Techniques

Techniques and Formats

Time-Lapse: A photography technique where the frequency at which film frames are captured is much lower than that used to view the sequence. When played the sequence appears to be much faster at a faster succession. This technique is important as it allows us to create high speed cinematography and manipulate time in films. The first recorded use of a time lapse in cinematography was in the film Carrefour De L’Opera in 1897

Plasticine: A brand of modelling clay famously used in the art of claymation. It’s mainly used to create characters and sets in films. Famous examples of models created include the figurines for Wallace and Gromit. 

Claymation: The technique of claymation was trademarked by Will Vinton in 1978 but was around years before in the early 1900’s. It’s a type of stop motion animation which means that its composed of numerous pictures that when played back creates the illusion of movement. It takes a really long time to animate a claymation as most claymation movies take between 4 and 7 years to make. The Technique still has a big presence today in modern day cinema with films like Early Man.

Found Objects: A technique which involves everyday objects, that can be found in homes, in a stop motion animation piece. A famous example of Object animation would be the show Robot Chicken which is aired on Adult Swim in the Cartoon Network. The show combines puppet animation with object animation to resemble scenarios from pop culture TV shows and films.

Cut Out: Is a form of stop motion animation using flat characters, props and backgrounds typically made from paper. Cut out animations were the first ever to be put into a feature  film and still live on today with shows like South Park which now rely on computer software.

Puppetry: A form of stop motion which uses puppets that can move easily. They do this by having a mini armature inside them to help them move freely. The first film to involve puppetry animation was The Humpty Dumpty Circus in 1908 by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert Smith. Famous modern day example include Fantastic Mr Fox and More recently, The Isle of Dogs.

Pixelation: A form of stop motion where live actors are placed frame by frame and essentially become a living stop motion puppet. This method was often used when blending in live actors with animated ones. The first example of this technique being used was El hotel electrico in 1908. Famous examples include The Secret adventure of Tom Thumb and Monsieur Pointu.

Task 2

Feature Film

The sole purpose of a feature film is to entertain an audience. However, animations could inform and educate. An example would be product placement in a film so that if you displayed a branded product in the background of a scene it will still be making the audience aware of that product. Films could maybe teach an audience a thing or two depending on the context behind the scene and the narrative of the film. An example of this would be the horror film Carrie in 1976 which tries to teach the audience the backlash of bullying. Although the message is there the films conveys it with extreme measures to still make it entertaining.

As for target audience that can vary depending on the genre of the film. For example, Disney movies are primarily aimed towards young children however a secondary audience would be the parents. Whereas Horror movies are aimed towards Teenagers and adults because of the potential gore.

Music videos

Similarly, to Feature films, music videos are made to entertain. As well as this they have the potential to be educational if it matches the purpose of the song. Entertaining music videos may also include product placement but it may not be at the same scale as a feature film. An example of this would be the Greyhound music video by Swedish House Mafia which gained controversy as the main focus of the ad was a bottle of Absolut Vodka which gained a lot of negative responses as people would say that it was more of an advertisement rather than a music video.

The target audiences for music videos are made available for mostly everyone with a few exceptions. For example, a recent music video ‘Ilove it’ by Lil Pump features many subliminal sexual messages so it may not be appropriate for children.

Computer Games

Video games provide a lot of entertainment to people of all ages. They are immersive as it actually involves the audience and for most games the way the user plays can affect the narrative. Video games could also educate with games such as brain trainer on the Nintendo DS which was a series of puzzles which when played would guess your mental age. The puzzles would range from literature to Sudoku.

As for the target audience, it varies depending on a narrative and gameplay features. Games like Little Big Planet may aim to appeal to children aged 7 and above where as the Call of Duty franchise is primarily aimed towards people aged 18 and above due to the gun combat and graphic nature of the games.