Design is a massive world. It influences the appeal of an advertisement and augments the width of margins in a book (hellloooo, grid system). One aspect of design that we as graphic designers get little to no exposure to is the design in animation and film.
To remedy that, I have three attached animated shorts that show the vast differences design choices make both in the visual appeal of the animation as well as the visual emotion of the story.
Whether you're willing to watch each short completely (which I would encourage, they're all pretty entertaining and/or mindboggling), skip through it and get the gist or just want to extrapolate from the given screenshot, I wanted to bring up the idea that the visual feel of a moving picture has just as great influence on the story as does the dialogue and plot.
1. Death Buy Lemonade
This is the most lighthearted of the shorts. The color is saturated and bright and the textures remain subtle and unobtrusive. The use of color in this particular short is made to differentiate between death and life. Simple enough, colored = alive. The visual difference helps to explain the story when there is no actual dialogue throughout. Without dialogue, the audience is forced to pay attention to the visual. With successful design, the story is successfully told.
2. Heart
Heart also lacks dialogue and is, in many cases, the polar opposite to Death Buy Lemonade. Instead, 99% of the short is in black and white. The only source of color, instead of detailing joy and life, is the source of strife. As in Death Buy Lemonade, the visual difference in color helps draw the audience to that which is opposite the norm. The selective colorization grabs attention and the severe lack of backdrop forces attention (and tension) on the characters acting in this blank canvas. In a design aspect, the benefits of the use of white/negative space is evident in this (award-winning) animation. The organic shapes make the short feel malleable and fluid, objects constantly morphing and changing. The movement in the characters had me holding my breath, especially during the climax, and if there had been any background distracting me from the story, I don't think it would have had quite the same effect.
3. The Backwater Gospel
The final short takes a step away from anti-dialogue. In this story, the animation is sharp and jagged and gritty. Even with dialogue, the story wouldn't have nearly as much impact as it does if the animation and design were clean, light or saturated. Edgy shapes add visual tension and give even the human characters a stocky, splintered look. Space is separated by characters in detail in the foreground and the background containing undetailed and silhouetted buildings. Like Heart, the lack of detail in the background helps keep the audience interested in the foreground.
One interesting sequence in the animation is the massacre. Contrary to the rest of the short, the massacre has sharply contrasted silhouettes against a bold background. No one is in detail and shapes are contorted in gross ways. It provides an even greater tension than the rest of the short and, in my opinion, is more effective than if the massacre had been in the same style as the rest of the short.
My idea with this post was to bring awareness to the design in animations as well as live-action and stop-action films. As designers, we're used to seeing design in a static field that isn't changed by dialogue or music or plot. I wanted to only touch on the design aspects in each animation to give everyone free reign and I hope you all enjoy. :)
The 'Death by Lemonade' was quirky and humorous; too bad for that little girl, ha. My favorite was the 'Backwater Gospel', I felt was very original and the visuals were just awesome. It sort of reminded me of video game graphics. These were all very cool.
ReplyDeleteThis post was extremely well written and informative! Not to mention entertaining :) Although I am still torn up over Death Buy Lemonade... how morbid! I agree with the second short and how the lack of background intensified the action as well as the organic shapes making everything that much more real. This was a different approach to what we've been studying, thanks so much for the freshness!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea that design in animation is something that shouldn't be unnoticed. Your first example (a video I recall very well on my YouTube animations searches) provides a great use of color as you said and in terms of design I look to look more towards of the design going into creating it than the final product. In the character and scenery designs I can understand that their goal for the animation was to make lighthearted (albeit dark humorous) and funny animation. Using the change of color with death was also kept with a desaturated light blue that still looked childish.
ReplyDeleteEach animated story was different from the others. The contrast between each supports your point that specific design choices were made to create certain mood. During the Backwater short, I could sense tension and in the characters based on their facial expressions and body language. I think the grungy style of the short added to its creepiness. The characters reminded me of zombies. The massacre scene at the end was very disturbing because of the artists, choice to black out the characters. This emphasized the mutilation of the characters as they died.
ReplyDeleteHannah! These shorts are great! I wanted "Death by Lemonade". I really liked watching how the animator relayed information and communication solely through imagery and motion. The message was given and received clearly. I enjoyed seeing how they did it. I like how they really used colors to tell the viewer about things that happened, like when the man and then the girl turn blue and white once they die or how when death comes down that there is shadow.
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