Its fascinating to watch “Walt Disney laugh-o-grams, “Alice in wonderland” it was very funny.  The way the girl “Alice’,interacted with the animated characters was very entertaining. Her expressions was very lively and her expressions were very animated as well which reflected her interactions with the characters. My favorite scene is her running, I think it was great how they got her legs to run really fast they gave her qualities of a cartoon , and the cartoons human traits. I like the underlying story of her falling asleep and dreaming about a different world, the world of the animated characters. Young kids have an active imagination so its a great story to tell of a young girl conjuring up a different world because most kids could probably relate. What also crossed my mind was how they did it, all the work of hand drawing those cartoons and giving it life.it truly is an art, its difficult now and i can’t imagine how difficult it might have been back then without any technological advances like we have today.
Monthly Archives: March 2015
Animated Sequence – Homework 5
Early animation is truly amazing. Earlier in time, producers didnât have the luxury of using computers to create animations like they do today. These animations were drawn by hand to be in a film. Look at âAliceâs Wonderland.â Itâs a silent film that has animations. Watching this short film was absolutely enjoyable. The way how the film is put together is also amazing. The use of Aliceâs live action character with the animation surroundings makes Alice look as if she is actually in the animation, or a part of it, Iâm not sure how to put it. Seeing such innovations take place in such an early point in time is truly admiring.
Homework #5: The Animated Sequence
Citizen Kaneâs âphoto to lifeâ sequence was done well with strategic timing. It seems as though Welles may have filmed the sequence in reverse order as shown. Welles could have filmed the scene with the photo shoot of the former Chronicle paper staff, and then used the actual frame of the shot as the photograph featured in the close-up. Welles achieved creating the sense of a time lapse by filming the scene in that order. Also, he achieved a convincing notion that the photograph became “live”.
In Disneyâs short Laugh-o-gram series, the story of Alice in Wonderland remains similar to the film version in that Alice falls into a sleep and dreams of her experience in wonderland. I thought Aliceâs interaction with the cartoons and cartoonists in the illustration room was a fitting scenario of the film story. Although the plot revolves around the theme of imagination, it was realistic of Alice to conjure dreams of a cartoon world, Cartoonland, after her visit to the cartoon studio. I liked that the term for cartoons on the first intertitle was referred to as âfunniesâ â when I researched to see if it was an actual term, I discovered that the term was used as the name of two American publications, âThe Funniesâ and âNew Funniesâ; it turns out that were the precursor of the comic book. I was not comic book reader but it was interesting to learn that comic books were discovered during the roaring twenties.
Upcoming Midterm and Study Images
Don’t forget the in-class part of the midterm is next Tuesday March 24th at 10:00 am. Please be sure to arrive on time.
To submit your take-home essays (worth 50 points out of 100)Â for the Midterm, please go to Blackboard and upload your answers to the take-home questions. Note that there are 2 parts to the take-home portion (choose two questions from section #1 and one option from section #2). If you have misplaced your take-home questions, you can download them here: Midterm Take-Home Questions
At your request I have also posted some Study Images for the Midterm Exam. These are stills from many of the films that we have viewed for this class so far. Only some images will be used on the exam. To access the study images, you will need to use the same password (given out in class) to access the readings. If you’ve forgotten the password, please email me. The Study Images are located under Documents/Midterm Exam Info. When you hover your mouse over the images, a caption should appear with information.
Finally, be sure to review the terms on your weekly films-terms lists. For example, you should know what is an iris shot. If you do not know a term, you can look it up in the glossary of your textbook, or on Columbia’s Online Film Glossary (also listed under “helpful links” to the left). If you have any questions, feel free to email me (note my contact info on the upper right). Good luck!
Homework #5: The Animated Sequence
In Orson Wellesâ Citizen Kane (1941) there is a scene in which a photograph comes to life. The scene comes during Kaneâs announcement that his has hired the group of star journalists from a rival newspaper to write for his own paper, The Inquirer. This sequence recalls the increasing popularity of animation in this period. As we learned, Snow White and the Seven Dwarf (1937) was the first feature-length animated film.
In class, there was a question about Walt Disneyâs first animated film shorts that featured Virginia Davis (not a mouse!). The little girl is seen interacting with cartoon characters. Live shots and animated sequences were filmed separately and combined in the editing room. Watch Disneyâs film short Aliceâs Wonderland that was produced in the Laugh-O-Gram studio in Kansas City, which led to a series called Aliceâs Comedies that he produced in Los Angeles, and post your thoughts on early animation.
Watch the photograph come to life in Citizen Kane here.
Watch Aliceâs Wonderland here.
