A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Mater of Arts in Digital Arts: 3D Animation by Coursework and Research Report, 2017 / During the colonial era, stereotypes of Africa were created and normalised in order to gain, maintain and justify colonial power. Europe during the colonial era, defined itself, using binary thinking (stemming from the Enlightenment period), against the "Other". This was used to establish a definition of the savage against which Europe was defined as civilised; Europe, deeming itself rational, used nineteenth-century African ways as an opposition by which the binary of rational against irrational could be expressed (Loomba 45). Colonial depictions of Africa often overlooked complexities and distinctions and represented the continent as a homogenous land and created oversimplified representations of the people and places (Harth 14). From the repeated production of imperial imagery, a regime of representation was created portraying Africa as a primitive wilderness, inferior to Europe, and as a site of colonial adventure. More recently, Triggerfish Animation Studios, based in Cape Town, created the films Adventures in Zambezia (2012) and Khumba (2013). This research argues that both films contain colonial stereotypes that conform to the regime of representation depicting Africa as a homogenous land of animals and landscapes, and repeat the colonial single story of an Edenic Africa. Khumba (2012), although still containing colonial stereotypes, offers a less stereotypical depiction than Adventures in Zambezia (2013). / XL2018

This thesis makes three claims new to the critical literature onWalt Disney’s 1940 film Fantasia. Setting the scene by placing a spotlight on the long-serving Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski, it contextualizes his pervasive influence, as well as contributions by others that shaped Fantasia and defined the film’s stylistic elements. Inspired by recent critical debates on post-silent era filmmaking and theories of authorship, it makes a case for Fantasia being the culmination of a “sound film” and notes that its displays of individual artistic talent makes it a noteworthy example of distributed authorship. Fantasia remains a unique experiment in Disney’s filmmaking in that it acquired its eventual form only because of decisions taken during production since no absolute “blue-print” for the finished film existed at the time it went into production, when a large selection of musical numbers were assigned to teams of animators. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Cheng, Hui Tung Eos. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 425-429). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract and appendix also in Chinese.

It is acknowledged that the genre of animated documentary is particularly suited to depicting the subjective point of view (Wells, 1997, Honess Roe, 2013). It has also been suggested that animated documentary may have a tendency toward collaborative working methods (Ward, 2005: 94). This PhD work explores and expands these suggestions and presents the development of a methodology adapted from what has been termed collaborative ethnography (Lassiter, 2005) when using animation to document perceptual brain states. The claim to originality in this thesis lies in the methodological approach taken through the documenting of idiopathic perceptual brain states, previously unrepresented in animation. It involves a shifting of the roles of subject and director to collaborative consultant and facilitator respectively, and differentiates between the recording of an animated document and the creation of an animated documentary . It rejects the sound reliant template of the 'animated interview' (Strøm, 2005: 15) as the dominant model of creating animated documents, which assumes both that the indexical is crucial to documenting, and that this can only be achieved in animation through the use of indexical sound. It agrees with Tom Gunning s argument that Charles Sanders Pierce's original idea of the index as part of an interconnected triad of signs (index, symbol and icon) has been abstracted from its richer signifying context and extracted a simplified version of what Pierce intended it to mean (a trace or impression left by an object) to become a 'diminished concept' (2007:30-1), essentially a short hand coda in this instance for document . The practice in this work challenges this by presenting an alternative; using a collaborative cycle methodology.

While many educators suggest active, rather than passive learning, this is not always the best solution, especially when learners are novices. Sweller and Cooper found learners who passively studied worked examples were significantly more efficient than those who actively solved problems (Cooper & Sweller, 1987; Sweller & Cooper, 1985) later described as the "worked-example effect" (Sweller & Chandler, 1991). The current study tested the claims of Lewis (2005) who suggested animated demonstrations act as worked examples. It compared the performance of groups of preservice teachers who: studied animated demonstrations (demo); studied animated demonstrations and practiced procedures (demo+practice & demo2+practice), or practiced procedures (practice). Two MANOVAs were used to compare group performance. During week one, it was hypothesized that the demonstration learners would out-perform those in the practice condition given performance time and accuracy. It was found that there was a significant difference between groups, Wilks’ Λ=0.68, F (2, 68) = 6.83, p <0.0001, η 2 =0.32. Post hoc comparisons with Scheffé’s test (p<0.025) revealed that the demonstration groups (demo+practice and demo2+practice groups) assembled the problem, in significantly less time than the practice group, which is positive evidence for the worked-example effect (Sweller & Chandler, 1991) given animated demonstrations. During week two, a similar MANOVA revealed no differences between groups. While this study considered learner performance from a human computer interaction (HCI) perspective, it also considered learners from a cognitive load perspective, by measuring relative condition efficiency (Paas & van Merriënboer, 1993). In addition, it developed a new measure called performance efficiency. During week one, the demonstration conditions were found to be significantly different F (2, 68) = 3.69, p =0.03, given relative condition efficiency. This is positive evidence of the variability effect. However in post hoc comparisons these instructional conditions were not found to differ. Performance efficiency was found to be significantly different, during week one, F (2, 68) = 12.95, p<0.0001, and post hoc comparisons with Scheffé’s test (p<0.05) revealed the demonstration learners were significantly more efficient, than the practice learners. During week two, groups were not significantly different, so once learners had practiced procedures, they performed equally well.

