*Intellect is delighted to announce that the new issue of Animation
Practice, Process & Production is now available.*
*For more information about this issue, please click here
<http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-issue,id=3249/> or email
[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>*
*What is animation? The ‘Six Blind Men and an Elephant’ conundrum
<http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Article,id=23273/>*
*Author: *Vera Matarazzo
<http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Contributor,a=M/view-Contact-Page,id=45937/>
Page Start: 15
*Abstract*
This article examines how to define animation. It aims to critique attempts
to briefly define animation in its essence, through an examination of
several quandaries and pitfalls related to such attempts, including their
lines of reasoning, justifications and defining boundaries. It shows that
definitions of animation are influenced by how individuals attempting a
definition relate to animation (animators, scholars, critics, etc.). It
concludes that most attempts to define animation succinctly resemble
themselves and present similar problems, being inadequate to properly
explain the term and its relation to live-action film. Since animation
cannot be properly defined in these succinct formulations, a more
comprehensive and developed definition is proposed.
*The particular visual language of anime:Design, colour and selection of
resources <http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Article,id=23275/>*
*Author*: Antonio Horno-López
<http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Contributor,a=H/view-Contact-Page,id=45932/>
Page Start: 39
*Abstract*
In the literature of animated film it is common to find opinions of authors
that place anime in a style devoid of dynamism, with stylized designs and
technical limitations in its process of creation. This article shows how
the creativity and knowledge of the artists and Japanese animators have
managed to develop a new model of audio-visual expression effective and
balanced, which has contributed to the commercial and international success
of anime in recent years.
*Animated ‘jams’: The secret joy of collective films
<http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Article,id=23272/>*
*Author*: María Lorenzo Hernández
<http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Contributor,a=H/view-Contact-Page,id=45934/>
Page Start: 101
*Abstract*
This article presents an overview on a rare genre from independent
animation, the animated ‘jams’ or collective films, where all invited
authors are free to contribute creatively to the ensemble. Animated ‘jams’
have, therefore, a great power to free the imagination, so that the results
are virtually unrepeatable by another group of animators, much less through
a planned work system. Therefore, animated ‘jams’ stimulate innovation,
leading to experimental films that achieve notoriety at cinema and
animation festivals because of their originality. Musicality, absurd
humour, improvisation and abstraction are common features of these art
films, where any narrative will remain in the background. Several examples
of this unusual genre are discussed, from Marv Newland’s bold proposal to
produce the film *Anijam *(Newland, 1984) – which shows a strong influence
of the surrealistic ‘exquisite corpse’ – to learning experiences using the
animated ‘jam’ as a strategy to introduce students to animation, often
coordinated by renowned animators who share their techniques and procedures
in the workshops. The article will also pay attention to a singular figure,
Dr Miquel Guillem, who significantly supported the realization of animated
‘jams’ at Universitat Politècnica de València, as a teaching methodology
that promotes collective work. Furthermore, this article will gather
first-hand the production process of one of these ‘jams’: *The Cat Dances
with its Shadow* (Lorenzo, 2012).
Richard Kerr
Production and Marketing Executive
|