Industry Position

 This week I wanted to further define where my projects sits in relation to the animation industry. My project branches out over many sectors of the animation and games industry and does not solely sit in a single category. This means that there is simultaneously a large research base and a very niche research base. Each of the individual elements that my project sits with in: stop motion, VR, game, interactivity, animated audience participation, tactile animations, traditional animation and modern computer animation, all have countless journal articles and research conducted in to a variety of subcategories within themselves creating a very large and broad area in which to conduct research. It is when these areas are combined into a single idea that the amount of papers and people working within this area becomes considerably smaller. Even if I only combine two of these elements such as stop motion animation in virtual reality, the amount of sources to draw upon is limited. I was able to find a few examples of stop motion animation being used in virtual reality but these are very limited. 

In the examples of animations that use both stop motion and virtual reality that I found, I noticed that they can visually differ considerably. Some of these animations aim to up the creepy factor that is often associated with traditional stop motion films, while the others play on the more modern stop motion techniques and ideas, by simply aiming to create visually stunning and technologically advanced animation. These two visuals are almost polar opposites when viewed. One aims to invoke a sense of unease in the audience while the other aims to be enjoyable and show off the skill of the animators who produced it. Both of these rely on the audience's emotions and their reactions to being fully immersed in an animated experience. 

In order to further situate my work, I decided to study the examples that I could find further. This will help me place my own work, in terms of visuals, audience, technology and distribution. By looking at existing pieces of work I will be able to decide which of the visual styles I want to aim to achieve, who my intended audience is, this will then help determine how and where the animation is distributed. 

Example 1

Full clip found https://vimeo.com/332552376?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=44219905

This example of an animation that relies on the creepy factor, is Gymnasia (NFB/marketing, 2019) which is a stop motion animation produced in 2019 that was created using stop motion puppets and sets and then had 3D elements added. The most interesting element of this piece is that it was created without using photogrammetry. This animation experience was created by Felix and Paul studios (Felix & Paul Studios, 2022) which is a studio who has created many different virtual reality experiences, they are the studio responsible for creating the virtual reality behind the scenes tour of the Isle of dogs (SearchlightPictures, 2018). When interviewed the studio said "The shooting process was difficult," (Low, 2019). The article and studio website don't go into more detail about how the filming process for this was achieved, but this is definitely a studio that I need to try and contact when I am starting production and testing for my own animation. This example shows how animation in VR can be used to interact with an audience and invoke different emotions in them, it has elements of visual interaction that between the stop motion characters and the audience, these interactions are initiated by the stop motion motion element. This combined with a sudden character appearance add an element of shock to the animation. 

The style of the animation appears heavily inspired by the work of Jan Svankmajer (Film Forum, 2020), and the Brothers Quay (BFI, 2016), due to the creepy aesthetic and use of dolls. This aesthetic was likely selected to add the feelings of unease in the audience, both Svankmajer and Quay's work, aimed at making the audience uncomfortable and unnerving, make the viewing of their animations not as pleasant when compared to work produced by studios like Disney. This animation also plays on the idea of the Svankmajer touch (Vasseleu, 2009), Svankmajer work is known for being tactile, with touch being an essential element to his work, he also held the theory that objects retain memory that has been imparted upon them when touched, and that these object can then recall that memory.

 “This is the magical ingredient in Švankmajer’s alchemy. He cites Merleau-Ponty’s studies of Goldstein’s neurological cases, which discredited the idea that touch only occurs as a result of direct physical contact, as proof of the existence of ‘tactile memory’ (Švankmajer1994: 234). The tactile imagination is capable of retaining and transforming tactile memories into analogies that are charged with psychical intensity. For Švankmajer, seemingly inert objects have the mutability to arouse this tactile sensibility, which can be recalled from earliest childhood, and resurfaces in states of extreme emotional agitation.” (Vasseleu, 2009) 

Svankmajer's theory about objects retaining memory and touch helps add to the creepiness that both his own animations and Gymnasia play on. This factor is further augmented in animations like gymnasia that are viewed in a virtual reality space, because these spaces are immersive, the audience becomes an active participant in the experience which only adds to the feeling of unease as it becomes more real to the viewer. 