This research assesses the skills and knowledge necessary for the creation of animation in the 3D computer medium. It responds to the argument that students of this new form of animation must learn to apply principles and theories of animation that had their genesis in the early years of traditional, hand-drawn animation (Kroyer, 2002). Many industry notables argue for the use of traditional animation principles in 3D computer animation. John Lasseter, executive vice president at Pixar studios in the United States, represents one such example. He states that 'These principles were developed to make animation, especially character animation, more realistic and entertaining. These principles can and should be applied to 3D computer animation' (Lasseter 1987). The importance of animation principles in all animation mediums is stressed by Oscar-winning traditional animator Gene Deitch. He states that 'Every animated film made today uses those same basic principles developed at the Walt Disney studios during the 1930s. They still apply, no matter which technology is used' (2001). This research report examines the validity of this argument and identifies the tools, principles, and procedures that professional 3D animators are using. Central to this research is the dynamic of the contemporary relevance of traditional animation as an aesthetic, craft and economic entity. Most importantly this research considers how that dynamic might translate into the teaching of 3D animation courses. It is claimed that the findings of this research benefits 3D animation teachers, students, and those who employ them. To conduct on-site research with professional animators, this study enlisted the participation of a small number of animation studios in south-east Queensland, Australia by ensuring the protection of their Intellectual Property. Close observation of their working practices was made and numerous secondary sources of information (3D animation tutorials, books, DVDs, software manuals etc.) examined in order to locate the tools, processes, and principles that CG animators engaged. The findings were applied and critically assessed by means of a practical project (a seven-minute 3D-animated film) which was created concurrently with the research. Recommendations were formulated as to the most useful tools, processes, and principles for the student of computer animation by way of a revision of the existing Queensland College of Art syllabus for teaching computing animation. What follows is an account of the development and context of the project, the research methods applied, and critical analyses of the findings. The research concludes that it is necessary and advantageous to apply traditional animation skills to 3D computer work.

published_or_final_version / Japanese Studies / Master / Master of Philosophy

Disney is one of the largest media companies in the world. They have been critizied for portrayting men, women and love relationships with stereotypical behaviours and attributes. This may lead to negative effects on childrens and adolescents perception of reality. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Disney portrays the dynamic between the characters within the love relationship in their movies launched in the 21st century. This study has examined four movies released in the 21st century containing a love relationship between a man and a woman. Movies examined were; Atlantis - The Lost Empire, The Princess and the Frog, Tangled and Frozen. For this study, a quantitative content analysis with qualitative elements was applied to answer the purpose and issue of the study. The study measured the frequency of the characters activities and actions when they are with and without each other, what they are doing together and who is the initiator of classical love actions. The results for this study presented interesting patterns. Both female and male characters were often portrayed with stereotypical behaviuors in Disneys animated movies. However, these patterns differed when the characters were with and without each other. When the characters were together, the female characters tended to be portrayed with more male attributes, whilst the male characterstended to be portrayed with more female attributes. Additionally, Disney tend to portray love relationships in a stereotypical and unrealistic way.

The Disney princess line includes nine films, in our study we have extended this line to include the latest three films from Walt Disney Pictures that follow the same pattern. These films are Tangled (2010), Brave (2012) and Frozen (2013). We have conducted our study using the same method used by England, Descartes and Collier-Meeks (2011) in their study of the first nine films, starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs produced in 1937 to Princess and the Frog from 2009. A quantitative study was executed where we focused on gender role portrayal, the main characters behavioral characteristics and performed rescues. We applied the following theories to our result; the Social Constructivism, Laura Mulvey’s theory of the Male Gaze, Michel Foucault’s theory of power and discourse, intersectionality and Claude E. Shannon and Warren Weaver’s model of communication. Our result of the content coding shows a more nuanced depiction of both male and female main characters where the roles have shifted. The female main characters have been asigned a more traditionally masculine role in the films. The story in all of our three films revolves around the female main characters efforts to achieve their goals. The male main characters have abandoned their shiny armour and white horse and persued a role as the one who leads the female to her goal. A one-way analysis of variance was implemented to see differences over time in gender role portrayal of men and women. The result suggest that the male and female roles have changed over time, altough the men are those who have changed the most.

Typescript.