Western and Japanese Animation

Traditional western animation such as Bambi tends to focus on a more idealised natural order, in a way which can be compared to human civilisation. However, when comparing it to many Japanese Anime, that tends to focus on other aspects. For example, while traditional western animations tend to see the "unknown" as something which is dangerous, anime sees the unknown as an opportunity to find something good and explore. This is something which repeats itself through out many different Japanese Manga and Anime.

I’ve also noticed that western animations tend to focus more on the plot, while leaving out irrelevant realistic detail, Whether that be in the visual style, or story. Anime on the other hand does focus on irrelevant day-to-day details that may have nothing at all to do with the plot or story line. Although some of that is irrelevant to a western audience, it makes the experience more realistic to a Japanese audience and gives them something to relate to, even if the story is very surreal or super-natural like Cat Soup or Death Note.

Cat Soup, directed by Tatsuo Sato in 2001:

Violence in Media

While I'm aware that physical violence in movies and games can effect people, I also think it's a little week minded if a fictional story can have such an effect, to make you go out and hurt someone. If it does effect you in such a way, which is very rare, I think that there is already something very wrong with you.
People who are against fictional violence are coming off a little hypacritical if they're okay with real violence being in papers and on the news, even though much of that is fictional nonsense loosely based of facts, especialy if it's international.
Which ever way you look at it, films and games are a form of art, and I don't think anyone has the right to take away that form of self-expression. Violence is real, it always has been and is deeply inbeded in our code. Hiding away from it is more wrong then expressing it, because it is something I feel that needs to be explored, and doing so through fiction is a lot better then doing it for real. I think that humans as a whole are much more capable then we give them credit for.

Sci-Fi

Star Wars:


I like the mixture of Live-Action Drama, Special Effects and models in this scene.

Code Geass:


I like how 3D animation is used with the 2D animation, but in a discrete way which is controlled and only limited.

Fail

I was forced to miss the last lecture and seminare. D:

Structuralism

This really stuck out for me in the Seminar:

"The Cathedral" is an animation directed by Tomasz Bagiński in 2002.I'm not sure quite how open it is to interpritation, but I see something which takes how people put their souls into art and translates it into something literal. The visual style is reminiscent of Zdzislaw Beksinki's paintings, one of my favourite artists, particularly the scene where the character is looking out over the cliff after he reaches the end of the cathedral.

http://www.beksinski.pl/

Intertextuality

During the lecture, one of the first things thatpopped into my ind was this:

"The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello" is one of my favourite shorts and incorporates intertextuality in many levels, Both in theme and on the aesthetic side, but it also brings up the interesting topic of Steampunk (Something I've been very interested in for a while now) which I could use fo my essay. This may also allow me to talk about Steamgoth, Clockpunk and perhaps Atompunk.

Semiotics

I know I should find this subject interesting, but I just don't. It feels like it's over-complicating things which are abvious in life. It's something which we all do almost every day of our lives, and while it's good to have a deeper understanding of it, it's not something I'm particularly interested in studying or writing and essay about.

So instead, I'm going to go completely off topic and put up this brilliant short animation by Michael Dudok I found the other day.

The only thing I disliked about it was the soundtrack. Maybe it's just me, but a lot of it didn't seem to fit particularly well. Some parts worked fine, but I still believe Michael could've used something more emotional to compliment the story better.