Cinema
There are a lot of animated films created for a number of genres; however most animated films are family films made to appeal to children. Animation is a great form of film for children because it easy to keep the attention of a child with an animated film. With animation there is no limits so anything is possible and this is great when making childrens things because they like to watch things that capture their imagination with things that cannot possibly exist. A film that really depicts this well is Shrek because it is all about fantasy. Children love fantasy and this movie has all the characters from childrens fairytales. Obviously animation is needed to create this movie because the creatures within it obviously don't exist. As I said, children love fantasy because they are very imaginative; most childrens films are about things children have actually thought about before. For example Toy Story is about toys that are actually alive and have adventures. Every child has imagined what it would be like if there toys were real.
However it isn't only children's films that are animated. The Nightmare Before Christmas is an animated fantasy musical mainly aimed at adults. Since the movie is produced by Tim Burton it will obviously be a bit weird. The style of the animation is strange because the features of the characters are extremely exaggerated and their mannerisms are odd; this can only be depicted with animation obviously because it is fantasy and cannot exist.
I think we've determined that animation is used when the animator wants to create something that doesn't exist. One of the most visually beautiful modern animated movies is obviously Avatar. It is part digitally recorded and part animated. Again the animation was used to create something fantasy like. When animating people usually opt for fantasy because they can go crazy designing opposed to if they were creating it digitally. Avatars animation is extremely good because they animation fits in with the digitally recorded scenes because the graphics are that good.
Advertising
Animation is sometimes used in advertising to make a product stand out; animation is usually used when advertising products that already are well known because it's a high cost and most companies can't afford it. Coca Cola obviously can thought because they create a lot of animated adverts. The animated adverts originally used to be saved for Christmas adverts where Santa Clause is usually delivering bottles of the drink. However Coca Cola has invested in creating very extravagant adverts for their product. The reason why they create these great adverts is because they want their product to stand out and they succeed.
There are a lot of animated films created for a number of genres; however most animated films are family films made to appeal to children. Animation is a great form of film for children because it easy to keep the attention of a child with an animated film. With animation there is no limits so anything is possible and this is great when making childrens things because they like to watch things that capture their imagination with things that cannot possibly exist. A film that really depicts this well is Shrek because it is all about fantasy. Children love fantasy and this movie has all the characters from childrens fairytales. Obviously animation is needed to create this movie because the creatures within it obviously don't exist. As I said, children love fantasy because they are very imaginative; most childrens films are about things children have actually thought about before. For example Toy Story is about toys that are actually alive and have adventures. Every child has imagined what it would be like if there toys were real. I think we've determined that animation is used when the animator wants to create something that doesn't exist. One of the most visually beautiful modern animated movies is obviously Avatar. It is part digitally recorded and part animated. Again the animation was used to create something fantasy like. When animating people usually opt for fantasy because they can go crazy designing opposed to if they were creating it digitally. Avatars animation is extremely good because they animation fits in with the digitally recorded scenes because the graphics are that good. Advertising
Animation is sometimes used in advertising to make a product stand out; animation is usually used when advertising products that already are well known because it's a high cost and most companies can't afford it. Coca Cola obviously can thought because they create a lot of animated adverts. The animated adverts originally used to be saved for Christmas adverts where Santa Clause is usually delivering bottles of the drink. However Coca Cola has invested in creating very extravagant adverts for their product. The reason why they create these great adverts is because they want their product to stand out and they succeed.
Compare the Market also use animation to promote their site to make them stand out. The animation also gives them the opportunity to create their own mascots; this has become a gimmick and is probably the way the company gets a lot of business. They have even started giving away plushies of their mascots when someone gets a quote from them. Animation has really paid off for this company because everyone remembers the advert because the animation makes it memorable.
Lloyds TSB also uses animation to create their adverts; again it's used to make them stand out and make them memorable, which it is because everyone knows the advert and even remembers the theme tune of it. Adverts use animation to exaggerate how good their product is; in this case they're trying to symbolise that they care about their customers and that they're both on a journey together through life because the customer banks with them.
Childrens Telivision
Children's TV shows have been animated for a very long time; animated shows have proved more popular with children than digitally recorded because anything is possible when animating. A very early animated kids show is Mr Benn that was aired in the early 70's; it had very simple animations and they didn't really run smoothly because the frames were so far apart. The way they animated was by drawing different scenes then taking pictures of them and putting them together.
