Friday 22 April 2011

Time Machine Introduction

Introduction
This assignment will investigate how Avatar has developed CG animation in terms of motion capture and how this can be seen as uncanny because of the realism achieved. The reference materials will include ‘The Fundamentals of Animation’ by Paul Wells to look at the technical side of Motion Capture technology. ‘The Art of Avatar’ by Jody Duncan and Lisa Fitzpatrick will identify how motion capture began with Gollum and the technique has advanced in Avatar. ‘Sigmund Freud’s The Uncanny’ will be the key idea reflected within the essay as the technology has begun to look to realistic to the viewer’s expectations. It will also take ideas of Frankenstein from ‘Uncanny bodies – The coming of Sound Film and Horror’ by Robert Spandoni’ and look at the relationship between this and Avatar to explore how both are uncanny.

1 comment:

  1. me again; I think your essay proposal is weak, Adam (not disinteresting!). There seems to be some confusion in terms of focus; a discussion of the uncanny in relation to motion capture is one topic - and actually, most people agree that both Gollum and the Navi DON'T enter the uncanny valley, because the humans in both examples are stylised enough to ensure that the audience doesn't 'compare' them with 'real' people. I'd suggest that both examples are NOT examples of the uncanny response. For that, you'd need to look at Mars Needs Moms. The Frankenstein thread is interesting, but again, it's not your focus - it just feels like something else that connects thematically. It COULD be your focus, but if so, you'd need to ensure that your understanding of Frankenstein and all its cultural baggage (shadow of the Enlightenment, the rise of the Gothic...) was in place BEFORE you started talking about Avatar.

    Personally, I think you need to keep things much more simple; for instance, if you were to examine the film, Splice, and use the idea behind the Enlightenment (rise of science/technology) and Frankenstein (anti-technology etc), then your focus would be much more precise. You need to put the theories first...

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