Journal Entry – Week 3

In ‘Gertie the Dinosaur’ and Fantasmagorie,’ both pioneering animatinos, lines are used differently.’Gertie’ employs detailed lines to create solid characters, while “Fantasmagorie’ uses fluid lines for surreal visuals. Backgrounds in ‘Gertie’ are realistic setting the scene, while ‘Fantasmagorie’ opted for abrstract backgrounds blending with characters.

Felix the Cat gives the correct feeling when I think of Mickey Mouse or any classical icon that’s all black and white with no other existing colors at the time. The way the motion characters move, behave, and interact with the surrounding environment pleases the audience with special effects as the characters move smoothly with stop motion.

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?

Comics were used to a tell a story. Before they could create many different images and show different frames at a fast pace, they had to use comics. Comics were a good way to tell stories. A lot of comics are based on superheroes. Superheroes were a big thing when they first came out. It was easy for animators to take the original comics and take it to the next level by creating short animated films.

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?

I think the reason we have a lot of early animated films in the US based on print comics is that the media being consumed at the time during war times is when comics became popular since it was a way to pass the time and eventually to create more content and generate more money creating films seem to be the next step in that process to have. What I think would make it appropriate was money to spend to create more content.

(Yisheng Wang)I believe that Comic was an inseparable part of America’s former culture, and Comic tend to be familiar among people which made of Comic into animated movies allows filmmakers to incorporate in comic, they can also capitalize on audiences who already familiar with the characters and stories, making it easier to capture their attention. Fans would also be interested in seeing their favorite characters moving on screen.

Prompt 2

The reason why there were animations based on comics is because comics were really popular at that time. It was the best way to bring them to life because comics already has images of what’s going on which makes it easier for the animators to know what’s going on in one panel.

Comics are very popular especially to a younger audience. I think this is one of the main reasons animated films were based on comics. The best way to bring a fictional character to life and meet the standards given in a comic is only to make an animated demonstration of the character. Since comics are already images, it is also an easier transfer from a still image to a consecutive demonstration of multiple frames.

Prompt 2
I think the reason a lot of early animated films made in the US were based on print comics was because of their popularity and familiarity with the viewers as well as their fanbase. By converting comics into animated films, studios could capitalize on this idea with characters and stories among comic book readers. As a visual medium, it works best with film as it makes storytelling and character development a lot more entertaining and engaging with their audience.

If I was an audience member at one of Gaspard Robertson’s “Fantasmagorie” shows in 1977, I would be amazed because it was something that no one has ever seen as an early form of entertainment. I don’t think there’s other form of entertainment in today’s time that would give the same emotion because most people now watch movies or tv shows for entertainment.