Meg Rickards – Uncanny breaches, flimsy borders

Jan Švankmajer’s conscious and unconscious worlds Introduction The portrayal of a character’s subjective, ‘inner’ experience onscreen is an enduring challenge for the filmmaker. Many techniques for conveying fantasies or dreams, such as blurring the frame’s edges, cross-dissolves and bleached colour, have been used – from soap operas to advertising – to such an extent that […]

Matthew Butler & Lucie Joschko – Final Fantasy or The Incredibles

Ultra-realistic animation, aesthetic engagement and the uncanny valley Introduction This paper examines the aesthetic qualities of two animated feature films, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and The Incredibles, as a precursor to considering what issues are associated with the shift toward ‘ultra-realistic’ animation. The concept of realistic depiction of animated characters will be analysed within […]

Katharine Buljan – The Uncanny and the Robot in the Astro Boy Episode “Franken”

Introduction In the story of ‘Franken’, by Osamu Tezuka, humans flee in horror at the sight of a robot named Franken,1 unaware that he is actually on a search for his lost friend, as well as for mechanical pieces to repair himself. Directed by Kazuya Konaka, ‘Franken’ is an episode of the Japanese animation series […]