The cartoon style looked as if it had been drawn by a child which again would appeal to children because they can relate. The show is about a man, Mr Benn who visits a costume shop every day and when he puts on a costume he takes over its role; it is a very imaginative and interesting kids show which is based on fantasy, adventure and magic. I think the reason Mr Benn was so low quality (considering animation) is because they had a low budget because animators have been creating much more advanced animations much earlier than this. However they might have styled it this way because the animation is fitting because the whole idea of the show is that the child is being read a story by the narrator and they are flicking through a book looking at the pictures.
Much earlier than this Huckleberry Hound was being produced by Hanna-Barbera in the late 50's. The show was very popular; the story follows a laid back, southern blue dog with good intentions that just can't seem to catch a break. The show is meant to be humorous which is why the animation works well. It allowed the animator to create a funny fictional character and put it into ridiculous situations. In a lot of kids shows the mannerisms and body movements of characters are exaggerated to make it more humorous which is why animation is used because kids find this appealing.
Another show created during the 50's was The Gumby Show; this was an American kids show. The animation used to create this program is interesting and is called claymation; basically the animator has created character with clay and took pictures of them in different scenes and put the animation together. This style would have been popular with children because they can relate because they enjoy arts and crafts. The clay also allows the animator to create anything they want but with a much more unique look than just a regular cartoon. However, there is a disadvantage to creating animations this way, it is a very long process but it's worth it to see your creations come to life.
Now in the modern era animators have the ability to create more advanced animations for kids shows. For example the creators of The Amazing World of Gumball have used a very interesting technique, rotoscoping. They have digitally recorded the world but animated the characters and some objects. I think this show is great for kids not only because it is visually interesting but it gives the illusion that these creatures actually exist in this world. What I mean is, it fuels the child's imagination which is important.
Music Videos
Animation is used in music videos to make them more interesting and get across the songs message more. One of the most famous animated music videos is obviously Take On Me by Aha. The song is about two people who fall in love but one day the man has to leave so he promises that he will be back for her one day. Then one day he discovers she's moved on because he never came back like he said so he tries to move on. Using animation to tell this story was a great idea because it shows how he really loved her by taking her into their own world and protecting her from the bad. The video depicts what it would have been like if he had come back (came out of the newspaper).
The animation style is quite basic and understated which I think is the point because he's trying to symbolise their love which is 'black and white'. Using the animation in the music video brought something new to the music industry and made Aha stand out; it was very successful and the video probably had something to do with it.
In the modern era a lot of bands have started using animation for many of their music videos. A band that is famous for this is the Gorillaz; the reason why they used animation in their videos was to bring something new to the music scene and make them stand out. It is very hard to be successful in the music industry and the band thought they'd increase their chances by doing something creative.
The animations in their videos are very good considering the art; it's a mixture of 2D and 3D. The characters (band members) are always in 2D but the scenery and objects are 3D/pseudo 3D. Most of their songs talk about the problems the world is facing but in a upbeat way. In their song Feel Good Inc. they say "feel good, ahhhhahahahah"; I'm pretty sure they're using sarcasm and humour here to put their point across because just before hand they were talking about problems. The animation is used to grab the viewers attention so they become interested then the band can get their point across to the public.
In most cases animation is used to enhance the story that the song is telling but sometimes it's just random to make it look more interesting. For example Bjork is a very strange woman so it doesn't surprise me at all that she used animation in her music video for 'I Miss You'. The animation doesn't really have any story to it at all, it's just completely random a lot like her singing style. The way she sings is very unusual so the video goes with her style. The video reminds me of the 60's because it has a psychedelic feel to it.
I think that we've established that anything following the psychedelic theme likes to use animation. The reason for this is, like I've said they're very drug influenced and they like to make things appear 'trippy'. One band that uses minimal animation for their videos to give it this effect is MGMT; the band is a psychedelic rock band. They use animation in their videos to make it look weird and unusual; the animator creates things that don't make sense (e.g Andrew VanWyngarden, the lead singer riding a giant cat in their music video Time To Pretend) to give it the vibe. Also the way they include fantasy things in the video goes with the song because it talks about pretending and having imagination like a child so the animation adds to it.
Computer Games
All computer games are animated but there are many different ways to animate to give it a particular feel for a particular genre. For example when creating a horror game it is important that they get the animation right so it depicts the scary theme. A game that does this well is FEAR 3; the animator has created the game with a unique style. They have used harsh lights for visions to make it feel uncomfortable. Lighting is very important in the horror genre because it depicts the mood; usually they make the world dark to make it scary and give it a more 'jumpy' feel. The cut scenes are where it usually gets scary because it is where the character is having visions. They display disturbing images, sounds and harsh lights to give it a scary atmosphere.
