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| Art, again, by me. With this one, I decided to experiment with a little shading. I don't think it came out too good, but hey, ya gotta learn as an artist, am I right? |
In one of my ebooks for the Art Institute, the book on
storyboarding, “Prepare To Board! Creating Story And Characters For Animation
Features And Shorts”, Nancy Beiman, the book’s author, had this to say in the
introduction:
“Some people say that story is the only thing that matters
in animated film. I agree. Good animation and good design never saved a bad
story. Strong characters can make a weak story tolerable and a good story
better, but characters develop within a story context. Each depends upon the
other.”
Part of me wants to agree with the whole “story as the only
thing that matters in animated film,” and part of me wants to say that is utter
bullcrap.
Don’t get me wrong: story is an important part in animation
of all kinds. I do love good stories, good characters and good storytelling,
but here’s the thing: story is NOT, repeat, NOT the only thing that matters in
animated film. Just like good animation and good design never saved a bad
story, a good story never saved bad animation and bad design. I refuse to be
engaged in a story if they can’t even make the characters OR the backgrounds look
appealing in some way! Make the designs as generic as you want, but PLEASE try
to put some effort into making it visually pleasing! The world really cannot
handle another Delgo!
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| GAAAHHH!!! KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!! |
My personal belief is that both good animation AND good
story are essential to the worth of an animated film. Having one without the
other is okay, and it can still give some great results, but when they both
work, the results are phenomenal.
I’m not one to stick completely with the views of an egotistical, whiny,
narrow-minded, has-been animator with rose-tinted nostalgia glasses wielded to
his face, but John Kricfalusi’s right: animation and cartoons must be allowed
to take advantage of the medium they’re in. Honestly, if John K. ever met this
Nancy Beiman lady, there would be a heated argument that would go on for days.
Hell, I’m sure Bill Plympton would think similarly. I mean,
yeah, he does like good storytelling, and he has been trying with each film to
get a better, more emotional story, but he’s still heavily rooted in the art of
animation itself and as he mentioned in his tutorial book, “Making Toons That
Sell Without Selling Out”:
“I’ve been accused of making strange films with weak stories
[…] There may be some truth in their criticisms, but for me, story isn’t the
end-all and be-all in the success of a film.
“How many times have you heard the expression ‘all great
films start with a great story’? Talk about clichés! Well, I’m sick and tired
of hearing that bull. Sure, there are wonderful films that are great because of
the story, but please, give me a break! (P)eople describe great film as ‘cinematic.’
What does it mean? It means it’s a visual experience, something that has
nothing to do with words.”
He then goes on to cite several examples to cite his
reasoning, and he ended it with this little tidbit:
“If I hear someone use the expression ‘story is everything’
one more time, I’ll stick his or her tongue in my electric pencil sharpener—now
that’s cinematic!”
Watch out, Nancy! Bill’s out to subject you to a cruel and
unusual (but still really dang funny) punishment!
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| Dated LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG before it was conceived |
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| The s*** that nightmares are made of |
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| Can anyone tell me what appeal could be found in such lifeless looking garbage? |
My brother’s belief is that the Golden Rule of Animation is
this: “If it can be easily done in live-action, then there’s no point in
animating it.” I agree with that, because animation is capable of so much more
than live-action, and yet people over the years have wasted it on rather
mundane things. For instance, teen shows that are animated but don’t bother
taking advantage of the medium. Klasky-Csupo is guilty of this with As Told By
Ginger and Rugrats: All Grown Up, and also with the overly EXTREME kid’s
cartoon, Rocket Power. And Hanna-Barbera has made a career on cartoons with
mediocre animation that often didn’t take advantage of the medium and what it
was capable of.
Like I said, I love good, engaging stories and characters,
but I love good animation and design as well. Animation is capable of so much
more than people give it credit for. I think both story and animation have a
mutual relationship, and they can work off each other really well when handled
correctly. This is one thing that I want for future aspiring animators such as
myself to understand about story and animation: neither one should be more
important than the other. I think when Nancy Beiman states that “each depends
upon the other,” I feel this shouldn’t apply to JUST the story and the
characters, but the animation and the design as well. Honestly though, why make or work
on an animated film if you don’t intend to make animation and design a big
priority anyways?
