Anna Pinkas

12 posts

Journal Entry – Week 12

Journal Entry - Week 12

Respond to at least 1 prompt on this page (you are welcome to respond to more). For instructions on how to submit a journal entry, please follow these instructions. FORMATTING FOR THIS WEEK: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] W12” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 12”)

Prompt 1

Disney and other big studios closed their 2D animation divisions by the late 1990s/early 2000s. Why did they make this decision? Do you believe it was a good one? Can you find/describe examples of 2D animation thriving today?

Prompt 2

Describe a film that exemplifies the blurred line between animation and live-action. What category do you think it belongs in and why?

Instructions

Journal Entry - Week 8

Respond to at least 1 prompt on this page (you are welcome to respond to more). For instructions on how to submit a journal entry, please follow these instructions. FORMATTING FOR THIS WEEK: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] W8” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 8”

Prompt 1

After WWII the world could be divided (broadly) into two worldviews: that of the Western (capitalist) and Eastern (communist) blocks. How were these differences expressed in animation? What were some of the thematic, aesthetic, and financial differences between Western and Eastern national productions?

Prompt 2

The Czech government refused to distribute Jiří Trnka’ s short film “The Hand” (1965). Why do you think the film was seen as subversive by the communist government at the time?

Instructions

Journal Entry - Week 13

Respond to at least 1 prompt on this page (you are welcome to respond to more). For instructions on how to submit a journal entry, please follow these instructions. FORMATTING FOR THIS WEEK: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] W13” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 13”)

Prompt 1

Studio Ghibli’s work often has themes about conflicts between man and the natural world. Pick one of the films they produced and explain how this theme is integrated into the story. Which characters represent the natural world? How is the conflict shown? Is it resolved?

Prompt 2

Here is a link to a Japanese scroll “Six Jewel River” (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/53427) (1839) by Sakai Ōho in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Can you see themes of approaches to drawing or color that are reminiscent of anime? Describe them.

Instructions

Journal Entry - Week 5

Respond to at least 1 prompt on this page (you are welcome to respond to more). For instructions on how to submit a journal entry, please follow these instructions. FORMATTING FOR THIS WEEK: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] W5” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 5”

Prompt 1

“Steamboat Willie” is famous because it used fully synchronized sound. View the film again. How is the sound used to emphasize the action? Give some specific examples. What role does music play in the film? Does the use of sound reveal something about each of the characters? What does it reveal and how is sound used?

Prompt 2

View the clip of Snow White meeting the seven dwarfs again. Though each of the seven dwarfs are drawn and animated in a similar manner, there are important differences that tell us something about each of their personalities. Pick two of the dwarfs and show how they are distinguished from each other by the way they move, how they are drawn, their voices and any other means used to show their character.

Instructions

Journal Entry - Week 3

Respond to at least 1 prompt on this page (you are welcome to respond to more). For instructions on how to submit a journal entry, please follow these instructions. FORMATTING FOR THIS WEEK: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] W3” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 3”

Prompt 1

Watch Winsor McCay’s “Gertie the Dinosaur” and Emile Cohl’s “Fantasmagorie”. Compare these two early styles of animation. What is similar, and what is different in their approaches? How are lines used? How are backgrounds used? What about the storytelling?

Prompt 2

We have seen that many early animated films, particularly in the US, were based on print comics. Why do you think that is? What was there about comics that would make them an appropriate subject for film?

Instructions

Journal Entry – Week 9

Respond to at least 1 prompt on this page (you are welcome to respond to more). For instructions on how to submit a journal entry, please follow these instructions. FORMATTING FOR THIS WEEK: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] W9” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 9” 

Prompt 1

Work from the UPA studio was noted for its use of color, abstract patterns, stylized drawing and limited movement. Watch “Rooty Tooty Toot” in it’s entirety. Describe how it uses color, patterns, drawing and movement. Do you think it is effective and tells the story using these means? Why?

Prompt 2

We see that animated advertising became more prominent during this period. Pick an animated current commercial. Write about why you think it works, or doesn’t work, in terms of movement, color and storytelling. Include screenshots.

Instructions

Journal Entry – Week 11 (long paper outline)

Respond to prompt on this page. For instructions on how to submit a journal entry, please follow these instructions. FORMATTING FOR THIS WEEK: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] LP Outline” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 11 (long paper outline)”

Long paper outline

Review the long paper guideline and grading rubric and submit a thesis or outline as a journal entry by next week. Your entry should include:

  • The name of the full feature film, short or TV series that you will be focusing on (it must have been created in the past 10 years, and does NOT have to be a piece we discussed in class).
  • Why are you drawn to this film/show – because of it’s story? technique? aesthetic? political context? etc.)
  • An outline of elements you will be researching/writing about (this can be done in the form of a list or in a paragraph).

If you choose to submit the optional journal entries below please use this formatting: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] W11 (optional)” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 11 (long paper outline)”

Journal Entry (Optional)

The following journal entry prompts are suggestions. Professors may come up with different ones for their individual course sections. 

Prompt 1

Watch the documentary/interview on Stan Brakhage or Robert Breer on Kanopy. After watching the film, summarize the approach of the artist you chose to the craft of filmmaking. Why do you think they were considered important in their time? How were they considered innovative?

Prompt 2

Review the trailer for “Fantastic Planet”. How would you describe the style of drawing and movement? Think of this film in the context of the other work we looked at this week, particularly the works aimed at a youth audience, like Ralph Bakshi’s work and “Yellow Submarine”.

Instructions

Journal Entry – Week 10

Respond to at least 1 prompt on this page (you are welcome to respond to more). For instructions on how to submit a journal entry, please follow these instructions. FORMATTING FOR THIS WEEK: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] W10” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 10” 

Prompt 1

Product-driven shows became a hallmark of American TV animated productions in the 1980s. Can you think of any contemporary/recent examples of product placement in animated tv shows today? If not on TV, how is product placement used in today’s media?

Prompt 2

What is today’s most popular (in term of audience) Japanese animated TV show in the US? What genre does it belong to? What is the general storyline? On what platform is it distributed? Why do you think it resonates with American audiences? Is it as popular in Japan?

Instructions

Journal Entry - Week 7

Respond to at least 1 prompt on this page (you are welcome to respond to more). For instructions on how to submit a journal entry, please follow these instructions. FORMATTING FOR THIS WEEK: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] W7” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 7”

Prompt 1

Many of the films we saw this week show stereotypical versions of the enemy. Watch “Bust the Axis”, made in the UK directed by an American and “Momotarō no Umiwashi”. How is the enemy portrayed in each of these films? What negative stereotypes are depicted? What means are used in terms of drawing style and movement? What are the behaviors demonstrated by the characters?

Prompt 2

The Private Snafu series was designed to instruct GIs in military techniques and behaviors. How do you think Private Snafu – Fighting Tools uses humor to get the point across? Does it use voice, drawing, movement or story? How?

Instructions

Journal Entry - Week 2

Respond to at least 1 prompt on this page (you are welcome to respond to more). For instructions on how to submit a journal entry, please follow these instructions. FORMATTING FOR THIS WEEK: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] W2” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 2”

Prompt 1

We looked at pre-cinema animation and some examples of early cinema animation. These examples span cultures and timelines. Pick 2 from different times or countries and find commonalities and differences.

Prompt 2

Both cave paintings and shadow puppetry are forms of oral storytelling – an ancient and intimate tradition wherein the storyteller and his audience inhabit the same space. Can you think of other forms of oral storytelling? Have you ever experienced/participated in this type of storytelling (as a storyteller or audience members)? Describe and reflect on these experiences. How are they different/similar to the examples above. (Re-)read/watch these resources for inspiration:

Prompt 3

Can you imagine being an audience remember at one of Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” shows in 1797? What do you think your reaction would have been? Can you think of any form of entertainment that would elicit the same emotions today? (Re-)read/watch these resources for inspiration:

Instructions

Journal Entry - Week 1

Respond to at least 1 prompt on this page (you are welcome to respond to both). For instructions on how to submit a journal entry, please follow these instructions. FORMATTING FOR THIS WEEK: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] W1” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 1”

Prompt 1

Please tell us a bit about yourself. What is your name? Why did you pick this course? Is there a particular genre/era/type of animation you’re interested in learning more about? What is your major? What are your career goals? Include a few fun facts about yourself (hobbies? pets? favorite food?)

Prompt 2

Name an animated film or tv show that you like. Why do you think you like it?  Is it the characters, the animation techniques? Include this in the journal post. Research the studio/artist that created it as well as the date it was created and include this information in your post.

Instructions

Journal Entry - Week 4 (short paper outline)

Respond to the prompt on this page. For instructions on how to submit a journal entry, please follow these instructions. FORMATTING FOR THIS WEEK: Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] SP Outline” and select the Category “Journal Entry – Week 4 (short paper outline)”

Review the short paper guideline and grading rubric and submit a thesis or outline as a journal entry by next week. Your entry should include:

  • The name of the short or full feature films that you will be focusing on (it must be one that we’ve discussed in class between week 1 and week 5).
  • Why are you drawn to this film – because of it’s story? technique? aesthetic? political context? etc.)
  • An outline of elements you will be researching/writing about (this can be done in the form of a list or in a paragraph)