Games that are aimed at families and children however have a very different animation style. For example Mario Kart is very bright and colourful and incorporates fun animations that determine the unique features of each kart. As I've said before children love to use their imagination and it's important that animators take this into account when creating a game aimed at them. The animators of Mario Kart did this well by taking the traditional Mario style but giving it a style much like Wacky Races which was also aimed at children.
RPGs and adventure games have very distinctive styles of animation; most of these games go for photo-realistic graphics to immerse the gamer into the world. For example Skyrim used that exact technique when creating it's animation; since the game is very fantasy based it is important to make it look as real as possible because otherwise it would just look too gimmicky. RPG fans get very enthusiastic about beautiful graphics which is why more and more companies are competing to make the most photo-realistic game.
However it is not just RPGs and adventure games that go for photo-realistic graphics and animation. L.A. Noire is a crime mystery game that goes for a realistic style because the story is very important to the game. You can bet that the animation and graphics will be better in story based games because the developers want the player to feel like they are in the role of the character completely.
Mobile Phones
There are a number of mobile phones that incorporate animations into their device; usually these phones are smartphones, iPhones and Windows phones. For example on the Windows phone there is an Xbox Live app and when it is pinned to the home page the persons avatar peeks at the side of the icon. This is quite a cool animation and it has been made to make the app stand out more opposed to if it was just a still image.
Similarly the phone pins the pictures app onto the home page and the icon that you click to open the pictures shuffles through photos that are on the phone or connected to their Facebook account.
Mobile phones use animations to make their device stand out; it is very important that it stands out because it is a very competitive industry. The more interactive elements the phone has determines how successful it will be; this is why the iPhone is the best selling phone because it has animations, a huge app market and a lot of other features.
Websites
Websites use animations to make it more interesting; a website without animations appear very boring and tedious but when they have animations it feels fun just to browse through it. Most websites have animations now because it is a great way to attract peoples attention; you can bet that if a website has animations more people will want to use it. Websites can be there for a number of reasons but the animations within them are just there to make them look more profession and exiting.
Websites for children seem to always have a lot more animations because kids have very short attention spans but animations capture their attention. For example http://www.nick.co.uk/ has a lot of animations. There's animations promoting things, animations on the buttons, animations on banner ads and more.
Childrens Telivision
Children's TV shows have been animated for a very long time; animated shows have proved more popular with children than digitally recorded because anything is possible when animating. A very early animated kids show is Mr Benn that was aired in the early 70's; it had very simple animations and they didn't really run smoothly because the frames were so far apart. The way they animated was by drawing different scenes then taking pictures of them and putting them together. The cartoon style looked as if it had been drawn by a child which again would appeal to children because they can relate. The show is about a man, Mr Benn who visits a costume shop every day and when he puts on a costume he takes over its role; it is a very imaginative and interesting kids show which is based on fantasy, adventure and magic. I think the reason Mr Benn was so low quality (considering animation) is because they had a low budget because animators have been creating much more advanced animations much earlier than this. However they might have styled it this way because the animation is fitting because the whole idea of the show is that the child is being read a story by the narrator and they are flicking through a book looking at the pictures.
Much earlier than this Huckleberry Hound was being produced by Hanna-Barbera in the late 50's. The show was very popular; the story follows a laid back, southern blue dog with good intentions that just can't seem to catch a break. The show is meant to be humorous which is why the animation works well. It allowed the animator to create a funny fictional character and put it into ridiculous situations. In a lot of kids shows the mannerisms and body movements of characters are exaggerated to make it more humorous which is why animation is used because kids find this appealing.
Another show created during the 50's was The Gumby Show; this was an American kids show. The animation used to create this program is interesting and is called claymation; basically the animator has created character with clay and took pictures of them in different scenes and put the animation together. This style would have been popular with children because they can relate because they enjoy arts and crafts. The clay also allows the animator to create anything they want but with a much more unique look than just a regular cartoon. However, there is a disadvantage to creating animations this way, it is a very long process but it's worth it to see your creations come to life.
Now in the modern era animators have the ability to create more advanced animations for kids shows. For example the creators of The Amazing World of Gumball have used a very interesting technique, rotoscoping. They have digitally recorded the world but animated the characters and some objects. I think this show is great for kids not only because it is visually interesting but it gives the illusion that these creatures actually exist in this world. What I mean is, it fuels the child's imagination which is important.
Music Videos
Animation is used in music videos to make them more interesting and get across the songs message more. One of the most famous animated music videos is obviously Take On Me by Aha. The song is about two people who fall in love but one day the man has to leave so he promises that he will be back for her one day. Then one day he discovers she's moved on because he never came back like he said so he tries to move on. Using animation to tell this story was a great idea because it shows how he really loved her by taking her into their own world and protecting her from the bad. The video depicts what it would have been like if he had come back (came out of the newspaper).
