For my final blog specimen, I’m going with Blog Post #9: Summer Wars and Blog Post #10: Final Fantasy XIII. I have made no alterations to either of these posts.
In 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam changed the Japanese animation industry forever. In many ways, Mobile Suit Gundam perfected the formula for a giant robot show: the characters, situations, and settings would be copied by dozens of shows over the years, including Gundam’s own sequels and spin-offs. This television series is as influential to the Japanese animation industry as any one show could possibly be. However, this immense influence becomes a bit of a problem when trying to view this series in 2010.
The opening to Mobile Suit Gundam
The issue that I have, and I will admit that it is not entirely the fault of the show, is that the tropes and devices that Gundam utilizes have, in the past 30 years, been played out so often, many times blatantly ripping off Gundam, that it is difficult to watch this show and not find it to be extremely predictable. Watching every episode with the experience of newer mecha shows at my back, the plot twists, the actions of characters, and even their deaths were easily anticipated. It’s a little bit frustrating actually, because I think that Mobile Suit Gundam is actually a good show, but I really cannot enjoy it because of the legacy that it created. Imagine being told the entire plot to Lost before watching it and you will have a somewhat similar feeling to what I get when I watch this show, except that the spoilers have come vicariously through the shows that I have watched over the years that drew their inspiration from, or simply ripped off, this one. What a tragic fate: a good show ruined by its own legacy.
Ralph Bakshi is, if nothing else, an interesting director. Now, I would not go as far as to say that he is a director of great films, but few American animation directors have dared to go as far against the grain as Ralph Bakshi. In an era where Disney was the final word in feature-length animation, Bakshi directed Fritz the Cat, a movie that couldn’t be less like an animated Disney film if it was live action. To put it lightly, Fritz the Cat is completely mad.
Trailer for Fritz the Cat
Filled with drugs, sex, and violence, Ralph Bakshi clearly wanted to push the boundaries of what was acceptable. The problem that I have with Felix the Cat is just that: it seems that Ralph Bakshi created Fritz the Cat to push boundaries and never bothered to ask whether or not it made a good film. The movie itself is kind of a mess, with various random events very tenuously strung together around a cast of generally detestable characters.
Bakshi has, however, made better films. Wizards, for instance is actually a very good movie. Removed from his desire to make the most offensive film possible, Bakshi crafted a visually unique film with a cast of interesting characters and a great setting.
Here is my animation project, done entirely in Blender.
Much can, and has, been said about the story, characters, and gameplay in Final Fantasy XIII, but since this is an animation blog, I will concentrate on the visual aspect of the game. Everything else aside, Final Fantasy XIII is one of the most beautiful things that has ever been rendered on a computer.
A Trailer for Final Fantasy XIII
I am not just including games in that assessment: even compared to films and other types of computer animation, FF13 succeeds in a way that only a perfect storm of superb art and character design, character and environment animation, and truly stupendous background art can. It really is a marvel to look at, both from a technical and an aesthetic point of view. However, it accomplishes this in a way that only a game can. In a movie, the audience is treated to visuals only in the way that the director intended; that is, you only see things from specific angles, and normally for very limited amounts of time. This is sometimes true in games, and even in FF13 to a certain extent, as non-interactive cut-scenes play out like a movie. When the player is given control, however, is where the game really shines. I found myself sitting and staring at the environments for several minutes at a time, enjoying the beauty of the scenery, as well as the subtle idle animations of the different characters. I also found immense joy in just walking slowly through the areas, something that I either feel to compunction to do in other games, or I’m not given the opportunity to do so. People say what they will about the other aspects of the game, but it is hard to deny that Final Fantasy XIII is a visual masterpiece, and that alone warrants checking it out.
I will be honest: I had unreasonably high expectations for Summer Wars.
Mamoru Hosoda‘s previous film, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, quickly became one of my favorite movies of all time with its interesting plot and extraordinarily endearing cast. Naturally, I was looking forward to this film, but the chances that I would be disappointed by the Hosoda’s most recent effort were high considering the probably unreasonably high regard that I hold his previous film in.
A trailer for Summer Wars.
