Yo Gabba Gabba

This animation combined the realistic life and the animated life. It started with a real person and introduced those animated characters. I think it is a very interesting combination. It makes me feel the animation world also could happen in the real world. It is also a very colorful animation work. The colors in this animation are bright and shining. The background music is also very match for the theme of this animation. When I watched it, I felt very happy and relaxed. I also very like the design of this animation’s website. It is very simplex and interesting.

Paulina Hollers

I think this animation’s style is little creepy but it is still a wonderful animation work. The colors in this animation are dark and dismal. There are many ghastly elements in this animation; such as the sentences on the blackboard, flashing light, twirl light, and various skulls. The characters’ facial expressions and background music emphasized the feelings of this animation. The speed of storytelling also changed with the storyline. It separates the characters and the background into two different spaces. The characters are in the front and the background is in the back. I think this is creative. This animation reminds me about another animation, “Mary and Max”. There are some commons between these two animation works, such as their color using and their characters’ styles.  

Lotte Reiniger - Hansel and Gretel

I think this animation’s style is very similar to Jack and the Beanstalk. This is a black and white animation work. The characters in this animation are black shadows. The background is still. Even though I can’t see character’s facial expressions, I still can feel their emotions through the voiceover and background music. The voiceover narrates the whole story. The background music changed with the storyline. When Hansel and Gretel played in the forest, the music is happy and relaxed. When they met the witch, the music changed to scared and creepy. When they fought for the witch, the music changed to very strong and stirring. When they went home, the music changed to very happy and relaxed again. There is no dialogue in this animation. I only can get the storyline through the voiceover and characters’ movements. I think it is very amazing work. This animation has very strong personal style. Lotte Reiniger created his own style successfully.

Jack and the Beanstalk, Lotte Reiniger (1955)

I think this animation is really like what I watched when I was a child. It is very dreamy and fantastic. There are very strong contrasts between the characters and the background. The characters are black shadows. You can’t see their face and clothes, but the background is very colorful. The characters are moving in the animation, but the background is still. The contrasts make the animation more interesting and have stronger story emotions. Even though I can’t see the character’s facial expressions, I still can feel their emotions and feelings through their actions and movements. The background music is also very good. It makes the animation more vivid and lively. I think the good animation always tell a good story. This animation also has its own theme. I like this animation work.

It's OK Michael

I like the structure of this animation. It starts from the character’s adult image and go back to his high school life to have a conversation with Michael. It is a black and white animation. It used lines to describe a very clear story. The things are all very simple and clear in this animation. I really like the intro of this animation. The lines of home have disappeared and the school has appeared gradually. Even though this story is about Michael, but he didn’t show up in the animation. We only can hear his voice and try to get his emotions through his voices. I think this is one interesting thing in this animation. I think the most interesting thing is that the story is showed on the loose leaves. It makes me feel more realistic and vivid about this story. 

museum of moving image

This is my second time to go to the Museum of Moving Image. I went there last Friday. It was totally different feelings when I went there second time. The museum is about the history, art, and technique of moving image, which includes film, television, radio, and digital media. I found many interesting things in this museum, such as production design, makeup and hair, special effects, animation, costume design, and recording sound. One of the interesting demos is light.

         Lighting is one of the most expressive elements of cinematic technique. It is important and essential. Light has very big visual affect and can create a very wide range of film (or television)’s styles. No matter we make a film or record a TV show, we need light. No matter you want a shadow environment or bright environment; light can create it, directly and accurately. The light separates for two parts, natural light and artificial light. Natural light is like sunshine. Artificial light is used different tools to make different visual effects. The museum introduced the history of light and showed various light machines. Some of them were very big, and some of them were small. It also showed some machines used to measure the light. These machines represented an era. They were not only the light machines, also the history of development of moving image.

        Another very interesting aspect of moving image is selling product. The selling product started very early age (like 1915 or 1916) and I never knew this before. I also found their products include many aspects, such as books, dolls, cups, and models. They were reminded me about my childhood. So I was very exciting when I saw that products.

        I think there was a very big change of moving image during these years. It changed still to moving images, and now we even have 3D. This development is very fast and successful. After I visited the museum this time, I felt like I experience a travel of moving image from one hundred years ago until now. I also found out more detailed things this time. This is amazing.