Simple Motion in Design

Poster for The Man with the Golden Arm. Saul Bass

“The simplest form of animation is a succession of static images that relate to each other in design and take up their positions on the screen in a sequence, the significance of which is determined by some other factor – for example, the animated credit titles of a film or certain kinds of cinema or television commercial.” John Halas, Motion in Design Longacre Press LTD London 1962 page 13

In the opening chapter to his book, Motion in Design, Halas uses screen shots of Saul Bass’ credits for Anatomy of a Murder and The Man with the Golden Arm. What has been acceptably termed today as motion graphics is here being explained as one of the simplest forms of animation. The word ’simplest’ may rile a few motion designers today but there is something quite revealing in the use of that superlative. A revelation that may well help us understand a particular facet of how motion graphics developed from within the traditional animation studio to become today what is considered more a product of the graphic design studio.

In a later work entitled, Film & TV Graphics 2, (Edited by Walter Herdeg. The Graphis Press 1976), Halas points out four major developments in animation :

1). The discovery of the technique of animation.

2). Perfection of the technique – Disney as an example of the tradition
3). Revolt of the Disney tradition – The need to expand the graphic style and remove itself from natural movement and ‘photorealism’.

4). The electronic & digital revolution bringing about an expansion of the art of animation in other domains such as special effects for film.

It is the third observation that raises an important detail in historical terms. This turning point in animation’s history gave birth to the studios UPA in America, Zagreb in central Europe and indeed to a certain extent Halas himself in England, all of which were pursuing a simpler graphic style. According to Amid Amidi in his book Cartoon Modern (Chronicle Books LLC 2006), studios were opening up that were uniquely producing industrial and commercial films for the television with the First Motion Picture Unit being set up by the Army Air Force as early as 1942 as a means to train and educate officers. In his book Cartoons (Marsilio Editori, 1988), Giannalberto Bendazzi explains that during the 50’s, the television became a major player not only as a means for distribution but also as a catalyst for changing the form of animation.This particular form came in the shape of animated shorts for advertising. And the fact that animators had to find quick and memorable solutions for snappy 15 second commercials brought in a new kind of visual draughtsman – the graphic designer.

This shift from animation as entertainment to a mode of education and communication meant that there was an increased importance for the graphic designer within the animation studio – an “equal partner with the animator and the film technician.” (Film & TV Graphics 2, page 8), as Halas puts it. However this increased status also brought with it more importantly a new perspective to animation. One that was directly informed by a new graphic and visual language based on simple, basic and conceptual ideas. This simplicity, as Halas correctly points out is evident in Saul Bass’ work. The content is conceptual, graphic, limited and almost minimalist. Within Bass’ own words, he was always reducing his visual work to the bare essentials – the simple concept. “We see the challenge as getting the concept down to something totally simple, and yet doing something with it that provokes; to achieve a simplicity which also has a certain amiguity and a certain metaphysical implication that make that simplicity vital.” (Looking for the Simple Idea. Sight and Sound. February 1994. Interview and article by Pat Kirkham).

 

What is Animation ?

“When Eadweard Muybridge began his series of proto-cinematic studies of movement in the late 1870s, he was already drawing upon science of human perception that had been around for at least forty years—albeit in reverse. Muybridge’s work was based on the notion that the movement of objects in space could be broken down into individual photographic frames, but already by the 1830s the zoetrope and phenakistoscope (whose name means “to deceive the viewer”) proved that flat images assembled linearly viewed rapidly in succession could create the illusion of moving objects.”

Leo Goldsmith Notcoming.com 2007

By taking a cross section view of myriad animated films throughout history and commissioning various writers to comment, this review of the art of animation in film suggests a rich and persistently shifting art form that offers a multitude of narrative as aesthetic possibilities.

>>> Read On

 

Motion Design & Animation – Mode vs Genre

From Mickey to Monsters Inc. Betty to Bart, the genre of animation stands out from film perhaps clearer than any other genre simply and evidently due to its visually graphic form, and yet it is inherently closer to film than a lot of other disciplines that may appear under the umbrella term of ‘animation’. This may not seem immediately lucid as a statement. It is subtle because the umbrella term of animation or animated arts includes a vast palette of work which all share a similar technique (that of animating) however they are quite different interms of how they have come about and evolved. For example think about music videos, film titles, special fx, motion painting, screen designs, information graphics and the Web. All of which can be brought together under the term of motion graphics. So, what is the difference with animation ?

When we talk about animation in a general sense, we tend to evoke the cartoon madness of Tex Avery, the latest Pixar movie or your favourite Tom & Jerry gag. From this perspective, animation is best considered as a genre and one that has direct links with the history of cinema; with its strong character developments, intriguing plots, conflict, love and moral message, in it’s informed use of camera technique and montage, and indeed in its presentation and marketing. It is a genre that has its critics, purists, festivals, magazines, personalities and indeed a growing economic model based on the commercial development of the first major sudios of the early 20th century.

