A Difficulty in the Path of Animation Studies²

Before I set out on the work of this paper (Part II) I will briefly reprise Part I to orient the reader. Subtitled ‘Kingdom of Shadows’, Part I argues the singular importance of animation to cinema and to film, and the singular importance of death to animation, hence to cinema and to film.

Part I is a return engagement with Tom Gunning’s canonical article, ‘An Aesthetic of Astonishment: Early Film and the (In)credulous Spectator’, an article establishing Gunning’s notion of the cinema of attractions as the now orthodox understanding of what early cinema is in Film Studies.

I had first taken up his article in my piece ‘The Crypt, the Haunted House, of Cinema’, published in Cultural Studies Review (2004). That article extends, qualifies and recasts Gunning’s formulation of his cinema of attractions, including by rereading Maxim Gorky’s review of his experience of the Lumière Bros cinematograph at the Nizhni-Novgorod fair in Russia July 4, 1896, a review that is for Gunning as for ourself not only the first substantial account of cinema but one that is paradigmatic in and for its understanding of it.

The most significant point in this return engagement with Gunning is that in elaborating the nature of his cinema of attractions, Gunning unwittingly makes animation the first attraction of cinema, the last attraction of cinema and the enduring attraction of cinema, thereby likewise unwittingly makes his cinema of attractions animation of attractions.


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This article addresses the representation of unstable identity in examples of anime. Split identities in the cinema generally (live action and animation) are often indicative of specific cultural concerns or perhaps mediate contemporary attitudes towards issues of identity in society; the dichotomy that is often apparent in the animation discussed in this paper is that of the past intruding on the present (or even future) and vice versa (which relates to aspects such as technology, urban space, postmodernism and the post-human). For example, modernity and the changing of the world in to a perhaps more global, international, consumerist, even ‘Americanised’ society is a problem that haunts anime and suggests there is still unease that sits with an increasingly modern and consumer-based society; this has implications for both individual identity and the issue of nationality and is expressed in many instances through a split identity, or mapped onto fractured identities in anime. It is also likely, however, that the split subject in anime brings to light many cultural concerns that are transnational, which is arguably bound tightly to the transnational nature of the media industry and increasing popularity of anime internationally.


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Introduction

“Cartoon style” in animation broadly refers to animation design and movement that adheres to the 12 Principles of Animation, defined and developed at the Disney Studios. The Principles evolved through trial and error, by observing motion on-screen and noting what aspects of animated movement served the believability of the characters. To this day, the 12 Principles of Animation are known by all animators and used as a benchmark for good animation. Yet, these principles are not complete movement concepts. They influence specific movement patterns that are often applied without consideration of their effects, resulting in characterization that lacks authenticity.

Viewers have come to expect that animated character performances portray the illusion of a living being. As a determining factor for believability in animation, authenticity functions on two levels. First, we suspend our disbelief and engage with the character; there is no question of the character’s aliveness. Second, through characterization, we experience an authentic being whose inner intent is communicated outwardly, and made unmistakably clear.

Originating from the roots of 20th century modern dance, Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) is a conceptual framework for the observation, description and interpretation of human movement that offers a robust movement vocabulary. Where Animation Principles can potentially impose a specific style of animated movement, LMA is style-neutral and therefore excels at articulating components of style. Additionally, LMA addresses the relationship of intent to action, an innovative feature that aids us in the observation of authenticity which the Animation Principles lack.


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