The History and Theory of animation

Industry – Cartoon Series

“What helps them to be funny is to not have any allegiance to any organisation”

One example of a Cartoon Series that I have a deep interest for is South Park, an American animated TV series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The show is a satirical commentary on the western world and pop culture. Due to Trey Parker’s passion for Monty Python and Terry Gillingham’s paper cut out style of animation, it began this way and has since evolved into digital animation, whilst remaining true to their simple home made aesthetic.

South Park is a unique example of animation in today’s culture and what has become a fascination to animators is their formula. When using physical paper cut out they would take 2 – 3 hours to get one shot, now the animation is entirely digital and the process sounds nothing less than intense, creating an entire 22 – 25 minute episode in the space of 6 days.

Here is my breakdown from watching ‘Six DayS to Air: The Making of South Park’:

Day 1 = The writers room. This is where Matt and Trey spend a day reflecting on pop culture, ideas and fresh jokes. Trey has referred to this space as “weirdly vulnerable” as everyone shares any and all ideas they might have, with 99/100 of them being rejected by the group.

Day 2 = Storyboarding and scripting. This where they crack down on the mains beats of the episode.

Day 3 and 4 = Voice acting and animating. Both Matt and Trey make up most of the voices for the show, which is interestingly how the show came about in the first place, as they would make up voices to each other when bored on set in college.

Day 5 = Editing, this I where the team knuckle down on making sure the gags are communicated effectively.

Day 6 = Finished touches/delivery, occasionally if pushed to a deadline, the team will do an all nighter.

Each day requires extreme effienciey and talent to pull off what they do. In my work, I prioritise the writing over the technicality of the animation itself, which in reflection is probably inspired by my love and interest for South Park. Using my imagination to influence storylines, reflecting on pop culture, satirical humour, is where I see myself going forward in my career whether freelance or as part of a company.

In the documentary, SNL star Bill Hader refers to Trey and Matts political stance as “what they want to do… that’s it, that’s the priority, they don’t worry about anything else” and Dan Sterling goes onto say. “What helps them to be funny is to not have any allegiance to any organisation”. This is an extremely rare culture to have in todays society where watered down risk averse writing is taking centre stage, but South Park stand strong still today, releasing an episode a week, with humour as crude as ever.

References:

How South Park is Animated?

‘6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park’ – Youtube

Industry – Independent Animator/Teacher

For the LIAF project, I had the luxury of directing a team. I gained valuable insight as to what it means to complete a brief for a client. Animating has been a gateway for me to share my ideas in the form of moving image.

My goal is to be an Independent freelance filmmaker/animator. This appeals to me due to the freedom this role gives you. Global companies have an innate risk adverse culture due to client politics/culture.

Ozzy Parker

Ozzy Parker, an independent stop motion animator, has been a huge inspiration for me. Having access to his craftsmanship and creative opinion has helped to develop my animations. One project in particular I want to expand on is ‘SCALA!!! Tentacles’ a fantastical retelling of a woman’s story working behind the ticket office. This short film uses a unique daring approach to stop motion, by using real squids. He has an unafraid attitude, willing to disturb his audience by taking things further.

This role as independent filmmaker and part time teacher is something I am interested in. Other than being a child, Art University I believe is one of the only places in which you are permitted to play again. This sense of play is innate to the way I work. What Ozzy has shown me is through attaining both freelancing and lecturing, you can keep that play alive.

Chris Shepherd & David Shrigley

On 4th November I had the chance to attend ‘Bar Shorts’ an event run by Chris Shepherd. Chris & David revisited past projects, collaborative and solo, going back some 15 years ago. They also spoke about what independent filmmaking has meant to them. From 20 minute long documentaries about screaming goats to minimalist animation shorts about smoking blunts, the pair showed the importance of collaborating with friends.

Cut out & Terry Gillingham

“The technique itself doesn’t really matter, whatever works, that’s why I use cut out, it’s the quickest and easiest form of animation I know”. (Terry Gillingham on Cut Out Animation – BBC Archive)

Terry Gillingham, a cut out stop motion artist, is best known for his attention grabbing work on Monty Pythons “Flying Circus”, “Life of Brian”, and “The Meaning of Life”. His most notorious, scenes from ‘Baby Carriage”, in which old ladies repeatedly get devoured by prams.

His work didn’t directly influence mine, but as I began experimenting in stop motion, using clay, sand and cut-out, I realised there were similarities in the absurdist type narratives I was creating. Having taken to cut-out, I have, on reflection, been able to better understand why my work was more successful and engaging.

“You can be silly with your walks”. (BBC Archive)

At the start of Year 1, working on 2D software such as TV Paint, learning basic technicalities like walk cycles, I didn’t feel as though I was producing interesting or playful work. These basic understandings are imperative to gaining deeper understanding for character development but as I began experimenting in stop-motion later on in the year, I engaged with a lot more enthusiasm. Mostly because I was able to use my improv skills with more freedom, I felt as though I had suddenly been given permission to engage with absurdist narratives, on the basis that I was able to pick and choose different parts of a magazine apart promptly and in the moment.

Gillingham talks about how walk cycles can be created in many ways, “The camels legs never moved, just simply slid across”, as he describes the Christmas card scene from the ‘Three Wise Men’.

Cut out animation allows for quick thinking, improvisation and organised chaos. My priority as an animator is to tell stories, cut out allows for these stories to be understood even if body language or walk cycles don’t make real world (life-like) sense.

‘Baby Carriage’, as mentioned above, is an interesting moment in the animation, in which a hand appears in scene, altering the narrative by changing the direction of the pram. This creates a very meta moment, as what would automatically be thought of as a accidental take, and not in keeping with the scene, Gillingham decides to actually incorporate it, making this piece feel very ahead of its time in terms of what can and can’t be done in stop motion. The experimental nature of his work gives me a sense of freedom, as though I can work by my own rules and make use of what “goes wrong”.

Below is a mood board video from a cut-out experiment partner (Ori) and I created as inspiration for our Final piece in the stop motion pathway.

We gathered some more cut-outs and created a final version.