Animation Lecture

Animation is derived from the latin word 'animare', which means to give life to.

Persistence of vision - creating a series of images that create the illusion that movement has been given to an object or form.

Sequential imagery has been around since 3000bc. 

Some of the early devices used to capture images:

• The Magic Lantern- Invented by Christian Huygens in 1650. A box with a parabolic mirror at the back focussed the light through a hand drawn slide and then through a lens that could be adjusted to be focussed. 
• The Thaumatrope- Simple spinning disc that when spun fast enough make it feel like both images are there.
• The Phenakistoscope- Invented in 1831 by Joseph Plateau and Simon von Stampfer. It consists of two disks, one being hand held with slots inserted around the radius, and a series of sequential images on the background disk.
• The Zoetrope- Created in 1834 a device similar to the phenakistoscope, but much more practical.
• The Kineograph (flip book)1868

Animation in the 20th Century:

Some of the earliest produced animations start with pieces such as Georges Melies' A trip to the moon (1902), which was a combination of stop motion and live action. Two more early breakthroughs include Emile Cohl's Fantasmagorie (1908), which was drawn in pencil and then photographed on to negative film, and also Windsor McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur (1908) which was the first film to use animation techniques such as key frames, registration marks and tracing paper.

Fantasmagorie

 A Trip to the Moon

Gertie the Dinosaur

Windsor McCay also created a piece of propaganda animation entitled Sinking of the Lusitana (1918). It was over 12 minutes long and consisted of over 27000 frames, longest animation at the time of its release.

The Golden Age of Cartoons 1928-1957

By 1928, Animation had developed enough of a language in itself, both technically, artistically and commercially.

This meant that they were no longer classed as just means of 'high art' but also profitable and extremely popular. In other words, cartoons had become mainstream.

People like the Fleischer Brothers, Reynaud, Steiwicz and Reiniger had paved the way and produced funny films that entertained wide audiences. Although one mans creative vision pulled all of this together... Walt Disney.

Disney's first major piece of animation was Steamboat Willie in 1928. Unlike other animators, Disney had cracked how to synchronise moving picture with sound, which was done by the animator responding to the piece of music. This was also done in The Skeleton Dance.

Disney had its competitors. In 1930, Starewicz created The Tale of the Fox which was the first animation to personify animals, giving them human qualities. It took 10 years to make!

Fleischer also produced works such as Popeye and Dizzy Dishes which introduced the character 'Betty Boop', which at the time was a little controversial and somewhat absurd having animals and human characters intertwining and having flirtatious relationships.

A ground breaking piece of animation was also created in the wartime, which was entitled Colour Box by Len Lye. This never-seen-before technique of animation consisted of painting emulsion paint onto film to create a psychedelic burst of colour. This inspired many commercial Graphic Designers in the field of advertising.

The next major breakthrough piece of animation was Disney's Snow White, which had a budget of $1.7 million, Disney had to remortgage his house and had 1000 people working on it!

In 1939 World War Two hit, and Disney was commissioned to produce a number propaganda fils during this time to support the war effort. This was controversial but also a good thing to keep Disney up and running during the Wartime.

Some other great pieces of animation and films during the Golden age include:

• The Brotherhood of Man (1945)-UPA Flms
• Gerald McBoing-Boing (1951)- UPA Films
• Neighbours (1952)- Norman McLaren
• Duck Amuck (1953)- Chuck Jones
• Animal Farm (1954)- Hans and Batchelor
• The Man with the Golden Arm (1954)- Saul Bass

The Television Age 1958-1985

The Golden Age of Aimation car to a close in the late 50's when the practice of having Block booking animated shorts with a feature film came to an end. Cinema houses wanted to show double bills and matinees to comet with TV.

The rise in popularity of television want that broadcasters wanted large quantities of programming on low budgets, resulting in big changes being made to animation production methods.

Hanna-Barbera was one of the companies that mass produced cartoon shorts, with programmes such as The Flintstones and Huckleberry Hound.

Many other animated programmes took television by storm in the 1960's, including Stan Brakhage's Mothlight, Ray Harryhausen's Jason and the Argonauts, Gordon Murray's Camberwick Green.

In the 70's, as far as production processes were concerned the overall standard of animation stayed on a constant, with companies working to the bone to produce a vast level of material to keep television audiences entertained. This decade saw the birth of Star Wars, A Christmas Carol, The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix (which stayed in Norwegian cinemas for over a decade!) and the infamous Watership Down.

The Digital Age 1985 Onwards

John Lassater and Steve Jobs founded Pixar in 1986; their first production was Luxo.Jr. which was considered groundbreaking at the time as the short showed the potential that 3D computer software had.