References

BFI, 2016. Street of Crocodiles (1986) clip. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW3dW4yMLfE> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

Felix & Paul Studios. 2022. Felix & Paul Studios. [online] Available at: <https://www.felixandpaul.com/?gymnasia> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

Film Forum, 2020. Jan Svankmajer's FAUST Trailer. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyW46Pbsp9k> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

Low, C., 2019. VR is a strangely fitting home for stop-motion animation. [online] Engadget.com. Available at: <https://www.engadget.com/2019-05-01-vr-stop-motion-gymnasia-tribeca-2019.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHphhI0psEaV_x661jy2ln8MD8bnw_9WxMH418K9wo-6rD8igy-tPeUFXmPREDuWeEhZzBPVOkZdeubUQJpd2B2PGC5dOfU7Uf0k5kOcalwcaJKIIkPvxBPDpZyqpmZsT7UDa_mvE2irqToDVBoey5e0qCiRrYhIyWqC-0wsJOih> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

NFB/marketing, 2019. Gymnasia - behind the scenes. [video] Available at: <https://vimeo.com/332552376?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=44219905> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

SearchlightPictures, 2018. 360° | ISLE OF DOGS | Behind The Scenes (in Virtual Reality) | FoxNext VR Studio. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqXC46b1uUg> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

Vasseleu, C., 2009. The Svankmajer Touch. [online] Available at: <https://journal.animationstudies.org/cathryn-vasseleu-the-svankmajer-touch/> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

Example 2

A second example of a stop motion for VR is Mad god by Phil Tippet (Wevr, 2017), this is one of the more well known stop motion animation in VR, this animation was directed by Phil Tippet and was made by a combination of studios working together. The different studios that worked on this project were Tippett Studios, Wevr, Kaleidoscope and Foundry. Some of the people that helped make this project were Michael Breymann - head of kaleidoscope, Anthony Batt - executive producer - Wevr, Alex Hessler - VR supervisor - Tippett Studio, Chris Morley - VFX supervisor Tippett studios. 

Mad god, was produced using stop motion puppets, stop motion sets, 3D CGI sets, Photogrammetry and lots of editing. The camera for this is animation is centrally positioned with the stop motion set around it, each frame of animation includes a number of images taken by the camera been rotate 360 degrees, the resulting footage is put into digital softwares, 3D CGI elements are added and then it is edited to achieve the finished VR animation (Kaleidoscope, 2017). This animation uses a different and more complex production method than example one, but the resulting animation is just as immersive, similar to the first example it plays on the creepy factor of stop motion and is meant to unsettle the audience. I would need to find out more about how the first example was produced before I am able to compare the production pipelines used to create them. I will need to research both production methods more in depth as I come to produce my own tests, this research will help me identify processes that I can use in my own work. From researching Mad God I have already found studios and professionals to contact and I have also started to identify further production methods, techniques, stages and softwares used. 

From watching these behind the scenes videos of the making of Mad God (Foundry, 2016), I started to get a better understanding of the massive scope of the project and how many people were involved in making this single short animation. When I compared the finished footage from Mad God to my own ideas and ambitions that I wanted to achieve I started to realise that I had way, way over estimated my own ability, timescale for the project and the workload that would be involved. It was after watching this that I started to worry about my initial project idea and when I ultimately decided to cut back considerably on my plans. The behind the scenes was really informative and helped me gather a wide range of information as well as give me areas to investigate and research in further. It also helped me identify the amount of skills and software that I will need to use to create my idea, some area I will need to somewhat master, other I will need to be at least very competent in, these skills range from one that I already have such as stop motion, puppet and set building, to one that I would need to learn these included 3D CGI modelling, rigging, animating, Photogrammetry - both the process and the software, coding, compositing, editing and possibly more. While this is all something that I would like to upskill myself on eventually, learning and mastering these skills in two years while also completing the masters work and teaching full time, is not possible for me to do. Had I not watched the making of Mad God I don't think I would have come to this realisation when I did. 