To complete this homework assignment, note whether you Post or Comment. For Homework #5, Clubs and Hearts will submit a Post and Diamonds and Spades will Comment (choose any of your classmatesâ posts to comment on).
Homework #5 is DUE by Thursday March 26th.⚠Clubs and Hearts Post, Diamonds and Spades Comment, note your blog group! Email me if you forget.
Homework #4, Tron Legacy.
I’m quite sure the suit of my card is a heart, but I have been out of order the entire semester.
One film which comes to mind when considering grandiose films for me is Tron Legacy. Though a remake done by Disney, it was shot primarily in 3D. (I have no idea if the film was available to be viewed in 2D), and had a budget of somewhere upwards towards $170 Million. Â However, the film itself recuperated just a little over twice what it cost. The soundtrack was created by Daft Punk, and that in itself was a grand affair, as during this time Daft Punk was still prevalent in electronic music, and the french duo fit the aesthetic of the film perfectly due to their obscurity & helmet-wearing appearance.
Disney World covered the monorails in decor which was to promote the movie, a video game was released, and there would follow a significantly large amount of merchandising for the film. It was made to parallel the cult following of the original, and did indeed appear alluring to said following, as they were now of age to introduce their children to an extremely more colorful and interactive version of the film they’d grown up enjoying themselves.
Though in itself, it did not live up to the original film, and did not receive many kind reviews beyond the visual experience of it, I do believe it to be significant, and indeed a spectacle.
Homework #4: Oz The Great and Powerful
When it comes to films of spectacle, many have required massive budgets to complete the project. One of these films is a remake of the 1939 âThe Wizard of Oz.â The film titled âOz The Great and Powerful required an outstanding $215,000,000. As I began researching how the film was made and the type of equipment used, it became more evident to me why the budget skyrocket the way it did. The film began in 2011, where basic photography was being done by using 3D cameras. Much like the original film, when the tornado strikes, the audience is able to be transported alongside lead actor James Franco into the Land of Oz. But once he arrives, we are taken through a new world where out of the ordinary things exist. Actual sets were also built in addition to computer imaging to help the actors better visualize the fantasy world of the film. In order to accomplish the task of employing the china doll and flying monkey, special effects like puppetry and motion capture suits were needed to make these scenes come to life. The film drew in the audience with its vibrant colors and detailed scenes. It was a spinoff of the original film in 1939 but because of new arising technology, the film was able to transport the public into this 3D world.
HW 4
The hobbit is one of the movies that has a big budget cost in the hobbit (2009) the  movie with an amount of 257.2million.  And it consist of  many graphic designs and also has many series’s which is still going on and is one of my top faviorte movies. It’s as if a video games for example rpg game put in too real life where wizards and dwarfs and dragons and demons exist. The locations filmed are good and the amount of money to create the image where the action takes place and the animals that where aniamited . Also the shoots took from close and far and the sound affects and lighting which brings the audience in.
Homework #4-Interstellar
Interstellar is a shinning example of a large budget movie that evokes the imagination through the movies elaborate folds. Directed by the exuberant Christopher Nolan who also co-wrote the script, tells the story of a dying humane race whose only option for survival is elsewhere in the vast cosmic space of the universe. The films budget is aproximately $165,000,000 which is an enormous budget, but the budget was so well used, and is evident throughout films story. The films use of breathtaking cinematic views, the presence of actors such as Matthew McConaughey who give the film such convincing performances, and the films overall intricacies puts its large budget to good use. Interstellar protrudes what is is to be a Hollywood spectacle. Although the budget isn’t on par with the top contenders of the Hollywood big budgets, it does stand far above most film budgets. I chose this film because of the absolute breath taking images presented, the well founded science that backs up most of the movie’s premise, and its overall ability to immerse myself into another world. This film was also able to achieve large box office figures without being a rehashed film based on previous films or based on other media. Interstellar is an original film and was able to stand along side other big budget movie with less originality, although aspects of the film due hold a close resemblance to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 a space odyssey.
Homework #4 – Titanic
I chose the 1997 film, Titanic which was directed, produced and written by James Cameron. This film is listed #3 in the 30 most expensive movies ever made. I chose this film because 95% of this movie takes place on a giant boat. James Cameron had to use many different types of scenery to make this film as real as possible. For example, the rich people had better living conditions on this boat than the lower class people. This film also had amazing visuals of when the boat was sinking and when everyone was trying to survive. One of my favorite scenes was when the ship hit the iceberg and it was a full free-for-all of everyone running around and trying to survive. There was a lot of different way’s people dressed based on their wealth in this movie. Every little detail was thought about before the making of this movie and that’s why I believe it was one of the most expensive movie to be ever made. Nothing was short of spectacular!
