In this week’s session, our lecturer roughly talked about the structure of writing the research proposal in this term and the topic we could potentially think about academically.
Here is the note I wrote in the online class:
During the class the lecturer mentioned the technical domain within 3D is not considered a topic for academic writing, hence I am considering choosing concept as my theme. For now, I am thinking of how ‘Anthropomorphism’ has been delivered through different animation films and how anthropomorphic characters relate to their mise-en-scene, connotations and story background.
Here are some case studies I was also thinking:
1: The boy and the beast (anthropomorphic animals).
2: Wall-E (anthropomorphic robots)
3: Toy Story (anthropomorphic toys)
4: Inside Out (anthropomorphic emotions)
Here are some potential topics I think can be discussed in my future thesis:
- The source of anthropomorphism, early work.
- The psychology behind using anthropomorphic characters.
- The creation of anthropomorphiccharacterss in animation films.
Also, in the conclusion of the future thesis, I think I can use the topic to link back my own concept work.
I also found that in the book Understanding Animation, Paul Well writes that the anthropomorphism used in McCay’s Gertie the Dinosaur informs the traditional animation produced by Walt Disney on page 15. Page 28 talks about how the early animation film Bambi applied the anthropomorphic character to move beyond the realistic traditions. Page 63 mentions how Starewicz used anthropomorphic characters in his film to exaggerate the characteristics of the rat and deliver a strong natural feeling to audiences’ emotional memory.
In google scholar, this concept has been referred to animation films in lots of writings which I am expect to read and research and see how the others to discuss them: