Analysis - I, Daniel Blake (OUAN402)

Jeremy Corbyn persuaded me to watch this film

Ken Loach's "I, Daniel Blake" (2016) is one of the greatest films I have seen all year, and there are many lessons that I can take from it and apply to my own work.

I don't want to analyse it from a technical standpoint, although the film itself was incredible. The acting was flawless, the tone was consistent, it was shot elegantly and the film balanced its levity with its more sombre moments very well. I enjoyed being drawn through all the emotions that the film wanted me to feel.

What stood out for me most, though, was the way the film opened my eyes and made me consider the world from a fresh perspective. It has the power to change peoples' mindsets, which is the mark of any piece of awesome media. It's the kind of film that sparks discussion, outrage at a malfunctioning system and occasionally revolution and is a great example of why film-making is so important. (For a brief summary of the plot, see what Jeremy Corbyn wrote above). This made me think about what I want to do in the industry, and it made me want to divert my energy into creating something that highlights a genuine issue and helps society progress.

It made me rethink what I may be able to someday create. Up until now, the cartoons and animations I've drawn have had no important point or message. I suppose I draw them to be a form of fun escapism. Recently, though, with the world at breaking point in terms of injustice, the class divide and the broken environment, I don't know if I can feel good about myself if I just produce fun escapism that has no significance or purpose.

This film made me want to have a genuine message. It made me want to help fix the system. I have no experience in creating anything of that capacity, but now I want to learn. If I can ever create something as brilliant and important as "I, Daniel Blake", then I will consider myself to be a success.

Who I am and what I want (OUAN402)

To briefly summarise:

I chose to study animation because I love to tell stories. Storytelling is the aspect of being human that puts us above the rest of the animal kingdom. Whether they be ancient legends, news articles or moving images, stories can change a person's outlook on life, drive political revolutions or simply make someone's day and draw people closer. Animation is an awesome way to tell stories of limitless scope and ingenuity in a captivating format.

While I'm here I hope to learn, firstly, to become a well-rounded animator but I also hope to boldly carve out my own animation style and image to market myself with. Right now, my biggest weakness is that my technical knowledge is extremely limited, especially with computer software. Also, while I can think of odd bits and bobs that would be funny to draw or animate, I doubt I would be much good at writing a concept or characters that would have to stretch out over the course of something like a TV show or full movie, so I look forward to learning how to create well thought out stories that have longevity.

In terms of my strengths, I've become much better at thinking creatively and coming up with genuinely original ideas (well, as original as can be expected. We're all influenced by something.) I'm not keen on drawing parodies or adapting the work of others, so it makes me want to do my own thing. I'm pleased with my art style. I think my characters have a lot of personality to them and they have good weight and dimensions, which I'm proud of.

Over these three years, I'm going to be very critical of my work and keep everything I make as a record of what I should work on and what I've improved at. While I find it very tempting to rip out sketchbook pages that I really don't like, I plan to simply learn from my errors and move on rather than just trying to fix them. NEVER GO BACK.

Wacky Races Analysis (OUAN402)

I originally got this box set out of the college library for my own personal joy, but then I watched it in full and thought that I might as well just blag it and blog it. I'll get to analysing some thought provoking animation very soon, just not right now.

Penelope Pitstop should be called "Penelope Regressive-gender-stereotypes-stop".

I really love this show, considering it came out in 1968 back when the zoetrope had just been perfected and horses were replaced with cars. I think it's aged well. The animation is incredibly dated in the sense that it has the Hanna Barbara quality that means characters are very rarely allowed to move outside a 2D plain, because otherwise the animation computer would catch fire and melt from the stress. Also their budget was slim. I love the art style, the hand painted backgrounds and the way it has a real handmade feel about it with the visible pen marks and things. Now I'm not saying that IT'S OLDER AND THEREFORE AUTOMATICALLY BETTER because that's ridiculous. A lot of old stuff is garbage, like the TV show "Bod" and Nazis and stuff. I just find shows like this and the original Scooby Doo to be a great example of a bygone and outdated era of making cartoons. The charm and innocence of these shows is what makes them almost like a security blanket for me. The slapstick comedy and the cartoonish villainy of Dick Dastardly reminds me of a pantomime that can enjoyed by literally anybody.

It also taught me that repetition is a great form of comedy. If it's funny to watch a guy set a fiendish trap and then get caught in it himself, then it'll be funny the next ten thousand times he does it.

Wacky Races and all the Hannah Barbara cartoons played an important role in animation history as they paved the way for more shows to take inspiration from them and carve out their own identities in the future (the best example of this is probably how "The Flintstones" influenced "The Simpsons"). The company also pioneered a technique called "planned animation" otherwise known as "limited animation", which was a way of working around a small budget by reusing animation and backgrounds.For me, Wacky Races is a golden beacon of great slapstick comedy and quality programming.

And the lessons it taught us are still relevant today.

Light Night (OUAN402)

This is the first animation I've made this year, for a citywide event that involves large projections being lit up all over buildings. We were briefed to create a 12 frame, one second long piece to be projected that revolves around the theme of the elements.

I decided on stop motion not because I prefer it to other styles but because at this early point in the year I really have no clue how to create digital work. I shot it on my phone, which I had made a stand for out of modelling clay and then put on the ground in the park. I'm rather pleased with how it turned out. I think it moves rather fluidly, especially at the point when the post-it notes approach their highest point and start to slow down. My concern was that the animation wouldn't look great as a projection. Because I shot it outside there are things like shadows and moving tree branches and I thought that it might obscure the action or make it look cluttered. I made it very simple and used brightly coloured post-it notes to create a stark contrast of colours that could be made out over the moving background.

Were I to do it again, I would turn my phone on its side to shoot it as it would look better in a 16:9 format. On the other hand, though, shooting it vertically complimented the shape of the tree and made it more the focal point. I'd like to see what it would've looked like both ways.

Character art (OUAN402)

Some character concept art I drew for my own sheer joy

Film Soc Poster (OUAN402)

A poster I mashed together with glue and scissors to promote the college film society's screening of "The Boat That Rocked".