Forms of Animation

Assessment: essay (2000 words) [50%], group presentation and individual portfolio incorporating some peer-evaluation [50%] [all elements of assessment must be attempted; an overall pass is sufficient, provided that any failed components achieve marks within the condonable fail range (30 ? 39%)]
Animation, an often neglected form of filmmaking within film studies, has existed since the early days of cinema and has remained popular with both audiences and filmmakers throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. Encompassing a vastly diverse range of production practises, animated films and television series can stretch from mainstream entertainment products to abstract art, from social/political satire to formalist experimentation. This module will provide an introduction to the history of animation as a technological, artistic and cultural form. It will introduce students to a wide range of different types of animation (including 2-D cell animation, cut-out animation, claymation, model animation, pixillation, stop-motion, direct animation, rotoscoping, computer animation) produced in widely varying historical and cultural contexts to consider how animation has developed as an artistic form and means of entertainment. This module will consider the way in which animation has been used to challenge genre and narrative as well as to explore far more abstract and experimental forms of filmmaking, enabling students to critically engage with alternative narrative and aesthetic forms.