Fortunately, Hosoda has not lot his touch, and Summer Wars turned out to be a really good movie. While I don’t like it as much as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the way that Hosoda effortlessly blends a huge cast of universally charming characters, two disparate, but connected storylines, and some commentary on the connected nature of the world is absolutely staggering. The fact that the film was also fun to watch for the entirety of its two hour run time is probably even more impressive. The strongest part it, though, is undoubtedly the characters. The cast for the movie is quite large, focusing primarily around the extended family of a woman celebrating her ninetieth birthday. The family itself consists more than a dozen people, each with a distinct personality and character traits, and all likable and amazingly fun to watch. The other characters are just as fun to watch, if not as well fleshed out, save for one, who also happens to be the main character. If I had any complaints to make about the move it would be that the story involving the virtual world, called OZ (think a giant social network), is confusing at times and the film takes rather fantastic approach to computer software. However, it is also very entertaining to watch, so I don’t think it’s worth complaining too much about. Bottom line: this film made me smile when I was watching it and still had enough substance to make me want to watch it at least one more time.
The 1993 film Jurassic Park is unquestionably a landmark in film-making. The film represents the first time that convincingly realistic computer animation was used in a feature film.
CGI had been in use in feature films for more than 10 years by the time Jurassic Park was released. But, while movies like Tron (1982) used the backdrop of a computer world to explain their blocky computer imagery and The Last Starfighter (1984) confined its usage to inorganic space craft, Jurassic Park sought to bring organic creatures to life in a way that had never been done before. Jurassic Park showed movie-going audiences computer-generated creatures that were, for the first time, absolutely convincing. In the same way that the environments of Avatar (2009) has convinced some that CG can convincingly replace traditional sets, the same can be said for animatronics and the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park.
A “making of” Jurassic Park video.
The most amazing part is that the CGI hold up extremely well even today. Perhaps that opinion would dampen somewhat if I ever saw a version of the film in high definition, but watching Jurassic Park on VHS or even DVD reveals none of the telltale signs of early CG: there are no discernible “black lines” nor is there any noticeable aliasing (jagged lines) surrounding the creatures. They also lack the shiny “plastic” look that so many early attempts at CGI suffered from (or embraced, in the case of Toy Story (1995)). Going back to watch this movie is remarkably similar in quality to much more recent effects pictures, and that is truly an impressive feat.
For the midterm blog specimen, I choose Post #7: The Uncanny Valley and Post #4: Visual Storytelling. No alterations have been made.
The uncanny valley is a somewhat difficult concept to explain, but it should be familiar to everyone with a concerted interest in 3D animation. Essentially, the uncanny valley is the concept that the closer an animated (or robotic) caricature looks to a real human without emulating it perfectly, the more “off” they appear to the audience. For example, the human characters in Up don’t set off any alarms in the heads of the audience: they are not realistically proportioned, but their humanity is easy to identify with. On the other hand, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within attempted to capture photorealism, but the characters felt “off.” It is a difficult sensation to describe, but somehow the near, but not quite, perfect representation of a human makes it more difficult to identify with them.
A Trailer for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Other films also have fallen prey to the effect. The Polar Express is often cited as one of the most distracting instances of the uncanny valley in film, since almost all of the characters are realistic computer-generated humans. I actually firmly believe that much of the reason many do not like the CGI in this film is because of the uncanny valley. Interestingly enough, the uncanny valley only applies to humans. Photorealism can be achieved with environments and non-human creatures without this effect occurring, as films such as Avatar have so convincingly portrayed. I think that the reason for this is that humans can instinctively identify other humans. We spend our entire lives observing and interacting primarily with other members of our species. Our recognition is so refined that even a slight blemish, such as an un-human-like eye movement or an inconsistency in the way lips move, is enough for the brain to recognize that it is not a fellow human being.
Avatar, James Cameron’s latest opus has drawn criticism by many for its derivative storyline. Comparisons to Dances With Wolves, Pocahontas, and even Ferngully have been made, painting the film as nothing more than a pretty film with an average story. I think that people who dwell on this, while making valid arguments, are simply missing the point. Avatar is a film that does one thing so much better than any other film that has come before it, that it will be a benchmark for years to come. Almost every aspect of this film, including the story, but more prominently, the unparalleled technology involved in making the film, serve to transport the audience in a way that no other film has ever even come close to doing. The CGI, aided by incredible world design and subtle depth of the 3D create the sensation of being in a real place, despite being entirely fabricated, better than any film that has actually been in a real place ever has. The world is so convincingly rendered, verisimilitude so complete, that any quibbles about the story seem almost irrelevant. I feel that critics of Avatar might find themselves enjoying the film more if they thought of the story as a single stone in the larger structure that is the experience, rather than as the center stone that holds the entire picture together.
