This chapter introduces the idea that there are two schools of thought about narration in animation: one side believes that each animation, no matter how short, must have a story with a sequence of events taking place over a period of time, informed by a chain of causes and effects. Some others think that animation possesses the capacity to create new modes of storytelling without utilising a linear plot but instead using symbolic or metaphoric effects.
The chapter goes of to define terms associated with the narrative process in relation to animation.
Metamorphosis is the ability of an image to change into another completely different image. It allows the animator to connect apparently unrelated images. It combines horror and humour, dream and reality, certainty and speculation. It is used to great effect in fairy tales.
Condensation using processes such as elliptical cut and comic elision, it is animation's ability to compress a lot of content into a short period of time. It delivers a direct, sped-up movement between the narrative premise and its outcome.
Synecdoche where depiction of part of a figure or object represents its whole.
Symbolism consciously or unconsciously, it is when something is used as part of the image vocabulary to suggest a meaning. It is the way in which an audience interprets elements of the animation and understands the film. A symbol invests an object with meaning.
Metaphor is similar to symbolism, in that it invites interpretation, yet in its own specific case insists upon openness. Metaphors make the literal interpretation of images an ambiguous affair, as they intend that the audience has an engagement with the symbolic over and above the actual.
Fabrication using the materials one works with to add to the story's narration as an element of its own. Inanimate objects may possess kinetic energy.
Associative Relations when suggestion or allusion is used to bring together seemingly unconnected images.
Acting and Performance in an animated film, is not the character but instead the relationship between the animator and the figure. The animator must decide on the character's range of movement, modes of expression and behaviour. The character is limited by the conditions and possibilities of the medium it is created in. They were referred to in the early days of animation as 'performers' rather than 'actors,' as they were controlled to perform rather like a puppet.
Choreography the dynamics of movement themselves can be seen as a narrative principle. Choreography in animation is like 'staging' for theatrics. It is similar to dance in that it creates narrative through the ramifications of movement. Unlike dance choreography, animation has a liberation from the constraints of space and weight and so is open to manipulation. Actions are subject to 'action moods,' which act as a catalyst for very distinct types of movement from the figures.
Penetration is the ability of animation to evoke the internal space and portray the invisible, or the 'soul,' if you will. It is used to reveal conditions that would otherwise be hidden from the viewer.
Sound conditions an audience's response to a film. Sound can be composed of a voiceover, monologue, dialogue, instrumental or lyrical music and sound effects. The placement of music within a scene can determine its mood and also help to time a sequence. Music inspires feelings, and so can be said to emotionally narrate the storyline.
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