Wednesday 28 October 2015

Analysis of A Short Vision & Duck Amuck

A Short Vision as an animation falls under the genre paradigmatic, as it works within the paradigm of a children's story. This can be seen when a non-diegetic narrator tells you the narrative as an audience in a calming voice. I feel that there is also some intertextuality in this narration technique with many children's animations such as The Clangers, this may have been an intentional choice so that people are drawn to watch it and it's more inclusive. The painting technique used is effective as at the time it was released there wasn't advanced digital technology and this might have come across as too modern to the audience, whereas I believe that the painting technique would have felt more conventional to the audience, again making it inclusive. The non-diegetic sound was something that was particularly effective as it built tension as well as giving an eerie vibe to the animation. As it was shown in 1956, it was quite relevant to what was happening in the world as in 1952 the US detonated the first hydrogen bomb; a big event in history. So, the animation really outlines the thoughts of destruction behind nuclear war and in a way is a kind of warning to people watching.  The imagery becomes slowly more and more powerful as the narrative continues and is shocking in the way that it displays childlike techniques with such a powerful message. The way that the shape of the bomb changes and is quite myserious is also a key factor that makes this animation effective as it could possibly symbolise the idea that we as an audience don't actually know much about the subject at all and that's a scary thing. This animation and the way it has been constructed is very contrasting with the message and I feel it draws in audiences of all kinds, even if they may be disinterested in the beginning it has them by the end and that is what makes it effective.

Duck Amuck is clearly a de-constructive piece of animation that uses it for a comedic effect, not only for children but also for adults and possibly other animators. As the Merrie Melodies series were designed to be shown before films in the theatres they had to be for all audiences and this one in particular has a quite intellectual humour to it. 2D animation is used and  I feel that this film was created as a form of showing off and to reveal everything about an animations construction; to show people how difficult it is. As 2D was likely to be the most popular form on animation at this time, it showed the methods behind the most recent technology in animation. I feel it really questions the whole concept of animation and deliberately dissects and slips through different paradigms, blowing every expectation of the audience. The timing is very effective in Duck Amuck as it constantly changes but not to the point where the audience is confused because of too many ideas being presented at once. In 1953, this would have been a very abstract cartoon in comparison to what audiences were used to, which is why I think it was so successful and iconic. Breaking the fourth wall was something that wasn't entirely new, but the way in which this animation used it was quite radical and used it in a way no others had as instead of just making it a gag, Chuck Jones decided to make it the whole story.


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