The animation style is quite basic and understated which I think is the point because he's trying to symbolise their love which is 'black and white'. Using the animation in the music video brought something new to the music industry and made Aha stand out; it was very successful and the video probably had something to do with it.
In the modern era a lot of bands have started using animation for many of their music videos. A band that is famous for this is the Gorillaz; the reason why they used animation in their videos was to bring something new to the music scene and make them stand out. It is very hard to be successful in the music industry and the band thought they'd increase their chances by doing something creative.
The animations in their videos are very good considering the art; it's a mixture of 2D and 3D. The characters (band members) are always in 2D but the scenery and objects are 3D/pseudo 3D. Most of their songs talk about the problems the world is facing but in a upbeat way. In their song Feel Good Inc. they say "feel good, ahhhhahahahah"; I'm pretty sure they're using sarcasm and humour here to put their point across because just before hand they were talking about problems. The animation is used to grab the viewers attention so they become interested then the band can get their point across to the public.In most cases animation is used to enhance the story that the song is telling but sometimes it's just random to make it look more interesting. For example Bjork is a very strange woman so it doesn't surprise me at all that she used animation in her music video for 'I Miss You'. The animation doesn't really have any story to it at all, it's just completely random a lot like her singing style. The way she sings is very unusual so the video goes with her style. The video reminds me of the 60's because it has a psychedelic feel to it.
I think that we've established that anything following the psychedelic theme likes to use animation. The reason for this is, like I've said they're very drug influenced and they like to make things appear 'trippy'. One band that uses minimal animation for their videos to give it this effect is MGMT; the band is a psychedelic rock band. They use animation in their videos to make it look weird and unusual; the animator creates things that don't make sense (e.g Andrew VanWyngarden, the lead singer riding a giant cat in their music video Time To Pretend) to give it the vibe. Also the way they include fantasy things in the video goes with the song because it talks about pretending and having imagination like a child so the animation adds to it.
Computer Games
All computer games are animated but there are many different ways to animate to give it a particular feel for a particular genre. For example when creating a horror game it is important that they get the animation right so it depicts the scary theme. A game that does this well is FEAR 3; the animator has created the game with a unique style. They have used harsh lights for visions to make it feel uncomfortable. Lighting is very important in the horror genre because it depicts the mood; usually they make the world dark to make it scary and give it a more 'jumpy' feel. The cut scenes are where it usually gets scary because it is where the character is having visions. They display disturbing images, sounds and harsh lights to give it a scary atmosphere.
Games that are aimed at families and children however have a very different animation style. For example Mario Kart is very bright and colourful and incorporates fun animations that determine the unique features of each kart. As I've said before children love to use their imagination and it's important that animators take this into account when creating a game aimed at them. The animators of Mario Kart did this well by taking the traditional Mario style but giving it a style much like Wacky Races which was also aimed at children.
However it is not just RPGs and adventure games that go for photo-realistic graphics and animation. L.A. Noire is a crime mystery game that goes for a realistic style because the story is very important to the game. You can bet that the animation and graphics will be better in story based games because the developers want the player to feel like they are in the role of the character completely.
Mobile Phones
There are a number of mobile phones that incorporate animations into their device; usually these phones are smartphones, iPhones and Windows phones. For example on the Windows phone there is an Xbox Live app and when it is pinned to the home page the persons avatar peeks at the side of the icon. This is quite a cool animation and it has been made to make the app stand out more opposed to if it was just a still image.
Similarly the phone pins the pictures app onto the home page and the icon that you click to open the pictures shuffles through photos that are on the phone or connected to their Facebook account.Mobile phones use animations to make their device stand out; it is very important that it stands out because it is a very competitive industry. The more interactive elements the phone has determines how successful it will be; this is why the iPhone is the best selling phone because it has animations, a huge app market and a lot of other features.
Websites
Websites use animations to make it more interesting; a website without animations appear very boring and tedious but when they have animations it feels fun just to browse through it. Most websites have animations now because it is a great way to attract peoples attention; you can bet that if a website has animations more people will want to use it. Websites can be there for a number of reasons but the animations within them are just there to make them look more profession and exiting.
Websites for children seem to always have a lot more animations because kids have very short attention spans but animations capture their attention. For example http://www.nick.co.uk/ has a lot of animations. There's animations promoting things, animations on the buttons, animations on banner ads and more.
yeaaah dood
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