References

Foundry, 2016. Tippett Studios head into the unknown with stop-motion VR. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP0HmNZjn18> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

Foundry. 2022. VR, AR and MR | Insights | Foundry. [online] Available at: <https://www.foundry.com/insights/vr-ar-mr> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

Kaleidoscope, 2017. FEVER DREAMS - Phil Tippett & The Making of Mad God VR. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tQSPRifnuE> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

Wevr, 2017. Mad God 360 VR. [image] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6CTrqlpKFk> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

Example 3

The third example animation is a behind the scenes look at the making of The Isle of Dogs (Searchlight pictures, 2018), this example differs from the first two as it isn't a complete stop motion animation in VR this experience instead puts the audience in the middle of an animation studio and gives them an up close look at the animating process. It has the puppets and voice cast narrating, where they are telling the audience details about the film and their characters, as the audience turns in VR you can see a timelapse of the puppets being animated and then footage of some of the puppets being made. This animation also differs from the first two example in visual style, this animation is not meant to unsettle the audience  and is instead meant to give them an insight into the stop motion animation process, the characters used in this animation are much more visually appealing and have the modern refined aesthetic that has started to be shown in recent stop motion animations. This change in aesthetic is most often found in stop motions intended for a young target audience both in TV shows and feature films. 

I prefer the aesthetic in this animation mush more and is definitely the style I will be aiming for, while my intended finished piece does involve audience interaction, I want that interaction to be a pleasant one not an unsettling one, with the focus instead been on the characters and how they interact with each other as well as the audience. 

References

Searchlight pictures, 2018. 360° | ISLE OF DOGS | Behind The Scenes (in Virtual Reality) | FoxNext VR Studio. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqXC46b1uUg> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

VRScout. 2022. Wes Anderson Unveils 'Isle of Dogs' Stop Motion VR Experience at Sundance - VRScout. [online] Available at: <https://vrscout.com/news/wes-anderson-isle-of-dogs-stop-motion-vr-sundance/> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

Example 4

The forth example is one that I could not actually find the full animation to watch in VR but is instead on that I stumbled upon while researching photogrammetry and stop motion (MIZ Babelsberg, 2017). This video outlines some of the steps used to create a section of stop motion animation that is then put into a 3D environment to be watched in VR. This animation was created using photogrammetry and turn table style devices to rotate around a puppet after each movement, essentially creating a 3D scan of the puppet after each action. When I researched further I was able to find a website for the device which is called Orbital (Hagen, 2022). From what I can see of the finished animation, the resulting footage using this method is very good. I would like to try and find the full experience and watch it in VR but as of now I have not been able to. The methods used in this video are something that I will consider using to test my own puppets, as the method is a much smaller scale than the others I have researched, using a device like an orbital to capture the puppets and stop motion footage to then put into a 3D environment is something that I am more likely to be able to achieve as opposed to the full productions seen in the other examples. This example is also another one that visually is meant to be pleasing like the isle of dogs example, this is good to see achieved at a smaller scale as it means that how I plan to present my animation tests and puppets has a chance of working well. 

References

Hagen, G., 2022. Gard Hagen - Orbital. [online] Gardhagen.com. Available at: <https://gardhagen.com/orbital-1> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

MIZ Babelsberg, 2017. Stop-Motion VR. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNiyjnNhxAM> [Accessed 5 March 2022].

Conclusion

This research has helped me to see what existing animation produced using stop motion and VR are available and has helped me position my own work in the animation field. While there are not many people working in this combination of areas there are people and studios that are producing and advancing this work. I haven't been able to find anyone talking about the inclusion of interactivity within these fields yet, but it is something that there are definitely people having discussions about, this is an area that I will keep researching to try and find. My own work and project is positions along the edges of many different areas and draws from them all, while the area it sits is small alone when viewed with all the elements combined I have wide base of knowledge that I can research and draw upon to help me achieve the intended outcome.