger point is when the villain type character threatens to take the Royal Twins kingdom. I believe this is the trigger point because this is where the story is interrupted and motivates a change of course. This part of this animated short happens very quickly and close to the beginning. It is a very quick transition between the exposition point and trigger point. as it only briefly shows you how the characters everyday lives are and it does just how to show you the very different lives they have led.

From the trigger point the story starts to fall back down towards ill fortune but not as bad as it previously was as nothing can really beat being stolen at birth. The rising action that follows are all generally bad things to happen as war is coming and one twin unwillingly has to join the army.

The climax point happens virtually at the end, once they are all reunited. I put the point in the good fortune area as the family have all been reunited but quickly declines because of the Royal Twins plans of using his brother as a substitute.

The falling action lasts a very short duration and placed virtually at the end because the audience have already seen a war (so that doesn't need to be shown again) and the story makes you focus more on the evil twin who is being selfish and hiding away. Pulling the attention away from the war.

The resolution is also very brief in this film and shows the characters have now gone full circle and the story has changed to show that the Royal Twin cannot be rich anymore. They will all now live together in the same life.

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Contextual Studies: Narrative - Structure

Today we started our contextual studies project on Narrative and in todays tutorial we looked in to the structure's of story. We have looked at Kurt Vonnegut's thesis Shape of a Story and also Tension charts and story arcs.

All of these methods can be used to help plan out the events in your story in a way that will help ensure to grip the audience and they are also useful if you look back on your writing and see where it could be going wrong if it doesn't appeal to people.

"The fundamental idea is that stories have shapes which can be drawn on graph paper, and that the shape of a given society’s stories is at least as interesting as the shape of its pots or spearheads.”  - Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's thesis Shape of a Story shows you that stories have shapes , shapes that can be drawn on paper that will show you how you the physical shape of your stories journey,  for example: will your story begin on a high or ill fortune ? what path will it take to reach the end of the story ? will it be smooth sailing or will the protagonist get everything they desire and lose it all in the blink of an eye? all of these events will form a shape.

If you were to use Vonnegut's method and literally plot the highs & lows of your story on a graph your story will take shape. 

According to Vonnegut there are story shapes that appeal to a wider audience than the rest these are listed below: 

I have never thought about stories having shapes and that particular shapes are almost recipes to create appealing stories. I enjoyed our session today about story structure and I will make sure to use the methods to help me plan and assess my stories for animation in the future.