Early Animation: BSA106 (Screen Arts 1) Week 3A

We looked at some more old animations in class today, this time from the early 1900's, one that really stood out was a Russian stop motion called "The Cameraman's Revenge" film in which beetles and other insects are used as the subjects. Even the story was surprisingly mature, with it revolving around adultery of all things. I quite enjoyed how they managed to create a sense of place and immerse the viewer in this smaller version of our world, of all the films we've watched thus far, I also appreciated that the insects acted realistically in terms of their movements even if they carried out activities like riding a bike or producing a painting. I can safely say this one was the best short we've watched.

We also watched a Winsor McCay short in which he tried to blend live-action and animation. This particular one was about a dinosaur called Gertie, and while the animation wasn't bad, it was very repetitive, both in visuals and sound. One thing that I have been very impressed with the videos we watched so far is that the scores really aren't that bad. Like the aforementioned Russian, bug movie, in which the music keeps changing depending on what's happening on screen, just as a good score should. With Gertie the music felt like one tune just played on repeat. To make it worse the animations looped multiple times, leaving what felt like minutes in which nothing happens other than the dinosaur rocking from side to side.