Following from Pixar, other popular animations and short films included Jimmy Murakami's When the Wind Blows (1986), presenting a survival story of Nuclear attack, Joanna Quinn's Girls Night Out (1987), Studio Ghibli's My Neighbiur Toronto (1988) and not forgetting Disney's Who Framed Rodger Rabbit (1988). This was the first ever film that featured both animated and real-life characters within the same frames.

As the animation/live action theme began to develop, Speilberg Produced Jurassic Park in 1993 which saw the combination of anamatronic and CGI being used to bring the dinosaurs to life.

In 1995, Pixar made a return with Toy Story, which was the first fully computer animated feature film.

Contrasting with computer generated methods, Aardman went back to basics by using traditional stop motion with 3-D characters made from plasticine in the Wallace and Gromit films.

Some popular works of animation from the late 90's onwards:

• Pixar's A Bug's Life (1998)
• Michael Dudok de Witt's Father and Daughter (2000)
• Jamie Hewlett- Gorillaz- Clint Eastwood (2001)
• Sylvian Chomet's Le Triplettes of Belleville (2003)
• Marjane Satarpi's Persepolis (2007)
• Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir (2008)
• Henry Selick's Coraline (2009)
• James Cameron's Avatar (2009)
• Michaela Pavlatova's Tram (2012)

Photography: The Document Lecture

The document is always constructive, it implies evidence and truth.

Graham Clarke was a well known critique of photography. He said that  'In many contexts the notion of a literal and objective record of 'history' is a limited illusion. It ignores the entire cultural and social background against which the image was taken, just as it renders the photographer neutral, passive and invisible recorder of the scene'. 
In other words he is stating that photographers that document their findings are neutral recorders of the scene. The photographer is never ignored.

A brief history of documentary photography

In the late 1800's, social reformers were seeking to educate the middle class in a philanthropic manner about social reform. This was done through the use of photography, usually with a moral message.

Photographer Jacob Riss captured a series of photographs entitled 'How the other half live' with these intentions.

 'Bandits Roost' (1888) Addressing viewers with hard stare menace.

 

'A Growler Gang in Session' (1887) A staged image. Riss asked the children to dress up and pose in exchange for cigarettes.

As a contrast to Riss's work, Lewis Hine focused less on propaganda and more about the human condition. He was a sociological photographer as opposed to someone who creates constructive narrative of poverty.

'Russian Steel Workers' Russian immigrants portrayed as poor but with dignity and honour.

In the 1930's the F.S.A (Farm Security Administration) sent out a group of photographers on a project to record the Great Depression.

Margaret Bourke-White's 'Sharecroppers Home' (1937) Shows a high contrast with the boy in poverty and the glamorous magazines depicted.

Dorothea Lange's 'Migrant Mother' is perhaps one of the most famous photographs in history. Lange made five exposures of the woman, 'drawn in like a magnet' working closer and closer from each direction. She didn't ask her name or history.

Walker Evans' work presents a set of visual strategies that are employed to provoke an emotional response resulting in charitable giving.

'Floyd Burroughs'-1936

'Coca Cola Shack'- 1935

'Let us now praise famous men'- 1941

'Graveyard, house and steel mill, Bethlehem, Pensylvania'- 1935

Clarke suggests that this image puts Evans' vision of America to rest.

Bill Brandt's work was classed as 'social documentary at its peak'. He was an immigrant, so his work is depicted from a working class narrative.

'Northumberland Miner at his evening meal' 1937

This image demonstrates the English class system. He also developed a picture book entitled 'The English at Home', which is a compilation or 'pictorial survey' of the different class structures of England in the 1930's.

After the Great Depression

Robert Frank's 'Parade, Hoboken- New Jersey' 1958

An outsiders view of a Nation, the image is evoking American ideals by photographing people watching the parade instead of the cliche parade itself.

William Klein's 'St Patricks Day' 1955

This image contrasts with the above by being a staged image, the people in the photograph are performing for Klein. Klein is IN the crowds, and included and recognised by the people in the image.

The Magnum Group

The Magnum group was formed in 1947 by Cartier-Bresson and Capa. It had an ethos of documenting the world and its social problems, as well as internationalisation and mobility.

Carter-Bresson came up with the 'Decisive Moment':

"Photography achieves its highest distinction- reflecting the universality of the human condition in a never-to-be-retrieved fraction of a second".

Documentary and War

The only way of broadcasting images of the war and document the happenings of the time was for the photographer to be 'pinned to the soldier'.

