January 26, 2009

Background and Education Guide to My February Dance and Animation Program

In this post, I'd like to provide background and context for my Wednesday, February 11th Kinetic Cinema program. During this event, I will be screening and discussing dance and animation videos. The program starts at 7:00 pm and will take place at Chez Bushwick in Brooklyn, New York. (Location, date/time and ticket information are included at the bottom of this post.)

For the video and image guide to this program, please visit my post from yesterday.

Visit Multimedia Guide for Dance and Animation Program

"Illuminated" (2007)

Outline for This Post:

1) Program Background
2) Animation Styles, Techniques and Technologies
3) Questions to Consider for Animation Screening Program
4) Date, Location and Ticket Details

1) PROGRAM BACKGROUND

Since last summer, I have been studying and researching all forms of animation as they relate to dance and movement. During this time, I've been searching for films and videos that highlight a range of animation techniques and represent different aesthetic approaches and styles.

Earlier this month, I posted my guide to 50 Categorized Dance Animations. From this link, you can watch all 50 animations.

And my February Kinetic Cinema program builds upon this animation guide. Also, in preparation for next month's event, I have conducted interviews with many of the artists, animators, choreographers, dancers and directors who contributed to the videos that I will be screening.

2) ANIMATION STYLES, TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGIES

My February program will feature over fifteen clips from video and film animations, theatrical movie releases, TV commercials, music videos, performances and installations, and student projects. The following types of animation styles, video editing techniques and supporting technologies will be represented and discussed during this screening program (changes may be made to the final program):

- 2D, hand-drawn animation
- 3D animation
- Real-time, interactive performance graphics
- Motion graphics
- Live action and computer graphics (CG)
- Machinima and virtual worlds
- Stop-motion animation
- Cut-out animation (tentative)
- Rotoscoping
- Digital puppetry
- Timesculpture (Toshiba's variation on bullet time from The Matrix)
- Motion capture
- Green screen, and
- Stereoscopic 3D

3) QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER FOR ANIMATION SCREENING PROGRAM

I don't think that a similar animation program has been put together where viewers and audience members can focus directly on how a range of animation techniques, styles and subject matter contribute to different approaches to representing the body in motion, especially within a dance context.

Here are selected questions that I have been considering for my February program. I hope you find these questions helpful as you watch the animations online and at the screening. If there are other topics that you would like addressed, please share your thoughts.

- Comparing Argentine Tango Animations

The first two videos in the program guide feature the Argentine Tango. The first video, "En Tus Brazos," is a 3D animation and the second, "Chandon - After Party," is a combination of live-action video and CG (computer graphics).

How does the representation of the bodies and shapes of the tango dancers compare and differ in each of these animations? How would you contrast the quality of the movement? And what are the narrative approaches used in each animation?

"En Tus Brazos"

"Chandon - After Party"

- Hand-Drawn Animation Versus 3D Compositions

How would you compare and contrast Erica Russell's "Feet of Song" and "Ghostcatching" by Paul Kaiser, Shelley Eshkar and Bill T. Jones?

In "Feet of Song," choreographic ideas are captured from the artist's imagination and observation of African dance forms. In Ghostcatching, the underlying movements are based on the motion-captured improvisations of choreographer Bill T. Jones.

How does the hand-drawn animation techniques of "Feet of Song" contrast with the 3D-based "Ghostcatching? What are the differences in the use of color, shapes, transitions, depth and aesthetic approach?

To take a question from the "Ghostcatching" book (out of print), published in conjunction with the premiere of this video installation at The Cooper Union School of Art in 1999, which animation technique and creative approach best captures the "essence" of the underlying captured or imagined dancers? In other words, if you have seen Bill T. Jones dance in real life, do you know that you are watching Bill T. Jones dance in abstracted form in "Ghostcatching."

And how would you compare the African rhythms of Russell's "Feet of Song" with the spoken phrases of Bill T. Jones. How do these different types of sound tracks influence the rhythmic feel and other qualities of the final animation?

"Feet of Song"

"Ghostcatching"

- "Who Gets to Dance?"

Choreographer Liz Lerman has always asked the question: "Who gets to dance?" Essentially, should dance be the practice of an elite, highly trained small group of professionals or should dance be open to people of all shapes, backgrounds, ages, ethnicities and any other factor you can imagine?

The online corollary to Lerman's question is: What types of dancers are depicted in animations and how do dancers and others choose to represent themselves in animated form?

During my screening program, I will be showing a dance sequence featuring the elderly sisters from "The Triplets of Belleville." (This clip is not available online). To date, I have not encountered another dance animation that depicts, in what in this instance I think is a compelling and charming manner, elderly people dancing.

"The Triplets of Belleville"

Does animation have a tendency to reinforce cultural norms and stereotypes? Or, are there many examples of animations--dance and other types--that ask viewers to re-think their perceptions and inclinations?

While I'm very intrigued by machinima (film-making within virtual worlds and real-time game platforms), how much variation is there in how the human body is represented. Is the default mostly young and beautiful? I'll be screening "CSI: New York Life Virtual Experience" during my program as a fascinating example of dancing in machinima. But I think it is worth asking how often will we see the "Triplets of Belleville" featured in such in-world dance animations?

"CSI: NY Second Life Virtual Experience

Please share your thoughts on these and related questions.

4) DATE, LOCATION AND TICKET DETAILS

Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Time: 7:00 PM

Tickets: $10 (Purchased at the door)

Location:

Chez Bushwick
304 Boerum St. #23
Brooklyn, NY 11206
Directions
Google Map

If you are in the New York City area, I hope to see you at my Kinetic Cinema program.

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