Orientador: Fabiane Renata Borsato / Banca: Silvia Beatriz Adoue / Banca: Ana Lúcia Menezes de Andrade / Resumo: Os contos populares têm por natureza a capacidade de se propagarem no tempo e no espaço. Desde as épocas mais remotas as civilizações mais distantes compartilhavam as mesmas histórias com algumas modificações que geralmente diziam respeito ao contexto em que viviam. Com base no princípio de que esses contos tendem a se perpetuar na história, estudaremos quatro versões do conto que hoje é conhecido como A bela adormecida, são elas: Sol, Lua e Tália, de Giambattista Basile; A bela adormecida no bosque, de Charles Perrault; A bela adormecida, dos irmãos Grimm; e, por fim, sua adaptação cinematográfica, A bela adormecida, de Walt Disney. Para tal, propõe-se um panorama histórico do gênero conto (especialmente do conto maravilhoso) e também do cinema de animação, pois acredita-se que o contexto histórico foi determinante para a concepção das obras. São feitos também apontamentos teóricos sobre as duas linguagens, ressaltando os aspectos que contribuirão para a análise das narrativas literárias e fílmica. Pretende-se, portanto, evidenciar as mudanças ocorridas no decorrer das diversas publicações em relação às instâncias narrativas, ao enredo e também quanto à tradução das obras literárias para a narrativa cinematográfica / Resumen: Los cuentos populares se difunden en el tiempo y en el espacio. Desde los tiempos más remotos, las civilizaciones más distantes comparten las mismas historias con algunas modificaciones que generalmente dicen respecto al contexto en que vivían. Fundamentado en el principio de que estos cuentos tienden a perpetuarse en la historia, estudiaremos cuatro versiones actualmente conocidas como La Bella Durmiente, siendo ellas: Sol, Luna y Talia, de Giambattista Basile; La bella durmiente en el bosque, de Charles Perrault; La Bella Durmiente, de los hermanos Grimm; y, finalmente, la adaptación al cine, La Bella Durmiente, de Walt Disney. Para este fin, proponemos un panorama histórico sobre el género cuento (en especial el cuento maravilloso) y también sobre el cine de animación, una vez que el contexto histórico fue fundamental para la concepción de las obras. También haremos apuntes teóricos sobre los dos lenguajes, destacándose los aspectos que contribuirán para el análisis de las narrativas. Con eso, pretendemos demostrar los cambios relativos a las instancias narrativas literarias y fílmica, al enredo y también a aquellos ocurridos en la traducción de las obras literarias para la narrativa cinematográfica / Mestre

A Research Report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Masters of Arts in Digital Animation at the University of the Witwatersrand (School of Digital Arts) Johannesburg, South Africa / In recent years, the quest for capturing authentic emotion convincingly in computer generated (CG) characters to assist exceedingly complex narrative expressions in modern cinema has intensified. Conveying human emotion in a digital human-like character is widely accepted to be the most challenging and elusive task for even the most skilled animators. Contemporary filmmakers have increasingly looked to complex digital tools that essentially manipulate the visual design of cinema through innovative techniques to reach levels of undetectable integration of CG characters. In trying to assess how modern cinema is pursuing the realistic integration of CG human-like characters in digital film with frenetic interest despite the risk of box office failure associated with the uncanny valley, this report focuses on the progress of the advances in the technique of facial motion capture. The uncanny valley hypothesis, based on a theory by Sigmund Freud, was coined in 1970 by Japanese robotics professor, Masahiro Mori. Mori suggested that people are increasingly comfortable with robots the more human-like they appear, but only up to a point. At that turning point, when the robot becomes too human-like, it arouses feelings of repulsion. When movement is added to this equation, viewers’ sense of the uncanny is heightened when the movement is deemed to be unreal. Motion capture is the technique of mimicking and capturing realistic movement by utilising technology that enables the process of translating a live actor’s performance into a digital performance. By capturing and transferring the data collected from sensors placed on a body suit or tracked from a high definition video, computer artists are able to drive the movement of a corresponding CG character in a 3-Dimensional (3D) programme. The attention of this study is narrowed to the progress of the techniques developed during a prolific decade for facial motion capture in particular. Regardless of the conflicting discourse surrounding the use of motion capture technology, these phenomenal improvements have allowed filmmakers to overcome that aspect of the uncanny valley associated with detecting realistic movement and facial expression. The progress of facial motion capture is investigated through the lens of selected films released during the period of 2001 to 2012. The two case studies, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Avatar (2009) were chosen for their individual achievement and innovative techniques that introduced new methods of facial capture. Digital images are said to undermine the reality status of cinematic images by challenging the foundation of long held theories of cinematic realist theory. These theories rooted in the indexical basis of photography, have proved to be the origin of contemporary viewers' notion of cinematic realism. However, the relationship between advanced digital effects and modern cinematic realism has created a perceptual complexity that warrants closer scrutiny. In addressing the paradoxical effect that photo-real cinematic realism is having on the basic comprehension of realism in film, the history of the seminal claims made by recognized realist film theorists is briefly examined.

