Animation Workshop #3

Animation Workshop Outcomes

Artist  Research

Lotte Reiniger:

A German director, writer and animator who pioneered the 'silhouette' animation. She would achieve her visual style by using card and paper cut-out characters weighted with lead and hinged at the joints. The final product would be a stop-motion picture created using photographs. Most of her silhouette work was based off fairy-tales and fables, but she also experimented with advertisement and even went on to produce live action shadow puppetry. Lotte created what is arguably the first full-length animated feature film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926). Other well known works include Silhouetten (1936),  and Here and There (1949). Through her lifetime, Lotte made over 60 films.

Born in Berlin, Lotte left Nazi Germany in 1935, and worked in England. She spent her time in Germany immersed in the Avante-Guard world of Pre-world war 2. She later returned to Germany in 1948 to become a permanent British citizen with her husband, Koch. However, she still travelled nationally to places such as Egypt and Greece to study shadow play in different cultures. She also began designing costumes for theatre and opera, being heavily influence by classical musicians such as Mozart and Carmen. 

I find her lengthy biography extremely inspiring; she accomplished so much in her lifetime. Not only collaborating with famous creative figures around the world, but she also stuck to here passions and personal strengths. Lotte's art isn't the only aspect that I find influential, but her career's trajectory too. 

Lotte's art relies heavily on shape, since her visuals only consist of backgrounds and black silhouettes. Hands are especially exaggerated, along with face profiles, as these can both help suggest emotion and personality. Dimension is created by applying more washed-out silhouette shapes in the background of scenes, as seen below. 

Don Hertzfeldt:

An American animator, producer and director born in California, 1976. Don has a unique style of using childish stick figures with dark themes. He combines classical music with ambiguous endings, creating critically acclaimed and award winning slow-burners. His more well-known work includes World Of Tomorrow, and The Simpsons. Don supports his own work and career through self-distribution and has refused all advertising work opportunities. Don plays around with mature themes and topics, such as surrealism, black humor, and philosphy. He isn't afraid to be expressive. 

Dons work is deliberately childish and almost looks beginner level. His expressive and adventurous use of cinematography is a clear representation of his experience however. Don thinks outside of typical animation conventions by playing around with paper to create intense emotion and some very disturbing scenes.