Realism Vs. Stylisation : Critical Reader

Aristidou, A., Charalambous, P. and Chrysanthou, Y. (2015) ‘Emotion analysis and classification: Understanding the performers’ emotions using the LMA entities’, Computer Graphics Forum, 34(6), pp. 262–276. doi:10.1111/cgf.12598.

This work presents a scientific study of motion captured data that analyses and categorise the emotional state of recorded actions. The results generally show that the system is successful in identifying the emotion despite being a scientific way of studying motion. This can support human perception of emotion through understanding body language, and it highlights the importance of creating believable characters through emotive movements.

This identifies that we can scientifically study movements to understand the emotional state of the characters and use this to inspire believable animation. The study shows a stronger success for recognition with actors who have a theatrical background, however, we must also recognise that the data produced has come from a specific set of 6 actors and the results could vary if different actors were used. Despite this the findings reinforce the idea that knowledge of acting and human emotional behaviour will support the creation of more believable character animation.

Bazin, A. & Bazin, A. (2004) What Is Cinema? Volume I : Volume I, University of California Press, Berkeley. Available from: ProQuest eBook Central. [8 July 2024].

Bazin explores the concept of representation in media in relation to realism. It explores how realistic aesthetics and psychological understanding of realistic movements are common misconceptions when defining realism. This is interesting when looking through the lens of animation because, whilst animation aesthetics vary, a character’s movements must feel believable. It explores that footage captured by cameras are not real because the artist has creative intent when shooting, thus rendering the outcomes a representation of reality. Therefore, whilst an animation may not be aesthetically realistic, if the audience believes the character’s actions are real then they are psychologically realistic and thus there is some element of realism.

Whilst this source is not directly exploring animation, it’s perspectives of realism in media allow us to view realism in live action film and animation equally. The core idea being that all media is a representation of reality rather than reality itself. This in turn enables us to focus on how real the animation of the character is.

Ekman, P. and Friesen, W.V. (2003) Unmasking the face: A guide to recognizing emotions from facial clues. Cambridge, MA: Malor Books.

This book provides analyses how the face deforms to convey our emotions. Furthermore, it studies the nuances, variations, similarities and differences within a range of emotional expressions. It explores the intent and thought process behind emotional states and why a person might feel that emotion. This isn’t a book specifically on animation but allows animators to understand the reasons why a face should be posed in a particular way to represent different emotions. This helps animators understand what drives different emotions and the subtleties within similar emotions.

The same male and people actors are used throughout the book which limits the visual reference available. Therefore, studying a more diverse range of actors would still be necessary to understand how distinct characters should be animated to avoid generic representations. However, it does provide a realistic benchmark for a range of facial expressions that can be further stylised to represent different emotions. This should ensure that each facial pose is grounded in reality, even when exaggerated.

Hetherington, R. (2015) ‘The believability of hyper realistic characters in animated movies’, Proceedings of the Multimedia, Interaction, Design and Innovation [Preprint]. doi:10.1145/2814464.2814478.

Hetherington analyses the concept of the ‘Uncanny Valley’, coined by Masahiro Mori, through a study of how uncanny a range of characters appear to a sample. It studies human likeness, eeriness, voice and appearance and movement of the face and body. It presents a small sample of participants from one university which limits the range of the sample. The characters presented to participants are characters commonly discussed within the topic of the ‘uncanny valley’. Finally, the participants all had knowledge of CGI related arts, which could influence the participants due to preconceived ideas or appreciation of artistic challenges. However, it does provide an insight into what factors might make a character feel uncanny or believable.

An interesting outcome was that participants highlighted that unrealistic movements, such as vacant eyes, lead to a character seeming uncanny rather than their visual appearance. This correlates with my research into the challenges animators face when animating believable character and the techniques they employ to make them more believable.

Hooks, E. (2009) Acting for animators: A Complete Guide to Performance Animation; multimedia CD-ROM included. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

This book provides a study into the processes and impact of exploring acting during animation preproduction with the goal of producing more believable animation. Its strengths lie with the author’s acting background and understanding how audiences react to performances in general. However, this is also a drawback as the author expresses that they had to learn how to most effectively communicate with animators and translate relevant knowledge to them, which is generally explored less.

It theorises that performances which are an exact copy of reality will feel less real, but a theatrical reality performance will deliver more impact on the audience. This is supported by references to Shakespeare who championed the idea that performances should reflect real life rather than being a definite copy. This information backs practical concepts with theoretical ideas, which justify the importance of understanding theatrical acting concepts and how these can be applied to animation. This perspective explores the ideas that realism and stylisation must coexist to create engaging performances.

Johnston, O. and Thomas, F. (1981) The illusion of life: Disney Animation. New York: Disney Editions.

The Illusion of Life explores the challenges, solutions and processes of Disney animators and how they navigated previously unexplored processes of creating believable characters. Its strengths lie in the theoretical creative ideologies that bring characters to life, which has laid a foundation for all future animators. However, the book is over 40 years old and animation practises have evolved significantly. It also focusses heavily on film based, animation, hidden within a range of anecdotes, rather than the range of modern products such as video games. Therefore, it does not cover the challenges of modern computer-based animation.

Despite its age, it is widely accepted that Disney has contributed significantly to the animation industry and many animation books continue to reference its concepts. Therefore, the fundamental concepts of creating believable character animation make it an essential book for all animators. However, to further understand the intricacies and challenges of modern computer-based animation readers would need to look elsewhere.

Tinwell, A. (2015) The uncanny valley in games & animation. Boca Raton: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group.

Tinwell analyses the ‘Uncanny Valley’ and the pursuit of creating complete human likeness. It theorises that it is wall that can never be overcome instead of a valley that can be escaped. The theory suggests that as technology advances our ability to detect uncanny elements will also advance. It suggests that there will be continuous advancement in the representation of believable CGI characters, but audiences are unlikely to reach a point of absolute belief. However, this will be difficult to prove because no one can be certain of how technology will advance and how this will impact the creation of believable characters.

It suggests the optimal point for believable animation is the point on ‘Uncanny Valley’ graph just before it dips. It explores that showing character thinking and reacting to external influences are leading factors in creating believable characters. This research is useful because it supports the idea that character’s animation is more important than visuals when studying realism and stylisation.

Williams, R. (2009) The animator’s survival kit: Expanded edition. London: Faber and Faber.

This book clearly illustrates a range of engaging animation techniques and the theories behind them. It reinforces animation theories such as the importance of acting, character thought and motivation to create believable animation. It highlights that understanding why a character should move or react in a particular way is the biggest success to create believable animation. These concepts reinforce the idea that realism in character animation is achieved through stylised actions grounded in reality. This creates animated characters capable of evoking an emotional response in the audience.

The strengths of this book lie in the collection of William’s experience across his career and the clearly illustrated breakdown of his learnings from industry veteran mentors. Whilst the ideas can be adapted for 3D animation, it focusses more heavily on 2D examples and therefore doesn’t directly explore challenges associated with CGI animation. However, it does provide a concise breakdown to easily understand animation theory that ‘The Illusion of Life’ (Johnston and Thomas, 1981) hides within anecdotes.