Animators will all have their particular view on the true nature of animation. Purists amongst the animation elite will defend an even greater divide within the scope of the animated arts and would easily scoff at shapes and text sliding across their screens, “that isn’t animation !!”, they cry. Flash animation is considered cheap, abstraction too profound and newer techniques in animating such as motion capture may well have got them thinking yet still riles them profusely. Clearly, animation is a genre to be defended and it is perhaps more evidently an industry to defend. One that is based on a firm historical background that has layed down a particular view on what can or can not be considered as animation for the mass market. So, where does motion graphics fit in to the story ? The Simpson’s is clearly not motion graphics even though they share a similar technique. What makes the distinction ?

Genre is one particular facet of the realm of animation and when we start to consider other animated art forms that manifest themselves in music videos, special fx seqeunces etc, then we need to take on another perspective. Whereas traditional cinema and indeed the genre of animation take from the literary novel as a means to structure their form and narrative, motion graphics is predominantly drawing from the visual static arts as its means to express. This is an important distinction to make. Painting, illustration and the rise of graphic design from the modernist era were all to have a major role in the shaping of motion graphics, both in its form as its function. Early film titles from Saul Bass to Pablo Ferro and Maurice Binder had been directly informed by graphic design’s visual language and techniques and indeed many working in this field were equally designers working in agencies on a commissioned basis. The same can be said about many of the avant garde non-objective film makers. Although more radical in their rejection of traditional cinema and commercial activity, they were perhaps more committed to creating a new visual language that directly had its root in the modernist and abstract movement of the era.

Within this framework, motion graphics is perhaps best seen as a mode of expression and indeed one that has its own rich and unique history. It’s use of animation as a technique should not be confused with the genre.

References :

Furniss, M, Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics (London: John Libbey, 1998)

Klein, Norman M., Seven Minutes: The Life and Death of the American Animated Cartoon (London: Verso, 1993).

Moritz, William, ‘Some Observations on Non-Objective and Non-Linear Animation’, Storytelling in Animation, The Art of The Animated Image, Vol. 2, ed. John Canemaker (Los Angeles: The American Film Institute, 1988)

Wells, Paul, Understanding Animation (London and New York: Routledge, 1998).

 

Food For Thought – 1

There is an article in the Winter 2006 issue of Eye Magazine on contemporary character design with reference to Pictoplasma, entitled ‘Emotion Graphics’. In her article, Jody Boehnert attempts to decipher whether this ‘new sub-genre’ has a level of visual meaning beyond the cute anthropomorphic designs they depict. As Jody quotes, from Lars Denicker, director of Pictoplasma, ‘We are looking for iconic characters that gain their meaning through their design…..’. Character design is nothing new of course, the likes of Max Fleisher, Windsor McCay, Tex Avery and good ol’ Walt designed characters much in the same way on and off screen for which some gained the status of icon well before our time. The principles remain the same for any designer today : Acute observation of a character’s personality and role which must be conveyed through its form, expression, posing, colour, and in animation, movement and timing. What could be remarked upon with regards to Pictoplasma and other character driven work is the fact that a more acceptable understanding of what a character may look like, in terms of form and style, is beginning to seep into our everyday culture. Rather like UPA had broken the Disney tradition of character design in the 50’s by developing more graphic and simpler designs, maybe Pictoplasma is changing the shape of things too. However, beyond the design and its purely graphical representation, are we getting any more emotional about the work ?

The article’s title, ‘Emotion Graphics’, provoked more thought for me than the actual article’s content. To what extent can we say that character based design, especially within animation, is any more emotional than purely abstract or non-figurative works or indeed design per se? Furthermore, the whole process of dwelling on this one brought with it many ideas I previously had about distinguishing between animation, as a genre, and motion as in motion graphics. Animation; your Daffy Duck, Aardman chickens and company are like a form of graphic literary novel – well developed with various plots, structured just as the book intended and first and foremost character driven. Motion graphics on the other hand could be seen as the poetic counterpart – short, heavily metaphoric and symbolic, closely linked with evoking emotion on a particular theme. The many techniques shared by these two disciplines in order to emotionally involve the audience are similar in nature but are used in varying effect. The advantage of character driven narrative is of course its efficiency to communicate intended emotions and meaning. Non figurative works need a little more patience and digging maybe but the intensity of the message is not any more present or less emotionally engaging.

*Comments most welcome on a random ramble – Nothing too serious and far from a well structured piece of writing but it is only food for thought.