Some famous images from various wars from the 1930's onwards:

 George Rodger- 'Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp' 1945

 Lee Miller- 'Buchenwald' 1945

 Hong Cong Ut- 'Accidental Neplam Attack' 1972

 Robert Haeberle- 'People about to be shot' 1969

 Don McCullin- 'Shell shocked soldier' 1968

Robert Capa- 'The falling solider' 1936

Research Proposal and Essay Plan

1). Suggested Title of Research Project  

 To what extent has social media and technology had a negative impact on society?

2). Significance 

My research is interesting because it highlights the change in behaviour of 

society as a whole a result of a highly considered external influence. I will be looking at factors such as false identity and narcissism, isolation and mental health issues. 

These factors are important because they are damaging society without us realising. If the points I raise are highlighted enough then the issues that they are causing will hopefully be resolved in the future.

3). Primary and Secondary Sources

• Goffman,E.(1990)The presentation of self in everyday life, London, Penguin Books
• Topham,P.(2012)Making People Appy,(unknown where published)
• 'Prince EA'.(2014)Can we autocorrect humanity?[Internet],Youtube Video. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl8EIhrQjQ

4). Methods 

• I could produce a questionnaire to gather first hand research by asking and identifying peoples own experiences. 
• I could set up experiments to examine behaviour around the use and misuse of technology.
• Interview councillor/therapist (depending on confidentiality) ask them whether they have noticed an increase problems since the rise of technology.
• Read therapy today magazine to find articles associated with technology.
• Sit in a public place and record the number of people walking along using their mobile phones in a certain space of time.  

5). Limitations 
I will be focusing on the changing atmosphere of society and individual behaviour as well as the incline of technology and mental health issues and whether this has a clear correlation, and whether this will continue in the future. I have chosen to look into this area for a number of reasons. One being my interest in mental health and behaviour from personal experience and experience of others. In my lifetime I hope to see the stigma around mental health to be eradicated and access to help and solutions being increased at the same time as discrimination against sufferers to be diminished. 
I am also extremely conscious of living in a corrupted society that is being brainwashed by technology and dragged away from the 'real world'. I am keen to find out and highlight the problems associated with technology and in particular social media sites so that society will eventually become less shallow, insecure and small minded.

6). Essay Plan 

a) Introduction 

I'm going to state that it is a very broad topic to explore. I am going to argue how society has become so dependant on technology and in particular social media and how it is dragging us away from the real world. To expand i'll be exploring how it has almost brainwashed and alienated us causing feelings of isolation and narcissism to increase alongside mental health issues. I am also going to question whether this will continue to increase, as well as refer each point back to the argument of authenticity vs false identity. The areas I will be looking at in are highlighted in the title, isolation, narcissism and false identity.

b) Main Body 

Identity-  Who am I and who are we? Is our identity more heavily considered online?
Short statement about how we perceive ourselves by surrounding features such as people, interest and culture/religion. 
How heavily technology has influenced every day life (quick sentence)
Social media part of every day life, create online profiles.
+ (for) In general conversation people search and make pre judgemental conceptions on one another by scouring the internet for social media profiles. Most of which aren't actually a true representation of someones personality, mannerisms and characteristics.
–(against) Not in all circumstances. Situations such as job interviews, has to be a physical interview so the company can gain full perspective of a someones personality and decide if they're right for the job.

Narcissism-  (linking to the point above) Online presence allowing us to be more self indulgent to gain popularity and attention?
How we have become too obsessed with ideas of how we SHOULD look from constantly looking at others pictures. 
+Causes insecurity, makes us want to post pictures to meet a certain 'criteria' to feel accepted.
People jump to conclusions about your life from things being posted online. Causes people to become shallow both online and in real life(relating to the first statement)
–Self promotion might not be too much related to narcissism if the purpose was to raise attention about particular issues or positive things.

Isolation- Relying too much on online popularity/ technology to answer questions that we feel more alone/insecure?
+ If we don't get the desired attention we become insecure and feel down. Get into a bubble where constantly checking phones to see if anyone has 'liked' our photos. Get into a bubble. So wound up about not being popular online that this affects the way we behave in the real world. Influences the time we spend on our phones, likely to experience things first hand and have other social interaction.
–Argument against isolation is that networks can be made to open up more opportunities for example jobs, or if people advertise things via Facebook for example.

