theodora z

10 posts

Theodora Zarbis W9

Journal Entry – Week 9 Uncategorized

UPA uses a very modern simplistic technique in Rooty Toot Toot to accompany a jazz score to a popular song “Frankie and Johnny”. This studio was innovative in the 1950’s for doing a very diffeent style than the Disney realism. A lot of the artists working there had been stiffled and suppressed in their creativity and wish to drive their medium forward, They took influences from modern artists such as Picasso and Matisse so they relied on simple line drawings for backgrounds and stylized characters with an overall flat 2D look and aesthetic.

The idea was to convey the story without the extra detail and work involved which any storyline is not solely dependent on. For the sake of communicating a flow of a fictional narrative, this was effective. Until I saw this type of animation in class I was naively under the impression that The Pink Panther cartoons were the original popular works with this sort of style, the simple background and very 2D characters. With UPA there was an incorporatiin of using bold yet basic shapes for the foundation and main form for each of the individual characters. And the use of simple color themes for each character without much color in the background to compete with the movement of the characters and the overall visual palatte. I suppose it reminds me of Rocky and Bullwinkle as well. I also see a similariy to some art deco sensibilities as far as simple and stylistic line drawings and the use of few color variatiins within a specific piece or drawing.

The Hand

Journal Entry - Week 8 Uncategorized

Theodora Zarbis

The communist governemnt in Czechoslovakia would not distribute Trnka’s short film because it was seen to be criticizing the authoritarianism that people were subjected to and could potentially anger some viewers and maybe inspire some organized form of resistance. The hand that the main character cannot escape the control of, was to me a suffocating portrayal of having no right to self determinism and essentaially being some sort of hostage with no free will. Personally I was deeply disturbed by this tragic persecution of this one small character attempting to live a free life and have the ability to say no and have his own space and the right to enforce some boundaries around his existence. To watch this continuous violation was soul crushing as it leads to the inevitible demise of a person’s individuality until death. The hand is relentless and all I could wish for was the escape of the main character yet the situation is clearly shown to be a hopeless one with no intervention or resolution. It shows this person is doomed. I’m surprised how very bothered I was by this film and it’s power to affect me like that. It’s hard to watch oppression I guess, even if it’s happening to a puppet.

 

Animation vs. Live action

Journal Entry - Week 12 Uncategorized

Theodora Zarbis

 

Week 12 prompt 2

One movie that I think has a blurred line between animation and live action is Space Jam from 1996. The movie stars a live action Michael Jordon, who is acting among the animated cast of the Looney Tunes characters. This movie was a commercial success and is still relevant and talked about today. I think that it’s very difficult to say which category this movie belongs in, because it fully contains elements of both. I think it should just be considered a hybrid film, to call it one or the other is just ingenuous and is ignoring the entire creative premise of the film.

anime

Journal Entry – Week 10 Uncategorized

Theodora Zarbis

Week 10, prompt 2

Today a very popular anime in the US is Beastars. It can be found on Netflix, which has made it very accessible to the general public. The genres are drama, mystery, romance, with some elements of thriller. It is set in a fantasy world where animals are anthropomorphic, and there is a cultural divide between herbivores and carnivores. The plot follows a gentle wolf boy who is battling with his own predatory urges, while a murder is being investigated in his school. This show is very popular in Japan as well, and it is based on a manga of the same name.

yellow sub

Journal Entry – Week 11 (long paper outline) Uncategorized

by Theodora Zarbis 

This is a belived animated film in my house. It is onenof those films we would have on the tv even as background because we l9ve the Beatles and the colorful and psychedelic visuals are stunning and inspirationla andniplifting. There is also the message of the lyrics that never grow old for me because many of the themes are universal. The other factor is that I adore this type of humor. 

On my slides I plan to include:

-the intro page

-the background info

-the various types of animation used 

-a video clip

-the film’s place in the context of time period it was released

-connection to class lessons and my personal attachment

-resource links

Theodora Zarbis wk 4

Journal Entry - Week 4 (short paper outline)

Week 4 journal
I have decided to write about Pinocchio for my short paper project. I am drawn to this film for multiple reasons. I remember it from my childhood, and I was strongly affected by it back then. I was always very fond of Geppetto, who I consider to be an ideal father figure. He is gentle, kind, makes beautiful toys, and his greatest wish is to have a child of his own and be a loving parent. I also love Pinocchio himself, and I have sympathy for Jiminy Cricket, who is the unheard voice of reason with little to no real power over the events of the film. There are multiple other reasons why I enjoy it, such as the themes, art, and impact, which I will explore in my essay.

Outline of essay:
Describe the film, its plot, and characters
Talk about the films significance in the animation world
Talk about how the film affects me and my opinions on it

Theodora Zarbis wk 5 prompt 2

Journal Entry - Week 5

I’d say Bashful and Grumpy are depicted as opposites. Bashful has the body language of hiding himself behind his beard and not making direct eye contact, and turning red with embarrassment, while Grumpy is direct in facing Snow White and crossing his arms across his chest. Also Bashful seems to fumble when trying to speak, while Grumpy makes dismissive noises, and has an agressive, disapproving, and impatient tone. Bashful is self- conscious but has a sweet nature, and Grumpy is not ashamed to have no manners. I think it’s cute how Snow White is gentle with Bashful and then playful and pokes fun about Grumpy’s disposition.

Theodora Zarbis week 3 prompt 2

Journal Entry - Week 3

Because comic strips were popular and widely seen in the newspapers across the U.S. it made logical sense to bring these same characters into the feild of animation. Since people would recognize them and the drawings were not overly complex to recreate many times over, the techniques to animate them were not unrealistic. It was almost like a natural progression of a simialr art form. Another factor I believe is that there was already a understanding of the general popularity of some of these characters from the comic strips.

Theodora Zarbis week 2 prompt 3

Journal Entry - Week 2

I could imagine being in this theater experience, but I think because of how he presented it as a real showing of spirits, and people never having exposure to his projection techniques before, it makes sense that the audiences went wild and the shows were initially shut down. I think if I had been there, I would have gone running to a church to find a priest to help me, and probably would have thought I needed an exorcism or some kind of religious protection afterwards. 

The old memory it made me think of was when I was very young and went to Disney World and was in the haunted house, and this one room we all were standing in started to grow longer to expose more of these paintings of these characters on the walls. And then when I was in a rolling cart on a track during the ride, I saw my reflection in a mirror with a ghost sitting right next to me. It was shocking as a child to experience these types of optical illusions, but also very exciting. 

Theodora Zarbis week 1

Journal Entry - Week 1 Uncategorized

prompt 2

I like the Pink Panther the most. I love the music. I love the amazing colors. The humor. It originated as an animated opening sequence for the live action film “The Pink Panther” starring Peter Sellers, which featured “The Pink Panther Theme” by Henry Mancini. The character was designed by Hawley Pratt and Friz Freleng in 1963. The first animated short done in 1964 was called “ The Pink Phink” and won an Academy Award.