Category: 1.2 Design for Animation, Narrative Structures & Film Language

Through literature and mind maps, I found that there are two elements that are repeatedly mentioned, “character design” and “visual communication and effects”. These are the two most important points in animation. So I choose these two points as my topic. And music is one of the most important things I want to study in animation.

Before seeing the audio producer’s videos, I thought that the sound effects were made by the objects themselves, but after seeing these videos, I realized that it could be simulated by other things.

In the process of searching for documents, I found that most of the documents related to traditional culture would mention words such as “ideology” and “politics”, which I could not avoid. But it’s also something that I, as an animator, have to be aware of. Therefore, I changed The theme from “How Chinese Films Convey Traditional Culture” to “The Contradictions And Conflicts of Chinese Animated Films Convey Traditional Culture”.

By breaking the big theme down into elements, think about what might be related to those elements. Is there interoperability between looking at and thinking about different elements? And look for elements that have a big impact on the theme.

Question：how can Chinese animated films promote and pass on traditional Chinese culture through their unique approach?

The creators’ creative choices, narrative techniques, and clever use of traditional cultural elements

Critical Report Structure:

• Title / Subtitle
• Acknowledgements – Optional
• Abstract
• Key Words
• Contents Page
• Introduction
• Literature Review 
• Chapters for main discussion
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Image List

Examples of connecting words:

• However
• In light of
• Nonetheless
• Contrary to
• On the other hand
• In addition to
• Additionally
• Of equal importance
• Further/Furthermore

How Chinese Animated Films Convey Chinese Traditional Culture

Keywords: Chinese Traditional culture, fairy story, National story, Visual communication

Examples:

<I Am What I Am>,2021, keywords:
Lion Dance, Chinese folk art, stylize

 <Nezha：Birth of the Demon Child>,2019, keywords: National story

<Yao-Chinese Folktales>,2023, Keywords:folkstory, stylize

Chinese animated films are coming into their own, presenting unique and engaging storytelling worlds to global audiences. During this rise, some Chinese animated films are not only works of entertainment, but also a kind of exploration and inheritance of traditional Chinese culture. Against this backdrop, we cannot help but think: how can Chinese animated films promote and pass on traditional Chinese culture through their unique approach? This involves the creators’ creative choices, narrative techniques and clever use of traditional cultural elements. Through in-depth analyses, we may be able to better understand the cultural values behind this phenomenon and explore the impact of this promotional approach on contemporary society.

Question:

What is the promotion of an animated film through? (Music: Chinese traditional instruments such as erhu, suona horn, etc./ Costume accessories, character design, set design)

Reason:

Chinese culture has a long, long history and has always been very distinctive. In this era of rapid technological development, traditional culture is beginning to be disseminated in a fragmented and informative way. I think animated film is one of the good ways to spread culture. So I want to explore how it spreads the traditional culture.

Keywords:

Chinese Traditional culture, fairy story, National story, Visual communication，Chinese traditional instruments

The Five-Act Structure (Novels, plays or films):

Act 1: The Exposition

Act 2: Rising Action

Act 3: The Climax

Act 4: Falling Action.

Act 5: Denouement

Equilibrium and linear story development:

Animation Staging:

• The stage performances of animation, film and comedy have something in common in terms of directly attracting the audience’s attention. However, production meanings vary and bring unique medium resolution through a range of strategies that are most important in conveying theme, narrative, scene or performance.

Johnston and Thomas defined it as “the presentation of any idea so that it is completely and unmistakably clear”, whether that idea is an action, a personality, an expression or a mood.

Character placement & composition：

• This can be accentuated in any given frame by the use of
• Camera angle and position (perspective)
• Light and shadow (contrast)
• Character dynamics (performance or pace)
• Entry to the scene (expectant or sudden)
• Audio compliment or emphasis

Designing the use of long. Medium and close up shots：

• Relevance of shots working out emphasis, flow, timing,
• Establishing shots and events with visual and conceptual objectives identified.
• Timing and pacing of shots.
• Understand production implications of shot choices

Background and setting：

• Aesthetic clash with character
• Aesthetic
• Complexity/Clutter
• Distracting design/action
• Scale of key subject

The Essence of This Principle：

• Keep focus on what is relevant.
• Remember any physical object that appears in a frame has the potential to become an important symbol.
• Avoid/edit the unnecessary.

Taxonomy of Animated Documentary:

1. has been recorded or created frame by frame
2. is about the world rather than a world wholly imagined by its creator
3. has been presented as a documentary by its producers and/or received as a documentary by audiences, festivals or critics

‘Animation, in part through its material differences from live-action film, shifts and broadens the limits of what and how we can show about reality by offering new or alternative ways of seeing the world. It can present the conventional subject matter of documentary (the ‘world out there’ of observable events) in non-conventional subjective, conscious experience – subject matters traditionally outside of the documentary purview’ (Annabelle Honess Roe, 2013: 1)

Authenticity:

The authenticity of a documentary is ‘deeply linked to notions of realism and the idea that documentary images bear linked to notions of realism and the idea that documentary images bear evidence of events that actually happened, by virtue of the indexical relationship between image and reality’ (Honess Roe 2013, 3)