Mental Health- Has mental health deteriorated due to the pressure of keeping up with social networking? Online bullying/trolls.
When people feel isolated they feel like the world is against them and they become vulnerable to targets. 
+ 'thinspo' (relating to narcassism and idea of perfection) depressesion associated with not feeling accepted and feeling worthless. Research further into the statistics of this area
– Mental health problems aren't completely related to technology, a lot is associated with other external and social factors as well as the corrupt society we live in.

c) Visual Examples
Can I use some of the examples I used in the previous essay? If so..

d) Conclusion
Reiterate main points in the argument, say why I agree with the argument of how society has become so dependant on technology and social media that we are losing touch with the real world and being sucked into a shallow, small minded, isolated world where digital performance is pursued through false identity and is more highly considered than genuine personality and character.
Write a short sentence on how I think this will affect the future, and the consequences of the actions we take now.

Advertising Lecture

Advertising is the activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services.

Is advertising prostitution?

It is considered as a tool used by capitalism to change established values within society. It is also considered influential in changing our perception and what we may need and want.

An example of this use of influential persuasion is female conceptual artist Barbara, Kruger's 'I shop therefore I am'. 

It is often accused to explore sexism treating people as cultural stereotypes of their sex, especially women.

This brings about the question, 'does sex sell?'

Many companies that are guilty of using sexualised advertising include:

• Calvin Klein
• Crosbys
• Tom Ford
• BMW
• Burger King 
• Duncan Quinn
• Coopers 

However, there does happen to be some good things about advertising:

• It drives global economies
• It drives creativity
• The first 'wave of creatives' were revolutionaries who were creating utopia
• The second 'wave' created persuasive communication to fulfil peoples dreams
• It is a very powerful art form
• It shapes popular culture
• It is endlessly entertaining
• It can enlighten and inspire

Communication and Mass Media lecture

Mass media- A means of public communication reaching a large audience in a short space of time through television, newspapers, magazines and radio.

In art and design, mass media is portrayed as VISUAL COMMUNICATION/COMMUNICATION DESIGN and GRAPHIC DESIGN, the latter including:

• Typography
• Advertising
• Printed Media
• Social Commentry/activism
• Branding
• Propaganda
• Packaging

Like most areas of art and design or communication, vis com originated from early cave paintings and fine art. In the earlier eras art was a common form of visual communication due population being predominantly illiterate. 

In the 19th and 20th century, it was common for advertisements to be created by adding text to a piece of fine art or painting.

Graphic Design is a relatively young term introduced by William Addison Dwiggins. Other practitioners thought of their own interpretations for example:

Max Bill and Josef Muller-Brockman: 'Visual Communication'

Richard Hollis: 'Graphic Design is the business of making or choosing marks and arranging them on a surface to convey an idea'


Paul Rand: '..graphic design, in the end, deals with the spectator, and because it is the goal of the designer to be persuasive or at least informative, it follows that the designers problems are twofold: to anticipate the spectators reactions and to meet his own aesthetic needs'.


Early Graphic Design was more about advertising; a lot of the time for events.

Alphonse Mucha, Job, 1898, Poster for cigarette papers

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Aristide Bruant, 1893, poster

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scottish Musical Review, 1896, poster

Graphic design was highly intertwined with propaganda in the 20th century wars, but artists were also employed to go out to the front line and document what was occurring in the battlefields as cameras were not highly established in this era.

Savile Lumley, Daddy, 1915, poster

A great deal of this propaganda used guilt to persuade men and women to contribute towards the war effort, creating a culture associated with cowardice if you chose not to fight.

Alfred Leete, Britons wants you, 1914, poster

James Montgomery Flagg, I want you for U.S. army, 1917, poster

German propaganda is very interesting, sticking to their routes and using gothic type in their posters to differentiate between other countries and in some ways use it as a threat. 

Julius Gipkens, Trophies of the Air War, 1917, poster

Before and during the war Graphic Design did exist other than propaganda, some key admirable pieces include:

El Lissitzky, Beat the Whites with the Rd Wedge, 1919, poster

Wassily Kandinsky (1886-1944), Composition VIII, 1923

         

F.H. Stingemore (UK),London Underground Map, 1931-2

In the post war periods, consumerism became important in order to rebuild communities. Popular culture and corporate design also arose in this period.


Some well known post war graphic designers include:

• Paul Rand- famous for creation of logos such as 'abc'
• Helmut Krone- Volkswagen 'think small' advert
• Saul Bass- Horror film posters
• James Reid- Controversial Sex Pistols poster
• Neville Brody- 'The Face' magazine covers
• David Carson- 'Ray Gun' magazine covers
• Mark Farrow- 'Spiritualized' CD packaging
• Oliviero Toscani- 'Benneton' adverts

To conclude, communication through the mass media has been predominantly pursued through Graphic Design, a fairly new term, that has been established since the late 1800s. Mass communication through pictures was considered the norm in the early days when the majority of the population was illiterate. Since then, Graphic Design has diversified into many different areas, serving many different purposes.