The ability to track articulated human motion in video sequences is essential for applications ranging from biometrics, virtual reality, human-computer interfaces and surveillance. The work presented in this thesis focuses on tracking and analysing human motion in terms of MPEG-4 Body Animation Parameters, in the context of a model-based coding scheme. Model-based coding has emerged as a potential technique for very low bit-rate video compression. This study emphasises motion reconstruction rather than photorealistic human body modelling, consequently a 3-D skeleton with 31 degrees-of-freedom was used to model the human body. Compression is achieved by analysing the input images in terms of the known 3-D model and extracting parameters that describe the relative pose of each segment. These parameters are transmitted to the decoder which synthesises the output by transforming the default model into the correct posture. The problem comprises two main aspects: 3-D human motion capture and pose description. The goal of the 3-D human motion capture component is to generate 3-D locations of key joints on the human body without the use of special markers or sensors placed on the subject. The input sequence is acquired by three synchronised and calibrated CCD cameras. Digital image matching techniques including cross-correlation and least squares matching are used to find spatial correspondences between the multiple views as well as temporal correspondences in subsequent frames with sub-pixel accuracy. The tracking algorithm automates the matching process examining each matching result and adaptively modifying matching parameters. Key points must be manually selected in the first frame, following which the tracking commences without the intervention of the user, employing the recovered 3-D motion of the skeleton model for prediction of future states. Epipolar geometry is exploited to verify spatial correspondences in each frame before the 3-D locations of all joints are computed through triangulation to construct the 3-D skeleton. The pose of the skeleton is described by the MPEG-4 Body Animation Parameters. The subject's motion is reconstructed by applying the animation parameters to a simplified version of the default MPEG-4 skeleton. The tracking algorithm may be adapted to 2-D tracking in monocular sequences. An example of 2-D tracking of facial expressions demonstrates the flexibility of the algorithm. Further results involving tracking separate body parts demonstrate the advantage of multiple views and the benefit of camera calibration, which simplifies the generation of 3-D trajectories and the estimation of epipolar geometry. The overall system is tested on a walking sequence where full body motion capture is performed and all 31 degrees-of freedom of the tracked model are extracted. Results show adequate motion reconstruction (i.e. convincing to most human observers), with slight deviations due to lack of knowledge of the volumetric property of the human body. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1992. / Typescript.

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Animator-producer Paul Houlton Terry has been portrayed as having little passion for the animation he produced and being more concerned with making a profit than producing entertaining cartoons with high production values. The purpose of the dissertation is to re-evaluate Terry‘s legacy to animated cartooning by analyzing his business philosophies, production values, and studio practices. Application of four psychodynamic factors to the early life and career of Terry, 1887-1929, found that his economic decision making was characterized by: an external locus of control, risk-averse financial behaviour, extreme saving behaviour through precaution, and shrewd money management practices. Based on Terry‘s historical responses to twelve major economic, technological, or institutional forces of change for the period 1929-1955, the psychodynamic factors were found to provide accurate explanations for his studio practices and production decisions. There was no evidence to support the conclusion that three early career disappointments undermined Terry‘s intrinsic motivation to create animated cartoons. Rather, Terry‘s lack of risk taking, external locus of control, tight studio production schedule, desire to compete with neighbour studio Fleischer, difficulty in separating financial rewards from creative processes in animation, and practice of undertaking surveillance measures on staff may have undermined his and his studio‘s creativity. Archival research found Terry to possess strong passions for and to have made significant creative contributions to the field of animation. Biographical research found that Terry retained a stable nucleus of highly talented artists who dedicated a significant portion of their working careers to the studio. An analysis of the cel aesthetics of a random sample of animated cartoons produced during the years 1930-1955 found that Terry created animated cartoons with above average cel aesthetics when compared to the other studios thereby supporting an inference that Terry was motivated to producing quality crafted animation. Further research is suggested into the role psychodynamic factors and economic decision-making play in the film production process and a clarification of Terry‘s legacy to the field of animated cartoons.

