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[Brobzoid]

What a silly conversation. Animation doesn't need to be justified. And regards to the whole 'realistic vs abstract' debate; this film is probably one of my favorite animations. Insanely cool and very abstract.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Even if it's animation that's made to look very realistic, it's still going to have a different look on its own which could be of inherent value.

But really when I think of how various stories could be turned into movies or television shows, the things that make me keep thinking of animation as a superior option aren't things about unrealistic proportions or fancified eye-popping or whatnot, but other things. Have a series that would realistically cover a decade of films, but is all supposed to take place within a few months? A lot easier to pull that off with animation than with actors who will age, get fat, lose a limb, maybe die. No need to pull off a Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions recasting and try to explain it within the story if you can just keep animating the character the same and get a soundalike voice actor. Want a story to have a flashback to various ages of a character? A lot easier to just draw (or model) them the way they really should be, rather than trying to assemble a team of close-enoughs from the real world.

Or maybe your series isn't something that's planned out that far in advance. Perhaps you'll run into a Back to the Future Part II situation, where you want to show an old scene in a new way. With live action you're probably going to end up refilming bits of it, and have your actors be different or the wrong age with different hair lengths, and yada yada yada. With traditional animation things can look as close to the original as you want it to. With CG it could be as simple as altering the camera angle and adding in some new elements to a scene that's basically still complete from years before.

 

[7Th]

i wanted to bump this because i've been thinking a lot about it, and because a rewatching of grave of the fireflies & the filmspotting discussion of waltz with bashir prompted me to develop a stance on this.

as far as the use of animation, and how it can be used OUTSIDE of fantasy or fantastic settings to good effect, in both grave & bashir it's utilized in such a way as to place a layer of abstraction between the audience and the horror of the events that are taking place. in this way, people to whom the material would be otherwise inaccessible is now accessible.

further--and i should state that i haven't seen the film, and i therefore can't speak to this personally--according to the filmspotting guys, bashir uses a shift from animation to real footage to great emotional effect.

i would also add waking life to the list of films that use animation in a unique way, there utilizing it to convey the dream-like state of everything that happens in the film. it does not detract or make the film lesser in any way, and if the events there were portrayed with plain, real footage, that dreamy ambience would be lost.

Well, I believe you just justified "the use of animation" in GotF and WwB. That is, to create a sense of abstract and idealized suffering that would be impossible through the more personal live-action. They're not trying to create a "coherent setting" in the traditional narrative sense but rather to depict the ideas represented by war itself.

 

[charlequin]

What's the problem in search of a solution here? Is there some rash of wildly successful hyper-realistic, non-stylized animation out there destroying the medium that I am unaware of?

 

[SapientWolf]

John K is right

everything done in the 21st century on Cartoon Network, Teletoon, etc are crap especailly the shows that look like freakin' Flash animation with full no laughs

but John K will never be a Chuck Jones, nor a Tex Aver nor a Bob Clampett neither

You just inadvertently called The Venture Bros crap. I hope you're wearing your flame suit.

 

[wenis]

John K. is a flipping moron. Why do people still insist on giving him any room to speak anymore? This is just further proof of his insanity.

 

[beelzebozo]

Well, I believe you just justified "the use of animation" in GotF and WwB. That is, to create a sense of abstract and idealized suffering that would be impossible through the more personal live-action. They're not trying to create a "coherent setting" in the traditional narrative sense but rather to depict the ideas represented by war itself.

i think i came in to agree with your stance? essentially that there are situations in which animation is called for, and makes a work stronger? i'm not sure. there seem to be several different pretty complex concepts at play here.

 

[Gantz]

John K. is right. American animation sucks nowadays. Also John K. makes more money than everyone in this thread.

 

[Freshmaker]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFKC_rFaz2w

This needs to be live action.

 

[RSLAEV]

John K. is right. American animation sucks nowadays. Also John K. makes more money than everyone in this thread.

Well wrap it up guys, looks like Gantz showed us all what for with this killer burn.

 

[Treo360]

John K. is right. American animation sucks nowadays. Also John K. makes more money than everyone in this thread.

Shit, that's it. I need to call student care at Animation Mentor to cancel my admission for next semester as I'm already into my 4th week into the current.

 

[linkboy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFKC_rFaz2w

This needs to be live action.

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