Experimental Animation

Abstract Experimentation
69, Robert Breer, 1969-2011

His work is in contrast to the work of Disney at the time. His films are full of disjunctive breaks, Bursts of continuous movements will suddenly stop, jerky irregular rhythms will become continuous unexpectedly.
Sound will be in sync one moment and others it will be at odds with the images on screen, time and space profoundly fragmented.
Films try to hold the audience in suspense as to what might come next.
In this animation Breer explores how one image relates to another within an animation

Article about his work here as well as links to his film and interviews




Object Conversations, Paul Glabiki, 1985
Abstract sounds, Picture and text
Plays with language, viewers memory, assumptions about familiar objects
Objects appear on screen momentarily in one state and then reappear in another state then reappear elsewhere on screen in another form.



OffOn, Scott Bartlett
He is the first to merge video with film, the goal was to "marry the technologies"



Mixed media: Different Styles
Tell Tale Heart, 1953, UPA Studios
Experimental use of kinestasis



Catalog, John Whitney Sr., 1961
Early experimentation with electronically created images by his own invention, The Mechanical Analog Computer.
IBM awarded Whitney with it's first "artist in residence" Status to explore the aesthetic potentials of computer graphics.
Catalog is a collection of his analog effects.




Tron, Disney, 1982
Most extensive use of computer animation to date
20 mins of CG (from magi), large undertaking at the time
Although successful CG, Film unsuccessful and set back CG due to wary investors


Tron Lightcycle scene


Where the wild things are: test, John Lasseter, Disney studios, 1982
After tron John Lasseter began experimenting with more use of 3D graphics and 2D animation. In this test the background environment was created by computer and the characters were drawn to maintain the squash and stretch elasticity needed for cartoon motion.


***Where the Wild things are, Directed by Spike Jonze, 2009
A new take on this story in which Jonze decided to use a different approach to facial animation. In his film the characters are live actors in costume, created by Jim Hensons Creature shop, and the character's static faces are then replaced using Computers by the London based studio Framestore. The technique used is called projection mapping.
To learn more about this ... http://www.awn.com/articles/article/getting-wild-about-facial-animation/page/1%2C1

Where the Wild Things Are website: http://wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com/


Lady and the Lamp, John Lasseter, 1979
Done as a student at Cal Arts
The first of two student academy awards
Hand drawn pencil test experimental animation
Show his ability to breath life into inanimate objects early on
No Video found



Das rad ( The Rocks), Chris Stenner, 2001
Oscar nominee
combined puppet animation composited with CG
Portions of landscape created in Maya,


Procedural Animation:
Animation defined and controlled with computer program
Scientific visualization is related in that it is about representing values computed
from programs (computational science)

Evolved Virtual Creatures: Karl Sims, 1994


Ryan, Chris Landreth, 2004
National film Board of Canada animator.
2004 academy award winner
3D computer animation,


Chris Landreth, 2009 Spine, National Film Board of Canada
Director Chris Landreth offers a synopsis of his new animated short, The Spine, and discusses his signature visual style: altering the bodies of his characters in order to make their psychological states visible.

http://www.nfb.ca/film/spine_making_of_trailer/

http://www.nfb.ca/film/spine_making_of_story_genesis/


Beowulf, Robert Zemeckis, 2007
Motion Capture Technology, "Performance Animation"
3D computer generated animation using live action actors to calculate movements of computer generated puppets.
Controversy, Redefine "what is animation" is motion capture "Performance animation" true animation? Some animators disagree but the Academy considers it, at least at this point, as animation.
The controversy continues...
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3232825625/


Cal Arts 20 years of experimental Animation link
http://film.calarts.edu/main/streaming/expanim20.html