Research Report Master of Arts in Digital Animation (Coursework and Research Report) University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Humanities The Wits School of Arts June 2017 / Even though a significant amount of research has been conducted over the years on film music and animation, these two fields of academic study mostly developed independently from each other. Little attention has been given to these two fields in terms of how they are deployed together, particularly after the ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood filmmaking. This study, from an animation perspective, contributes to this need for research with an investigation and eventual proposition that will elucidate and advance the integration and contemporary deployment practices and processes of music and character animation. The aim of the study was to identify and suggest the ideal musical competency set a character animator would benefit from and, to propose an approach for notation in which these competencies are used to digitally animate characters moving to the beat of pre-recorded music for a 3D animation feature-length film. A qualitative research approach was followed and the research methodology consisted of a historical analysis, studying current practices and the analysis of a case study. The South African 3D computer-animated feature film, Khumba (2013), produced by Triggerfish Animation Studios, was used as the case study. Reasons for its suitability were twofold: Firstly because the researcher could easily access the animators (which was essential) and secondly, because the film had the musical scenes required to conduct the research. The focus was on the musical scenes in the film. The integration of animation and music in a scene was analysed, allowing the researcher to show how Khumba animators could have benefited from the suggested musical competencies and from using the proposed method when animating musical scenes. A universally agreed approach for notation in animating-to-music doesn’t exist. However, a method known as the bar sheet was used by earlier animators, requiring them to have a basic knowledge and understanding of music. This study proposes the reintroduction of an adapted version of the original bar sheet, digitised for assimilation with contemporary technology. A plug-in for Autodesk Maya was also proposed as an output of the research. Ultimately, this research has the potential to lead to a heightened proficiency of character animators when animating musical scenes in 3D feature-length films. In addition, the research could prompt a universally agreed approach for notation which combines traditional and new methods and techniques. The adoption of this approach could also lead to changes in the working practices of film making teams and the work flow within production pipelines. / MT2018

Thesis. 1978. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 156-159. / M.S.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Animation is popularly thought of as a sequence of still images or cartoons that produce an illusion of movement. However, a broader perspective of animation should encompass the diverse kinds of media artifacts imbued with the illusion of life. In many multimedia artifacts today, computational media algorithmically implement expanded illusions of life, which include images not only moving, but also showing reactions to stimuli (reactive animation), transforming according to their own internal rules (autonomous animation), evolving over a period of time (metamorphic animation), or even generating varying instances subject to user intervention or chance (contingent animation). Animation in the digital age consists of forms as varied as computer-generated imagery (CGI) in films, motion graphics on interactive multimedia websites, animated contents of video games, graphical interfaces of computer systems, and even digital signage in communal areas. With these forms, the new animation phenomena emerge from entertainment media, functional designs, and expressive works alike, all of which may engage viewers' sensory perceptions, cognitive processes, as well as motor actions. Hence, the study and creation of animation now requires an interdisciplinary framework, including (1) insights from perceptual psychology and animation studies about animacy, (2) theories of conceptual blending from cognitive science applied to understanding images, (3) notions of embodiment and temporality in phenomenological approaches to human-computer interaction (HCI), and (4) new interpretations of liveness in performance studies accounts of computer-mediated performance. These emergent ideas jointly characterize the new role of animation in media, and produce new possibilities for more embodied, evocative, and affective forms of generative and interactive animation.